SAN FRANCISCO — Jimmy Butler prides himself on being a truth teller. It wasn’t always like that early in his career, but as his game has grown in stature, his desire to let his opinion be heard has as well. He says what’s on his mind. If somebody doesn’t like it, that’s their problem. He has put in the work to get where he’s gotten in his career and — for better or worse — he will leave no doubt where he stands on an issue. There is no gray area with the 36-year-old former All-Star.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the proud swingman is getting a little more frustrated after each Warriors defeat early in the season. He usually sees the same flaws defensively, regularly referring to either a lack of desire to guard an opposing team or a collective lack of effort. He seemed particularly perturbed after Friday night’s 127-123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. For a man who loves offering an honest opinion, Friday’s short postgame news conference offered a noticeably blunt assessment of where his 9-9 Warriors currently stand.
“We’re just not guarding nobody,” Butler said after the game at the back of a quiet locker room. “From what I can tell, I haven’t been here long, but that’s never been the formula here. To win a championship, you got to take each and every matchup personal. Yeah, help’s going to be there, but we got to do way better guarding on that side of the ball.”
The reality for the Warriors is that had it not been for Stephen Curry’s brilliance and 95 combined points in two wins in San Antonio last week, the Warriors would be in the midst of a far different conversation. For now, they still look like a mediocre team that is trying to fight its way through a brutal opening schedule. If they keep losing games such as Friday’s to an undermanned team that does little things more aggressively and efficiently than they do, then it’s going to be a longer year than the Warriors envisioned.
On Friday night, the Warriors got out-rebounded 52-32, they gave up 28 second-chance points and they allowed the Blazers to snag 21 offensive rebounds. Part of that has to do with the fact that veteran big man Al Horford left the game late in the third quarter with right hamstring tightness, but the larger issue is that the Warriors have had far too many games where they go through the motions against a weaker, undermanned opponent, try to turn up the intensity late, and fall short in the end. It’s a troubling trend for a team that is still trying to find a rotation that works and an identity they can lean on when times get tough.
Why has the defensive consistency been harder for them to hold onto?
“I don’t know,” Curry said. “I think we’ve had some bright spots, some games that we’ve shown we can do it for 48 minutes, and we’ve had some duds. Even tonight, we had ebbs and flows. Whatever the answer is, it’s a reminder that you have to fly around, be on a string, not have mental errors where you’re letting guys get to their strong hands, game plan discipline type stuff.”
Both Curry and guard Brandin Podziemski noted the problems the Warriors were having with the Blazers’ drives to the rim. The group is hopeful after a six-game road trip that a long homestand, with multiple practice days, will help get things back in order. Butler mentioned closeout drills and some one-on-one matchups in practices might get the fire burning within the group a little bit again.
Whatever it is, the Warriors need to find the answer quickly. They can’t afford to keep losing these types of games, against teams they should beat, and get to where they want to go later in the year. They especially can’t afford to lose games such as these when Curry, Butler and Draymond Green are on the floor together.
Interestingly, coach Steve Kerr said he was more worried about the group’s offense than he is about the defense. To his point, coming into Friday’s game, the Warriors ranked 10th in the league, giving up 114.2 points a game.
“I think overall our defense has been pretty good actually,” Kerr said. “Tonight, what hurt us really was the second-chance stuff … I think we’re going to be just fine defensively. I’m not worried about our defense. I’m more worried about our offense right now. Not a whole lot of rhythm. Not a lot of flow. So this week will be really good for us to get some practice time.”
As much as Curry takes the pressure off the rest of his teammates for his ability to perform offensively and serve as the figurehead of the group on a nightly basis, the person to watch over the next couple weeks will be Green. Butler was asked how much he and Green take it personally that the group has its ups and downs on the defensive end. His answer, which started with an acknowledgement that both men do, provided a glimpse into Green’s mindset.
“He be livid,” Butler said. “He could care less who makes what stop, he wants to get a stop every play down the floor, as he should. Because he’s doing the toughest part if you’re being real. He’s got to help and box out and block shots and get the rebound. Honestly, I’d be pissed if I was Dray too.”
The Warriors still don’t look or sound like a team that feels the sky is falling, but this homestand is another early measuring stick after navigating through a rocky first month. They have winnable games on the horizon, but that’s been the case throughout much of the first month of the season. It was definitely the case on Friday. The Warriors were set up to beat a Blazers team playing without Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe, but they couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity for a variety of reasons. If they don’t start doing that better, the end of the season is going to feel a lot like last year because they are not taking care of business at the beginning like they should have.
“I’m always optimistic,” Butler said. “But I’m also honest and a truth teller. We can beat individuals on some nights whenever we’re scoring the basketball, but you can’t always bank on shots going in for whatever reason why. You always have to be able to guard.
“And until we get back to guarding, taking when people score on us personally, we’ll be in some … funk for a while.”