Inevitable changes coming to Warriors’ deep rotation after latest loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
If winning cures all, losing exposes the leaks in your foundation.
The Warriors after Saturday night 113-105 road loss against the Phoenix Suns have now lost four straight games, dropping them from first in the Western Conference to fourth with a 12-7 record. Changes seem to be coming.
Steve Kerr’s grand experiment in testing Golden State’s depth is far from the norm for an NBA team. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer used four players off the bench against the Warriors, each seeing at least 15 minutes of time. It gave them rhythm without having to look over their shoulder at the next guy on the bench ready to replace them at the next whistle, and it showed.
Oso Ighodaro played 31 minutes and was plus-14 with six points on 3-of-4 shooting, eight rebounds and two blocks. Ryan Dunn, plus-8, also had two blocks in 20 minutes, plus two points, four rebounds and two assists. The spark the Suns needed off the bench came from Royce O’Neale and Monte Morris.
O’Neale, plus-15, scored 11 points in 19 minutes, going 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Morris saw the least amount of time from the Suns reserves, playing 15 minutes but scoring eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and was 2-of-3 from deep. He was plus-9, adding five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
The only Warrior with a positive plus/minus coming off the bench was Kevon Looney, who had a plus-1 in 16 minutes.
“It can be difficult sometimes to find a rhythm, not knowing what to expect from one game to the next,” Looney told reporters in Phoenix. “But I think the guys are doing a good job of staying ready. Everyone knows they’re going to get in there at some point. … I think with this group, we know they’re going to play all of us at some point and we just have to be ready at that point to bring a spark, bring energy and make plays.
“I think we did that for the most part, but when we lose you try to find a reason why we lost and you get a little frustrated, but I think the group stays positive and everyone benefits from it . of their opportunities.
The opportunities, however, could start to shorten up and down the Warriors roster.
Same with De’Anthony Melton out for the rest of the seasonAs the Warriors started the game slowly in Phoenix, Kerr used 11 players in the first quarter alone. In the first half, 14 players took to the field. But changes were seen before and during the match.
“Yeah, we need to think about shortening it,” Kerr said of his deep rotation. “We’ve looked carefully at the combinations we play from game to game, and we have a lot of options. It’s not always an easy thing. Sometimes you have too many options. …It gets harder and harder as you play with more people.
“If we reduce, we will talk about it again in the coming days. If we do it, then we do it, but things always come up during an NBA season.
In the second half against the Suns, neither Moses Moody nor Kyle Anderson received minutes. Kevon Looney opened the second half at center in place of Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Brandin Podziemski, who made multiple threes for the first time in exactly a month, started the game alongside Steph Curry in the zone back.
When the Warriors started the season 12-3, their bench played otherworldly, averaging 54.2 points per game. But during their four-game losing streak, they averaged 40 points per game.
Kerr is also looking to give Jonathan Kuminga more minutes alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Kuminga didn’t make any of his five shots in the first half and was 0 of 7 through three quarters. Then, when Kerr went small and faced Kuminga next to Green in the fourth quarter, he hit four shots at the rim and nearly propelled the Warriors to a comeback victory.
Strength in numbers has been the Warriors’ philosophy because of the way their team has been constructed, despite their offseason attempts to find another star to play alongside Curry. There have been a number of positives in seeing so many guys step up and take advantage of their opportunities. Now that things have started to deteriorate, complications have taken center stage.
“Everyone has to be ready to do what they’re asked to do, and if you’re not playing, you have to stay sharp,” Curry said. “It’s very hard, there are no two ways about it.”
Should the rotation be shortened? It’s not Curry’s place to say, but even he can’t ignore the difficult positions this puts players in.
“The only thing I will say is that it’s difficult for anyone to try to find a rhythm and know what you’re going to be asked to do. … We’re a unique team, it’s a unique situation. I don’t think it’s been done in the league, probably ever. It’s an 82-game schedule and you have to figure out what adjustments need to be made. We probably need to be a little more predictable from night to night, so the guys can have a little more rhythm. Is this a shortening of one or two guys?
“Maybe.”
