38/82 W Hawks 143-141 in Double OT
39/82 L Pistons 119-122
40/82 L Magic 101-115
41/82 L Suns 113-125
I’m guessing the Warriors want some of these games back. The Warriors finished their 8 game home stand, going 5-3, which is good considering Curry and Wiggins have been out the entire time. And yet…so much untapped potential.
We are halfway through the season. The Warriors have won half their games and are exactly in the middle of the Western Conference standings. It seems probable that the Warriors will be in the playoffs, but the Western Conference teams are close, and the Warriors currently only play well when their backs are against the wall. That is a risky business, because we are about to enter the slog of the season—the part in February-early March where the season is long, all the players are a little bit injured whether they are on the injury list or not, and this dream job is more job than dream.
As far as I can tell, there are a few overlapping obstacles. All year, the Warriors have had a pattern of winning most of the *tough* games and losing the *easy* ones. Case in point—they have lost twice to Detroit and Orlando, two of the worst teams in the league. They lost to Phoenix who were missing four of their starters. It seems as if the Warriors expected these games wouldn’t take much effort, dug themselves into a hole and couldn’t rally their way out.
Detroit and Orlando exemplify the type of team that the Warriors have consistently struggled with this year–young tall teams. Long arms, long legs, lots of bounce in their step—the Warriors don’t match up well against these teams. That’s not an excuse for losing to them but it doesn’t bode well for anytime they play Memphis, a team with all those characteristics, a lot more talent and a chip on their shoulder for the Warriors.
The second thing going on is the return from injuries. Curry and Wiggins are now back but they are not quite back. Curry is aware of this road–he’s come back from injuries before–but it clearly took Wiggins by surprise. By the 4th quarter of the Phoenix game, Wiggins was a defensive menace and was the main reason the Warriors got back in that game –all the big moments were off turnovers Wiggins generated. But his shooting is not back yet and his endurance isn’t either. When Kuminga returns, hopefully this week, I will have to remember this before I yelp at him to my tv.
Then there’s what I am calling The Serena Williams Effect. Serena said many times that when people play her, they always play their best, so her easy matches are still hard. Draymond said this at the start of the season, that all teams come out harder against the defending champions. Until now, I’ve been dismissing that with the Warriors because we were losing on our own merit. But there is at least something to this–teams get up to play the Warriors. Teams get up to play nationally televised games–the Warriors have more of these than any other team. The Warriors can’t afford to let their guard down on easier games because there really aren’t any. If you listen to the rest of what Serena says (and you should always listen to what Serena says), this is the piece where the Warriors’ strength (or weakness) lies. She uses the fact that she gets players at their best to make her a stronger player. I hope that’s what’s happening. If the Warriors are playing teams at their best that will help later on in the season. However, “later on in the season” is now–the payoff needs to happen soon. To hear the clip from Serena, jump to 3:24 of this interview.
On a side note for the Warriors but an important note for me, the Australian Open starts on Sunday night and it’s the first major in the post-Serena, post-Federer era. It’s hard to imagine tennis without their indelible styles on the court but come Sunday night, it will happen anyway.
Returning from injury, lack of focus, playing without urgency—these are primarily mental issues. Not small, not easy, but fixable. Also on the list of things to fix–Jordan Poole absolutely must do something about his turnovers. He has more than any other NBA player and that’s not a record you want. This will improve as Poole plays with Wiggins, Donte or Andre to pick up the defensive load, but doesn’t change the root of the problem for him.
The much better news is that Klay is back and in the best stretch of his career. He has been rock solid night after night with lots of minutes. He’s not rushing his shot, and he’s salty on the court, which I think is a good sign.
Finally, can we talk about Damion Lee for a minute? The much maligned Warrior now turned into key piece of the Phoenix Suns lineup, with the best 3 point record in the league. This is not what it was like for him at Golden State, where he had the reputation of being prone to turnovers and too quick to shoot. A collective groan went up when he got the ball. The twitterverse went wild with negativity about him. As Steph Curry’s brother-in-law, he had a nepotism shadow over him all the time. Given the year he’s having now, I’m wondering–did we make him worse? Could this version of Damion Lee have been here if we had been better to him? The Warriors organization has a reputation of being the place where good but overlooked players come to become their best selves but the opposite was true for Lee.
It’s the halfway point for me as well, in this resolution to watch all 82 games and write about the process along the way. So how’s it going for me? On the one hand, the games have been harder to watch this year. However, writing about it is fun and I didn’t do that last year. If the equation is:
Fun of Watching + Fun of Writing = Total Fun
then compared to last year, my Fun of Watching is lower, but because of the Fun of Writing, my Total Fun is higher.
I’m definitely learning more about basketball. I watch a game and when the pundits talk about it afterwards, at least a few of the thoughts they have are thoughts that I had. I still don’t and maybe never will understand the nuances of the game, especially on defense. But I know where different players like to shoot from, what their strengths and weaknesses are and I occasionally know something about the teams they are playing. That’s different from last year, and it’s probably because I’ve been writing about it. Knowing that I’m going to have to say something makes me pay more attention. You all have been my unintentional accountability group, and I thank you.
This is still the best resolution I’ve made and I highly endorse it—not that you watch every Warriors game, but about making a resolution that is something you already enjoy doing and then staying curious about what happens when you deliberately do more of it. Maybe you have already abandoned a New Year’s Resolution from this year. Good for you! Abandon it all the way! Make a new one that doubles down on something you like.