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Ex-Golden State Warrior, Zaza Pachulia, has played with many great players including Stephen Curry and even reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Reflecting on his time as part of the Golden State Warriors, Pachulia asserts that Curry will struggle this season if he does not receive the help needed from his teammates.
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Pachulia Says Steph Needs Help
Per Mercury News’ Wes Goldberg, Pachulia described how, like Giannis, Curry will struggle when he doesn’t have other shooters spacing out the court along with him.
“Same thing goes with Steph. It started with Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green setting screens to get him open, Klay helps because teams cannot really load on Steph because if you leave Klay open, Klay’s going to make 14 3s against the Chicago Bulls. With Kevin Durant, one of the best players in the league, Steph has more freedom and he can be who he is. But if you have this amazing defender on him and a big man down there waiting for him, then Steph is going to struggle, too.”
In the Warriors’ season opener against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, the team did not make much of a statement for the league’s kickoff. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant led the Nets to nearly blow out the Warriors 125-99, almost completely exposing Golden State’s early problems. The way that the team performed in their season opener solidified that there is still work to do to get this almost remodeled team on track.
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Curry Can’t Do It All By Himself
As a veteran of the team, during the game, Curry encouraged Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. on the bench telling them to not be discouraged by the game and to keep playing. The two scored a combined 19 points which weren’t enough to help the Warriors in their loss. Wiggins and Oubre Jr. are key factors in the team’s new lineup and they must step up in order to assist Curry in games to come if they want to be playoff contenders again.
Minus star center Draymond Green for the team’s first few games of the season and All-Star Klay Thompson who is out for the entirety of the season, it was evident that the team was missing some key components in Tuesday’s matchup against the Nets.
With no clear offensive threat on the floor along with Curry, it’s hard to say if the Warriors will return to the playoff team that they once were. On paper, Golden State looks like they could be a decent team, the other players will just need to step up greatly, as Pachulia mentioned.
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