FanPost

5 Biggest Reasons for the Terrible Start to the Season


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4 Games in - I've seen what their problem is.

The Warriors has had one of their most disastrous starts to the season in recent history. Falling behind to the Clippers and just getting obliterated by the Suns and Thunder. The Warriors right now are 1-3 with the San Antonio Spurs coming to town tomorrow. With no Stephen Curry due to a broken hand. But I have been observing what has been the Warriors issues in these 4 games.

1. It's Basically a 3 Man Roster

Up until Willie Cauley-Stein returned from his injury, the Warriors had basically been running out there with 3 legit NBA players in Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and D'Angelo Russell. And because of that, teams are focusing more on them than rather just getting out to the other guys. The other players like Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Poole, Jacob Evans and Damion Lee likely wouldn't get significant minutes on a good team (though Robinson did get some good minutes with Detroit and Indiana).

2. Lack of Focus/Effort

Pretty much everyone on the Warriors outside of Steph Curry and D'Angelo Russell has not had the focus on offense. Pretty much everyone on the Warriors INCLUDING Steph Curry and D'Angelo Russell has lacked the necessary effort on defense. This was evident when I watched last night - zeroing in on rookies Eric Paschall and Jordan Poole constantly turning their heads ball watching and not locating their man. Omari Spellman and Damion Lee are also guilty of this. On offense, just too many missed layups by guys like Glenn Robinson III, that's just a lack of focus.

3. Nobody Boxes Out

As big of a body that Omari Spellman is, I have yet to see him effectively box out another big and lead that into another player crashing the board. In all honestly, the best players in these 4 games that has been good rebounders has been Draymond Green and D'Angelo Russell (Russell with back to back +5 rebounds). Nobody boxes out. The Warriors have given up so many offensive rebounds. It's atrocious.

4. Bigs aren't good freeing up Stephen Curry and D'Angelo Russell

If you are a screen setter trying to free up someone as lethal as Stephen Curry or someone as crafty as D'Angelo Russell - you make sure you actually connect with the man coming off the screen. Not only that - they don't roll to the rim effectively.

5. They don't have a 3rd scorer.

When D'Angelo Russell and Stephen Curry were dropping over 20 for the first 3 games (except the one game Russell was ejected) - they never did have that primary 3rd scorer. In the New Orleans game, Damion Lee showed up with 23 points but hasn't showed up again since. Draymond Green had a good triple double but didn't bounce back the same way against Phoenix. It's good that Alec Burks has come back but now it's terrible that Stephen Curry is out with his broken hand for at least a month. This means that guys like Draymond Green and Willie Cauley-Stein will need to step up even more offensively.

I doubt the Warriors are going to be looking to tank.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!