Just forget it: Kerr resting everyone against Pelicans
Win or lose, at least they get to go home after tonight
The Golden State Warriors tried to win, they really did. Stephen Curry score 39 points in the 38 minutes he played. Klay Thompson played 34 minutes, Andrew Wiggins played 35. And yet, somehow, the Warriors still lost to an Orlando Magic team that came into the game with just one singular win so far this season.
This time around, coach Steve Kerr is throwing in the towel. Maybe the win will come if we don’t chase it so hard? The core four is getting the night off:
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (3-6) at New Orleans Pelicans (x-x)
WHEN: Friday, November 4th, 2022 // 5:30pm PDT
WATCH: NBCSBA
Early in the season, but still…
You could see the frustration on Kerr’s face. You could hear it in his voice. There were some changes coming to the rotation after last night’s loss to the rebuilding (and perpetually not good) Orlando Magic. So far, the early season returns have been somewhere between “no good” and “very bad.”
“We're gonna have to make some adjustments, make some changes. We’ve had a look. We’ve had what, nine games now? So we've had a decent look at combinations and so it's time to try something different.”
So fine. Remove the good parts and see what happens. Worst case scenario, it’s another loss - something that will hurt, but might have happened regardless. Curry is playing the most minutes per game that he has ever played under Kerr. Curry is 5th in total minutes played in the NBA, but due to the frenetic pace that Golden State plays at, he’s actually first in total possessions played. That’s a lot of mileage for not a lot of positive return.
Times not necessarily running out on James Wiseman, but the clock is most definitely ticking. Golden State is treading trecherous waters here, pairing their established core of champs with a bunch of extremely green players (and some journeymen on minimum contracts). The cracks are starting to show through.
You really aren’t supposed to parse out the player impact like this, but let’s not overcomplicate it: the entire bench is an issue. Wiseman racks up the worst numbers (for a variety of reasons (see above)) but is far from the only one to blame.
Nonetheless: ewww.
Now Kerr has pulled everyone but Kevon Looney, the stalwart. One way or another, this second generation is going to get some court time. If these guys can’t get it together, the team needs to know one way or another as soon as possible.
Wiseman has been getting a lot of heat for his poor play, but he’s far from the only problem. Jordan Poole has the lowest plus-minus (-85) and most turnovers (27) for the Warriors this season.
The other player that should be mentioned ahead of tonight’s game is Kuminga. After looking like one of the team’s more promising youngsters in recent memory during his rookie season last year, he’s been pushed to the backseat - a victim of the team’s renewed push to find minutes for Wiseman.
Prediction
Because absolutely nothing makes sense, let’s just say that the Warriors win tonight through some unknown miracle of basketball alchemy.
Music Friday
It’s not punk rock, sorry! But please do yourself a favor and check out Bleached. Sort of a catchy surf/funk rock. They’re coming through SF in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait.
Besides the poor screen from Wiseman in your clip above, he consistently gets poor rebounding position underneath the basket, also in the above clip, rather than in front of it. In that position, the only shot he can rebound is one that goes through the hoop. The shots that miss usually bounce over his head to the rebounder behind him.
Poole play better defense than Kyrie Irving? 🤔 🙃