When Stephen Curry hurt his shoulder during a game against the Indiana Pacers last month, the Golden State Warriors appeared to be in serious trouble. Curry was the only player on the team to have done well early in the season, and as a result, they weren’t at or very close to the bottom of the standings.
They struggled initially when he was on the sidelines but eventually got their act together. The Warriors went on a 5-game winning run recently, which only ended when Saddiq Bey hit a buzzer-beater to help the Detroit Pistons beat them 122-119 on Tuesday night. Despite this loss, they have played a lot better as a team recently and Bill Simmons thinks that Curry’s absence has helped Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole.
via The Bill Simmons Podcast (starts at 8:29 mark):
“I think they found out some stuff about Jodan Poole, both good and bad in the last week. I think in the last three games, he’s had at least one massive screw-up in the last minute of each game but, on the other hand, he’s had the ball a lot for better and worse. And when he goes back, he gets demoted to being like the sixth man and plays 25 minutes a game. I actually think all the experience he got was good.””I think it was good for Klay too. I thought Klay really found his footing the last 15, 20 games. And not having the Steph security blanket, I think sometimes that’s a good thing.”
Poole has struggled at times with all this responsibility placed on his shoulders but he has had some great moments too and this experience will only help him going forward. Klay has really shone and knowing that Steph isn’t around to bail them out has probably forced him to elevate his game up a notch as well. You hate to say it, but the injury to Curry might have been a blessing in disguise as the rest of the team is finally playing at a high level.
Joe Lacob Spoke On The Warriors’ Future
While the Warriors are sorting out their issues on the court, there are some headaches to deal with off it. Owner Joe Lacob has some tough decisions to make, as their payroll is going through the roof next season.
The Warriors are looking at the number being potentially around $400 million as things stand but Lacob said he wants to win a championship. He did, however, refuse to guarantee that Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green would retire with the Warriors. Curry is definitely not going anywhere but one of the other two might see themselves wearing a different jersey not too far into the future.
Source: https://fadeawayworld.net
