The strength of the Western Conference has declined overall this season, and even so, the Western Conference's playoff competition is still fierce. With the exception of the Suns, other teams will be forced to qualify for the play-offs if they are not careful. The play-off format is brutal, there is no obvious gap in strength between the teams in the West, and no team is willing to play one more round. Today, the Warriors lost to the Magic on the road, ushering in a three-game losing streak, and the team's situation is precarious. Currently, the Warriors are third in the West, with a win difference of just 5.5 to the Timberwolves. In the last 10 games, the Warriors are basically facing playoff teams, and if the regular season ends with 13 consecutive losses, then the plot of last season will be reinterpreted.
When Curry was injured, most people thought that the Warriors who lost Curry were at best a team on the edge of the playoffs. After two games of consideration, it is clear that this conclusion is wrong. This Warriors are grossly overrated, and without Stephen Curry, the Warriors are a team vying for a pick. You know, today's Magic team has given enough opportunities, they really don't want to win the game and affect the team's bad plans. But the Warriors are also really "useless to give opportunities", almost showing the same performance as the Magic team, and even the Magic team that has no intention of fighting is even better. With the exception of Jordan Poole and Otto Porter, the rest of the Warriors left Curry and got completely out of normal shape, which is what hurts Warriors fans the most.
In an interview after the game, Kerr said: "Wiggins has to be aggressive, we have confidence in him and I think he will turn things around. We're stuck in new issues and the players have to have a sense of urgency. "According to the performance of the Warriors today, the performance of the players is indeed a mess and difficult to see, but Kerr, as the head coach, is even more difficult to blame. Compared to the players themselves, Kerr is the one who needs to find a sense of urgency. The absence of the main player due to injury is extremely difficult for any team, but as a manager, something should change.
Today, Kerr once again followed up with his previous rotation, extremely obsessed with Damian Lee, even though he had nothing to gain in 15 minutes, and the only rebound shown on the datasheet saved him from embarrassment. On the other hand, the eye-catching rookie Moody only got 4 minutes of playing time. By giving up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train new people and cede precious playing time to a player who doesn't have the strength to play in the NBA, is Cole's rotation strategy really no problem? In the past this year, Kerr's magical rotation has indeed saved the player's career many times, perhaps making Kerr feel superior, but those are all achievements based on the superstar basketball as the chassis, and now that the Warriors' only superstar is injured, Kerr should be down-to-earth and streamline the rotation.
In addition, the performances of Thompson, Wiggins and Green are the culprits that drag down the Warriors. Or rather, after Curry fell, they failed to take on the responsibility of leading the team. Wiggins is one of the most disappointing players, not one. As the player with the best combination of maturity and talent in the Warriors at present, Wiggins has a 10-of-1 situation in this game, with 13 points and 8 rebounds in the whole game, shooting only 26.3%, Thompson scored 15 points, Green scored 2 points, occupying the iron triangle of 70% of the team's salary, contributing only 30% of the team's total score, how do the Warriors want to win? Relying on Poole, who earns only 2.16 million yuan a year and Porter with an annual salary of only 2.39 million, this is the Warriors' most reliable duo since Curry's fall.
With Poole's strong performance, the Warriors can complete the renewal with an annual salary of 20 million is already a big advantage. The performance of 30 million stars with basic salaried players, while the basic salary players act as the team's thighs, such a tragic situation does not only appear on the Lakers. Curry's injury has left all the players and even the coaching staff intact, and Curry has indeed declined this season, but he can still bring such a team to the second place in the West, and we have to admit Curry's greatness. At the same time, we should also feel sorry for Curry, the Warriors will still maintain such a lineup until the summer of 2023. Last summer, Curry, who resolutely signed a 5-year contract, should not have predicted this situation...