The Warriors are 3-0. The NBA named Steph Curry Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday. The team is passing the ball freely, shooting 39.3 percent as a unit from 3-point range and finding a way to close out wins.
Are the Dubs back, back? It’s still too early to tell, according to Steve Kerr and Draymond Green, who helped lead the Warriors during their dynasty days.
Ahead of Tuesday night's matchup, Golden State is back in Oklahoma City, the site of some classic memories like Klay Thompson’s epic Game 6 in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, Steph Curry’s iconic 38-foot game-winner in 2016 and Kevin Durant’s “cupcake” return in 2017.
Does Green feel like the Warriors have the same aura as that era?
“I can’t really speak for that,” Green said Monday. “It’s three games in. If we can continue to have success, I think that will naturally happen.”
The Warriors should become the West’s first 4-0 team Tuesday night as they face the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the lone winless team in the conference and feature the league’s second-worst offensive rating (94.9).
Then Golden State returns home for a season-long eight-game homestand that will keep them in San Francisco until Nov. 10. Things are shaping up nicely for the 2021-22 Warriors in the early going, but Kerr wants to avoid any talk of an ‘aura’ surrounding the franchise after missing the playoffs the past two seasons.
“I think it’s way too early for that,” Kerr said. “I think people respect us. Last year, I thought the last part of last season was important in terms of regaining our stature in the league and finishing the way we did was important, not only for our momentum, but just for reminding people that we’re still here. The way we’ve started is a continuation of that.”
The way Green looks at it, the Warriors are just getting started. As he noted, it hasn’t even been a month since the team opened training camp with a new roster and different rotation.
“We still probably only got three or four offensive sets,” Green said. “It’s so early. The playbook is nothing yet. To be where we are at such an early point in the season, which is having some success, and not even the whole playbook installed, (associate head coach) Mike Brown still toying with things defensively to see what works. I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”
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Green said Kerr and his coaching staff may have learned from the previous seasons, when they may have introduced too many concepts to the team before eventually having to “dial it back” throughout the season.
With Jordan Poole getting more minutes as the starting shooting guard, Andre Iguodala, Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter Jr. getting familiar with the offense, Green is a fan of Kerr’s approach.
“I like that we’re keeping it simple,” Green said. “I think less is more right now, which is great. I think Steve and the coaching staff has done a great job in keeping it that way and not trying to ramp it up too fast and confusing the hell out of people.
"I can remember years where our team was great. Like we knew it coming into the year, like, 'This team is great, it's just a matter of time 'til we get to the Finals.' And at points in that season going, 'Yo, we need to dial it back a little back, we done put too much stuff in. We need to go back to these few plays and run this.'
“To see them learn from that and not put too much in so fast, and just kind of build slowly, I think it’s great. It’s a great lesson that I think they’ve picked up on. It’s something for the most part that we’ve had to back track each year. This year we’re taking a different approach and I think it’s been successful so far.”
