BE PATIENT
When Curry and Green return, Warriors will go back to being dominant
Hand Stephen Curry the NBA MVP award right now. I know that there are some truly spectacular performances happening around the league — Kemba Walker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid are all playing preposterous ball at the moment — but with what Curry did in the first 12 games of the season, and what the Warriors have done with him out of the lineup, it’s going to be hard for anyone to claim that Wardell isn’t the most valuable player in the NBA.
With Curry (and now Draymond Green) out, the Warriors have lost four straight games following Wednesday’s embarrassing home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Warriors look lost without Curry — there’s noth- ing abstract about that value.
And remember, two weeks ago, with Curry at the height of his powers, the Warriors looked downright unbeatable.
It’s with that comparison in mind that I remind all Warriors fans and fervent NBA observers to keep their heads on straight amid this abnormally long and abnormally painful Golden State slide.
It won’t last forever — the end of the dynasty is not nigh — and the crux of the issues is obvious: They don’t have Steph. Without him, the offense is clunky, rhythmless and devoid of pace. It’s chock-full of Kevin Durant post-ups, Klay Thompson mid-range shots and a bunch of guys
standing around waiting for something to happen.
It’s bad basketball that doesn’t deserve to be rewarded with wins. So far, in seven games without Curry, it’s only found two — wins over the Nets and Hawks.
Not having Green compounds the Warriors’ problems, too — while the Warriors’ 2002-vintage offense has been impossible to ignore, the defense has been poor over the last week, posting a 115.2 rating. The Warriors are fourth-worst in defensive rebound percentage (accounting for 19 second-chance points per game, second-worst in the league over the last week) and last in the NBA in steals.
You know who is good at rebounding, steals and generally transcendent and omnipresent defensive play (as well as pushing the pace and playmaking on offense)? Green.
He’ll come back soon, too.
With Curry and Green, the Warriors should go back to being the leagueruiners they so recently were.
There’s simply no reason to panic in Oakland.
But there are reasons to be concerned about this recent slide, even if the core issue will soon be resolved.
Yes, Curry and Green are the Warriors’ systems — Curry on offense and Green on defense — but it’s nevertheless jarring to watch such terrible basketball from their “supporting” cast in their absence.
After Wednesday’s game, Quinn Cook blamed himself for not helping Durant and Thompson more.
Not Andre Iguodala ... not Shaun Livingston ... Cook felt as if he let his team down on Wednesday.
This isn’t to say that Cook played a good game — he didn’t — but this is a guy who was rightly averaging eight minutes per game (if he played at all) before Curry’s injury. This is a guy who has done more than could ever be reasonably expected of him in Curry’s absence, even taking into account Wednesday’s seven-point performance.
The truth is, if you need Quinn Cook to be an impact player on a nightly basis, you’ve already lost.
Meanwhile, Iguodala — the former NBA Finals MVP and one of the highest-paid Warriors — is averaging 6.4 points per game in November and yet seems to be escaping scrutiny.
Of course, Iguodala isn’t asked to be a major scorer for this Warriors team, but that expectation was set under normal circumstances (like, say, when Curry and Green are in the lineup).
Under the current, lessthan- desirable circumstances, he has not taken his game to another level with two All-Stars out and the remaining two AllStars requiring assistance.
Yes, Iguodala does valuable things that don’t show up in the box score, but it still appears to me as if No. 9 is going through his normal regular-season routine of takin’ her easy for the vast majority of games, saving physical and mental energy for the all-important postseason. It’s one hell of a gig, if you can get it.
The Warriors could sure use some playoff Iguodala right now, though. This is a team that’s desperately seeking a playmaker and third offensive option, and both of those roles could be expertly filled by Iguodala.
They’re not, though, and it doesn’t seem as if anyone expects them to be.
The bar has seemingly been lowered for Iguodala, and that should be concerning for the remainder of the season and the postseason. Perhaps it’s because he’s a veteran and they don’t want to ask too much of him (though it’s not as if he won’t have months to recoup if he goes hard for a couple of games). Perhaps he simply doesn’t have the ability to be an impact player anymore.
I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think it’s the former option, but at this point, I’ll need to see him disprove the latter option first.
Livingston hasn’t been much help, either. Since returning from injury on Nov. 12, he’s registered one made field goal — only two points — in four of six games. Yes, he’s a veteran, and yes, he’s an outstanding person, but the Warriors need him to start turning in winning performances more than once a week, particularly under the current circumstances.
Beyond that, the center position is a mess — Damian Jones has been a project for three years and he’s paid some dividends on that long-view attention early in the sea- son, but he was woeful, particularly in the first half, Wednesday against the Thunder, and his bad games are starting to outnumber the good ones.
Kevon Looney probably deserves the starting center role, only he’s not a threat to do anything on the offensive end and only compounds the Warriors’ spacing issue (at least Jones is a viable rimrunner).
And Jordan Bell — well, if you see him, let me know. He’s clearly fallen out of Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s good graces this season — his freelancing defense and too-cute offensive game has landed him a spot on the end of the bench at a time where the Warriors could really use a player who could perform a low-budget facsimile of Green. (Remember when Bell was going to be that guy? Oh, to be young again ...)
This is a team that truly, honestly misses the steady presence of Alfonzo McKinnie — a guy who was signed off a training camp tryout. We’re reaching the point where a trade for Ian Clark or a reconciliation with Pat McCaw seems necessary — you can only play so many guys with recent G-League experience.
Things are not normal with the Dubs.
Remember, the Warriors went on a 9-1 run last year without Curry. They even won a playoff series last year without him. A whole playoff series — in five games, no less!
Could you imagine this group doing that this year?
If — heaven forbid — Curry was out for an extended period of time, making the playoffs might come into question. The Warriors have dropped from the No. 1 to the No. 5 seed in the course of a week, after all.
Will this team ever develop a dependable middle class, the kind they had in years past, with David West, Leandro Barbosa, and Livingston? Will a few dependable role players step up, even if Curry isn’t around to make everyone’s life easier?
It probably won’t matter. Curry and Green are nearing returns and then Demarcus Cousins will join the fold. (Man, what they wouldn’t give to have him right now.)
You can be top-heavy when you’re that talented at the top.
You just better hope you’re at full squad for when the games really count.