Golden State Warriors: Kelly Oubre steps up to his own call

When NBC reported on February 2 that Kelly Oubre said someone other than Stephen Curry needed to step up for the Golden State Warriors, I almost lost my mind.  My first thought was who are you say who needs to step up?  How horrid was his start to the season?

I thought it was some tough talk for a guy that didn’t sniff double digits until game number three of the season.  He didn’t pass the eye test until a 40 point explosion vs. Dallas on February 2nd.  I wanted to roast him…..man am I glad I didn’t, that tweet would not have aged well.

Kelly Oubre Jr. has answered his own call to action by stepping up and becoming a scoring threat for the Golden State Warriors.

This man’s game is starting mesh with Kerr’s system and making a  bold statement at the same time.  Never did I expect acquiring Oubre to be a game-changing pickup.  I just hoped he would be what he has been over the last 4 games……solid.

Over the last 5 games, he has 3 games scoring 20 or more and double-digit scoring in all 5 games.  I could nitpick his free throw misses, but what’s the point.  He is making solid contributions on both sides of the ball and dunking on folks as well.

What about Andrew Wiggins?

So the next person that might in line for folks to call out, or attempt to cancel, is Andrew Wiggins.  Could one make a case that Wiggins needs to do more?  Yes.  No.  Maybe?  Let’s see, he’s down 2.1 points per game, he’s just about even on assists, his field goal percentage is up 2.4% and his player efficiency rating is down 1.0% from his career averages.  To say he needs to step up is semantics.  His defense has been invaluable.  We need to come to terms that Wiggins if we are lucky may just be Bruce Bowen.  I’m not all that mad at that.

This season has been full of ups and downs, and both Kelly and Andrew have been up and down, but after the first couple of games, Andrew has been mostly consistent.  He’s been a solid, not spectacular contributor on offense, and pretty darn good on the defensive side of the ball.  Oubre has carried the D on some nights as well.

Who else should we put on blast?

NO ONE.  Everyone else is putting up what should have been expected coming into the season.  Mulder just got extended.  Bazemore has been solid.  Dray is Dray, and Wiseman has exceeded expectations.  At some point, I thought there was going to be a Go Fund Me page to bribe Kerr to start Damien Lee.  As much we want other players to step up and produce in ways they have never been capable of it’s just not going to happen.  Pascall has been fairly consistent and what more could you expect out of Looney?  They both appear to be at their ceilings unless you believe 2K’s “sophisticated” rating systems.

Give Oubre his props?

In baseball, we say “Sometimes you just gotta tip your hat.”  I guess in this scenario sometimes you gotta tip your headband.  This dude essentially put himself on blast and answered the call.  Life would be a lot easier if Klay was on the court.   The game would be a lot easier for everyone, however, that is not the reality of the situation.  Maybe Oubre has more at stake than anyone on the team.  He is currently in the midst of a full season interview.   Some folks will say he has the job, some will say otherwise.

What I can say, with certainty,  is the man has heart AND some dog in him.  Oubre’s best role would be coming off the bench.  Essentially he is doing everyone a favor by stepping into a starting role on the fly.  He then called himself out, and rose to the challenge!  Respect my dude.

After his terrible start to the season, he has stepped up and is possibly pricing himself out of a roster spot on the squad next season.  Most players would have made all types of excuses and disappeared.  This man let his game speak, and his game is loudly asking for a raise.