Getty Golden State Warriors wing Moses Moody looks on during a preseason bout with the Washington Wizards.
The Golden State Warriors are officially back in effect, having tipped off their 2022-23 campaign with a big win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Along the way, we got our first look at the rotations/lineup combinations that head coach Steve Kerr is looking to employ this season.
On the whole, the distribution of minutes in game No. 1 could have been guessed at after watching the Dubs during preseason and listening to Kerr’s comments on the topic throughout camp. That’s not to say that there weren’t any surprises, though.
For his part, former No. 14 overall pick Moses Moody saw just eight minutes of action against LeBron James and Co.; a far cry from the 23-plus minutes he saw in three of his four exhibition appearances.
According to Kerr, this shouldn’t be taken as a sign of things to come or an indication that something is amiss with the talented, wise-beyond-his-years baller. On the contrary, the Dubs play-caller is adamant that Moody will be a regular on the court this season.
Kerr Addresses Moody’s Lack of Minutes Against Lakers
Moody’s relatively limited role versus the Lakers had some wondering whether the calf injury that kept him out of Golden State’s preseason finale against the Denver Nuggets was an issue. During his presser, Kerr assuaged those fears and maintained that Moody would play a lot more in the future.
“We just we have a lot of guys if we’re healthy,” Kerr said. “We can go really deep and it’s rare to play 11 guys in a rotation but Moses will will play plenty this year. We’re not going to be healthy for 82 games; there’s going to be lots of opportunities for him and for our other young guys.”
Depending on matchups and the team’s injury situation, different players could draw the short end of the stick on a given night. And Kerr is making an effort to get his players on-board with that reality.
“What I told the team yesterday is that, because of our depth, certain nights aren’t going to go your way and you just got to keep your head up and keep going and your chance will come.”
This much is certain — Moody has shown that he deserves that chance.
Moody Lit It Up in His Last Preaseason Game
Re: Moody getting minutes, it’s imperative that the 20-year-old gets an opportunity to showcase and develop his talents. Playing time may have been scarce during his rookie campaign in the Bay, but when he got run in the G League, he made his presence known like few others at the developmental level can.
In four games with the Santa Cruz-based Sea Dubs last season, Moody averaged 31.8 points, 7.0 reboundsand 1.8 assists per contest while connecting on 52.3% of his field-goal attempts and 41.3% from deep (on a whopping 11.5 attempts per game).
It was more of the same against better players during the Warriors’ October 11 preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Starting and playing 23 minutes for his team, Moody tied a game-high with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting (and 3-of-6 from deep) while adding three boards and two steals.