The Warriors have surprisingly won two of their last three games despite being severely shorthanded without Stephen Curry and Kristaps Porzingis, among other players, sidelined from action due to injuries.
Steve Kerr appeared on the ‘Willard and Dibs show’ tonight and was asked about how the Warriors have managed to do that. Surprisingly, the common factor in both those games was that Draymond Green was benched during the fourth quarter.
“It’s a lot different without Steph. Losing Steph impacts our offense in some really dramatic ways, and it really affects how we have to put the five-man combo on the floor. Steph really negates almost every spacing issue just because he’s that good.”
“Without Steph and Jimmy, we’re struggling to score at times, and we’re just finding that we’re better off playing one big. And if Al is playing like he did last night, then we’re going to stay with Al and stay smaller around him.”
“So it’s just the way it is right now. Everything could be completely different next week, so you just have to kind of roll with it,” explained Kerr.
During the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 101-97 win over the Suns, Green was benched for the final seven minutes of the game down the stretch. Similarly, during the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 114-113 win over the Grizzlies last night, Green did not see the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter on the floor.
But this impact is not solely on the offensive end of the floor; even on the defensive end, the Warriors somehow seem to be able to function better without Green on the floor. Maybe the 36-year-old veteran is no longer the defensive savant that he used to be.
Therefore, it is becoming clear that the Warriors have adjusted their expectations for Green and expect him to fit into a new role within the franchise.
“We talk all the time. He understands exactly where he is in his career and where our team is. We’ve had really good conversations about this. About how the last couple of years of your career usually go. And how you have to adapt and adjust,” said Kerr while addressing how Green was mentally prepared to see a change in his role with the team.
“I think all great players have to adapt as they get older, and it means different things for different people. You go way back, you see Magic Johnson had to learn how to shoot, and Jason Kidd, all of a sudden, all those guys were stationary players, spotting up and shooting threes, whereas they were attacking like crazy for most of their careers.”
“MJ went down to the block and shot fadeaways. Tim Duncan became a defensive stalwart… the Spurs completely shifted their offense towards Parker and Ginobili,” said Kerr as he began revering Tim Duncan as the best role model for how a player should end their career, acknowledging they are no longer the best but still being effective.
It seems that while Kerr is acknowledging that they don’t have the luxury of having Stephen Curry on the floor anymore, Green’s defensive-heavy approach is no longer as helpful without an offensive bag of moves to go with it.
While this may be the beginning of the end for Green and the Warriors’ dynasty, their fans will certainly be delighted he wasn’t shipped off in a trade and might get a farewell of his choice from the franchise. It will be interesting to see how Green adjusts to his new role on the team.
