Winless road trip a wake-up call for struggling Warriors
The Warriors were the team to beat this season, but the Dubs look
nothing like juggernauts, starting the season in an early 3-7 hole.
>Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, center, reacts during the
second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic,
Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 6, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 6, 2022 at
12:35 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/11/06/winless-road-trip-a-wake-up-call-for-struggling-warriors/

NEW ORLEANS – The Warriors spent the summer relishing in their
improbable run back to the top of the NBA.

But that championship celebration is long over, and the hangover
lingers. Golden State’s abysmal 0-5 road trip, featuring three losses to
lowly Eastern Conference teams, should be a loud wake-up call to the
reigning champs.

The Warriors were the team to beat this season, but the Dubs look
nothing like juggernauts, starting the season in an early 3-7 hole – the
worst season opening for defending champs since the 2002-03 Los Angeles
Lakers.

There is a sense of uneasiness growing with the Warriors, who haven’t
won any of their six road games. This is only the second time in the
Steve Kerr era the Warriors have been under .500 through 10 games. Last
time they were in this position was in 2019 when Klay Thompson was out
for the entire season, Stephen Curry got injured four games in and the
Warriors finished with the NBA’s worst record. No one wants to repeat
that season.

Curry is frustrated, noting the Warriors hold themselves to a higher
standard of excellence — a standard that is clearly not being met.
Draymond Green has been disappointed in the defense. Golden State had
one of the league’s best units just a season ago — so far this season,
the Warriors have allowed the second most points per possession.

But they’re the Warriors, winners of four of the last eight NBA Finals.
They deserve some benefit of the doubt, right?

Well, some do.

Curry, Green and Thompson have proven time and time again that they know
how to win. Kevon Looney is also a three-time champion, and Andrew
Wiggins fits in nicely with that grouping to round out the starting
unit, which remains arguably the best five-man lineup in the league.

But it’s a dramatic drop-off when those guys step off the court. The
Warriors’ reserves are a major concern. It doesn’t help that Jordan
Poole, the Warriors’ sixth man and anchor of the second unit, has gone
cold, as of late. After his most recent poor outing, during which he
needed 18 shots to score 20 points, Kerr concluded Poole is trying to do
too much.

“Jordan is trying too hard to create every play,” Kerr said. “He’s at
his best when there’s flow to the game, he’s playing on and off the
ball, getting some catch-and-shoot opportunities.”

Kerr signaled changes were coming to the rotation after the Warriors
failed to beat the shorthanded Orlando Magic on what was a season-high
scoring night for Curry, Thompson and Looney, who combined for 83
points. In that game, as has been a troubling trend this season, the
Warriors starters finished with positive plus/minus, while the bench –
with the exception of two-way guard Ty Jerome, who closed the game for
the Dubs – was negative. JaMychal Green finished with a team-worst minus-15.

After the loss, Draymond Green was careful not to put sole blame on the
younger bench. But the reality is the Warriors are relying on the likes
of James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody — ages 21, 20, and 20
— to step into larger roles this season.

When Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Green sat out of Friday’s loss to the
New Orleans Pelicans, the door was opened for those young guys to take
on larger roles and prove to Kerr and his coaching staff why they
deserve to be on the floor.

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Kuminga, who Kerr hasn’t played by choice in five games this season,
started and capitalized on the opportunity. He finished with 19 points
on 7-of-12 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in a
career-high 38 minutes.

Moses Moody has the makings of a dependable two-way wing. And the
Warriors’ two-way players, Jerome and Anthony Lamb, turned heads with
their play in New Orleans.

But Wiseman is still struggling. It’s been ugly, at times, when his
slippery hands result in missed buckets and rebounds. Some of those
mistakes have noticeably frustrated the former No. 2 overall pick in the
2021 NBA Draft, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.

“He’s really hard on himself,” Kerr said of Wiseman. “I want guys to
learn from their mistakes and grow from them… I want them to play free
and lose but there has to be some structure within that freedom.

“When we don’t have structure, it just becomes a pickup game, which has
been the case for a lot of the games so far this year. That freedom is
abused and it becomes just reckless basketball. So you gotta find that
balance.”

The Warriors play the Kings — one of only three Western Conference teams
with lesser records than them — Monday at Chase Center before a rare,
mid-week, three-day break. The practices during that break will be vital
for Golden State to address these rotation issues and tinker with
combinations as it tries to right the ship.

“Next week will be a great opportunity for us to put a lot of work on,
execution-wise on both ends and work on our rotations,” Kerr said. “This
should be a good week for us to get back on track.”