Player grades: Warriors vs. Pistons

Well, it’s hard to imagine a worse weekend of basketball than the one the Golden State Warriors just played. They followed up a loss to the LaMelo Ball-less Charlotte Hornets on Saturday by getting blown out by lottery-dwelling Detroit Pistons on Sunday, losing 128-114.

We’re months away from hitting a panic button, but it’s certainly fair to be annoyed and disappointed with how poorly the Dubs have been playing out of the gates. I’ve avoided writing this article because I didn’t want to think about last night’s game, but here we are.

Let’s break out the red pen and grade the players, weighting for our expectations, with “B” as an average.

Note: League-average true-shooting percentage (TS) last year was 56.6%.

Draymond Green

26 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls, 2-for-5 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 59.5% TS, -11

Well, the three-point magic has officially worn off. A year after the Warriors went 20-1 in games where Draymond made a three, they’re off to an 0-2 start. It looks like that’s no longer the magical indicator of a W.

There were things to dislike about Green’s game. As the team tries to figure things out, his turnovers remain way too high. But ultimately games are not lost because the best defender in basketball plays strong defense while putting up a 7/7/7 stat line on good efficiency.

Grade: B

Post-game bonus: Led the team in assists.

Andrew Wiggins

25 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-15 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 32.4% TS, -25

Just an awful game from Wiggins, who has been spectacular to start the season. It was a bit of a step back for him on offense, as he reverted to some old ball-stopping, offense-muddying habits. And when he did get good looks, he clanked a lot of them. The defense wasn’t there, and the rebounding effort was poor relative to the bar he’s been setting since the NBA Finals.

A clunker.

Grade: D

Post-game bonus: Worst plus/minus on the team.

Kevon Looney

22 minutes, 2 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls, 1-for-4 shooting, 25.0% TS, -17

Looney did good work on the glass in this game, but otherwise it wasn’t his strongest night. He gave up quite a bit to Isaiah Stewart, and was pretty much a non-factor on the offensive end of things.

Grade: C+

Post-game bonus: Led the team in rebounds.

Steph Curry

35 minutes, 32 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 10-for-24 shooting, 4-for-14 threes, 8-for-9 free throws, 57.2% TS, -12

With limited help, Curry had to put the team on his back. His efficiency wasn’t as good as we’re used to (though worth noting that it was still above league average), but some of that was due to forcing shots in the fourth quarter when the Warriors had to rush to try and get back in the game.

Curry has now scored 30 or more points in six of the Warriors first seven games. As usual, he remains the least of the team’s concerns.

Grade: B

Post-game bonus: Led the team in points.

Jordan Poole

36 minutes, 30 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls, 10-for-21 shooting, 5-for-13 threes, 5-for-5 free throws, 64.7% TS, -1

Poole’s brief return to the starting lineup (Klay Thompson is going to rest on back-to-backs for the foreseeable future) was certainly a success. He was the bright spot in an otherwise dismal game, and his electric 19-point third quarter was the only part of this game worth tuning into.

It was nice seeing him get some run with the starters, where he’s clearly a lot more comfortable.

Grade: A

Jonathan Kuminga

19 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-for-3 shooting, 0-for-1 threes, 2-for-2 free throws, 51.6% TS, -2

One of Kuminga’s better games of the year, and it reminded us of the conundrum the Warriors face with their young players. He got significant minutes, which really helped him find a rhythm and develop. But of course, playing Kuminga significant minutes is not very good for a team in the pursuit of wins.

Liked the playmaking in this one, even if there’s still a bit of tunnel vision and an over-reliance on athleticism.

Grade: B

JaMychal Green

16 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls, 3-for-6 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, 50.0% TS, +2

Green continues to look a lot better when surrounded by good players than not, though he was pretty solid in this game in every lineup. Decent defense, albeit with limited impact plays on either end of the court.

Grade: B

Anthony Lamb

9 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 1-for-1 shooting, 100.0% TS, -8

Lamb made his season debut and his Warriors debut on Sunday. He didn’t play poorly, but I also have no idea what his role on this team is supposed to be. Kuminga when they don’t trust Kuminga to play? JaMychal Green when they don’t want to play JaMychal Green?

I don’t know. He played fine and I don’t know why he’s on the team or why he was in the game, but that’s kind of how it goes with two-way players.

Grade: B+

Patrick Baldwin Jr.

1 minute, 0 points, 0 +/-

It took seven games, but Baldwin has finally appeared in an NBA game! Congrats, rook. I’m still surprised that he’s on the road trip instead of in Santa Cruz, but whatever.

Grade: Incomplete

James Wiseman

13 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 2-for-4 shooting, 2-for-2 free throws, 61.5% TS, +9

Some of Wiseman’s cleanest minutes this season. He was brutalized inside on a few occasions, but didn’t make some of the bad mistakes that have plagued him (particularly on defense) early on. He again showed elite touch around the rim, and, after Poole, was the biggest bright spot of the game.

Grade: A-

Post-game bonus: Led the team in plus/minus.

Ty Jerome

14 minutes, 8 points, 1 assist, 1 foul, 2-for-2 shooting, 4-for-4 free throws, 106.4% TS, -3

I maybe shouldn’t have waited until Jerome had a hyper-efficient scoring game to say this, but I miss Quinndary Weatherspoon.

I’m still not sure what role Jerome plays on this team. Steve Kerr said they added him because they wanted additional playmaking, but they’ve been using him almost exclusively off ball. His offensive role has basically been what Gary Payton II’s was last year.

Can’t complain when a guy is in the triple digits in true-shooting percentage though.

Grade: B+

Moses Moody

24 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 3-for-7 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, 50.0% TS, -2

Funny how quickly things changed for Moody. He was on the outside of the rotation looking in when the season began less than two weeks ago, and now seems to be the most trusted bench player after Poole.

He’s just a solid basketball player, though I think he needs to be part of lineups that have good creation because he’s still a pretty passive offensive player.

Grade: B

Ryan Rollins

1 minute, 1 turnover, 0 +/-

You expect players like Rollins and Baldwin to get a lot of playing time against a team like the Pistons, but no. The Warriors could not muster up the courage to blow out the Pistons, or even win.

Grade: Incomplete

Sunday’s inactives: Donte DiVincenzo, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson