The 2022-23 NBA season hasn’t gone to plan for the Golden State Warriors so far. The defending champions have looked far from their best, and that is reflected by their 3-4 record. Losses to teams like the Suns and the Nuggets, who are expected to be contenders in the Western Conference, are somewhat excusable, but their last two defeats are definitely not.
The Warriors first lost to the Hornets in OT, and they followed it up with an embarrassing 128-114 loss to the lowly Pistons. Stephen Curry was critical of himself and his teammates after the loss, while Draymond Green added that their offense is killing their defense. The harshest criticism, however, came from head coach Steve Kerr, who is not at all happy with what he has seen so far.
Steve Kerr Calls Out The Golden State Warriors For Their Poor Play This Season
Kerr was very critical of their bench earlier in the season, as they nearly blew a huge lead to the Kings, and that game really was a warning sign that things weren’t quite right with the team. After this latest loss, Kerr had some harsh words for his whole team, as he wants them to get back to playing at a high level.
"It looks like a pickup game out there."
Steve Kerr details what he's seeing from the Dubs on both ends of the court pic.twitter.com/6ChFDnyDxN
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 31, 2022
“I always talk about the game being connected and it just feels like we’re putting ourselves in some tough spots offensively and then that translates to defense and then we’re late in either in transition or on rotations and we just can’t stop fouling. 38 more free throws tonight, we talk about it every day but something has to click with our guys. I don’t think they’re all just blatant hacks. I think the way we’re playing is affecting our defense. It looks like a pick-up game out there.”
He echoed what Draymond said about how their offense is affecting their defense, and the fouls are another big issue as well. They committed 31 fouls against the Hornets, which eventually led to 31 free throws, and here it was 24 fouls and 38 free throws.
You aren’t going to win too many games if your defense is that undisciplined, and as Kerr said, it looks like a pick-up game at the moment. Considering all the success they have had over the years, you would think the Warriors will eventually sort all of this out, but until they do so, the losses might just keep coming, as Kerr went on to say.