Stephen Curry believes that change is needed in the Golden State Warriors’ lineup. The Warriors have lost four straight games. They went from exceeding expectations atop the Western Conference to looking more like the team they were forecasted to be following Klay Thompson’s departure.
Warriors: Stephen Curry calls for shorter rotation
Golden State has solvable issues in their rotation. Per Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Davidson product spoke after the Warriors’ 113-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 30 and addressed one of those issues, including the amount of players seeing court time in the lineup:
“Do we need to shorten it? We probably need to be more predictable on a night-to-night basis so guys can get a little bit of a rhythm. Is that shortening it one or two guys? Maybe,” Curry said of reducing the lineup.
Warriors are regularly playing 6 guards nightly
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr deployed 13 men against the Suns. They’ve been running a shooting guard-heavy rotation all season long. Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski have both been fixtures. Lindy Waters III has taken over for the injured De’Anthony Melton as the Dubs’ starting shooting guard by in large while Moses Moody has consistently played a tick under 16 minutes a game. Those four active off guards join Curry and Gary Payton II as six backcourt talents who all see regular action.
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Warriors could deploy depth in spots to be less predictable
That’s not to mention the rest of the Warriors’ rotation, where Jonathan Kuminga and Kyle Anderson back up Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green, while Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kevon Looney man the middle. The immediate solution may be to cut out a couple of guards from their everyday fold.
Golden State has long been known for utilizing the full extent of its depth, but not necessarily always all at once. As the team searches for ways to stop the bleeding on their losing streak, they may revert back to their prior mold and deploy certain talents when advantageous while leaning on a more steady cast nightly.
