Steve Kerr didn't mince words regarding how he coached against the Phoenix Suns.
After the Warriors' 125-113 loss to the Suns on Tuesday night at Chase Center, Kerr didn't hold back on his team's preparation, or lack thereof, against Phoenix.
"I take responsibility for that," Kerr told reporters postgame. "I clearly didn't have our guys ready to play and that's my fault."
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Kerr noted that he, as the coach of the Warriors, has to do a better job of giving his team a wake-up call and not allowing them to sleepwalk against a Suns team missing a myriad of starters.
"I've got to do a better job of giving them the slap in the face that Phoenix gave us in the first quarter," Kerr said. "These games, they always go like this. A team's got a bunch of starters out and then all the guys who normally don't play much, they can't wait to get out there."
Having almost a full Warriors squad on hand presents Kerr with another issue: Seeing which lineups work and trying to find the right combination that leads to wins, especially with Steph Curry returning after an 11-game absence.
Golden State Warriors
"So I think the combination of that dynamic and then just getting some guys back and trying to find our rhythm, it really got us off to a slow start," Kerr added. "But I did like the fact that we competed in that fourth quarter and fought like crazy because sometimes in this league, you forgot how hard it is to win a game.
"It's really hard to win an NBA game and the difference between winning and losing is like that."
The Warriors trailed by 19 points, 98-79, to start the final frame. However, Golden State clawed back and cut the deficit to six, 119-113, with just over a minute left.
However, Phoenix strung together a 6-0 run to seal the game. Despite being down by as many as 27 points in the third quarter, Kerr hopes the team's effort in the fourth generates momentum moving forward.
"So I'm hoping that that fourth quarter was the team that I have come to know and love and recognize," Kerr said. "But we have to show that in the first quarter, not in the fourth quarter, and that's my job to try and get that out of them."
After starting the eight-game homestand 5-0, the Warriors (20-21) have dropped the last three contests and now are under .500 on the season. Now, Golden State embarks on a five-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
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With half the season in the books, the Warriors are running out of time to figure out who they are as a basketball team.
And considering Kerr is leading the way in putting Golden State's puzzle together, Warriors fans are hoping the puzzle will be solved very soon.