I'm glad to see this headline, as I've been wondering if part of the
Warriors' problem is the inability of the coaches to show the newer and
especially the younger players how to play with each other and the
veterans. The problem seems a lot more complicated than that (as it says
below), but I'm glad to see the coach take some responsibility. -AL

========================================================

Steve Kerr says he’s ‘failed’ to bring Warriors together as reigning
champs remain winless on road
Warriors lack commitment to both ends of court, to each other and to
winning — trademarks of the seasons that made this team a dynasty
>Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, and guard Klay
Thompson watch from the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball
game against the Phoenix Suns, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Phoenix. (AP
Photo/Matt York)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 17, 2022 at 9:59 a.m. | UPDATED: November 17, 2022
at 12:06 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/11/17/steve-kerr-says-hes-failed-to-bring-warriors-together-as-reigning-champs-remain-winless-on-road/

PHOENIX — Last year at this time, the Warriors were 12-2, boasting the
best defense in the NBA while also leading the league in scoring.

Everything is different now.

While scoring hasn’t been an issue for Stephen Curry — he scored 50
Wednesday night and is leading the league at 34.6 points per game — the
team has been inconsistent and out of sync on offense. That has been
impacting play on the other end. The defense can’t get stops and is
allowing 118.3 points per game, a 16.7-point increase from last November.

Golden State is 6-9 and 12th in the Western Conference standings. They
are 0-8 on the road.

Coach Steve Kerr didn’t mince words Wednesday night following the
Warriors’ 130-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Kerr said he has “failed” as
coach, unable to unite the players and “give them a vision that they can
collectively shoot for.”

But the responsibility doesn’t lie solely with Kerr. Everybody needs to
be held accountable.

Unselfish play and commitment to both ends of the court, to each other
and to winning — characteristics that defined this winning team for the
better part of the last decade — are lacking.

“There’s no collective grit,” Kerr said. “And when you don’t have grit,
the game is really easy for the other team.”

Kerr said guys aren’t focused on fundamentals and playing as a unit. He
didn’t offer much insight on why that is, given that 10 of the team’s 16
players were on last year’s title team. Perhaps it’s exhaustion from
last summer’s NBA Finals run or the lingering effects of Draymond
Green’s act of aggression against Jordan Poole, the preseason incident
Kerr called the biggest crisis of his Warriors’ tenure.

“We need to figure out what it’s going to take to win and figure out
what everybody needs to do differently, more consistently,” Curry said.
“Forget the road record, you can’t even find a sustainable period of
success when habits start to form and we’re in a position where we’re
feeling good about ourselves. We’re still searching and chasing a little
bit.”

Defense was yet again an issue for the Warriors, who’ve surrendered 125
points or more in six of their 15 games. The Suns, playing without Chris
Paul, Landry Shamet and Cameron Johnson, still managed to light it up
beyond the arc. They made more than half of their 40 attempted
3-pointers and shot 51.6% from the field. Phoenix scored 73 points in
the first half — its second time doing so this season against the Warriors.

The Warriors also haven’t been able to find an offensive rhythm. Klay
Thompson remains in a slump, shooting 35.1% overall and 33% from 3-point
range, both career lows. He scored 19 points Wednesday, but it took 17
shots (and four free throws) to get there.

Poole, coming off a 36-point game Monday night, had only two points
Wednesday. He played 27 minutes, took only five shots, and missed them all.

Other young players weren’t the cause of Wednesday’s misfortune, but
it’s becoming an increased concern that they’re struggling to get
playing time as Kerr has tightened the rotation in an attempt to get the
season back on track. Two-way forward Anthony Lamb has jumped the
players touted as potential future foundational pieces such as Moses
Moody and Jonathan Kuminga. James Wiseman has been sent to Santa Cruz
until further notice to get reps after a rocky 11 games.

“We have to be honest with ourselves,” Curry said. “We’re not playing
the way we should. What are we going to do about it?”

Kerr said the issues go beyond the numbers. The Warriors, a team known
for playing with joy, desire and unity, are showing little of those
characteristics. Their subdued reaction on the bench, even after big
plays is telling.

“If you’re not right emotionally, spiritually, you will get exposed
every night,” Kerr said. “And that’s where we are right now.”

It’s not as simple as just putting the five best players on the court
and letting them work. Kerr wishes it were. But these guys are human
beings, too, with complex emotions and life going on outside basketball.

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“Every single player has a story, has something that’s going on in their
life,” he said. “And if the group finds a way to put all that in the
back seat and commit to just winning the game, the magic can happen.”
Perhaps one of the biggest tests of Curry’s leadership is ahead of him.
He’ll play a big part, along with Iguodala and Kevon Looney, in helping
the staff figure out how to shift the team’s mentality and get every guy
in the locker room on the same page.

“Yeah, I’m scoring great, trying to be efficient, going to keep doing
that,” Curry said, “but there’s a collective mindset around how I need
to help everybody kind of get into the right frame of mind to help to
win, and I’m ready for that challenge to try to figure that out.”

The Warriors, who’ve won four of the last eight NBA Finals, deserve the
benefit of the doubt to right the ship. They stumbled at times last
season and still went on to win a championship. But the clock is ticking.

