Golden State Warriors Need An Aggressive Iguodala to Stop Slide
The Golden State Warriors need an aggressive Andre Iguodala to stop their slide.
For the first time in three years, the Golden State Warriors are facing some adversity. At the beginning of March, the Warriors had a comfortable 3.5 game lead on the surging San Antonio Spurs. Since then, this team has looked almost unrecognizable to the common NBA fan. The Warriors have dropped four of their last six to inferior opponents and losing the number one seed.
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Much of their slump has been due to the devastating injury to Kevin Durant. Durant injured his left knee against the Washington Wizards and will be out until the postseason. Since the injury, the Warriors have looked lost on offense and their backcourt has been anemic shooting the three. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are shooting under 30 percent from beyond the arc, their worst stretch of their respective careers.
There has been one bright spot throughout this mini slump. Andre Iguodala is shooting almost 65 percent, 44 percent on threes and is playing his best basketball of the season. He is even getting it done from the foul line, shooting over 70 percent. The only problem with Andre’s game is that he is way too passive. The Warriors need an aggressive Iguodala to stop their slide.
There has not been a game all season where Iguodala has taken ten shots. Much of that is due to all the Warriors firepower, led by their four All-Stars but it is still surprising for a former All-Star and Finals MVP not to be aggressive with his shot. Now that Durant is out indefinitely and the Splash Brothers struggling, it is time for Iguodala to step up.
Iguodala needs to drive to the hoop more, take more shots and stop deferring. We have seen glimpses this season when Iguodala is arguably the best player on the floor, most notably against the Atlanta Hawks. Iguodala scored a team-high 24 points, hitting four threes and getting to the line 11 times.
Iguodala also needs to do more than previous seasons because the Warriors depth is lacking. The Warriors no longer have a Leandro Barbosa or Marreese Speights that were reliable pieces to their championship runs. Instead the Warriors have unproven young players that are still trying to find their niche in the NBA.
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Other than Ian Clark, the Warriors really do not have any reliable bench scorers and even Clark has been inconsistent. Iguodala needs to become their leader with his aggressive play and consistently score in double figures if this team wants to stop this mini slide.
Coach Steve Kerr always says that Iguodala gives the Warriors whatever they are missing in that particular game. Well with just 16 games left, it is time for Iguodala to show the league and his team that the former Finals MVP can still have a scoring impact. Obviously, the Splash Brothers will snap out of their shooting slump but having that additional weapon in Iguodala will make this team even harder to defend. Iguodala is an excellent defender and distributor but if the Warriors want to contend for another championship, he needs to be more aggressive.