How do the Golden State Warriors Fix Their Defensive Issues?
By Andrew Ites
The Warriors defense has been a sieve during a stretch of games where they have lost three of their past four. How do they solve those problems moving forward?
The Warriors have given up over 115 points in each of their last three losses. Steve Kerr has discussed how his team is “mentally fried” and looking forward to the All-Star break, and that has had a negative impact on the team’s defense.
Reason #1
Some of the Warriors’ defensive troubles are merely regular season issues.
For example, Kevon Looney got roasted in the pick and roll against the Thunder, and he will probably be on the sidelines come playoff time. Also, the Warriors’ effort in transition defense has been unacceptable during this stretch of games, and I don’t expect effort to be an issue in the playoffs.
Reason #2
Golden State’s offense can take part of the blame for their defensive struggles as well.
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They had 25 turnovers in their loss to the Thunder and 19 turnovers in their loss in Utah, and that allows teams to get easy buckets in transition off of live-ball turnovers. The Warriors need to do a much better job of controlling the ball on the offensive end if they want their defense to improve.
Reason #3
Finally, the Warriors’ normal defensive stoppers haven’t played at the same level this season.
Andre Iguodala’s performance has taken a significant dip as he’s beginning to look like he’s 34 years old, and Draymond Green has admitted that he’s not defending as well as he has in the past.
While Kevin Durant is having the best defensive season of his career, the Warriors need Iguodala and Draymond to become the defensive forces that they once were if their team defense is going to improve.
Next: Why do the Warriors Rack Up so Many Technical Fouls?
The Warriors have multiple problems that have led to their defensive struggles, but nearly all of them are fixable before the games really start to matter.