Can the Warriors fix it in Atlanta?
Can the Warriors fix it in Atlanta?
Also: Ugh. Lamb?
Sometimes, folks need a good punch in the face. Other times, there’s no additional messages being delivered and it’s just flat out punishment. The Golden State Warriors are on the road tonight, headed into Atlanta to take on the Hawks for what should be a winnable game - if the Warriors weren’t such a train wreck away from the friendly comforts of Chase Center in San Francisco.
For this game, it’s a little extra twisted degree of difficulty, as Draymond Green is out due to suspension because of his affinity for technical fouls. Were they all deserved? Probably not. But you don’t rack up such big numbers entirely by accident either. Through the end of the season, it will be a one game suspension for every two techs - the count starts over in the playoffs.
Additionally, it looks like Stephen Curry and Kevon Looney are wearing down from the extensive carrying that they’ve been doing all season.
Woo. Hey, at least it’s Friday, right?
GAME DETAILS
WHO: Golden State Warriors (36-34) at Atlanta Hawks (34-35)
WHEN: Friday, March 17th, 2023 // 4:30pm PST
WATCH: NBCSBA
Never too late to judge the front office?
Its complicated.
This team just won an unexpected championship last season. And that has certainly bought this franchise some grace - piled on top of the mountains of it already earned from transforming the wayward team from Oakland into a legitimate dynasty. And there’s certainly some “hindsight is always 20/20” sentiments to be aware of as we look back on what could have been done differently. A team in need of a big man that just traded one away and a coach that loves to go small. Plus, the team's All Star wing is off dealing with something heavy.
There’s an element of weirdness here this season. A statistical outlier of oddities. And one of the strangest: this squad’s freakish dichotomy based on their location.
DNHQ essential, Servant of Luna compiled a list of the team’s ranking with the home and away splits and it’s pretty staggering. I went ahead and stood on the shoulders of that giant and made it a little bit prettier in a table format. But even that didn’t truly capture how large the gaps are.
So here’s an even prettier chart showing just how stinky and fabulous Golden State has been on the road and at home, respectively. With some visual assistance from the layout department to help convey it, you can really see just how massively different this team has performed on the road versus at home.
My opinion is that both sides of that graphic are exaggerated. Eventually, this team has to stop being so weird… right?
Lamb? Thanks, I guess.
I had a section written here about how wretched it feels to have to make this decision. Anthony Lamb was finally signed by the team, it was a badly needed addition, but I find it real easy to understand the team’s recalcitrance. The 15th spot was vacant; Lamb was playing down with the G League team, ineligible after exceeding the allowed 50 games on his two-way contract.
The Warriors finally had their hand forced, but can rest easy knowing that they saved ownership some money while limping through a few extra weeks running a lean roster. Without Green, and Looney looking iffy, Golden State was going to be playing without a frontcourt tonight. So, welcome back, I guess?
Prediction
My confidence is real low. But then again, nothing about this season has been all that predictable anyways, so let’s go out on a limb here and call this a Warriors win.
Music Friday!
Friday is my favorite day of the week. Sure, it doesn’t come with the default free time like Saturday or Sunday, but there’s a real primal scream element to the end of the work week that always brings me an extra dose of joy.
For today’s music, I want to introduce you to Catbite. Fronted by a fun husband and wife duo, they’ve got an old timey vocal style that I love. Maybe you will too? Give it a listen. Don’t worry about the work day, it’ll all be over soon.
Fresh new thread for angst, speculation and condolences: https://dubnationhq.com/p/warriors-still-on-track-in-killer?sd=pf
Need to better lock in these rotations for the last 11 games. No more Poole next to curry. A lineup of curry Poole with jmg at the five has no chance of stopping somebody unless maybe gp2 and Wiggins is in there but we'd still be extremely small, jmg should really only run next to Draymond to cover his defense.
Run dray n looney then kuminga looney 2nd quarter go Draymond and jmg and finish out with kuminga jmg, this ensures we have a backline of defense at all times to cover for the poor perimeter defense.
If kerr wants to throw moody in rotation all of a sudden then have him take Poole's minutes next to curry, Poole only played 23 minutes last game and the hawks still attacked him every possession he was on the floor