The Golden State Warriors May Be The Defending Champs, But They Are Also Historically Bad Right Now

Christian Petersen. Getty Images.

Now let me be very clear about something with this blog.

1. Yes, I am still extremely salty over the 2022 NBA Finals. Let's just collectively accept that. It'll be that way until my last breath

2. This is not a "The Warriors Are Dead" blog. Something that Steph Curry could one day use to roast me in a postgame press conference after ripping my heart out.

But as the defending champs (sigh), we have to talk about what is currently going on with this team. In a season that started with Dryamond Green punching a teammate has really only spiraled from there through the first 15 games of the year. At 6-9, this team now sits in 12th in the West, trailing teams like SAC/MIN/OKC while being tied with SA. This is not a case of their main guys being injured either

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So what the hell is going on? Well, Steve Kerr has some ideas

The thing is, we're getting maybe the best version of Steph Curry we've ever seen. He has the 2nd highest scoring average of his career at 31.5 while shooting an INSANE 52/43% with 5.0 3PM a night. You can add 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1.1 steals to those averages as well. At 34 years old, this man still looks as every bit unstoppable as he ever has, including the 50 ball he dropped last night in their loss to the Suns

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So again, what the hell is going on?

For starters, Klay Thompson's struggles are hard to overcome for this team right now

even with Jordan Poole and Wiggins looking a lot like they did last season, given how the rest of that roster looks in terms of their depth, having this version of Klay is a big time issue. When it comes to how the Warriors have replaced the veteran free agent depth pieces that helped them win a title, none of them are really making a positive impact.

James Wiseman cannot be on an NBA floor and was just sent to the G-League for an extended period of time. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody as still super young and super raw, so it's hard to put championship level expectations on them just yet. Would you say JaMychel Green is making any sort of impact? 

What this team has lost is their defensive identity. That's really what made the Warriors so devastating, not just their shooting. The fact of the matter is, this is one of the worst defenses in the NBA right now

27th in Drtg

29th in opponents' points

23rd in opponents' 3PM

22nd in opponent's 2nd chance points

37th percentile defending isolation

55th percentile defending P&R

the list goes on and on. When you find yourself giving up 118 points a night, chances are you're going to be 6-9. The only teams in the NBA that are worse are SA (6-9), LAL (3-10), and HOU (3-12). The Pistons are also right there at 118.2 and they're 3-12 as well. It's not really a hard concept. If you don't defend, you die.

But that's not the historic part. That comes with what this team is currently doing on the road.

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You want to know why the Warriors are 0-8 on the road? It's their defense. They have a 120.8 rating on that end once they leave their own building, which you guessed it…is 30th in the NBA. Opponents are averaging 124.3 points a night when the Warriors come to town, which again….is 30th in the NBA.

Remember, their owners are basically paying $500M for this team this season. That's a whole lot of cash just to be in the lottery.

Having said allllllll that, it is still early. I do feel like given what this core has accomplished and seeing as how they technically are the defending champs, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. All they really have to do is find a way to play average defense and things will look a whole lot better. Steph is still Steph. At least I think you should, maybe Steve Kerr thinks differently

It is true that all dynasties do end eventually. It's happened all throughout NBA history so there's no reason why the Warriors would be exempt from that.

The first 15 games or so of the NBA season has been full of surprises. Whether it's teams we thought might be tanking are actually trying and might be actually good, individual performances we maybe didn't see coming, the Lakers being awful (just kidding, we all knew that was coming), shit like that. But there's also the other end of the spectrum which is where the Warriors live. I think maybe some figured there might be a Finals hangover or the drama from Poole/Draymond might be an issue, but this?

This is something I can't imagine anyone truly expected once the season actually started. There's plenty of time to right the ship and figure stuff out, but the West isn't getting any easier so it's not exactly a guarantee.

P.S.

If this is somehow ends up with the Warriors winning the Wembanyama Sweepstakes I'm going to be so fucking pissed.