When Steph Curry was asked how the Warriors solved the problems that led to their 117-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night, he had a straightforward and honest answer.
“I don’t know, man,” said Curry. “It’s like the 20th time we’ve asked ourselves this question and we haven’t figured it out yet.”
The problems that cost Golden State the game against the Hawks are the same as they have been throughout the season. Fouling, bench production and turnovers were detrimental to the Warriors on Sunday, and are big reasons for them to have a 23-27 record.
Every time one of these problems arises, someone says that you need to be more “disciplined” or to play with more effort. If they do, the Warriors will see a steady improvement. But with only 22 games remaining in the season, the Warriors, instead, saw a decline in production and success. This begs the question: if they haven’t figured out how to make those 50 games this season, what will it take for that to change now?
It’s not like the Warriors didn’t know that they haven’t made a positive progression this season.
After Sunday’s game, Kelly Oubre Jr. said that the team is “very understanding” and that “he knows that we have a lot of work to do, especially now that the season is ending, it is ending … And the sooner we get together and get on the right track, the sooner we feel better about ourselves. “
It seems that the Warriors have taken all the right measures to solve their problems. Last week, Curry and Draymond Green shared messages with their teammates on how to look inside and try to be better. Klay Thompson talked to several players after Friday’s game against Toronto. Coach Steve Kerr tried different tactics in practice to make his players more disciplined.
They tried to implement a different offensive system – opting for a simpler game plan instead of their free and characteristic attack – they put a greater emphasis on defense and tried numerous combinations of rotation in the hope of finding one that would stick.
However, nothing has been translated. Because of this, it is not clear what needs to happen for warriors to break their unpleasant habits.
“The difficult part is trying to answer some of the questions about how to improve and how to win games,” said Curry. “The situation is what it is. We have a lot to improve. And there is a challenge that we all need to face. It is uncomfortable now. It is frustrating for everyone. But it will test us to find a way to make these last (22) games matter and give us something to show at the end of the season. It’s frustrating for sure at the moment. I hope everyone in the locker room hates to lose as a motivation to continue, to stay connected and to find out. “
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It became apparent that looking beyond this season, Thompson’s return will not be the solver for all Warriors’ problems. It went far beyond anything that a player can solve.
The Warriors are at their lowest point of the season. They hoped to find redemption on Sunday, after losing a game by 53 points two nights earlier, but instead were faced with the same problems that had plagued them countless times before.
Curry is right in saying that they need to take hate to lose as a motivation to change things. But with the season in its final stretch and so little growth seen by the Warriors so far, it’s hard to imagine how much change could happen between now and the end of the regular season.
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