Draymond Green candid about ‘commitment to win’ in OKC loss

The The Golden State Warriors are in a murky place right now.

That’s usually the case after a completely uncompetitive 126-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, their sixth loss of the season and sixth road loss thus far. In what was supposed to be a “measuring stick game” between them and the defending champions, the younger, faster, stronger and bigger Thunder rocked Golden State from the start. By halftime, the Warriors were down 19 with little hope of closing the gap.

It was a kind of loss Draymond Green share their honest thoughts on the Dubs’ dedication to winning. After the game, a reporter asked Green what the biggest difference was between the team that ran away 23-8 after the takeover Jimmy Butler and the current one is treading water at 6-6.

“I think everyone was committed to winning by any means necessary,” Green said after a long pause to consider the question. “It doesn’t feel like it right now.”

The reporter asked for a follow-up on whether the current lack of commitment is due to personal agendas or something else.

“Everybody has a personal agenda in this league,” Green continued. “But you have to make this personal agenda work within team constraints. And if it doesn’t work, then somehow you have to get rid of your plan. Or ultimately, the plan is the cause of someone getting rid of you. You don’t want a team without personal plans because the goal is the plan. So you have to have some kind of personal work, within your personal agenda. But like I said, you have to have a personal agenda.”

The Warrior’s “struggle” comes and goes

In a game so one-sided, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what were the Warriors’ problems. Traffic remains a problem; The Thunder committed 20 turnovers to Golden State for the second time this season. Their three-point shooting defense continues to slump; OKC shot 16 of 36 from the 3-point line (44.4%). not to mention Stephen Curry had trouble acclimatizing in his first game back from an illness that kept him out the last three games. He finished with just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting and an ugly -23 plus/minus.

But Curry clearly wasn’t the only warrior fighting. Jimmy Butler also failed to find a rhythm, with just 12 points in a slightly better -15 plus/minus. Jonathan Kuminga has remained in his recent offensive slumpscoring just 13 points with five bad turnovers. Brandin Podziemski was pretty quiet, and the bench had few answers; it was once again an all-out struggle for the Warriors.

The only small silver lining the Dubs can take from this loss was the play of Moses Moody. His defense and shooting were the only two things that had signs of life and energy. But overall, Green’s observation of the team is not far from the eye test. The Warriors lack “fire in the belly,” as Kerr described it after the loss to the Denver Nuggets. They lack the desperation and urgency they played with after Butler joined the fray. Personnel, schemes, talent, star power, none of it matters if the motive isn’t there.

“The fight isn’t always there, you know?” Butler told reporters after the game. “If we don’t shoot, I don’t know, it gives us an opportunity to not guard, for whatever reason. But we have to fight no matter what. I think a lot of that fight I’m talking about comes defensively. If you’re not getting stops, then you’re just not playing hard enough. You’re not doing what it takes to win.”

When Butler was presented with Green’s honest assessment of the team, he disagreed.

“I think he’s partially right. We’ve got to get back to what it takes to win,” Butler said. “Everybody’s going to have to sacrifice something. I can’t tell you what the sacrifice might be for each individual; it could be different for each individual, every night. But we need to get back to winning is the main and only thing. It’s going to be up to the collective of the group to figure out what it takes to win.”

Golden State’s road is moving forward

The Warriors have five more road games on their trip across the Sun Belt; five games to get back on track. The road hasn’t been in their favor this season – they’re 1-6 on the road, with their only road win coming in Los Angeles against the Lakers in the season opener. But they’ll have to find something on this trip because they’re obviously looking for a spark right away.

“Obviously, when you lose, you start looking around and trying to figure out what the problem is,” Curry told reporters after the game. “Commitment to winning is running the floor, rebounding, taking care of the basketball, it’s not even about shots going in or not. And we haven’t done that consistently enough and our record shows that. The good news is we’re going to turn that around.”

Golden State has all the strength to, as Curry says, turn it around. The Warriors will look to bounce back in their next two games against Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio Spurs.