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Former NBA champion holds Golden State Warriors vets’ & young core’s IQ difference responsible for their early season struggles

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Last season, the Golden State Warriors were 18-2 in their first 20 games and had a 7-1 mark on the road. They’re starting 10-10 as they open their title-retention bid this season, lowlighted by a dismal 1-9 slate away from the Chase Center.

Richard Jefferson, on “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” had an interesting analysis of why the Warriors have been off to a surprisingly subpar start:

“Draymond [Green] had four years with Izzo, Steph [Curry] had three years, Klay [Thompson] had three years, Andre Iguodala had two years with Lute Olson. Their core group of guys were older when they came into the league, they had higher basketball IQ when they came into the league

“You’re expecting Kuminga and Wiseman, guys that are one-and-done to be able to play in this read and react system. … The Warriors need some more adults.”

New Russillo @Spotify PodA new NBA parity theory…Confident Ben Simmons is a win in a lossNBA fight storiesW/ @Rjeff24 Also-He tells us stories about the 2004 USA team (best part of Pod)Tales from the couchCFB Top 12Life adviceopen.spotify.com/episode/1s9edH…

The Golden State Warriors’ championship squad lost Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson and Nemanja Bjelica this offseason. They are veterans who have honed their skills and most importantly, their basketball IQ, to operate seamlessly around Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Losing them didn’t seem like it was a huge deal as the Warriors had James Wiseman, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga. Their expected development, however, has come way short, which is a big part of the reason why the Warriors are struggling.

Head coach Steve Kerr badly wanted to develop his youngsters without suffering too many defeats. That hasn’t been the case as the Golden State Warriors have been blown out when their bench mob comes in. They have been asking Steph Curry to put up insane numbers to rescue them time and again as their youth struggles.

“This is not a demotion. This is not a punishment.” ESPN story on the Warriors’ decision to send James Wiseman to the G League for an extended stint: espn.com/nba/story/_/id…

After losing to the Sacramento Kings on November 13, Kerr told the media that he will have to make some changes to his combinations. He also said that he could tighten up the rotation a little bit. A few days later, James Wiseman was sent to the G-League.

Kuminga and Moody have remained, but they both have a short leash when they’re on the court.

Richard Jefferson added that he didn’t question the talents and skills of the Warriors’ young backups, but he wasn’t sure about their development yet. More importantly, their development may not be on the same timeline as the Golden State Warriors’ core of Curry, Thompson and Green.


The Golden State Warriors’ once-vaunted defense is suffering from a lack of communication and trust

The Golden State Warriors'  defense has not been up to its usual standards.

After Kerr made significant changes to his lineup, the Golden State Warriors are starting to hum. Since their loss to the Kings, when their record dropped to 5-8, they’re now 5-2 in their last seven games.

Steph Curry is having an all-time great year and the Warriors may not want to waste that by waiting for their youngsters to develop. There are already trade rumors that could bring the Bay Area team more veteran help.

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Edited by Michael Macasero


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