Kurtenbach: Steve Kerr keeps telling us the Warriors can play defense. Let’s see it

Perhaps Steve Kerr is trying to manifest a reality that doesn t exist Because if the Warriors coach has revealed it once this season he s explained it a dozen times He believes this group can be a top-tier defensive unit He says it with conviction He says it like it s a foregone conclusion just waiting for the rest of us to catch up I m not buying what he s selling And honestly neither should you Sure if you worship at the altar of the spreadsheet you might have a affair The raw information backs Kerr up technically The Warriors sit seventh in the league in defensive rating allowing points per possessions Someday historians will look back at an era where giving up points is considered stingy and weep for the art of basketball but that s a conversation for another day The obstacle is the numbers are lying Or at the very least they aren t telling the whole truth Related Articles Warriors Buddy Hield raves about Bahamian protege VJ Edgecombe He s that guy Kurtenbach The Giannis-to-the-Warriors dream is about to evaporate Warriors give Thunder everything they can handle in spirited effort that falls just short How can healthy De Anthony Melton help a crowded Warriors backcourt Seth Curry rejoins Warriors after salary cap-induced hiatus It was just weird Do you see a lockdown defense when you watch this unit I sure don t You know who else doesn t The guys who are authentically on the floor If you want the real scouting assessment ask Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green They haven t exactly been shy about trashing the effort and quality of play on that end of the floor After the loss to the Rockets last month Green didn t mince words He called the defense s t Butler went with sad We don t box out We don t go with the scouting account We let anybody do whatever they want open shots get into the paint free throws Butler commented That sure doesn t sound like a top-tier unit That sounds like a layup line And it feels like a pretty accurate description of what we re watching night in and night out Here is the reality The Warriors have no teeth at the point of attack They have the perimeter defense of a Walmart greeter Then behind that there is no deterrent at the rim Oh and that middle ground The mid-range They can t guard that either Just watch the tape of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carving them up in the final minutes of Tuesday s loss to the Thunder Yes SGA is unstoppable but the Warriors didn t even make him sweat Defenders of this defense and there are a sparse left will point to the stats They ll point to a nice night from Gary Payton II or a vintage Draymond moment and say See It s there But look closer at the resume Those sparkling defensive metrics were built on the backs of offenses that couldn t tally against a four cones and a folding chair Holding the Clippers to points back on October looked great at the time Now that we know the Clippers are an offensive train wreck The shine is gone And congratulations on padding the defensive stats against the Pelicans and the Pacers teams with a combined seven wins Here is the only stat that indeed matters Against the seven teams presently above them in the Western Conference standings Golden State is surrendering points per match Maybe that passes for good in But it s miles away from great It s on par with what the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets do every night This isn t the same defense that closed out last season Maybe the urgency is gone Perhaps the veteran legs that fueled that late push have nothing left to give And who knows maybe DeAnthony Melton who rejoined the association for Thursday s tournament is the difference for this squad Related Articles Warriors Buddy Hield raves about Bahamian protege VJ Edgecombe He s that guy Kurtenbach The Giannis-to-the-Warriors dream is about to evaporate Warriors injury roundup Melton set to go but Curry remains out Warriors give Thunder everything they can handle in spirited effort that falls just short How can healthy De Anthony Melton help a crowded Warriors backcourt No matter what the burden of proof is no longer on the critics It s on the Warriors Stop telling us how good the defense can be It s time for the Dubs to show us they have the chops to get stops How about this Give us five games Just a week-plus stretch where the Warriors genuinely look like a cohesive lockdown unit against real competition The defense that Kerr thinks they can be That s not too much to ask right Because until they can manage that small sample size all this talk about defensive prospective is just noise designed to cover up the cracks And if they can t fix it in the regular season good luck escaping the play-in tournament let alone surviving a playoff series