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  6. article_body => "<p>DENVER -- Draymond Green is not a fan of the NBA\u2019s newest points of education, which he interprets, with sound reason, as being largely beneficial to offense. It certainly appears that way for the Warriors.<\/p>\n<p>For they are having an exceedingly difficult time defending without being whistled for fouls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems like every game we\u2019re coming out and committing four fouls in the first five minutes or so,\u201d Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night, after the team\u2019s first loss, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/bayarea\/warriors\/warriors-takeaways-what-we-learned-100-98-loss-nuggets\">100-98 to the Nuggets at Pepsi Center.<\/a> \u201cIt happened in preseason. It\u2019s happened in all three games now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Three games into the season, the Warriors are minus-48 (108-60) in foul shots. They\u2019ve been whistled for 81 personal fouls, an average of 27 per game. For perspective, they committed 1,607 fouls last season, an average of 19.6 per game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the fouls we have are just dumb as hell,\u201d Green said. \u201cWe\u2019re in the bonus with six, seven and eight minutes to go in every quarter, and we\u2019re still fouling. Some of them are a bit questionable and some of them are on us, just ridiculous.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be smarter. We can\u2019t sit there and act like every foul call on us is wrong. Throughout the course of the game, the officials are going to get some wrong. That\u2019s the nature of the beast. They\u2019re human. That\u2019s the game we play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors paid a steep price against the Nuggets. Their fouls led to 42 Denver free throws, giving the Nuggets more than enough scoring to come away with a two-point victory.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, Green missed a potential game-tying free throw in the final seconds. Sure, the Warriors were outrebounded (47-40). Sure, they shot 24.1 percent from behind the 3-point arc. And, sure, they were trailing by 13 with 8:28 remaining.<\/p>\n<p>But no aspect of their performance -- with the possible exception of their 19 turnovers -- was more damaging than all those fouls, sending waves of Nuggets to the free throw line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been called pretty tight,\u201d Green said. \u201cWe were told that. Defense isn\u2019t really an emphasis anymore in this league. You\u2019re seeing that all around the league, with these high scores. We know what the emphasis is. We\u2019ve just got to be better, and we haven\u2019t done that in three games. We won two of them, but it caught us tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If the goal of the league was to generate more scoring, it\u2019s working. Twelve teams are averaging at least 115 points per game. The Warriors, who last season led the league with 113.5 points per game, are at 110 after three games.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the indirect influence of their fouling, which disrupts any chance of the Warriors gaining rhythm, much less kicking their transition game into overdrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to adjust, if that\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be, consistently,\u201d Stephen Curry said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just not executing,\u201d Green said. \u201cWe\u2019re turning the ball over a lot. Part of that is we\u2019re playing against a set defense every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The transition game thrives when the defense is forcing misses or getting deflections and steals. Neither is happening as much as usual with the Warriors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to correct it,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWe talk about it all the time, we drill it all the team. We do defensive drills without reaching, without grabbing, so you\u2019ve got to just keep drilling it. It has to become something that becomes a habit. We haven\u2019t gotten there this year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With a 2-1 record, it\u2019s not as if the Warriors have fallen flat. But several problems have come to the surface, and fouling definitely is one of them. It\u2019s one they\u2019ll have to solve to get back to playing championship basketball.<\/p>\n"
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Warriors

Presented By montepoole
Warriors

DENVER -- Draymond Green is not a fan of the NBA’s newest points of education, which he interprets, with sound reason, as being largely beneficial to offense. It certainly appears that way for the Warriors.

For they are having an exceedingly difficult time defending without being whistled for fouls.

“It seems like every game we’re coming out and committing four fouls in the first five minutes or so,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Sunday night, after the team’s first loss, 100-98 to the Nuggets at Pepsi Center. “It happened in preseason. It’s happened in all three games now.”

Three games into the season, the Warriors are minus-48 (108-60) in foul shots. They’ve been whistled for 81 personal fouls, an average of 27 per game. For perspective, they committed 1,607 fouls last season, an average of 19.6 per game.

“Some of the fouls we have are just dumb as hell,” Green said. “We’re in the bonus with six, seven and eight minutes to go in every quarter, and we’re still fouling. Some of them are a bit questionable and some of them are on us, just ridiculous.

“We’ve got to be smarter. We can’t sit there and act like every foul call on us is wrong. Throughout the course of the game, the officials are going to get some wrong. That’s the nature of the beast. They’re human. That’s the game we play.”

 

The Warriors paid a steep price against the Nuggets. Their fouls led to 42 Denver free throws, giving the Nuggets more than enough scoring to come away with a two-point victory.

Sure, Green missed a potential game-tying free throw in the final seconds. Sure, the Warriors were outrebounded (47-40). Sure, they shot 24.1 percent from behind the 3-point arc. And, sure, they were trailing by 13 with 8:28 remaining.

But no aspect of their performance -- with the possible exception of their 19 turnovers -- was more damaging than all those fouls, sending waves of Nuggets to the free throw line.

“It’s been called pretty tight,” Green said. “We were told that. Defense isn’t really an emphasis anymore in this league. You’re seeing that all around the league, with these high scores. We know what the emphasis is. We’ve just got to be better, and we haven’t done that in three games. We won two of them, but it caught us tonight.”

If the goal of the league was to generate more scoring, it’s working. Twelve teams are averaging at least 115 points per game. The Warriors, who last season led the league with 113.5 points per game, are at 110 after three games.

That’s the indirect influence of their fouling, which disrupts any chance of the Warriors gaining rhythm, much less kicking their transition game into overdrive.

“We’ve got to adjust, if that’s the way it’s going to be, consistently,” Stephen Curry said.

“We’re just not executing,” Green said. “We’re turning the ball over a lot. Part of that is we’re playing against a set defense every time.”

The transition game thrives when the defense is forcing misses or getting deflections and steals. Neither is happening as much as usual with the Warriors.

“We’ve got to correct it,” Kerr said. “We talk about it all the time, we drill it all the team. We do defensive drills without reaching, without grabbing, so you’ve got to just keep drilling it. It has to become something that becomes a habit. We haven’t gotten there this year.”

With a 2-1 record, it’s not as if the Warriors have fallen flat. But several problems have come to the surface, and fouling definitely is one of them. It’s one they’ll have to solve to get back to playing championship basketball.