The Golden State Warriors have yet to win their first game on the road this season. They’re the reigning NBA champions, but losing some of their best defenders in the offseason took a major toll on their chances.
The Dubs trusted the young guns to step up and carry the load while the veteran core did its thing as starters. However, other than Jordan Poole, they haven’t gotten much production from their youngsters.
That’s why Draymond Green believes the second unit needs to be better. He feels like they need to get more used to playing side-by-side with Poole, who’s expected to be their offensive catalyst.
NBA News: Draymond Green Blames The Second Unit For The Warriors’ Struggles
(Transcript via Fadeaway World)
“I think it’s a lot different. For the most part, coming off the bench, we’ve had kind of an elder statesman, if you will. [Someone] that would come off the bench, kind of slow things down, right the ship. And it’s different now, where you come off the bench, and the reality is, the first guy you come off the bench with is usually JP. And JP is a sixth starter. And so that’s a different feel.
And I think when you’re starting to get more guys in there, and it’s turning into the second unit, as opposed to more of the first unit guys. Whereas it used to be a kind of a different offense, if you will. It’s more like the same. And I think we have to figure that out in that second unit and understand that, you know, what you’re accustomed to is, Steph goes out the game and the whole offense changes, and it’s more sets. But with Jordan is still going to be more of the same as you get with Steph, and I think guys have to really adjust to that, and it’s taken some time to adjust to that.”
For the majority of those guys, they don’t play a ton with Steph. So they don’t really understand that. Whereas opposed to when Jordan comes in with us, and we’ve played with Steph for so long, we understand the randomness of it. I think that group has to start understanding the randomness of it. But you know that, like I said, that takes time.”
It’s still early in the season, so it’s not time to sound off the alarms. But the Warriors don’t have that much financial flexibility to make trades, so chances are that they’ll have to figure out things from within rather than bring in a different set of players.
