Prior to the return of Andre Iguodala and a less-stressful 104-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at home last night, a glance at most media outlets would have you believing the Warriors were fighting in-house panic.
The recent play of the Warriors the last few weeks certainly has attributed to this general perception.
Nine losses in fifteen games.
Double road and home thumping losses to the Houston Rockets.
Generally slow starts by the starters and an ineffective bench to make things worse.
All of this has quickly squashed the fast start the Warriors jumped out to an 8-3 win-loss record, as well as washed away the momentum of the great playoff run of last season.
Expectation has been simmered by the reality of fostering a healthy, effective squad needing to get back to the fundamentals.
However, any panic perceived on the outside has not trickled down to inside the locker room.
Marcus Thompson reported this following the tough 106-102 road loss to the Phoenix Suns last Sunday.
“Mark Jackson has this right. It’s not a time for panic.
No, things are not going well for the Warriors these days. They’re losing games they should win, and in a fashion that eats at hairlines. Turnovers. Missed layups. Shoddy defense. But the only reason for panic is if Andre Iguodala will be out much longer.”
Iguodala did temper those fears a bit last night with his return and the subsequent win.
However, the days of using excuses such as Iguodala or being satisfied with a .500 record are over.
That in and of itself, just shows you how far this organization has come and moreover why there’s no reason to panic after falling to the middle of the pack in the rugged Western Conference, with or without Iguodala.
“Think about that: To a man, the Warriors were expressing the need to play harder and better after a close loss while playing short-handed on the road against a hot team (the Suns).”
Even their own star player, though, realizes that with great expectations come great responsibility.
Stephen Curry relayed this to Jimmy Durkin in his recent “Inside the Warriors” blog.
“Last year we were the underdogs and anything good we did was a surprise,” Curry said. “We have crazy expectations for ourselves inside of our locker room of how we’re supposed to play. When we don’t do it and you start to lose games, frustration’s going to build because this is a new experience.”
Having Iguodala back certainly changes the way the Warriors play.
They are a much, much better team with him, as showcased by their 5-7 win-loss record without him.
Just don’t use that as an excuse to Coach Jackson.
“I just don’t think right now we’ve put together 48 minutes of our brand of basketball and it’s not acceptable,” Jackson said. “We’re fine. Everybody knows that. We’re aware of it. The only way out of it is to do something about it. Too often now, we continue to make the same mistakes. But we understand where we are and we’ll be just fine. There’s no question about that. But you’ve got to state the obvious.”
No excuses.
No panic.
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