Kurtenbach: The sky is not falling — three reasons for early-season Warriors optimism

Despite all this rain the sky is not in fact falling The Golden State Warriors are - And yes they look old small and oh-so average And that makes every loss feel like a referendum Every substitution has become a declaration Every post-game press conferences feel more major than the games It s all very dramatic for November no Related Articles Steph Curry Under Armour announce plan to end to longtime partnership Warriors reveal blueprint for defending -foot- Victor Wembanyama Warriors instant analysis Steph Curry outduels Wembanyama as drastic lineup change pays dividends Kurtenbach Jonathan Kuminga has reverted raising big questions for the Warriors Warriors veteran leaders demand more selflessness fewer personal agendas I get it You want more and it s not super obvious with their play that the Warriors do too But it s a long long long season and the Warriors for all of the think pieces guilty and broadcast blocks booked so far this season are in fact fine Not great Not bad They re not where they want to be or arguably should be but they re nowhere near where they could be and where it seems certain of you have decided they already are Again they re fine If you turn off the noise and genuinely look at the ledger there are three very real very tangible things going for this club that the doomsayers are ignoring Let s start with the the bulk obvious one They still have Wardell Stephen Curry Related Articles Steph Curry Under Armour announce plan to end to longtime partnership Warriors reveal blueprint for defending -foot- Victor Wembanyama Warriors instant analysis Steph Curry outduels Wembanyama as drastic lineup change pays dividends Kurtenbach Jonathan Kuminga has reverted raising big questions for the Warriors Warriors veteran leaders demand more selflessness fewer personal agendas You can analyze spreadsheets You can debate defensive tactics You can track RAPTOR and VORP and LEBRON until you forget your own name And then Steph Curry can decide none of it matters We saw it just two nights ago Victor Wembanyama is a giant alien being The Spurs are young and frisky They like so several before them were beating the Dubs And then Steph at years old decided No Forty-six points Championship over He remains the Get Out of Jail Free card for an entire franchise The chatter is invariably about the system or the window Both of those things are just fancy methods of saying Steph Just get him the ball and get the hell out of the way Is it sustainable Buddy at a certain point none of this makes sense Do what necessities to be done Somehow someway Curry still possesses the nuclear ability to single-handedly rip the heart out of an opponent and win a contest the Warriors have no business winning That one skill hasn t aged And it covers for a whole lot of flaws while the rest of the squad figures itself out If it figures itself out Small Try versatile The other big panic They re too small Yes Factual And so what No gang is going to be perfect Ok maybe OKC One of the Warriors flaws is a lack of height and I doubt that changes anytime soon How can they use their diminutive stature to their advantage in the meantime or full-time How about going fast Or putting five shooters on the floor The Dubs should be able to do both this season And they should have a small lineup for every occasion Because the breakout of Moses Moody is real He s not just a young guy anymore he s a legitimate reliable -and-D wing who understands the system A -year vet in a -year-old s body And then there s the guy nobody saw coming Who is this Will Richard The th pick in the majority newest NBA draft was supposed to be a G-League sportsman Instead he drops in his first start He s long progressing and a winner That makes him an asset to a crew that requirements as multiple bodies as feasible but prefers them in that format He s a surprise contribution in the same way finding a couple hundred bucks in your old jeans is The Warriors did it again At particular point general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr will receive specific credit for building a pretty nice gang When you re small but deep you re versatile It s funny how that word versatile is used so often by the knee-jerk financial sector emphasis on the latter part after wins Versatile also means volatile The good news is that the Warriors can iron out those issues over the class of a seven-month season The West is a mess This is the big secret folks the one nobody on a national side of this yapping racket wants to admit The Western Conference kind of stinks It is at the very least top-heavy And right now the Warriors are treading water That s all they need to do Look at the so-called workable contenders The Clippers a vanity project gone horribly wrong are even older and slower and far worse off than the Dubs The Sacramento Kings are back to being loud and dysfunctional I half expect the Beam to break soon The Dallas Mavericks already fired their general manager to be fair he deserved it and are likely pivoting to a full rebuild These are the teams that were supposed to be battling Golden State for a playoff spot They re not serious At least the Warriors for all their flaws seem to give a damn about their failures The Warriors don t need to be a -win juggernaut or a -win squad like OKC They just need to keep their head above water I trust their ability to tread water more than the surprising and feisty Suns the tanking Jazz or what-exactly-are-you Blazers this association s peers in the play-in To put it more merely I seriously doubt the Dubs will be chased down from behind Which leaves Golden State in a settled punching position They only need to be better than one unit in that top six to earn a real playoff spot Stay in the hunt and they won t need a taxing desperate push until the final week or so That strength conservation is far more critical than seeding at least at the moment So here s the deal The Warriors have the ultimate cheat code a deeper bench than anyone admits and a conference that s not as good as we all expected In short Let s take a breath The Warriors despite it all seem to be right where they need to be