Draymond Green believes he ‘failed’ Warriors defense – Is he right?

The lack of defensive intensity is a recurring theme Four losses for the Golden State Warriors in the past five games.

That’s a statement that’s hard to believe with a team with a defense quarterback Draymond Greenone of the most intense and legendary defenders in NBA history. But in the Warriors’ completely one-sided 129-104 NBA Cup loss to the Denver Nuggets, that side of the ball was the question.

“We didn’t defend. That was kind of the theme,” Green said solemnly after the game. “We didn’t play with a lot of energy, which happened over and over again. And when you don’t do those two things, you’re playing against a set defense every play. And it’s hard to do that, so I think there were a lot of things.”

Denver shot 56.1 percent from the field and 48.5 percent from the bench on 13 three-pointers. Those two statistics go hand-in-hand with a recurring theme Green talked about. Over the last five games, Golden State ranks 21st in the league in defensive rating (118.8) compared to teams over the same span. And in the last five games they are in 18th place opponent field goal percentage (48.3%), 24th in percentage of opponents’ three-pointers (40.5%) and 18th in percentage of opponents’ color dots (51.6).

For Green, the root of those problems comes down to effort, or the lack of it. And as the leader of the Dubs defense, he believes those shortcomings fall on him.

“I didn’t make it. If our defense looks as good as it does, I’m down,” Green said when asked if that message was sent to him in the locker room.

“So you can send as many messages as you want (to the team). Until we do that, I’m not succeeding.”

Diagnosing the Dubs’ defensive issues

But as wonderful as it is for Green to take the blame for the Dubs’ defensive woes, how much of it is the former Defensive Player of the Year’s fault really?

Because as much of an all-around defensive force as Green is, he wasn’t the one to let it go former warrior Ryan Rollins to roll to a game-high 32 points in the Bucks’ upset of the Dubs. Green wasn’t the one guarding the Pacers’ Quinton Jackson when he went for 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting with 10 assists. We can admit that he played a role in Pascal Siakam’s offense that torched the Dubs for 27 points, but Russell Westbrook’s 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in the Kings’ loss came while he was resting.

On that front, Golden State falls short on individual defense, despite having, in theory, the personnel. Long Johnathan Cumminga and Moses Moody have had some success, but their defense is currently oscillating depending on the weather. Brandin Podziemski, one of the league’s leaders in charges, is a crafty defender, but opponents don’t shy away from looking to him for his matchup. Green identified a problem with the Dubs’ individual defense this season.

“We don’t take personal one-on-one matchups. We haven’t been a great help team. We’re not a streak. The defense has to move the streak. We don’t do that,” Green said.

“(It starts with) number one, accepting the challenge, the personal challenge. You have to take the personal challenge to protect your man. Then if he beats you, there’s help. I think right now we’re just relying on the help to be there, but when you don’t try, then the help can’t come. It starts individually. Everyone has to take the challenge from their man individually, and build it.”

When opponents are able to break the point of attack of the defense, it creates all sorts of problems for the back line. And when the defense is in jeopardy, smart teams like the Nuggets will find the open shooter. Then the 3-point percentage of the Warriors’ opponents is self-explanatory.

Defense comes down to effort

Embracing the challenge is the latest set of buzzwords Green and the Warriors have used to describe a lack of defensive intensity. Head coach Steve Kerr quoted “competitive fire, connection, competitive advantage” as things the Warriors didn’t have in the loss to Denver. The lack of fire, connection and sharpness isn’t far off from what Kerr said after the loss to Indiana, in which he expressed his frustration with the team’s lack of focus. After the loss to Denver, Jimmy Butler made it as clear as possible – they need more effort.

“(We need) a little more effort. You know what I’m saying?” Butler said. “Maybe a little more KIP (know your personnel) at the same time. Defense is everything if you want it to be — whether you’re on the ball, whether you’re behind, whether you’re the short man (weak-side defender helps with the baseline and the basket), if you want to do it, you’re going to do it.”

When asked about the lack of competitive edge and energy, Butler once again openly diagnosed it.

“(The competitive edge) hasn’t been where it needs to be. That has to go up a few notches whenever we don’t have Steph (Curry) out there,” Butler said. “(It starts with) doing all the little things. And they all do it together as a team. Crashing and diving to the floor. Second effort. It all goes into the energy that goes into the game.”

Golden State’s overwhelming feeling seems to be that the effort needs to come from a place of substance. It’s not for lack of trying. Kerr, Butler and Green have been saying the same things for the past week. At some point, the rest of the team has to be proud of their efforts. Pride in winning those 1-on-1 defensive assignments. The drive must be intrinsic. Hence Green’s motivation. That’s how he earned nine All-Defense selections.

But for all his leadership, his fire, his passion and his defensive brilliance, Green is still only an external motivator for his teammates – and that’s not his failing.

“We’ve got to be a playmaking team,” Green said. “We’ve got to be great defensively and we’ve got to be tough. If those two things happen, everything else falls into place. But we’ve got to be a high-energy team. And we’ve got to be a great defensive team. If we don’t hit those milestones. We don’t have a chance.”

Warriors aren’t going anywhere unless they can muster some urgency.