As the Golden State Warriors have begun the season with a 10-9 record, one of their defining flaws has been their inability to prevent opposing teams, even those who are weak offensively, from dominating them on the interior given the relative lack of size they have been forced to operate with.
Yet, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN, the problem can actually be traced back to their lack of lateral quickness on the perimeter, a weakness that is coupling with their lack of bona-fide rim protection to compromise their defensive identity as a whole.
"[The Warriors] keep pointing to the fact that they are not staying in front of guys on the perimeter. If you are going to be small, if you are going to have lack of rim protection, if you are going to be outmanned on the glass, you cannot also just be getting blown by to the rim."Anthony Slater
Although the problem is rather easily identifiable, head coach Steve Kerr has a tall task ahead of him in attempting to address it utilizing his current personnel.
The Warriors desperately need to become a better defensive team if they are going to be contenders this season
Last season, following their blockbuster acquisition of Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, the Warriors very quickly became one of the most solid teams in the league on both ends of the floor, capitalizing upon the energy and scoring ability of their revamped starting lineup.
Across all games following the All-Star Break last season, Golden State was first in the NBA in defensive rating.
Yet, as players such as Butler and Draymond Green continue to age, and the Warriors continue to fail to provide their rotation with capable rim protection, their defense will only decline, and that is exactly what has happened so far this season.
While they are a respectable tenth in defensive rating, they are 18th in defensive rebounding percentage and opponent points in the paint, meaning that teams are often taking advantage of their compromised interior defense.
While they do have a set of solid perimeter defenders on their roster, including Moses Moody and Will Richard, there are enough players who have come to represent targets in that area of the court that opposing teams are having too easy of a time exploiting this weakness.
While De'Anthony Melton will return at some point, it still will be exceedingly difficult for the Warriors to construct a lineup that does not have one or more glaring defensive weaknesses. Some of their rougher losses this season, such as the ones to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, put this fact on full display.
For Steve Kerr, therefore, there is no simple solution to this problem, but solving it will be absolutely vital to any championship hopes that Golden State has this season.