Throughout this dynastic run that the Golden State Warriors have had, they have treated fans to some exceptionally fun basketball. The Warriors’ offense is a joy to watch with their ball movement and their shooting, but it tends to overshadow just how good they have been on defense over the years.
Even last season, while Stephen Curry stole all the headlines, the Warriors had the second-best defensive rating in the league at 106.6, and their defense did a fine job throughout the playoffs. That past excellence is what makes their massive drop-off on that end of the court this season even more surprising, and Draymond Green sounded off on it after their loss to the Suns.
Draymond Green Calls Out His Teammates And Himself
The biggest talking point of the game was Klay Thompson getting ejected in the second half and how the Warriors collapsed after the incident. Even before that, though, the Suns scored an impressive 72 points in the first half, and anyone who has watched the Warriors this season wouldn’t have been too surprised by them allowing so many points. It was the third game in a row that they had conceded 70 or more by the half, and Draymond said they need to be more committed on defense.
via ESPN:
“The commitment to defense isn’t there,” Green said. “That’s something we have to be better at, and it starts with me. And I’ll make sure we get there. But right now, we are a decent offensive team and a bad defensive team. I don’t expect that to be the case. It’s something we can change, we’ve just got to commit to it.”
Some of them are probably taking it easy as the season has just started, but the standards are high at Golden State, and they need more effort from the players. Draymond being their leader on defense, can clearly see that the commitment isn’t there on that end, and he is right when he says they are a bad defensive team right now.
Golden State’s defensive rating of 114.8 ranks 22nd in the league, and they’re not going to win anything if they don’t improve on that end. NBA fans are also concerned about the Warriors after this loss, but you would think Draymond will play a big part in sorting this out as the season goes on. His importance to this team goes so far beyond just the numbers he puts up, and Matt Barnes, who played with the Warriors for a year during this dynastic run, said they wouldn’t have won even one championship without Green.
