The Warriors‘ two-timeline plan of mixing young players with their established stars isn’t working, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. The latest example came Sunday against the Kings when coach Steve Kerr had to pull his reserves midway through the fourth quarter and reinsert Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
“We’re not a team right now where we can afford to let guys make mistakes,” Kerr said after the loss, which dropped Golden State to 0-7 on the road. “We’re not good enough to withstand a lot of mistakes.”
Third-year center James Wiseman, whom the Warriors valued highly enough to take with the second pick in the 2020 draft, has already fallen out of the rotation. Moses Moody hasn’t played at all the past two games, and his fellow 2021 lottery pick, Jonathan Kuminga, is seeing minimal time, usually early in the game. Even Jordan Poole, who received a lucrative long-term contract extension last month, sat out nearly the entire fourth quarter against Sacramento.
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Another problem for Golden State is that offseason additions JaMychal Green and Donte DiVincenzo haven’t replaced the production lost when Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II and Nemanja Bjelica all departed, Thompson adds. Green has lost his rotation spot, while DiVincenzo is coming off an injury and hasn’t been as productive as the front office was hoping. Thompson notes that Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson would both be seeing regular playing time if they hadn’t also left in free agency.
- Draymond Green believes the Warriors are still adjusting to their reserves (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). The second unit used to present opponents with a different look on offense, Green said, but now the first man off the bench is usually Poole, who is similar to Stephen Curry in his style of play.
- Klay Thompson has been struggling with his shot so far, but he promises things are going to change, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. After Sunday’s loss, Thompson posted a message on Instagram that read, “My belief is stronger than your doubt. I PROMISE you it’s coming. And when it does, the floodgates will open.” His shooting percentage currently sits at a career-low 35.1%.
Once again, in last nights game vs the Kings, the Warriors were destroying them, and then once again, Steve Kerr inserted a non-NBA, guy off the street-level player in Jeremy Lamb, who proved in every single second he was on the court that he is a G League player, and directly caused the Warriors to hemorrhage the massive lead Curry helped them build. Why is he getting playing time over the vastly superior Moses Moody (who can play 3 of the 5 positions on the court) and Ryan Rollins, a traditional PG who at least is shooting well, is something Kerr must be raked over the coals about.
Instead Kerr has been once again obsessed with playing 2-way players who will not be on the Warriors next year with no reason given, other than lying about Jerome+Lamb “being good” – um, you have the most total talent in the league, if you are losing ANY games, its because GSW are playing 2-way guys too much, which instantly turns the game into 4 on 5 with one random guy randomly screwing everything up.
Steve Kerr (and his moronic rotations) is the only problem here. If you cant see it – you don’t know ball.
Clearly you are smarter than Kerr. You should apply asap.
You don’t know ball? You don’t even know the name of the player on the Warrior roster you’re whining about. Jeremy lamb is a UFA that hasn’t played on any team this year.
Anthony Lamb/Jeremy Lamb, who cares! Neither of them are NBA players and neither of them will be on GSW this year.
I only know NBA ball, I dont know about G-League or Euro League players like Anthony Lamb is. If he wasnt drafted, I dont know him.
So what you’re basically saying is you have no idea who or what you’re talking about?
I had him as a late 2nd round pick that year, and he got signed pretty quickly…his individual numbers have also been good the for year, but they’re using him at the 3 too often b/c of no Iguodala
You complained all last season about Porter and even complained they kept Payton over Avery Bradley and they one a championship. You’ve never been right.
*won
Remember, he knows balls.
Clicked on this story fully expecting a schizophrenic rant from FreebasefaninLexington that I won’t read and that’s exactly what I found lmao.
You clicked and made the site money though! W for me in helping this place out! I am obviously the best poster on this site who knows the most.
That’s good man, I like the site/app, I use it every day. That has literally nothing to do with you haha what a weird response
Lamb was +6 in the cleveland game, by the way, and is 1 of the only options to space the floor at the 4 for them
Sacramento is also a tough matchup for them
Alternate headline: Warriors two-timeline plan too complicated for a moron like Steve Kerr to try and run in real time.
Just like Elon and twitter, we are seeing Kerr is has and always will be in the way of GSW success, not helping it. GSW has 6 titles right now in the Curry era if not for Kerr, who is a 5/10 coach, just like he was a 5/10 GM, 5/10 player and 5/10 commentator.
FIRE STEVE KERR
Twitter usage is at an all time high. Since Elon took over stock price has actually gone up. 6 months ago it was around 44 a share. Now its up 53 almost 54.
Also, didn’t you say things were fine after the Green Poole incident. Guess not……
Should trade Poole for picks and some better rotation players.
Twitter stock is no longer traded publicly, Musk bought the company and took it private. His agreement to buy it at $54 a share is why the price rose to that level.
@Jun Like My Daddy
Maybe the most delusional thing ever written in here, congrats, I hope Elon gives you what you want in life (it would be the first time).
Things are fine after Poole/Green? Green is playing great, actually that might be the key to the season is moving Dray into the second unit to stabilize it, as the starting 5 is beating the brakes off everyone. Poole is playing badly because Kerr has not given him a clearly-defined role, and he is playing like that.
You dont know ball.
Your mom didn’t hug you enough.
Jordan Poole looks like he’s regressed in every single way other than scoring from last year. Massive turnover spike, not being aggressive when it comes to rebounds, and he’s either too aggressive or not aggressive enough on almost every defensive possession. Draymond is also overcommitting on defense and getting no help when he slips up.
