The Golden State Warriors haven't lived up to their high expectations coming into the 2013-2014 NBA season after having great success in the playoffs last year. The signing of Andre Iguodala, along with the development of young players such as Klay Thomspon and Harrison Barnes, was supposed to improve the team vastly to become one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.
There are multiple reasons why the Warriors don't have a record that reflects the talent on their roster. One big surprise this season is that they have failed to protect Oracle Arena like they have in years past— even when they were terrible. Bench production has been very poor all year long. Players have been in and out of the lineup with injuries. The offense hasn't performed to its full capability. All of these things have contributed to some of the "failures" the Warriors have had before the All-Star break, but there have been positives as well.
Stephen Curry has emerged as one of the best players in the NBA. Curry is currently fifth in the league in scoring, at 24.6 points per game, and second in the league in assists, at 9.0 per game. He remains the NBA's premier perimeter shooter, and once again leads the league in three pointers made. Other positives include Andrew Bogut's health for the majority of the year, Klay Thompson's career high averages in both points and assists, and David Lee's near double-double average yet again. 
Many improvements need to be made by the Warriors to make another playoff run this season. Teams are no longer surprised by their high level of play like they were last season and are coming out ready to play every night. They have been the hunted rather than the hunter this season.
Limiting Turnovers
Turnovers have been a huge problem for the Warriors this season. They are second to last in turnovers per game, averaging 15.9 per game. Turning the ball over is a huge issue in the NBA because it leads to easy points for opposing teams, gives opposing teams more shot attempts, and limits your own shot attempts.
Stephen Curry has been the main contributor to Warriors turnovers this season, as he leads the league in turnovers per game at 4.1. While Curry is second in the league in assists, turning the ball over four times per game is unacceptable no matter what. Curry handles the ball the majority of the time when he is on the floor for the Warriors, which is why he averages so many turnovers per game. Last season, Jarrett Jack did much of the ball handling, allowing Curry to limit his turnovers. It'll be a huge step in the right direction if Curry can learn to take better care of the basketball while still being a big-time playmaker.
Bench Production
Last season, the Warriors had two of the most reliable bench players in the NBA in Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. Jack and Landry were both lost to free agency, and with the free agent acquisition of Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes was expected to step up and become the sixth man. This plan hasn't quite panned out, as Barnes hasn't been able to adjust to his new role after being a starter in every game he played last season.
The Warriors haven't had any player off the bench score on a consistent basis. Draymond Green is a great player who can do almost everything off the bench, except consistently score. Green is a fan favorite who wins people over with his toughness, hustle, and passion for the game. Other bench players like Marreese Speights and recently traded Toney Douglas weren't cutting it for the Warriors. The Warriors acquired Jordan Crawford from the Boston Celtics to be that scorer off the bench that the Warriors were missing. He hasn't really solved the bench scoring problems, but he still needs time to get used to the Warriors system, and eventually become more of a scorer.
Jermaine O'Neal has played very well considering where he is in his career, but he isn't a guy that can be relied upon to score any longer. His post-up ability has severely declined and he has trouble getting any lift when he makes a move in the post. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Warriors make another big trade, because after all, Joe Lacob and the new Warriors management ownership group love making moves. They've proven that they are willing to take risks and spend the money to make the team better over their short ownership tenure. The problem for them now will be to figure out how to acquire talent without giving away talent of their own.
Getting Healthy (and Staying Healthy)
One of the biggest questions coming into this season was whether or not Stephen Curry could remain healthy for an entire season. Curry has dealt with multiple ankle injuries throughout the course of his career that have sidelined him for many games. So far this season, Curry has avoided major ankle injuries. He has only missed three games thus far with minor injuries, which has been a huge relief for the Warriors.
Many of the Warriors injuries this year have been minor, causing guys to miss just a few games. David Lee has missed a few games recently due to nagging injuries, Andre Iguodala missed 11 games with a hamstring injury, and Andrew Bogut has missed just four games all season. Bogut has always had injury problems throughout his career. His presence on the floor for the Warriors is huge because he is such a dominant defender in the paint. There is a clear discrepancy in defensive intensity when Bogut is on and off the floor.
Backup centers Jermaine O'Neal and Festus Ezeli have missed significant time with injuries this season. O'Neal has missed 32 games and Ezeli has missed the entire season. Both of them are great defenders and rebounders who can block shots and protect the rim for the other sub-par Warrior defenders.
Looking Ahead
The Warriors at this point in the season aren't even guaranteed to make the playoffs in a tough Western Conference. They can't take nights off against lesser opponents and just expect pure talent to win games, which they have done multiple times this season. If they make the playoffs, they are a dangerous team that many other teams wouldn't want to match up against. They proved they can win in the playoffs last postseason when they beat the Denver Nuggets in the opening round and played the San Antonio Spurs very tough in the second round. There is much work to be done, but there is certainly still hope that they can make a deep playoff run.
Back to the Golden State Warriors Newsfeed