Coach Steve Kerr hints at Warriors’ new rotations. READ MORE….
The starting group of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney have posted a plus-23 scoring margin per 100 possessions when they’re on the floor together. The bench has a minus-14, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The Warriors’ disappointing 3-7 start to the season can be partly attributed to their poor performance when the starters aren’t on the court. The defense is porous, the spacing on offense discombobulated. Jordan Poole is shooting an ice-cold 32% from 3. Their potent offense that operates on plenty of motion and ball movement warps into something unfamiliar when James Wiseman is on the floor.
But there’s little panic in the room. Golden State returned from an arduous 0-5 east coast road trip with some perspective and a new plan for how they’ll deploy their rotations. Some will see less playing time.
“Every single season, for me, there’s difficult decisions,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “You have to have hard conversations and they have to be honest. Guys are in and out of the rotation. What I wanted as a player was to know what was happening. Players shouldn’t be caught off guard by rotation changes, they should be informed. And they deserve to know why. And when that explanation comes there should be a qualifier of, this could all change at halftime.”
Coach Steve Kerr hints at Warriors’ new rotations. READ MORE….
The bench will look a little different in the coming weeks, too. Donte DiVincenzo, who missed the entire road trip with a strained hamstring, practiced on Sunday but isn’t expected to play Monday against the Sacramento Kings. He may return to the rotation on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kerr said. Andre Iguodala’s season debut is still to be determined.
Expect more Jonathan Kuminga, for starters, Kerr said. Kuminga sat out for three of the Warriors’ last five games, but scored 18 points in a promising 38 minutes in their loss to New Orleans on Friday.
“There are other changes to expect,” Kerr said. “But you can’t expect me to name them.”
Kuminga’s minutes could come a few ways. He has played at the three and four this year, but was successful playing a small-ball five a bit last season. The 2021 first round pick is mistake prone, but that versatility can make Kuminga a chameleon as a cutter on offense and decent defender on the perimeter.
“He’s easy to find around the rim and he’s a great cutter and has such great size on the defensive end that as long as his effort is there he’s going to contribute,” Thompson said.
The ugly road trip brought some glimmers of hope off the bench, too. The Warriors’ bench success last year stemmed primarily from the emergence of Gary Payton II as a top point-of-attack defender, Otto Porter Jr.’s shooting and defense along with the big depth Nemanja Bjelica provided.
turned two-way contracts into key bench roles that gave Kerr plenty of options down the stretch. Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome, both on two-ways, could follow their footsteps. Both operate well within the Warriors system. And while DiVincenzo’s return could limit Jerome’s minutes, he and Lamb can fill in as players Kerr can throw into the mix in a pinch — or perhaps with larger roles, at times — within the 50-game limit their contracts allow.
“Ty has good size, excellent shooter,” Kerr said. “Played four years at college and has been in the league a few years. He’s a really good basketball player. He gets you organized and doesn’t turn the ball over. He plays good position defense without fouling, does all the things you try to teach and he’s done a godsend for us. The way he’s playing and performed as one of our two way guys has been fantastic.”
There are only so many minutes to go around. Increased minutes for Kuminga could take minutes away from Wiseman or, perhaps, veteran JaMychal Green — who has had trouble finding his footing this year.
But Wiseman’s struggles have been detrimental to the team’s flow. The 21-year-old played just three college games and missed more time injured than healthy as a professional. That inexperience shows. He’s seven-feet tall, but has trouble defending the rim, boxing out, setting screens and catching lobs for dunks.
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Wiseman is an athletic and skilled player with unique touch, but the team acknowledges that he needs reps.
“He knows how to overcome adversity. We have to help him because modern life is unforgiving and people don’t take into account organic growth,” Kerr said. “Everyone wants results right now. It’s not going to be that way. Especially for a big guy with very little experience. It takes a little longer for big guys to adjust to the NBA game.
How much leash can they give the young players until it becomes detrimental to their title chances? That’s the line the coaching staff will need to walk this year as they further solidify the rotations.
