Getty Images Golden State Warriors' Curry and Green
This might serve as a friendly reminder of how dynamic this duo is, in case anyone forgot, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are anxious to compete again.
After the disappointing 2019-2020 season where an injury restricted Curry to five games and Green was left to inconsistently carry the team the rest of the season, the Golden State Warriors’ “heavy hitters” reported to the first day of training camp on Wednesday.
Curry and Green were the cruces of the Warriors’ 2015-2019 dynasty, where Curry received back-to-back MVP awards and Green was deemed defensive player of the year during their five consecutive NBA Finals appearances and they are excited to get back to it.
“I definitely want to be playing competitive basketball, especially in games that matter,” Curry said to reporters on Thursday, per the NBA. “We’ve been playing the waiting game since last March. For me especially, I only played five games in the calendar year. There’s a lot of excitement to get back out there. It’s a different energy that you miss… being in the locker room, being on the court, and having a group coming together to accomplish a common goal.”
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Picking Up the Pieces From Last Season
Curry joined Klay Thompson, who sustained an ACL injury, on the sideline after breaking his hand early last season. Without a supporting cast of shooters to assist his frontcourt play, Green was not the power authority that we were used to seeing during previous seasons. The Warriors finished last season with the worst record in the league.
Curry spoke about the challenges the team faces, among other things, as the NBA revealed.
“I love the challenges that we face,” Curry said when asked was he eager for the upcoming season. “Every year there’s a different narrative that you need to focus on. Whenever we do get the team together for preseason it’s going to keep building.”
Thompson sustained an Achilles injury in November which will have him out for the entirety of this upcoming NBA season. Making his Achilles another victim of 2020.
It’s obvious that the Warriors are going to have to experiment with some new things this upcoming season. The lineups that we have become familiarized with will not be appearing in months to come. Curry and Green are quite acquainted with knowing how to prosper in a season of change, but with the absence of Thompson, it’s possible that they could come across some road bumps just like last season.
However, according to head coach Steve Kerr, the duo won’t allow that to happen this time around, as the San Francisco Chronicle detailed.
“I think it’ll be easier than last year,” he said in a press conference per the San Francisco Chronicle. “Last year was difficult for several reasons. The injuries were really difficult, but so was the rebound off five straight years of emotional, deep runs. I feel like Steph and Draymond are going to have great years for us.”
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The Switch Up
We can expect to see Curry and Green together on the court more often than not. In the past, Kerr has experimented with staggering the two players but they somehow always end up right back together. Curry’s handles and shot accuracy paired with Green’s dominance under the rim and setting picks seems to be a recipe for success and we shouldn’t expect any changes in this anytime soon.
With Curry and Green being kept together there will be an immense void on the scoring end. This is hopefully where newbies Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Wiggins come into play to hopefully pick up the offense when Curry and Green are not playing. There are some new players on the roster, including first-round draft pick James Wiseman, that could help compliment this duo.
If the Warriors succeed this season, there’s no doubt that Curry and Green will be fundamental to the outcome.