The Warriors recently made a personnel change, they cut Jeff Dooding, vacated a two-way contract. Witherspoon, who had previously signed a ten-day short contract with the Warriors, expired, and the Warriors signed him on a two-way contract, and after the Warriors signed Witherspoon, their lineup was further upgraded, at least at the defensive level, they had a reserve candidate.
Witherspoon had recently played in the Warriors' game and had a very good performance on the defensive end. He must have conquered Cole through his defensive performances in the team's training sessions to get this two-way contract. It is reported that when he and Thompson train together, the effect of single defense against Thompson is very good. Kerr is clearly seeing potential on his defensive end. Payton Jr.'s success has made Kerr more aware of the importance of the team's reserve defensive players, especially those who urgently need to prove themselves, who are more defensive on the court.
According to the reporter's revelations in front, the Warriors will most likely make Thompson comeback in the game against the Cavaliers at home on January 10. Thompson's return will keep averaging around 18 minutes per game. Thompson believes that the current status of the Warriors does not require him to play for a long time immediately after his comeback, the warriors' current state can maintain a relatively stable record, Thompson bluntly said that he needs a period of play to slowly find the state, to slowly adapt to the rhythm of the NBA, after all, it has not been played for two and a half years, and any player has an adaptation period.
Thompson has been playing in the Warriors' confrontational training game lately, and Kerr is thrilled to see Curry and Thompson partner again. On the one hand, he is happy for Thompson, and on the other hand, for Kerr, his tactical system has been further improved.
In fact, there have always been three people in the core of the Warriors' system, that is, Curry, Thompson and Green. In the absence of Thompson, although the Warriors have always played very well, their system is not complete. Only when Thompson returns will the Warriors be able to play their very subtle team play in the 15-16 seasons.
Jordan Poole doesn't have Thompson's ability to attract defenses, so it doesn't work too well when he cross-covers with Curry. Thompson, on the other hand, was a nightmare for the opposing defense when he crossed cover with Curry. It's hard for opponents to stay focused when defending at half-time. This is the scariest part of the Warriors system.