Annual salary of 59.6 million, two games lost by 27 points! As the team leader, is Curry also being used by Cole?

The new NBA regular season has started almost two weeks ago, and the overall pattern is different from what was imagined. The Thunder are as strong as ever, winning the first six games. In the absence of Jay Wei, Alexander averaged 34.2 points per game and has a strong ability to protect the bottom line. The Spurs have quietly won five games in a row. Fox has not returned yet, but Bunyama has already led the team to take off. The Bulls in the Eastern Conference also ushered in five consecutive victories at the beginning. Kiddy led the whole team, a bit like the Pacers and Haliburton in the past few seasons. Including the Trail Blazers, a typical super dark horse who gets stronger when strong. They have overturned the Warriors, Lakers, Nuggets and other Western Conference playoff teams at the beginning of the game. But it is not good news for Yang Hansen. Klingen, Lowe, and Reese are all ahead of him in the starting order.

But there is another team that is even more surprising. It becomes stronger when it is strong and becomes weaker when it is weak, that is the Warriors. The Warriors can be said to be the most tiring team at the beginning. Other teams only played 5-6 games. They played 7 games first, with 4 wins and 3 losses. In the four wins, they defeated the Lakers + Nuggets + Grizzlies + Clippers respectively, which are also playoff-level teams. But they lost three games: a 20-point defeat of the Trail Blazers, a complete defeat of the Grizzlies without Antetokounmpo, and a late comeback by the defeated Pacers. How bad is the Pacers lineup? Of the 8-man rotation that reached the finals last season, only Nesmith and Sika remained, and the others were basically second-tier or even at the Development League level. It is understandable that the Trail Blazers suffered a disastrous defeat. Back-to-back + 3 games in 4 days is indeed very tiring, but Curry cannot escape the consecutive losses to the Bucks and Pacers.

Let’s briefly review how the Warriors lost. In the battle with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo didn't play, and the Warriors made a big start. With continuous mistakes, the Bucks were still in a weak lead until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Although Curry kept drawing fouls and shooting three-pointers to maintain a trace of suspense, in the last 3 minutes, Curry and Dream Green made a hand-to-hand pass error, and then Curry made a long pass out of bounds. The Warriors surrendered! The battle with the Pacers was even more frustrating. Santos rebounded very well, Butler led the second team and continued to win points, and Podemski felt good. At the last moment, Curry came up to harvest the game, making continuous irons and mistakes. The Pacers hit a 10-2 wave in the last 2 minutes and successfully reversed.

Against the Bucks, Curry lost 6 points on the court, which is not much, but 5 turnovers were indeed fatal; against the Pacers, Curry lost 21 points on the court and made 5 turnovers, a total of 27 points lost on the two games. Many fans must be dissatisfied: Kuminga lost by 20 points on the court, why didn't Kuminga take the blame? Let's take a look at some more data. In the first 7 games of this season, the Warriors' starting lineup is actually very strong. Green's On-Off value is +38.7, Butler is +20.0, Bost is +27.8, Kuminga is +12.1, and Curry is +9.2. When Kuminga is on the court with Butler this season, the Warriors win by 20.7 points per 100 possessions; when Kuminga is on the court with Dream Green, the Warriors win by 24.4 points per 100 possessions; when Curry is on the court at the same time, the Warriors only outscore their opponents by 7.6 points per 100 possessions.

The same is true for Butler. When he is on the court with any of the Warriors' starters, his net efficiency value with Curry is the lowest. All data can be found in "BR". Why? Curry will be 38 years old in March next year. At this age, he can still average 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. It is not easy! Remember what happened to James when he was 38? The team's defensive efficiency dropped significantly when he was on the court that season, and they could only give up defense and go all out on offense. At this age, physical fitness is a bottleneck, and easy mistakes are also hidden dangers, which cannot be eliminated. Then take a step back, since Curry did not perform well in some games, why did Cole insist on letting him play and let him and Green get the ball, even if they lost the game, Cole directly criticized Curry by name after the game.

Maybe Curry was also deceived! I remember that after the Warriors defeated the Clippers, Curry said this in an interview. We are full of expectations this season because Butler + Green can lead the team to remain competitive in regular time. I just need to stand up at the last moment. From the management to the coaching staff, they have always reiterated that this is Curry's team. Yes, as the team boss, Curry has a salary of 59.6 million this season, the first in the league. He should indeed assume the responsibility of the team's lower limit. But knowing that Curry was not in good condition, he still insisted on letting Curry play. Obviously, Cole cannot escape the blame. After Cole coached the Warriors, all the honors he received came from Curry. He only trusted Curry! So he chose to let Kuminga bind Curry, including at the last moment, and Butler became a spectator.

Of course, this is just a small sample of a long season. I have no doubt that this Warriors team has the potential to hit the top four in the Western Conference in the new season, including the Western Conference Finals when they are fully healthy in the playoffs. But the main premise is that Curry stays healthy. At the same time, when encountering a weak team, Curry and Green should control mistakes after knowing Cole's employment. Curry has a stronger temper, but Cole is the culprit. Didn't the Warriors suffer a lot in the past few years because they despised their opponents? But I also believe that the day Curry retires, Cole should be dismissed. He has indeed made Curry successful, but he has also harmed Curry, including the way Curry sacrificed value when Durant was on the team.