Zach Lowe of ESPN has highlighted worries over the Golden State Warriors’ reliance on Steph Curry to provide success. Surprisingly, the Dubs have had a difficult start to the year. They range in age from 6 to 8. The only shining star for the reigning champions has been Curry.
Curry has played in 13 games and has averaged 31.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while shooting 52/43/92 percent. The “baby-faced assassin” has repeatedly forced the ailing Warriors to victory on his own.
On ESPN’s Countdown programme, Zach Lowe discussed how the Warriors couldn’t win without Steph Curry’s genius.
The Golden State Warriors don’t have a seasoned presence surrounding players like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green like they had in prior seasons. Their bench is loaded with young players they have selected in recent years.
The Warriors’ situation has been made worse by Curry’s lack of assistance on the offensive end of the court from the veterans surrounding him. Andrew Wiggins, who has undoubtedly been the team’s second-best player thus far, is the Dubs’ next-best scorer. Wiggins averages 18.3 points per game while shooting 38.8% from 3-point range and 49.2% overall.
Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson, for example, haven’t been consistent enough. While the latter has averaged 17.1 points per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.7% from beyond the arc, the former has only managed 14.7 points on 35.1% field goal and 33.0% 3-point shooting.
Even though Steph Curry is getting closer to his mid-30s, his physical condition remains excellent. Over the past three years, he has demonstrated incredible stamina and been playing through contact. Curry may have shown that he still has a lot of gas in the tank at the age of 34.
Curry cannot, though, carry the club on his shoulders every night for the whole 82-game season. Throughout the Warriors’ postseason trips, Curry has had a top-notch supporting cast surrounding him from game one to game fifteen. This time around, that is not the case. The Dubs have turned their attention to developing their prospects while remaining competitive due to the ageing of their older stars.
Moving forward, it seems doubtful that the Dubs will pursue experienced talents. They are concurrently planning for the future, thus selling their prospects doesn’t seem like something they would like to do.
However, it doesn’t augur well for Steph Curry’s ability to maintain peak fitness into the playoffs. The bench for Golden State, which is made up of of their young players, has been dismal to begin the season, which has hurt the team’s performance.
If the Warriors are to successfully defend their championship this year, everyone else outside Curry must do better. The offensively-focused players the club has relied on, like as Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, are where it starts. Young players like Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody need to assume greater accountability in the meantime.
They had a strong debut season and contributed to the Golden State Warriors winning the title. It was anticipated that they would experience a large growth spurt in their sophomore years, but that hasn’t happened.
