As a result of the premature conclusion of the poor 2023-24 NBA season for the Warriors, many have pointed fingers.
There are a lot of factors contributing to Golden State's lackluster season, including the starting lineups' shooting problems, Draymond Green's availability, and a variety of other lineup combinations. But Steph Curry isn't going to assign blame and is still confident in his team's abilities. When it comes to the Warriors' season, what exactly went wrong? What was omitted?
"The sad part was just missing three wins to get out of the play-in and have yourself in a playoff series," Curry said Thursday on TNT's "Inside the NBA," following his announcement as the 2023-24 NBA Clutch Player of the Year. "Even in a game like the one in Sacramento during our play-in tournament, you go into it thinking,
'OK, we're down one and can game plan to try to get back into the series.'" Several blunders and absences occurred early in the year. Even if we manage to remain at this level for an extended period of time, we are aware that adjustments will be necessary, so we aren't that far off.
When you come up short, it's important to take a good hard look at yourself and ask, "How can we improve?" "What gaps can we bridge?" Many discussions with upper management and coach Kerr have taken place in an effort to determine a path back to our expected level of play, and we are grateful for the time we have to do so. I failed to address any of your specific questions regarding our requirements, but rest assured, we will resolve those this summer.
Even though they turned it around in the second half and won 10 of their last 12 games, Golden State (46-36) still only managed to earn the tenth seed in the Western Conference.
In the end, the Warriors' early losses were the deciding factor in their standings. After losing to the ninth-seeded Kings, they were eliminated from the playoff hunt for the third time in the previous twelve seasons.
Unlike the rest of the NBA world, Curry will not react too emotionally, and he is confident that his team will recover from their struggles this summer and return to its title-contending ways.