Heavy load: Team fought many issues this season
TORONTO — Here’s an analogy for you: The Warriors are like an overloaded paper bag at the supermarket, and you’re hoping to get to your car before the handles rip and your groceries decorate the parking lot.
That trip to the car is this entire Golden State season, which has been more of an adventure than the previous four trips, when the groceries were double-bagged.
If the Warriors lose Game 5 of the NBA Finals here Monday night and surrender their NBA crown to the Raptors — if those handles rip off the bag — there will be legitimate excus
es. Injuries. Collective wear and tear. Bad luck. An inspired opponent.
However, the Warriors’ problems seem to go deeper than in the past, and have simmered all season. These distractions have been dismissed or diminished as garden-variety pitfalls and random, isolated incidents. Besides, hey, they’re the Warriors, they don’t sweat the small stuff, they rise above.
Since the beginning of the season, though, there has been more sweating and less rising than in the previous four seasons.
Before I list some of the stuff, understand that this might seem like an obit about the death of a dynasty. But it could turn out to be a setup for a glorious triumph. Considering what the Warriors have gone through, and are still going through, if they manage to win Games 5, 6 and 7, their achievement will be straightup epic, their victory the sweetest ever, a life lesson for ye of little faith.
The most obvious example of behind-the-scenes troubles wasn’t even behind the scenes. It was the Draymond GreenKevin Durant timeout blowup.
Clearly that was a symptom of deeper unrest on the team, relating to Durant and the lack of clarity on his future. That incident might have led to a stronger bond between Durant and Green, and between Durant and the team ... but maybe not.
A partial grocery list:
The ongoing switch-flip issue. There were more lackluster team performances this season than in any of the previous four. The Warriors kept assuring the doubters that they could summon their hyperfocus and ferocity when it mattered.
They had a lot of opportunities to talk about switch-flipping. The Warriors absorbed horrendous losses at home: by 23 to the Bucks, by 28 to the Thunder, by 20 to the Raptors, by 26 to the Lakers, by 33 to the Celtics, by 35 to the freaking Mavericks.
The players conceded that it’s harder to take the regular season as seriously as they should, given past success, but the same issues with boredom and intensity have arisen in the playoffs.
On several occasions, Durant took public exception to something head coach Steve Kerr said. Most notably in the first round against the Clippers when Kerr said he wanted Durant to be more aggressive on offense, and Durant issued his “I’m Kevin Durant” statement, as in, I know how to play basketball.
This is the worst season of the five in terms of injuries, a problem no doubt related to five long journeys to the Finals.
Durant went media silent for nine days in February following perceived criticism. “I just don’t trust none of y’all,” he explained. This is a team that does not wall off the media.
One fallout from hoarding superstars is that the Warriors’ bench is the thinnest in this era. No backup shooting guard, not much scoring or defense off the bench, thus more pressure on the starters.
The DeMarcus Cousins experiment. The Warriors couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snag Cousins relatively cheap, as insurance. Once he was healthy, fitting him into the flow was a challenge. Still is. His future is on the line, and sources say Cousins campaigned for more touches.
The first round of the playoffs should have been a cruise against L.A., but it went six games. Who can forget the 31-point lead the Warriors blew in Game 2, which spun off into the “I’m Kevin Durant” incident.
After a Warriors practice during the first round, Green was the last player on the court, shooting, with loud music blaring from the speakers. Kerr asked someone to turn down the volume for his 10-minute courtside news conference. Green said no.
During a loss to the lowly, lowly Suns in March, TV cameras caught Kerr telling an assistant coach, “I’m so f-ing tired of Draymond.” Kerr was likely referring to Green’s disputes with refs, a problem Geen admirably has addressed.
Some of these are small things, some of them are big things, but there have been a lot of these things. They are real. They add up. They paint a picture, which could be titled, “Winning four titles in five seasons is stupendously hard.”
That bag of groceries is groaning, the flimsy handles are straining, and where the hell did you park the doggone car?