Warriors coach Steve Kerr has practiced patience during the early portion of the NBA season, proclaiming that he’d need 20 games to see what he truly has on the roster. Though a recent blowout loss to the Jazz made Kerr re-evaluate results sooner than that.
But Golden State’s 20th game was one of its best, beating Detroit handily to improve to 11-9. Still, while Kerr indeed needed the time to assess a roster with a variety of new pieces, this is a franchise that’s relatively fresh off a run of championship teams to close the last decade, and stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green still have lofty, championship expectations.
In fact, when asked how he feels about where the team is after 20 games, Green said he’s not satisfied in the slightest, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
“Hell no,” he said. “We’re 11-9. Nah. We could be a lot better.”
Does he feel they’re on a path toward that?
“Sometimes,” Green answered. “Sometimes we aren’t. It’s all about this team building consistency. When I say consistency, I mean building a consistent identity. We’ve shown bits and pieces of an identity of who we could be. But we haven’t quite been that all the time. Sometimes it feels great, sometimes it doesn’t. We gotta put those together. Not one game here, two shit games, two good games, a shit game. We gotta build some momentum.”
The Athletic
Green was on the Warriors 73-win team and is a three time NBA champion, so it’s no surprise he’s not satisfied with being just above the .500 win-percentage mark. He says that 20 games wasn’t enough to build an identity, which appears to be the case. As Green notes, the squad has been inconsistent, failing to win three games in a row thus far.
But they’re getting there. It won’t be easy to climb into the playoffs after missing the party last season, let alone climb all the way to the top of the NBA as Green is used to. But at the least, Golden State has a fantastic record against downtrodden clubs, giving them a chance to tread water as they find that consistent identity.
And until they find what they’re seeking, the answer to the question posed to Green will continue to be “Hell no.” However, that doesn’t mean the answer won’t eventually be “hell yes.” Golden State will have its next opportunity to find their way on Tuesday night against the Celtics.
(Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)
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