Brandin Podziemski

How Warriors can rediscover their best asset from 12-3 start

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SAN FRANCISCO – The question posed to Steve Kerr was as direct as the reply from the Warriors coach was emphatic.

Have you been satisfied with the pace you guys have been playing at lately?

“No,” Kerr said Monday after practice.

Full disclosure: I fully expected that answer when I asked the question.

The Warriors have lost 20 of their last 30 games, and they spent considerable time during this nearly 10-week span plodding at a speed perfectly suited for a big, athletic team with numerous shot creators and a knack for getting to the foul line.

That, however, is not these Warriors. They’re smallish by NBA standards and not particularly athletic. Stephen Curry is their only consistent shot creator, and a shortage of additional such threats leaves him facing double- and triple-teams. Only two teams shoot fewer free throws, and no team misses at a higher rate.

Their roster is not built to dissect and exploit half-court defenses. They know it. They have acknowledged it. But their deliberate pace proves they have not embraced the alternative.

Golden State’s surest path to reach its potential is to defend like a pack of savages, sprint at every opportunity to pile up transition buckets and use depth to pound opponents into weariness. To make fatigue their friend.

“We talk about it every day,” Kerr said. “We’re 30th [actually 24th] in the league over the last 10 games in pace. It has to start defensively. It has to start with deflections and disruption and turnovers. But it also has to continue even on made baskets. We have to get the ball out quickly and go.

“We’re not doing a great job of that right now.”

Consider: In winning 12 of their first 15 games, the Warriors ranked fifth in pace.

Consider: In losing 20 of their last 30, they’re 23rd in pace.

Pleas for a faster pace have led to ... a slower pace. The acquisition of point guard Dennis Schröder, a noted pick-and-roll specialist, has resulted in more brake-tapping on offense. The absences of Draymond Green (missed seven of the last eight games) and Brandin Podziemski (missed 12 of the last 14) have had an adverse effect. Those two live to push the ball, and they thrive when the court becomes a racetrack.

Podziemski returned last Thursday, but Golden State’s overdrive gear has not yet been reactivated. As the Warriors were splitting their last two games, only three teams were playing at a slower crawl.

Their half-court offense has been maddeningly inconsistent. They go through spells when they burn too much shot clock. Or when their movement stops, and the dribbling continues. Their split-action stuff – a staple for years under Kerr – gets clogged and confusion ensues.

Until the speed materializes, the Warriors are operating at a disadvantage.

“Whenever I get that opportunity, I try my best to do so,” Podziemski said of pushing the pace. “If I'm out there with Dennis or Steph, I try to remind them to try to have that same urgency.

“But I think if your teammates out there see you doing it, the other four guys don't really have a choice. If they see me racing the ball up the floor, all four aren’t going to stand behind me and walk or jog up the court. It’s on the point guards to have that sense of urgency because if you lead and you're urgent in bringing the ball up, the team has no other choice but to follow you.”

Consider this, coming off the tongue of the team’s youngest player, a call to action. One that, if heeded, will play to Golden State’s strengths. Better defense begets better offense. More running means less thinking.

“Hopefully, we can get some of that back,” Kerr said. “As I’ve talked about [ad nauseum], we’re not a team that gets layups and free throws. We’ve got to [use] pace to get some easier baskets.”

The next opportunity for Golden State to rediscover velocity comes Tuesday night against the rebuilding Utah Jazz, who are playing at a much faster pace. Then, on Wednesday, come the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are playing much faster than the Jazz.

If the Warriors can’t make a spirited attempt to outrun either opponent, consider those pleas for pace still unheard.

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