SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors circled up in the locker room following a disappointing loss to the Dallas Mavericks to re-group.
The message from team leaders is for players to re-focus on the collective and push individual needs to the back burner. Without throwing any teammates under the bus, some Warriors and coach Steve Kerr insinuated that some players are splintering off to tend to personal agendas. Kerr, at the podium after the team meeting, mentioned some players have a pressure to perform that’s become palpable.
“We need to get back to playing for each other,” Gary Payton II said Monday at practice. “I’m pretty sure you can see it on the court, it’s just a disconnect that we have, especially on defense. And I think our offense is predicated on our defense, and it should be the other way around.”
Said rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis: “The biggest takeaways from that was our energy and trying to stay positive. Bringing great energy when we’re on the floor because guys feed off of that and if you have negative energy you can suck the energy out of a team. We can’t have that because we’re trying to still win in the margins.”
The defense breaks down often without Draymond Green at the helm yelling directions to his teammates; Green is the identifiable player serving an indefinite suspension for what the team says is to address some personal reasons that seeped into his on-court behavior from hits to chokeholds. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are under pressure to perform well as they’re both rookie extension eligible after this season.
Kuminga has gone from out of the rotation to starter. Moody has become a rotation casualty with Payton’s return and Brandin Podziemski’s emergence. Steph Curry, Green and Chris Paul hosted players-only camps and team dinners to get the off-court chemistry brewing. But the on-court disconnect began with Green’s continued suspensions and some down performances from in-their-prime guys such as Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney. The ripple effect hit the locker room and the bench.
“I feel like you feel it on the bench, not when you’re out there,” Podziemski said. “Everyone needs to bring it for everyone else and as a collective. We talked in the locker room after (the game) to check our energies when we step foot into the locker room and all of our thoughts, regardless of what’s happening, because everyone has their own personal problems in life. Whatever is going on, we have to channel that energy and focus on winning every night. Off the court, we’re the closest friends of any team and do a lot of stuff together. It’s on the court trying to find that balance.”
Starting lineup
Kerr will keep rolling with the Curry, Paul, Klay Thompson, Kuminga, Jackson-Davis lineup that debuted against the Mavericks for the the time being. It’s the 11th starting lineup Kerr has used in 32 games this year.
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“I’m not just throwing darts,” Kerr said. “So every night it’s not like, ‘Hey, what do you think we should do tonight?’ We’re going to give this a look.”
Paul broke the news to Jackson-Davis at practice the day before Saturday’s game that he’d be making his first NBA start alongside him. Paul, a career starter, has started eight of his 29 games since accepting a role off the bench near the start of the season.
“It was great being out there starting the game,” Jackson-Davis said. “Having guys like Chris Paul, Steph, Klay, legends and being on the court with them to start. It’s a blessing.”
The hope is that Paul can create better looks for Curry and Jackson-Davis can add some athleticism at the center position while Looney works through some bumps.