Its what happens when Poole is forced to play with G Leaguers instead of NBA players. They bring everyone down. Poole is playing 4 on 5 every time he shares the court with Lamb.
Anthony Lamb PER equal to Draymond Green and better than Klay Thompson. Jeremy Lamb is no longer playing in the NBA.
PER is the dumbest stat ever lol
Just like Jeremy Lamb, Anthony Lamb isnt an NBA player either
When you put it that way I can’t argue with you. I literally cannot argue with you because you said nothing. I understand that a stat that measures shooting efficiency, rebounding, passing, TOs, and steals leaves a lot out but I doubt a team of Klay Thompsons with a PER of 8.5 would win one game during the regular season while a team of Donovan Mitchells with a PER of 25 would probably go undefeated.
Developing players takes time. Expecting them to be All-Stars the moment they step on to the court is ridiculous. Iggy and Donte should stabilize the second unit once they get going. That will help the younger guys.
If the 2 play how do you get minutes for the youngs?
Don’t mind me, just being a nerd. But… 6/16 is 37.5%. Klay Thompson’s shooting percentage therefore did not drop but in fact increased as a result of his 6/16 performance.
Obviously that’s still not great. lol…..
I’m kinda nerdy glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed that…
Win or lose, Warriors gotta play Wiseman, Moody, and Kuminga. That’s the way the roster was built, and playing them is the only way to develop and get results at season end.
I recommend inserting ome of them in the starting lineup and/or others to G League for short term stint.
These guys ahould be more than willing to play in GLeague as Poole played quite a bit there in his 2nd year and turned it into $128m jackpot.
I think if Draymond moved out of the starting 5 and they used Wiseman-Kuminga-Dray-Moody-Poole more they would find those 4 players start to play better.
Warriors at least should have retained Gary Payton II. Payton was one of their best defenders and he could shoot the three ball. Letting him go was a big mistake.
They didn’t let him go, he’s just yet another player who hated playing under Steve Kerr, just like KD has admitted over and over. Kerr is the biggest net negative coach in the NBA. He’s awful at creating non-Curry rotations, as well as being a pouty tech-machine, plus free agents do not want to play under him for cheap. The Warriors have 4 rings due to Steph Curry and Steph Curry only.
If Kerr was such a bad coach, Steph would have bailed out a long time ago and made it known. You don’t win 4 championships without knowing how to coach.
I would give it 20-25 games as Myers indicated. They are still trying different rotations. Stay calm, patient.
I think the Warriors track record clearly shows that the owner, GM, coach, vets know what is needed and how to fix things. A 5-8 record in November is not a big concern in the overall picture. Just be in the top 4 in the conference come playoff time and have everyone ready to go. You will see that in a few weeks, Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody will have significant roles. You could be a Clippers, Kings or Knicks fan. Sorry franchises who haven’t won a title in decades, if ever. Relax and have another beer.
I’m beginning to think this stretch is good for the Warriors. A Championship came pretty quick for the young guys. They need to learn what Dray, Iggy, Steph, Klay, and Kerr are preaching. Divencenzo sounds like he gets it. Once he gets going, and Iggy gets on the floor, things will stabilize. It is all about the learning process.
Boston was the 9 seed in February last season
They need Iguodala defensively on the wing, and at guard, and are missing that with his playmaking.
They also lost their floor spacing big, and Jamychal Green hasnt given them that, and they’ve used a lot of lineups with less space on the floor. Its difficult to use him and Draymond together b/c of their redundant skillsets, without more off ball shooters around them.
Divincenzo also hasnt been what you would think on either side of the floor, and they need a playmaking guard that can defend, and play next to Steph Curry and/or Poole, and preferably also knock down some shots. Shaq Harrison is still available, and he can replace a lot of what they lost with Payton, the way they hoped Divincenzo might
Without Porter at the 4/3, they lost some defense there, but more importantly, his floor spacing, and just added versatility. Kuminga can theoretically help defensively, and as a playmaker, but his shooting wont be as consistent, and ideally those are guys you probably would play together/interchangeably based on matchup. Anthony Lamb gives them shooting at the 4, but is an inconsistent defender, and cant really give you as much at the 3, which was the great thing about Porter
You are kinda confused. Divencenzo hasn’t played. So, why are you knocking him?
He has been injured, but when he has played, they’ve been -4 with him on the floor, and about -5 compared to what they are with him off the floor. His net rating has been really bad as well. That being said, you are right that it is a small sample, and you hope he rebounds from that. I had previously said that him being out hurt them, so we’ll see how he looks over the next few games. He has been ok defensively, but still a little below what you would hope from him, with them needing defense at the guard spot
Not knocking him. Just bgg nm pointing out that they need him to do those things, and if not, there are others available, the same way I suggested Payton before they signed him in 2021
Divincenzo made a difference tonight, and the Warriors got a convincing win. Maybe take Thompson out of the starting lineup. I always see poole being shuffled around due to defensive concerns, but Thompson has shot lousy so far.
Doesnt matter though. They are still positive with him on the floor b/c of the spacing he gives them, and not needing the ball, with multiple others around him that do
This is why I am still arguing for Duncan Robinson to start and against the narratives against him. Even if he is missing shots, he is valuable to them on the floor for just being there
Duncan Robinson doesn’t play for the Warriors. How could he be a starter?
For the Heat…didn’t realize that had to be clarified