Things I Didn’t Like
Basically everything. I don’t think I’ve said this about a Warriors week this season. But seriously, there was literally nothing I liked last week from this team.
Their best performance was a loss to the Nuggets on the road. Their worst performance was a 30-point defeat to the Jazz. And their one win — sandwiched in between — over the Kings was as ugly a victory as you’ll see.
It goes to show how tough it is to win on the road. But more than that, it goes to show that the Warriors have a slimmer margin of error this season than previous years.
As of Monday morning, they hold a two game lead over the Rockets for the first seed in the West — keep in mind the the Rockets own the tiebreaker. The drop off to the third seed Spurs is quite larger, but the pressure that Houston will put should be enough to make the Warriors stress these last few months out.
Bench depth. This issue flared up last week. It has been festering for awhile, but really played a role in both losses.
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Obviously, the Warriors rely on their four stars to win games. If their stars aren’t playing well, then they very likely may lose the game. But just as important to any championship team is the bench.
In years past, we didn’t have to really worry about the Warriors’ bench, mostly because both Shaun Livingston, David West and Andre Iguodala were good enough to pass as starters on other teams.
But really only Livingston and West have retained their level of play from last season. Iguodala’s performance has dipped, as have his stats. Patrick McCaw, who many expected to be Iguodala’s successor and to take a big step up after a strong rookie campaign, looks — frankly — lost out there. He is virtually unplayable, the way he passes off open looks and is tentative with the ball.
Let’s look further down the line. Omri Casspi, who was brought in with the idea that he would spread the floor as a shooter off the bench, doesn’t really take threes for some reason. Instead, he cuts to the basket and shoots little floaters. And Nick Young is too inconsistent to be a reliable threat.
Essentially, the Warriors bench is lacking shooting — big time. They rank last in the NBA in threes per game, which is shocking considering that these are the Warriors we’re talking about.
Next: Favorite Moments of the Week
I’m going to be honest, though — I like that there are “bad” things to talk about. So many times, the Warriors’ talent is good enough to mask their vices, and we don’t notice their flaws. It’s better to have these issues flare up during the regular season than during the playoffs.
Now, we know that they can’t take any team lightly, not matter how far down they are in the standings. We know that their bench needs improvement. And we know that Steve Kerr will be on his team until this is fixed.