Shaquille O'Neal confident in Golden State Warriors' ability to bounce back: “'We are the champs, we don’t need home court advantage'”
The Golden State Warriors started a brutal six-game road trip with a lopsided 128-111 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. Golden State tried to crawl out of a huge 26-point deficit but just could not stem the game to their side.
The Warriors are now just 14-14 for the season, which puts them in 10th place in the heated battle for the Western Conference playoffs. If Golden State’s befuddling difference in performance on the road and at home continues, they may have to fight for a play-in spot.
Shaquille O’Neal, however, isn't worried about the reigning champions’ up-and-down season:
(7:12 mark)
“They haven’t flipped that switch yet. Deep down they know, we don’t need home-court advantage. We still got the switch. Klay’s [Thompson] been up and down.
“Once they get to 10, 15 games when they hit the switch, in their mind, they are saying, ‘We are the champs, we don’t need home court advantage, we know we are not playing well. Once we flip that switch and start playing well, we’ll be okay.’”
Following a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on November 4, the Golden State Warriors’ record dropped to 3-7. Since then, they’ve won 11 of their last 18 games to go back to .500 for the season. The Warriors started to turn their performance around by playing better defense.
Klay Thompson has also played so much better than the almost unrecognizable version of the shooting guard who showed up at the start of the season. Coach Steve Kerr, who wanted to give minutes to his youthful role players, has tightened up the rotation to put things in order.
The Golden State Warriors are now a much better team than the one that stumbled right out of the gates. However, they still have several kinks to iron out, particularly when they’re away from Chase Center. Golden State are 12-2 on their home floor and 2-12 on the road.
Despite the Warriors' struggles, Shaquille O’Neal, Draymond Green and almost everyone in Dub Nation isn’t worried about it. Meanwhile, Steve Kerr believes they're still trying to find themselves as a team.
Charles Barkley disagrees with Shaquille O’Neal regarding the Golden State Warriors’ title repeat bid
![Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley aren't on the same page regarding the Golden State Warriors' future. [photo: YouTube]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/12/a1012-16710083606794-1920.jpg?w=500)
Last year’s Golden State Warriors had veterans as their best options off the bench. They had Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica and Juan Toscano-Anderson. The Warriors don’t have that luxury this season as they are waiting for James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody to step up.
Here’s Charles Barkley’s outlook on the potential future of the Warriors:
(7:44)
“To me, it’s all about the young guys. They’ve already sent one [Wiseman] down to the G-League, he’s back now.
“If the young guys don’t play well, they’re not gonna win because those other guys have a lot of wear and tear. They’re over 30. They need homecourt. They’re not gonna win four games, three series [on the road] in a row.”
Out of the three, only Kuminga has shown signs of becoming a key contributor to the Golden State Warriors this season. His scoring and shooting numbers are down, but Steve Kerr has entrusted him with the task of sometimes guarding the opponents’ best players.
Wiseman, however, has just been recalled from the G-League, while Moody has been consistently on and off.
Golden State’s 'win now and later' mantra could be jeopardized if their young role players can’t develop soon enough to play crucial roles.