Allen wrote:
> I'm glad to see this headline, as I've been wondering if part of the
> Warriors' problem is the inability of the coaches to show the newer and
> especially the younger players how to play with each other and the
> veterans. The problem seems a lot more complicated than that (as it says
> below), but I'm glad to see the coach take some responsibility.  -AL

I think he's falling on his sword here. I don't think he bears much
responsibility at all. This is the same group of players as last season,
at least in terms of the core six, and they're not even trying on
defense. That's on the players, not on Kerr.

--Robin

> ========================================================
>
> Steve Kerr says he’s ‘failed’ to bring Warriors together as reigning
> champs remain winless on road
> Warriors lack commitment to both ends of court, to each other and to
> winning — trademarks of the seasons that made this team a dynasty
>
> By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
> PUBLISHED: November 17, 2022 at 9:59 a.m. | UPDATED: November 17, 2022
> at 12:06 p.m.
> https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/11/17/steve-kerr-says-hes-failed-to-bring-warriors-together-as-reigning-champs-remain-winless-on-road/
>
>
>
> PHOENIX — Last year at this time, the Warriors were 12-2, boasting the
> best defense in the NBA while also leading the league in scoring.
>
> Everything is different now.
>
> While scoring hasn’t been an issue for Stephen Curry — he scored 50
> Wednesday night and is leading the league at 34.6 points per game — the
> team has been inconsistent and out of sync on offense. That has been
> impacting play on the other end. The defense can’t get stops and is
> allowing 118.3 points per game, a 16.7-point increase from last November.
>
> Golden State is 6-9 and 12th in the Western Conference standings. They
> are 0-8 on the road.
>
> Coach Steve Kerr didn’t mince words Wednesday night following the
> Warriors’ 130-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Kerr said he has “failed” as
> coach, unable to unite the players and “give them a vision that they can
> collectively shoot for.”
>
> But the responsibility doesn’t lie solely with Kerr. Everybody needs to
> be held accountable.
>
> Unselfish play and commitment to both ends of the court, to each other
> and to winning — characteristics that defined this winning team for the
> better part of the last decade — are lacking.
>
> “There’s no collective grit,” Kerr said. “And when you don’t have grit,
> the game is really easy for the other team.”
>
> Kerr said guys aren’t focused on fundamentals and playing as a unit. He
> didn’t offer much insight on why that is, given that 10 of the team’s 16
> players were on last year’s title team. Perhaps it’s exhaustion from
> last summer’s NBA Finals run or the lingering effects of Draymond
> Green’s act of aggression against Jordan Poole, the preseason incident
> Kerr called the biggest crisis of his Warriors’ tenure.
>
> “We need to figure out what it’s going to take to win and figure out
> what everybody needs to do differently, more consistently,” Curry said.
> “Forget the road record, you can’t even find a sustainable period of
> success when habits start to form and we’re in a position where we’re
> feeling good about ourselves. We’re still searching and chasing a little
> bit.”
>
> Defense was yet again an issue for the Warriors, who’ve surrendered 125
> points or more in six of their 15 games. The Suns, playing without Chris
> Paul, Landry Shamet and Cameron Johnson, still managed to light it up
> beyond the arc. They made more than half of their 40 attempted
> 3-pointers and shot 51.6% from the field. Phoenix scored 73 points in
> the first half — its second time doing so this season against the Warriors.
>
> The Warriors also haven’t been able to find an offensive rhythm. Klay
> Thompson remains in a slump, shooting 35.1% overall and 33% from 3-point
> range, both career lows. He scored 19 points Wednesday, but it took 17
> shots (and four free throws) to get there.
>
> Poole, coming off a 36-point game Monday night, had only two points
> Wednesday. He played 27 minutes, took only five shots, and missed them all.
>
> Other young players weren’t the cause of Wednesday’s misfortune, but
> it’s becoming an increased concern that they’re struggling to get
> playing time as Kerr has tightened the rotation in an attempt to get the
> season back on track. Two-way forward Anthony Lamb has jumped the
> players touted as potential future foundational pieces such as Moses
> Moody and Jonathan Kuminga. James Wiseman has been sent to Santa Cruz
> until further notice to get reps after a rocky 11 games.
>
> “We have to be honest with ourselves,” Curry said. “We’re not playing
> the way we should. What are we going to do about it?”
>
> Kerr said the issues go beyond the numbers. The Warriors, a team known
> for playing with joy, desire and unity, are showing little of those
> characteristics. Their subdued reaction on the bench, even after big
> plays is telling.
>
> “If you’re not right emotionally, spiritually, you will get exposed
> every night,” Kerr said. “And that’s where we are right now.”
>
> It’s not as simple as just putting the five best players on the court
> and letting them work. Kerr wishes it were. But these guys are human
> beings, too, with complex emotions and life going on outside basketball.
>
> “Every single player has a story, has something that’s going on in their
> life,” he said. “And if the group finds a way to put all that in the
> back seat and commit to just winning the game, the magic can happen.”
> Perhaps one of the biggest tests of Curry’s leadership is ahead of him.
> He’ll play a big part, along with Iguodala and Kevon Looney, in helping
> the staff figure out how to shift the team’s mentality and get every guy
> in the locker room on the same page.
>
> “Yeah, I’m scoring great, trying to be efficient, going to keep doing
> that,” Curry said, “but there’s a collective mindset around how I need
> to help everybody kind of get into the right frame of mind to help to
> win, and I’m ready for that challenge to try to figure that out.”
>
> The Warriors, who’ve won four of the last eight NBA Finals, deserve the
> benefit of the doubt to right the ship. They stumbled at times last
> season and still went on to win a championship. But the clock is ticking.