The Warriors’ starting lineup has struggled mightily early on in NBA games this season. Steve Kerr speaks to the media about their struggles and how he plans to “assess” the rotation moving forward.
Steve Kerr hasn't lost much during his tenure as the Warriors' head coach. But after a 15-50 season in 2019-20, the Warriors are 23-27 this season, riding a three-game losing streak that included an embarrassing 53-point loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Kerr spoke to reporters before Tuesday night's clash with the Milwaukee Bucks, and was asked about the uncertainty of being between a title contender and a rebuilding team at the bottom of the standings.
"This is definitely the first time that the puzzle hasn't come together," Kerr said. "The first five years, obviously, everything went really smoothly. We had an amazing roster that fit perfectly, we had shooters, we had passers, we had defenders, we had two-way guys, and so we knew how blessed we were. This year, the puzzle has been much trickier to put together, and we've tried a lot of different things. We've tried different lineup combinations, different rotations, and tried to move the pieces around, and frankly, it has been very difficult to find anything that has been firm and successful.
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SIGN UP HERE "So, frustrating, but we have to keep going going, and keep searching, and keep searching for consistency so that we can finally get on a run. I think we won three in a row one time this year, that's it. We just have never been able to put it together, but I think we still can. I think there's still time."
Those first five years under Kerr's tutelage produced three championships and five Western Conference titles, not to mention a number of NBA records and milestones set along the way.
Those first five years also included the nearly constant presence of Klay Thompson, which has not been the case for two seasons now as the star swingman has dealt with multiple major lower-body injuries.
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Last season made a lot more sense than this one, as Steph Curry played in parts of four games before breaking his hand and missing all but one other game. Thompson missed the entirety of last season, too.
However, the Warriors expected the 2020-21 campaign to be a "revenge tour" of sorts. Even after Thompson's season-ending Achilles injury in November, fans and those within the organization weren't concerned about competing for a playoff spot and maintained the belief that this group, led by a recharged Curry, would be in the thick of the West.
Instead, Curry has played at an MVP-caliber level, but the remainder of his teammates haven't even come close to keeping up. The Warriors' offense has been very reliant on Curry, and when he is out, this group looks like a different team entirely.
A playoff spot seems like a big ask at this point in the season, although the Warriors still have a chance to reach the expanded field through the play-in tournament.
As Kerr alluded to, the Warriors still have time to turn things around with 22 games remaining. But the 2020-21 season has been Kerr's most difficult year as an NBA coach, and he'll need to make the right adjustments.
Othewise, Kerr and the Warriors will watch the playoffs from home for the second consecutive year.
