The Golden State Warriors were awful on Tuesday night, on both sides of the ball. The Utah Jazz - who aren’t exactly playing great basketball - shellacked the Warriors 129-99.
But while the team’s offense wasn’t good, it was the defense that really let everyone down. And after the beatdown, coach Steve Kerr didn’t pull any punches when assessing the defensive performance.
Steve Kerr called the Warriors performance tonight "pathetic" -- here he is on the 30-or loss in Utah pic.twitter.com/pWdzNmLwlQ
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 31, 2018
Among other things, Kerr stated that, “I saw one team get their ass kicked. That’s what I saw”. Well . . . yeah, that about sums it up.
Kerr added that, “I think our guys will tell you that that was a pathetic effort out there. That was disgusting basketball. We just didn’t start out the game with any force defensively. We weren’t staying into bodies, they were just stopping behind screens, we were lazy on our switches. We played with no sense of urgency, no sense of purpose, and they’re obviously fighting for the playoffs.”
For as upset as Kerr was, he was still his patented, laid-back, funny self. Asked to pinpoint what went wrong, Kerr jokingly picked on an assistant, saying, “Nightlife - you should have seen Ron Adams last night, got in at 4:30 AM.”
Steve Kerr on the loss: "Nightlife -- you should've seen Ron Adams last night, got in at 4:30 am" pic.twitter.com/PmismKuo4V
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 31, 2018
On the whole, Golden State’s defense has been good this year. But it hasn’t been great, partly because it’s been filled with poor performances such as this one.
At least Kerr was honest. Someone had to tell them.