"Golden State Warriors are very fragile"
Not many people like to use the phrase "fragile" to describe a team, even less when it is used to talk about a strong team like the Golden State Warriors, but that's what Draymond Green refers to when was asked about the condition of him and his teammates at the moment.
"Right now, I think the Warriors are very fragile," said the Golden State striker after the team won only once in a series of six recent away games.
“When going through bad days like this, it affects the mentality of the whole team quite a lot. And if it has a negative effect, the morale of the whole team will go down very quickly.
The only way to get through this time is to prepare a strong mentality, coming from the experienced pillars in the dressing room, myself included."
The Warriors' last 6 games away from home got off to a good start. They have the most important victory since the beginning of the season when they won the "blow-out" Boston Celtics (top team in the East) by 16 points.
Immediately after the match, Draymond Green said that Golden State should consider the victory over Boston as a "formula" that needs to be applied to the remaining matches.
“Looking back on that game, I think the whole dressing room believed in the ability to put together a winning streak to revive the team morale. But then things didn't go as planned," Green said.
Two days later, Golden State "flyed" against the Milwaukee Bucks and received bad news the next day, when Stephen Curry suffered a shoulder injury and had to miss a few weeks.
To make matters worse, Andrew Wiggins made no progress in recovering from a thigh muscle injury, and Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green became seriously ill, unable to play.
Add to the fluctuating performance of Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson, coach Steve Kerr was helpless and "let go" of the last two matches in the tour away from home, giving opportunities to young players.
As a result, the Warriors received two of the worst defeats of the season against two New York teams (Knicks and Nets), both with a difference of 30 points. In both of these games, the Warriors were sometimes down by 40 points.
“I think this is a team that has had psychological problems from the very beginning of the long tour. No matter how hard we try, the psychological barrier is still there and it makes it impossible for us to overcome ourselves, let alone our opponents," said Draymond Green.
“When the mentality of the team is weighed down and many experienced pillars cannot play, it will cause the team to fall. The proof is what we have shown on the pitch in the past 5 games."
Warriors is a team that is no stranger to difficulties. Last season, they lost 9 out of 11 matches between February and March because the pillar was injured. As you know, then they re-emerged strongly and went straight to the championship.
Even so, even Golden State internally is worried and doesn't really believe in the possibility of a comeback. They are feeling too much pressure on the players and Draymond himself is not as confident as before.
“Confidence does not come naturally, nor does it come from believing what has happened in the past. In order to have confidence and good spirits, we have to bring up the problems that exist and solve them thoroughly," Green told ESPN.
"It's not like we told each other 'it's okay, the hard times will pass'. We will have to sit together seriously, correct our mistakes, transmit positivity and from there build each member's confidence in the dressing room step by step."
It seems that Draymond Green was right when he called the Golden State Warriors a "fragile" team. His comment is all the more valuable when Green is someone who has experienced many ups and downs with the Chase Center home team.
