It’s the opening week of the NBA season, and fans and observers are in a frenzy. Who’s hot? Who’s not? Which teams are full of scrubs, and which squads are destined for greatness?
Near the top of the list of NBA water-cooler conversation topics are the Golden State Warriors. Early in the season, it appears that superstar guard Stephen Curry is all by himself on the floor without his Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, and forward Draymond Green.
With Thompson out for the season with an Achilles injury and Green still nursing a sore foot, the Warriors’ first week of NBA action was uneven but mostly uninspiring. Golden State was blown out by two Eastern Conference teams, the Nets and Bucks and barely beat the Bulls on Sunday. Notably, new wings Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre have shot poorly from the field, which has coach Steve Kerr rethinking his motion offense for the time being. Plus, the Warriors are still learning how to utilize rookie center, James Wiseman.
The Athletic’s Zach Harper had a little fun with his opening NBA Power Rankings of the season, explaining his article is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it’s also based on real observations. Harper simply knows that overreactions are abundant at this time of year, so he gleefully dives in. Here’s what he wrote about the Warriors, whom he ranked No. 28 (yikes) in the NBA.
Bob Myers is terrible at getting shooting for this team. He did a great job of crafting the era of Golden State Warriors basketball that ruined the league. Everybody thinks of 3-point shooting when it comes to this Warriors era. However, it’s really just the Splash Brothers and Kevin Durant during that time. Everybody else is kind of mediocre when it comes to outside shooting with this team.
Harper then provided a bulleted list detailing the fact that non-Splash Brother Warriors are not good shooters, which I feel is already a well-known fact but it does illustrate how much the Warriors miss Thompson. He hammers his point home by mentioning the struggling Oubre and Wiggins.
Finally, the NBA writer then left us with this tidbit of thought:
Why are they ranked here? This team is bad. Really bad. Draymond Green getting healthy and on the court will help, but he’s not a miracle worker. Warriors need to rethink everything.
Really bad? Harsh, but at this point, fair. Harper mentions that without dynamic 3-point shooting, Kerr’s motion system will struggle and he’ll have to “rethink everything.”
Luckily, Kerr is already on that track, according to 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.
Plus, Green is projected to return on Jan. 1 against the Blazers at Chase Center. Let’s wait and see what Harper says about the Warriors next week. From here, there’s almost nowhere to go but up.
(Photo credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
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