Through 45 games of the 2022-23 NBA Season, the Golden State Warriors have not lived up to the expectations of a team coming off of a championship. After losing a Finals rematch to the Boston Celtics on January 19, the Warriors have slipped back below .500 at 22-23, which has them sitting at ninth in the Western Conference.
On the January 19 episode of the “Draymond Green Show,” Green was joined by former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford. The Warriors star spoke with Crawford, discussing the team’s struggles so far this year.
“Our struggles this hear have not been because we aren’t flipping the switch,” Green told Crawford. “I think a lot of our shortcomings this year is my fault… because I have not been the leader that I am and that I need to be for this team. And the reason that I have not been that leader has also been my fault. I think we all know what happened with your young (Michigan) Wolverine brother, JP (Jordan Poole). So for me, I’ve kind of had to walk a fine line of not really being Draymond, and when I’m not really being myself, that’s not the best thing for this team. So, where we’ve struggled is accountability. Accountability on the defensive end, accountability on the v end. You know the accountability that it takes to have a winning team. That’s my role on this team and I’ve fell short in that area. That’s something that I have to be better at, that I have to get back to. But, when I look at our struggles… it’s because guys haven’t been, I being the No. 1 culprit, who they need to be fulfilling their roles on this team.”
When discussing the Warriors’ woes, Green did hint that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’ve been working to come out of that, and I’m starting to turn the corner,” he said. “When I turn the corner, then it will allow everyone else to turn the corner.”
Steve Kerr Rips Warriors After Frustrating Loss to Celtics
While Green points to his lack of leadership as reason for Golden State’s struggles this season, Head Coach Steve Kerr pointed out a different flaw after his team’s loss to the Celtics.
Their defense. More specifically, he pinpointed the mental lapse on a crucial possession in the fourth quarter where Boston’s Jaylen Brown drilled a game-tying 3-pointer.
JAYLEN BROWN FOR THREE 😱
TIE GAME ON TNT
Brown has pretty open for the look too, which Kerr was far from thrilled about.
“I haven’t seen the replay yet but in that situation, the whole game plan is no threes,” Kerr explained. “And there was no timeout. They didn’t take a timeout, they just came down and played. That’s where the guys need to be able to decipher that on the fly.”
Steve Kerr explains what happened on the Jaylen Brown 3-pointer at the end of regulation
Steph Curry Sounds Off on Warriors’ Lineup Change
Kerr clearly wanted to take home a victory from Boston pretty bad. He even made a tweak to the Warriors’ starting lineup ahead of the Finals rematch, sliding Poole in and moving Kevon Looney to the bench. Prior to the Celtics matchup, Looney had started every game for Golden State.
Star point guard Stephen Curry discussed Kerr’s lineup change following the loss.
“There’s strength and weaknesses to it,” Curry told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “But we got great shots with it tonight. Came out with a lot of juice. We gotta be better at rebounding. If we give up size, we gotta be more physical, prepared to rebound. But it gives us great space and gets us great shots, and you gotta like the way we can play fast and put pressure on defenses.”
Here are Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jordan Poole on the starting lineup switch up
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Draymond Green Drops Truth Bomb About Warriors’ Struggles