The Warriors aren’t in a good spot right now and opposing opinions from Steve Kerr and Jimmy Butler reveal a lot about the state of the locker room.
After Golden State’s loss to Portland, which saw them tumble below .500, Butler was frank about the team’s defensive situation.
“We’re just not guarding anybody,” Butler said. “From what I can tell, I haven’t been here long, but that’s never been the formula here. Not to win a championship. You’ve got to take each and every matchup personally… we’ve got to do way better guarding on that side of the ball.”
He added, “You’re not taking anything away. You’re not taking the paint away. You’re not taking away layups, free throws, lobs, threes… tonight they were getting whatever shot they wanted.”
The head coach couldn’t have seen things more differently.
“I think overall our defense has actually been pretty good,” Kerr said. “Tonight, what really hurt us was the second-chance opportunities.”
The Blazers converted 12 rebounds into a 28-10 advantage in second-chance points on the night.
Kerr went on to say that defense isn’t his main concern.
“We’re going to be just fine defensively,” he said. “I’m more worried about our offense right now. There’s not a whole lot of rhythm, not a lot of flow.”
Butler thinks that until the team starts guarding the opposing teams, things could get rough.
“Until we get back to guarding… we’re going to be in some funk for a while,” Butler said. “But I think we can snap out of it.”
Butler urged his teammates to step up at training and figure things out properly.
“Do some closeout drills, play some one-on-one, see who’s really got what.”
Relying on offense, mainly Steph Curry, won’t be enough, Jimmy thinks.
“We can beat individuals on some nights when we’re scoring,” Butler said. “But you can’t always bank on shots going in. You always have to be able to guard.”
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