The Golden State Warriors, amidst many frontcourt injuries, have had to put their trust in unproven summertime additions. It hasn’t worked well.
There’s no denying that this season hasn’t started as the Golden State Warriors had hoped for. But, can you really blame the players? The Warriors, in some ways, knew this would’ve been a tough beginning.
With frontcourt injuries mounting, the Warriors are trusting Marquese Chriss, Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall to give them minutes at the five as both Kevon Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein have missed time this season.
That’s not a recipe for success.
All three of those players, two of which have less than two years experience, are traditional power forwards. That’s why it’s not shocking that they can’t defend the bigger centers like Ivica Zubac and Steven Adams with ease.
Along those lines, it’s also not necessarily Chriss, Spellman and Paschall’s fault for the early struggles of the Warriors. All three may not potentially be in the rotation for many of the league’s top teams and have been expected to play and thrive in big minutes at a high level for the Dubs.
That’s not how it works.
There was a reason Chriss was on the market.
He’s not going to be the star the Warriors need in the frontcourt. The lack of experience from Chriss, Paschall, and Spellman has been detrimental for the Warriors, and it’s forced pressure on Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell.
All along, it’s been on those three to pull the majority of the weight for Golden State. When they don’t, the Warriors will lose. Curry and Green can’t have off nights and be expected to be bailed out by Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson anymore.
They must succeed in their minutes because the lack of stardom in their frontcourt could plummet this team to the bottom of the standings soon. After all, the Warriors are giving a full game’s worth of minutes to Paschall and Spellman.
How much do they realistically expect giving two stretch forwards minutes alongside Draymond Green? That lineup isn’t going to work, and there’s no need to trash the first and second-year players for not match up well with some of the NBA’s most aggressive big men.