Inconsistency, the two timelines and stars declining — A Deep Dive into the Warriors Struggles

In Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy — the award-winning director introduced fans to a classic Batman villain — Harvey Dent, otherwise known as Two-Face.

The once renowned lawyer turned into one of Batman’s most iconic adversaries after a series of unfortunate events, leaving Dent with the signature look of a scarred face and a normal face. Rather than leaving the situation to chance, Two-Face flips a coin to decide the next course of actions.

Similarly, it seems like the Golden State Warriors are flipping a coin to decide whether or not the team wants to play well or not. With a record of 0-8 on the road and 7-1 at home — the Warriors seem to have two different identities.

“There is frustration because we have a standard,” Head Coach Steve Kerr said, following the Warriors loss to the Miami Heat on Nov. 1. “That’s good because we’ve had championship banners to show for it, but that uneasiness puts you in a position where you have to figure it out. I hope everybody is frustrated with the results, but the process is pretty solid.”

Inconsistent Play on Both Ends

At home, the Warriors look like a team ready to defend its title. The team plays together as a unit and shots are falling.

In the eight home games, the Warriors are averaging 121.1 points and 30.3 assists.

The Warriors offense requires a lot of organic play of both man-movement and ball-movement. When that happens, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry doesn’t have to be Hercules and everyone thrives.

On the road, the Warriors look like a team trying to make the play-in tournament. The team is discombobulated and lost on defense. As of Nov. 17, the Warriors have a defensive rating of 113.6, which ranks 25th in the NBA, according to Yahoo Sports.

“I saw a lot of hanging heads [in the Nov. 16 loss to the Phoenix Suns],” Kerr said. “I think we’re feeling sorry for ourselves. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Everyone can't wait to play us and kick our a--.”

One of the hardest things to do when defending a title is to not get complacent.

Championship hangovers are a real thing. NBA legend Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had a torrid 9-7 start to the 1997-98 season, but the team found its stride and went on to complete its second three-peat.

After two seasons of being the hunters, the script is now flipped and the Warriors are once again being hunted. It’s a position that they’re used to — but it’s been a while since the 2017-18 season where the Warriors have had a target on their backs.

Turnovers have also been another issue for the Warriors. It sounds like a broken record — but it's been a nagging problem since the start of the dynasty.

Because of the Warriors fast-paced offense and constant movement, players are often-times trying to thread the needle and making the highlight plays instead of going for the single play. These turnovers are costly because they’re empty possessions that can hurt a team that’s either trying to mount a comeback or stop a run from the opposition.

The Warriors are ranked No. 27 in the league when it comes to turnovers. The splits are pretty even — as the team averages nearly 16 turnovers a game both on the road and at home, according to Team Rankings.

If the Warriors could limit their turnovers and the empty possessions — they’ll have better chances down the road.

The Two Timelines

It’s been talked about a lot — but the Warriors are in an interesting predicament in terms of where the organization wants to go.

Nine of the 16 players on the roster are under the age of 25. With promising young players like guards Jordan Poole and Moses Moody, forward Jonathan Kuminga center James Wiseman — the Warriors future is set.

Each of these young players have shown flashes of their potential and with Poole securing a 4 year, $140M contract extension — the Warriors committed themselves into investing into these young players. For many organizations, this would be the sign of letting these young players loose and having a couple of mediocre seasons to develop for the future.

At the same time, Curry doesn’t seem to be declining in terms of play. At age 34, the Davidson product has already carried the Warriors to several wins this season.

With a generational talent like Curry, the Warriors are always in the battle for a championship. Though the roster construction is set with the future and the legends, there isn’t a veteran presence that bridges the gap, which causes a problem.

So far this early season, the young players haven’t lived up to their promising roles just yet.

Poole has been struggling — averaging 15.9 points and 4.5 assists. While those aren’t terrible numbers, those aren’t the numbers the Warriors organization was expecting when they gave him the big contract extension given Poole’s projection as a player.

Poole’s inconsistent production lays a fundamental problem to the Warriors “win-now, develop now” strategy. Poole is expected to lead the second unit, but with the starters giving the bench an early lead, the lead disintegrates because of the bench play and the Warriors are forced to scramble for answers late.

Veterans such as guard Donte Divincenzo and forward Jamychal Green were brought in to help fill the gap that was given to Portland Trail Blazers guard Gary Payton II and Toronto Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. last season, but Divincenzo only played in eight games this season due to an injury so far and Green has been struggling to fit into the offense, resulting in several DNP’s and limited minutes.

Until the Warriors bench receives some consistent play from Poole, Divincenzo, Green and the rest of the promising future, the Warriors will be struggling to stay afloat when Curry rests.

The Stars are Fading

Warriors guard Klay Thompson will receive a statue outside of Chase Center when it’s all said and done.

But — as of recently — Thompson has struggled to start the 2022-23 season.

Yes, it’s historically true that Thompson has had slow starts throughout his career. Warriors fans remember when Thompson started 5-for-23 from 3-point range in the 2018-19 season before breaking the NBA’s record of 3-pointers with 14 3-pointers versus the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29, 2018.

This time around, Thompson’s struggles have been frustrating. Thompson’s shot-selection has fans scratching their heads.

Thompson has developed a habit of taking ill-advised shots early in the shot-clock instead of moving the ball and finding the open teammate. These early shots in the possession are momentum killers and only fuel more fire to the opposition.

In the Oct. 21 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Thompson launched a 33-foot 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the game with the Warriors down three. The Warriors ended up losing 128-123 and many fans pointed the finger to Thompson.

Despite this, Thompson has heard the critics and posted on Instagram saying “I promise you it’s coming. And when it does, the floodgates will open.”

Thompson’s performance in the Nov. 18 win versus the Knicks gave fans some hope, as he went for 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting and shot 40% from 3-point range.

True Warriors fans know better and do not question the legend. Thompson has done so much for the organization and giving up on Thompson would be a fool’s errand.

Though it’s early in the season, the Warriors' struggles are eye-opening to say the least. The team is still hunting for its first road win of the season and teams have been making adjustments.

One might argue that defending a title is harder than hunting for one — but the Warriors have proven they’re capable of doing it, and there’s plenty of time to fix these mistakes.

(AP Photo/Matt York)