Some interesting quotes from the article:
>”The assessment of the team and the roster has been challenging,” Dunleavy told NBC Sports Bay Area during an appearance on “Warriors Pregame Live.” “We’ve got great depth, which we went into the season with. We’ve had some injuries and some suspensions. We’ve been able to mitigate that some with our depth, but it hasn’t always translated to wins. “So, I’m sitting here two weeks out from the trade deadline just honestly continuing to evaluate this team.”
>Almost any move will have to address a defense that ranks among the league’s leakiest. Golden State has given up four 70-point first halves in its last nine games, including 75 to the Kings on Thursday. On a grander scale, the Warriors through Wednesday ranked 24th in defensive rating (117.5) this season. It gets worse. What disappoints everyone on the roster, the coaching staff and the front office is the sharp decline of late. Their 126.0 rating in January ranks 30th, dead last, for the month.
>”It’s certainly something we want shore up,” Dunleavy said. “No question about it, especially the last 10-15 games. Our defense has really struggled. To get Draymond back I will help. “But a lot of times, it’s hard at the trade deadline to bring in a player or players that are just going to dramatically improve your defense. Look, if that player is available, we’ll look to pursue it.”
That sounds like a strong indication that defense is a high priority on the shopping list, but Dunleavy wasn’t quite finished.
>”I think it’s got to come from within,” Dunleavy said of repairing the defense. “And that comes from everybody. That’s coaches, that’s players, that’s the whole deal of we’ve got to tighten this thing up and find a way to be better defensively because, frankly, offensively, we’ve been great.” The Warriors entered Thursday with a 116.9 offensive rating (12th) this season that rose to 121.5 (sixth) for January – even while Stephen Curry’s efficiency metrics declined.
MDJ’s Thoughts on JK:
>”I’ve seen a tremendous amount of growth from him, not only on the court with his basketball skills and play, but as a person,” Dunleavy said. “He came in at 18, 19 years old and he’s still young. But the amount of maturation during those couple years in life is big, I think in the way he’s handled adversity.”
MDJ on the incident between Kerr and JK after the nuggets game and how they’ve managed their relationship since then:
>”In those situations, you go one of two ways,” Dunleavy said. “Things can go sideways with the player and the coach, or things can get better. Things have gotten better, and I think that’s a tribute to Steve but also Jonathan. “That’s a good relationship we have going right now. That’s important. This is a really good, young, important player for us coming off his best game pro (Wednesday) night on both ends of the court.”
by Spirited-Cap-9779
14 Comments
From the start of MDJ’s tenure, I felt comfortable with him in control. A huge reason I felt that way is because I could tell he, like myself, values Kuminga a whole lot.
Doesn’t sound like any changes to the roster are coming.
Now watch folks be surprised MDJ isn’t some idiot who’d just trade Kuminga because “Steph’s window” or whatever rethoric some love parroting around these boards.
MDJ isn’t a clown who make his decisions based on the loudest Twitter and reddit discourses, so there is no surprise he isn’t really considering giving away our most promising youngster who happens to only be 21, full of talent and potential which have been translating in consistent good performances and improvements.
IMO, a huge goal has to be getting out of Wiggins’ contract. I remember looking at spotrac and if I’m not mistaken, if they get off Wiggins for an expiring, they’ll actually be under the cap since CP3’s option will be declined and Klay will be a UFA.
>Almost any move will have to address a defense that ranks among the league’s leakiest. Golden State has given up four 70-point first halves in its last nine games, including 75 to the Kings on Thursday. On a grander scale, the Warriors through Wednesday ranked 24th in defensive rating (117.5) this season. It gets worse. What disappoints everyone on the roster, the coaching staff and the front office is the sharp decline of late. Their 126.0 rating in January ranks 30th, dead last, for the month.
Damn that is just awful. I don’t even know how you fix that without multiple trades, would it even make a difference?
I’m pretty sure we have the tools to be a great team but they just aren’t being played or being played in awful combinations
Instead of some JK education, how about some Kerr education?
Let’s say there are 15 seconds left and you are down by 1.
If, in the backcourt, a rebound is secured in traffic by Klay **AND** he can’t immediately pass the ball into the frontcourt **AND** he starts to dribble… that you go ahead and **CALL A FUCKING TIMEOUT**?
How does that sound?
Followup.
Let’s say there is an out-of-bounds call where Steph is lying on the baseline, and the ball falls into his hands, so they reward the ball to the opponent. ***IF***, before falling back onto the baseline, Steph gets smacked in the face by an opponent but it goes uncalled that you go ahead and challenge the out-of-bounds call? Not because Steph isn’t out-of-bounds, but because in the review when they see the smack in the face they will be able to call that foul.
What if Steve did that?
OR, we could go with that brilliant play where Steph tries in the waning seconds to pull shit out of his ass after another failed high p&r? We could try that again. **RIGHT???**
These guys can play better defense. There needs to be an emphasis given by the coaching staff and needs to be the point of emphasis. No D, out of the game you go.
We would be a pretty good team if Wiggins resumes his 2022 form. GP2 adds great defensive presence and Kuminga is taking the leap. Kerr might be our biggest problem going forward tbh.
That’s the weird thing with this team, on paper this is a good team with nice depth, in action this team has shown they can compete with and beat the best teams in this league. Yet there’s clearly something not right because halfway through the season being under .500 and continuing to lose winnable games shows a change is needed.
Now it might be too late and the FO views this as a lost season and won’t waste assets trying to improve but Curry’s only got some many years left, Green too, Klay may not even be here next season. And I have a hard time believing that given the right pieces led by Steph put this team in the playoffs and we’ll have a shot as long as 30 is here.
My opinion has been Steph, Dray, GP2 are 3 most important dudes. If any one goes out, we have issues. GP2 is unique- when he’s healthy, he is often in there closing games. As disappointing as the loss was last night, Dray changes the complexion of the team entirely. Overall pace and intensity are up, and the defensive situation looks better, though last night we saw all the 3s with Barnes unconscious. Have to think GP2 helps with that on the margins at the very least.
He’s still evaluating the team? What’s more to evaluate? They stink. No defense. No second option. Just a superstar, an elite role player and a bunch of decent players
I still don’t understand – if we have such depth – why Kerr has been trying to avoid it by striving to use a 8 or 9 man rotation? All season long our bench has performed great, so why try to minimize that impact by having Moody, TJD etc sit? To add insult to injury, that also leads to our vets getting tuckered out late in the game and blowing leads… just silly.
If you want defense to improve then they need to replace both Klay and Looney with good defenders on the starting lineup. Whether by trade or internally.