For the Golden State Warriors, roster depth went from general concern to a panic worthy of DEFCON 3.
Official protocol for United States’ military readiness aside, Golden State is on high alert regarding basketball-related matters.
Both team-wide injuries and a lack of productivity from the Warriors’ bench are becoming increasingly problematic.
Five different players have missed at least three games. Two of those are starters and two others are out indefinitely. As of Saturday, Nov. 23, add integral jack-of-all-trades Andre Iguodala to that latter category.
Overall, Stephen Curry (ankle, concussion), Iguodala (hamstring), Harrison Barnes (toe), Jermaine O’Neal (groin, knee), Toney Douglas (tibia), Ognjen Kuzmic (pinky finger) and Festus Ezeli (knee) have all been sidelined for a combined 21 games.
Most integral to the Warriors—and thus most concerning when injuries are involved—are Curry, Douglas and Iguodala.
The Warriors are 0-3 when Curry is not on the floor. They are also winless in the two games in which he returned from injury, which speaks to the prolonged disruption his absence causes. No. 2 point guard Douglas, for his part, could not lead the Warriors to victory in place of Curry before going down himself with a stress fracture in his right tibia.
Nemanja Nedovic, backup to the backup Douglas, has been entirely ineffective as well. He has totaled 12 PTS, 6 REB and 5 AST in 60 minutes of play. Zero steals, six turnovers, a .235 shooting percentage and negative-1.8 player efficiency rating bury him even further in basketball futility.
Curry’s presence on the floor, then, is absolutely essential to the Warriors’ winning prospects. He is the leading point man who generates the offense, produces on both ends of the court and makes everyone around him better.
The team cannot win without him—at least not yet.
Iguodala’s absence presents a whole set of problems for the Warriors.
Golden State’s starting small forward contributes much more than what his official position would dictate. He can run point, play inside or out and can defend positions one through three. He also has experience filling these diverse roles as both a starter and sixth man.
The Warriors fell to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday after Iguodala went down and immediately lost the following night without him in the lineup from opening tip off.
Barnes, Iguodala’s backup and primary swingman, now finds himself among the starting five.
On one hand, Barnes has contributed in stellar fashion since being activated in the fifth game of the season. He sports a stat line of 12.4 PTS, 3.6 REB and 2.1 AST on 50.0 percent shooting and 57.9 percent from three.
Unfortunately, his relative promotion depletes an already depleted bench.
Draymond Green now becomes the No. 1 backup at small forward. That leaves the underperforming Marreese Speights as the only secondary power forward behind David Lee.
Speights has disappointed this season with 4.0 PTS, 3.9 REB and 1.0 TO per game. His 5.8 PER is far below average as well.
Meanwhile, the center position for Golden State is the most depth-deficient.
Top role player O’Neal has missed five games, while Kuzmic will miss indefinite time after breaking his right pinky on Friday. Ezeli has not seen action in any game this year.
Head coach Marc Jackson has thus been forced to play starter Andrew Bogut for more minutes than he would otherwise prefer. Bogut averaged 25 minutes with a healthy O’Neal compared to 35.8 since his backup hobbled to the sideline.
An increase of 10 minutes per game puts significantly more stress on Bogut’s injury-prone lower extremities.
Coming back full circle, do the Warriors need to add depth in 2013-2014?
Point guard—yes. Shooting guard—no. Small forward—yes. Power forward—yes. Center—yes.
In other words, the Warriors are one injury or poor performance away from putting up a Craig’s List ad for backup openings.
An upcoming stretch with seven of eight games on the road through playoff-qualifying cities Dallas, Oklahoma City, Houston, Memphis and Charlotte will bear great significance on those positional issues and the team’s early-season standing.
Until then, we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for online “Player Wanted” listings.
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