Monday 23rd December 2024,

Steve Kerr After Warriors’ Near-Miss vs Lakers: ‘I Don’t Think We’ve Really Competed that Well All Year’

admin November 30, 2017 Blogs No Comments

Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr wasn’t happy following the Golden State Warriors’ matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.

Sure, the Dubs won. But it took them an overtime period to do it. And had Brandon Ingram not have missed a couple times down the stretch, or had the Lakers successfully boxed out on a rare Stephen Curry miss at the foul line, Golden State could be talking about its seventh loss of the season.

Champagne problems, I know. But seven losses by the quarterpole of the season are about four or five more than most pegged the Warriors to have. Six even seems like a lot. Everyone thought they would find motivation in the sweeping changes made across the NBA over the offseason, many of which were aimed at dethroning them.

Hence why Kerr didn’t have many good things to say about his teams after the near-miss against the Lakers, per SI.com’s Ben Golliver:

“I didn’t think we competed tonight. I don’t think we’ve really competed that well all year. That’s just the way it is right now.” Steve Kerr on Warriors. Bemoaned “galling” turnovers in OT win over Lakers

Turnovers remain a common thread to Kerr’s frustrations and any struggles the Warriors experience. They coughed up possession 22 times against the Lakers, including five times in the fourth quarter. Kevin Durant also committed a crucial turnover later in overtime, when Brandon Ingram poked the ball away from him near the timeline and almost converted an and-1 opportunity at the other end that could have shifted the outcome of the game.

Mistakes happen when you play fast and free like the Warriors. But they’re suffering from more mental miscues than usual. They’re turning over possession on 16 percent of their plays this season, compared to 14.4 last year, giving htem one of the seven-worst marks in the league. They’re good enough to transcend this buildup of mistakes on most nights, but there might come a time, perhaps in the playoffs when they’re facing the Houston Rockets or Cleveland Cavaliers, when they’ll need to be more disciplined. So you can’t really blame Kerr for wanting them to iron out these wrinkles now.