How Warriors can rediscover their best asset from 12-3 start

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How Warriors can rediscover their best asset from 12-3 start originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SAN FRANCISCO – The question posed to Steve Kerr was as direct as the reply from the Warriors coach was emphatic.

Have you been satisfied with the pace you guys have been playing at lately?

“No,” Kerr said Monday after practice.

Full disclosure: I fully expected that answer when I asked the question.

The Warriors have lost 20 of their last 30 games, and they spent considerable time during this nearly 10-week span plodding at a speed perfectly suited for a big, athletic team with numerous shot creators and a knack for getting to the foul line.

That, however, is not these Warriors. They’re smallish by NBA standards and not particularly athletic. Stephen Curry is their only consistent shot creator, and a shortage of additional such threats leaves him facing double- and triple-teams. Only two teams shoot fewer free throws, and no team misses at a higher rate.

Their roster is not built to dissect and exploit half-court defenses. They know it. They have acknowledged it. But their deliberate pace proves they have not embraced the alternative.

Golden State’s surest path to reach its potential is to defend like a pack of savages, sprint at every opportunity to pile up transition buckets and use depth to pound opponents into weariness. To make fatigue their friend.

“We talk about it every day,” Kerr said. “We’re 30th [actually 24th] in the league over the last 10 games in pace. It has to start defensively. It has to start with deflections and disruption and turnovers. But it also has to continue even on made baskets. We have to get the ball out quickly and go.

“We’re not doing a great job of that right now.”

Consider: In winning 12 of their first 15 games, the Warriors ranked fifth in pace.

Consider: In losing 20 of their last 30, they’re 23rd in pace.

Pleas for a faster pace have led to … a slower pace. The acquisition of…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-rediscover-best-asset-12-072915878.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-01-28 07:29:00

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