What To Make Of Golden State Warriors Early Season Struggles
Stephen Curry broke the NBA’s all-time three-point record last season, Klay Thompson made his return to the floor after 941 days due to two grueling leg injuries, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins emerged as young stars and the Golden State Warriors captured their fourth championship in the last eight seasons.
However, this is all in the past now and the Warriors currently find themselves with their backs up against the wall early on in the 2022-23 NBA season.
Obviously it is too early to begin panicking and worrying about this team, as there is a ton of basketball yet to be played, but the early season struggles the Warriors have had through the first handful of weeks of the new season are absolutely noteworthy.
A lot has changed in the last five months or so for Golden State since they won the 2022 NBA Finals. They had several key veteran talents depart in free agency, assistant coach Mike Brown left to become the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings and the Warriors’ main focus has been on integrating their youth into the mix.
Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman are the three notable recent first-round picks the Warriors have been looking to develop early on this season and this team as a whole has absolutely felt the pressure put on them from winning the title last year.
Teams around the NBA have something to prove every time Golden State comes to town and that is very clear to see, especially given this team’s struggles away from San Francisco.
The Warriors currently find themselves 0-6 on the road this season and they currently find themselves on a five-game losing streak as a result of their recent five-game road trip.
“There are times in the NBA season when things can go off the rails a little bit,” head coach Steve Kerr told the media following Sunday’s practice. “A big part of being a great team, being a solid organization, is just understanding how to work through that.”
With Kerr hinting at changes to the rotation coming, the Warriors really need to focus in and begin separating expectations from reality. This new 2022-23 NBA season is unlike the one before it simply because the gap between teams has closed.
The Warriors are still a top-tier team in this league, especially in a seven-game playoff series format, but in order to compete for a title, you have to make the playoffs and right now, the Warriors find themselves sinking down the standings in the Western Conference.
Veteran All-Star guard Klay Thompson has also recognized the struggles his team has had so far this year, stating that the Warriors need to bring more of a sense of “urgency” with them and learn from their mistakes over the first handful of weeks of this new season.
Moody, Kuminga and Wiseman will continue to see their minutes fluctuate through the season as the team looks to develop them further and as time goes on, we should expect to see Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green take on larger roles for this team.
DiVincenzo has only played in three games due to a hamstring injury and Green is starting to look more and more comfortable with Golden State.
Change is inevitable for every team in the NBA and for the Warriors, this past offseason presented them with new options and a new path moving forward, one that they believe as an organization will lead them to more championships.
The future is still bright for this franchise, but a 3-7 start to the season is definitely eye-opening for many around the league,
The Golden State Warriors have their work cut out for them moving forward and if they are to be a real title threat once again, they will have to begin figuring things out on the road.
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