Whatever intangible ‘bring it’ factor is at play in professional sports, the Golden State Warriors certainly didn’t have it throughout an often arduous 2022-23 NBA season.
Although a second-round playoff appearance was hardly a complete disaster, the Warriors’ season failed to live up to the lofty expectations set by an NBA championship the year prior.
The Golden State Warriors are expected to put a little more effort into the regular season than what they did in 2022-23.
With renewed energy and a few potentially impactful roster changes, Golden State will be hoping to right their wrongs in 2023-24. Part of that will be about bringing increased focus on a more consistent basis, particularly on the defensive end where the Warriors slipped last season.
Joining Nate Duncan on a recent episode of the Dunc’d On Basketball NBA Podcast, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater spoke about a distinct emphasis the franchise may put on this upcoming season.
“A lot of that was giving a s**t in the regular season, and I do think they’re going to have that much more than the past season. I do think there’s a realisation organizationally, and particularly with the core, that this might be it. I just think they’re really going to attack it this season”, Slater said.
Nothing categorized the Warriors’ often lackadaisical attitude more than their defense and overall form on the road. Golden State regularly found it impossible to get consistent stops, culminating in being 28th in defensive rating amid a fourth-worst 11-30 road record last season.
Golden State were seemingly worn down by the short turnaround between their triumphant championship victory and the start of the following season, not to mention that infamous Draymond Green-Jordan Poole training camp altercation that impacted team morale for months.
Both aspects should no longer be an issue heading into next season. Slater mentioned that the extra month of time off shouldn’t be undervalued, while the Poole-Green dynamic was eliminated when the Warriors moved the young guard for Chris Paul in a blockbuster trade on draft day in June.
Warrior superstar Stephen Curry recently spoke about embracing the ‘hunter’ mentality, with the franchise sure to harness that in their attempts to claim a fifth championship over the last decade.
