"We can’t guard nobody": Draymond Green drops the hammer, blames lack of pride for Warriors' defensive woes
Draymond Green sat out the Golden State Warriors’ previous 16 games due to suspension and ramped up his conditioning for a return. He started off the bench in the Dubs’ game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. Despite the defensive lynchpin’s return, the Warriors couldn’t beat the host team that missed its five top players.
Memphis didn’t have Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, John Konchar, Marcus Smart, Steven Adams, Derrick Rose and Jake LaRavia due to different injuries. Without them, it was second-year player Vince Williams Jr. who led the Grizzlies in scoring with 24 points.
GG Jackson, who recently turned 19 years old, came off the bench to score 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-8 from deep. Jackson was a big part of the Grizzlies’ 20-of-54 clip from behind the arc while the Warriors, with Steph Curry, hit 10-of-31.
After the game, Draymond Green summed up what happened in the Warriors’ 116-107 loss to the Grizzlies (via Anthony Slater):
“You just gotta have pride in yourself as a man that ‘I’m not gonna let my guy score.’ Closeouts were too soft [and] our rotations were too slow. There’s just no pride. Until every guy takes pride in themselves and wanna stop the guy in front of them, we’ll s**k.
“We can’t check. … We can’t guard nobody. Until we guard, we’ll lose. … It starts with the person on the ball and everybody else behind it. It’s everybody."
Leading into the game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors ranked 25th in defensive rating. The San Antonio Spurs, who own a 7-32 record, the worst in the Western Conference, are slightly better than Golden State in that category.
Injuries to Gary Payton II, Andrew Wiggins’ drop from elite play and Draymond Green’s suspension have contributed to their poor showing on that end. With the former Defensive Player of the Year back, Golden State is expected to be at least a middle-of-the-pack team in defensive efficiency.
Green’s return didn’t automatically change that and he promptly held himself and his teammates accountable. It will be interesting to see how the Dubs will respond following a lackluster showing in Memphis.
Draymond Green was surprisingly not too concerned with the Warriors’ turnovers
Besides their inability to consistently clamp down on the Grizzlies, Draymond Green was also asked about the Warriors’ turnovers. They had 19 on Monday night compared to 13 by their opponents.
“Dray” had this to say about his team’s errors:
“Turnovers are what they are. I don’t really worry about the turnovers. We’ve been good at not turning the ball over.”
Green, though, may have been mistaken when he said that the Warriors have been good at not coughing up the ball too many times. They are averaging 14.6 errors per game, which puts them in 23rd place. Tonight’s 19 miscues will only push them farther down the ranking.
The Memphis Grizzlies didn’t have four of their best playmakers and still, the Warriors had more turnovers. Without Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane and Derrick Rose, the Grizzlies relied on a seldom-used second-year player to orchestrate the offense.
Draymond Green wasn’t too concerned about the turnovers but it may be something to look at together with their defense.