The first thing I want to point out how well-written and informed Adam Lauridsen of the Bay Area News Group is at positing on the Golden State Warriors. I'm not going to bother summarizing it because it's a must-read before moving on to this one.
An intrinsic requirement necessary of becoming a reporter, journalist, or sportswriter is the assumption they need to stay unbiased during all situations. No cheering on press row, no rooting for any team, and above all sins, zero favoritism towards any other basketball team. On a team-based blog like this one, all that goes out the window. That's primarily why SB Nation is such a unique site. There aren't incessant cries of whether an author is biased or not because, well, the site name is freakin' Golden State of Mind.
Watching this game against the Phoenix Suns, I tried to keep a level head throughout the game, no matter the process and consequence. I caught a lot of flak after the Kobe Bryant torn achilles game because I refused to blame the referees for the loss (I won't dig it up). Exclamation points, reactive points and gibberish is not something I'm wont to do sans Stephen Curry supernova level. But most "unprofessional" reactions happen in moments that generally cause us to embrace strangers.
The Warriors the past two weeks?
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That's hair-tearing; screaming at your TV hoping someone will listen; cracking open the fifth beer (in the first quarter); snapping at your brother as he innocently walks in the room asking where the stapler is; turning off the TV then turning it back on; furiously refreshing Twitter to read everyone else's crazed reactions all encapsulated into a boiling point.
From middle school-level turnovers, careless passes, the frustrating inability to switch or hedge or talk on simple pick-and-rolls, refusal to play actual decent defensive players, and an offensive set that doesn't require Curry to dribble around for 23 seconds and hoist a three (and still almost make it); it's been a confusing, yet predictable time for the players and its fans.
The same problems, recap after video breakdown after recap, are written, opined, posited, and still, we see the same minute details ring true possession after possession, causing said simple errors to loom larger and larger until it becomes a running joke. But jokes were funny when the teams were bad. Loud ovations for Andris Biedrins free throws were cute when it didn't matter. Lee sitting out because of a mysterious injury was OK because the Tank Watch was on. Mickael Pietrus stepping out of bounds every other time he touched the ball made us laugh because it helped us cope with how truly awful the team was in its crappy conception.
This team? They're 13-12 and making the same mental and physical errors fitting for a 9-win team. Ya know, like the Toronto Raptors. With expectations come the innate assumption there's talent, promise and drive. The Warriors arguably possess all three, and yet, the same problems arise without failure. The careless fumbles, the lack of defense resulting into double-digit deficits all stand as proof that our "overreactions" might cease to become so if only because the notion of small sample size and injury can truly extrapolate itself into something much more depressing.
The problems are obvious; the changes are not.
Literally the only Warrior that can dribble into the lane without an oncoming natural disaster crashing into the team (see Kent Bazemore dribble off his foot into a backcourt violation). And he turned the ball over six times. That just about says it all for a team that can't defend or get into sets without half the shot clock winding down.
Also, Curry is now averaging 37 minutes on the season while playing over 39 minutes in 10 of the last 11 games. With back-to-backs and only one day off between every game from now until the end of the month, this is concerning. I don't even want to fathom a team without, by far, its best player.