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Within a parity-filled Western Conference, the Warriors currently hold a record of 10-14, 11th in the West and 3 games behind the 10th-seed Suns. Despite the Warriors' poor first-quarter of the season, there have undoubtedly been some moments, indicating what this Warrior's squad could be down the road- that is, a championship contender. Likewise, there have been other moments that make you angrily turn off the TV, disgusted by the play of the Warriors. With an imperfect blend of positive and negative moments, let's dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Warriors, in an attempt to elucidate the Warriors' 2023-2024 potential.
The Good
1. Steph Curry
At a youthful age 35, Stephen Curry has shown no signs of slowing down, his game aging like fine wine. It's truly not an oxymoron to say that he's carrying this Warrior's team on his back, laser-focused on the task at hand with disregard for any of the distractions or naysayers. As of December 15th, Curry is averaging a whopping 28.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, all while receiving consistent double teams, hard fouls, and box-and-ones. While Steph's three-pointer has not faded whatsoever, it has been his finishing abilities that have taken him to the next level this year. By gradually building his strength, Curry is now able to confidently finish under contact, take the bumps, the wear and tear, and the fouls from opposing defenders, and dominate the league. Amidst the Warriors' rocky start, Curry has been a beacon of consistency and stardom.
2. The First 8 Games of the Season
Despite the overall poor play of the Warriors, most fans fail to realize the Warriors' incredible start to the season: 6-2, atop the Western Conference, while defeating quality teams such as the Thunder, Kings, and Pelicans. Throughout that stretch, the Warriors were firing on all cylinders: Curry was excellent, Chris Paul had fit in seamlessly, and everyone else played their role to perfection. Even on the road, the Warriors were stellar; thus, many analysts had the Warriors as their favorites to come out of the West, over the likes of the Nuggets, Suns, and more. That first 2 weeks of the season is clearly and by far, the Warriors' peak, though they haven't been able to reach anywhere near that in the ensuing games. If the Warriors can return to their first-8-game-of-the-season selves, the league will be in trouble,
The Bad
1. Inconsistency Across All Levels
Other than the first 8 games of the season, the Warriors have been wildly inconsistent, across all facets. Some nights, the starters may play extremely poorly, but the bench would keep the Warriors in the game; other nights, the bench would be horrible, but the starters would be amazing. Either way, this is not a recipe for success, or winning. Even within the starting group, there are some wild inconsistencies. As exemplified by the Clippers-Warriors game, when Klay had his breakout game, Steph Curry would struggle immensely, leading to a loss. On other nights (or most nights), Curry would go nuclear, but Klay and the supporting starters would be god-awful. Again, in both situations, they lead to losses. Even within the games itself, there will be vast inconsistencies. The Warriors have played in 15 "crunch time" games. Within most of these games, the Warriors lose: the reason? Collapse within the fourth. For 3 quarters, the Warriors would be great, then they would struggle with 5 minutes left. Again, this ethos of consistency continues.
The Ugly
1. Klay, Wiggins, and Green
Here at All Things Warriors, we've already dissected the shooting woes of Klay and Wiggins. Today, Wiggins got benched, and his shooting woes continued; on the other hand, Klay finally had some semblance of his old self, scoring 30 points with 8/12 from three. Part of the reason as to why Klay was not benched, despite anger from the Warriors fanbase, is simply due to Klay's gravity. The presence of Klay, even amidst his shooting woes, continues to instill fear within the hearts of defenders and coaches; thus, Klay's gravity opens up so much for the Warriors, whether it's dives to the rim by Looney or backdoor cuts by Kuminga. Klay is truly, only a negative to the Warriors when he takes wildly contested jump shots that disrupt the flow of the Warriors' offense. Klay and Wiggins' struggles may have seemed like the ugliest bit of the Warriors season, until 2 days ago, against the Suns. Draymond Green, yet again, had an egregious play that had nothing to do with basketball, as he ruthlessly swung his hand at Jusuf Nurkic's head. Within 3 weeks of his last suspension, as a result of the infamous choke on Rudy Gobert, Green has been ejected yet again, leading to now, a suspension deemed an indefinite amount of time. The lack of Green certainly inhibits the Warriors' offense, but one must now question, whether or not Green has lost the trust and respect of the Warriors staff and players. If they do lose trust for Green due to his offensive antics, it'll become the Jordan Poole situation once again.
Hopefully, the Warriors will regain their form from the beginning of the season. Hopefully, Klay's performance against the Clippers is indicative of the fact that his old self is finally back. Hopefully, Wiggins finds a new role and thrives within it off the bench. Hopefully, Green can receive the help he needs during therapy, come back on the court, regain the trust of the Warriors, and once again play an integral role within this offense. There's certainly a lot of hope and speculation, but if all things line up, don't be surprised if the Warriors make another deep playoff run.
