The Golden State Warriors kicked off the season with promise, but their momentum has screeched to a halt amid a frustrating three-game skid. Fresh off a disheartening defeat to a depleted Indiana Pacers squad, head coach Steve Kerr is sounding the alarm on persistent roster flaws that are holding the team back.
At the heart of the Warriors’ woes? A mismatched playing style that’s more relic than revolution. Kerr didn’t mince words in a candid pre-game chat before the Pacers loss, pinpointing the team’s overreliance on post plays as a glaring misstep. “We’re probably trying too hard to make plays happen,” Kerr admitted. “We saw some mismatches that ran onto the post, which would have been great in 2005. But not anymore.”
In today’s NBA, where perimeter shooting and fluid spacing reign supreme, crowding the paint is a recipe for disaster. Kerr emphasized the need to keep the lane clear, unlocking driving lanes for stars like Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga (JK), while leveraging Draymond Green’s versatility from beyond the arc. “You really have to keep that lane open,” he explained. “It opens up a lot of possibilities for us, especially with Jimmy and JK driving, getting opportunities with Draymond on the perimeter.”
The coach doubled down on the importance of pristine spacing, especially with the current lineup featuring Butler, Kuminga, and Green. “We have to be especially good with our spacing,” Kerr stressed during a film session review. “This lineup that we’re playing quite a bit right now with JK, Draymond, and Jimmy—we watched a lot of that today.”
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But Kerr’s critique went deeper, highlighting the need for on-the-fly adjustments rather than rigid strategies. In half-court sets, he sees no inherent flaws, but in transition, burying a player in the post can grind the offense to a halt. “It’s not an easy thing to answer,” he said. “Our guys have to feel it. If we’re going to break down our spacing and go in and post up, we have to understand that the way the game is played, what the defenses allow us to do… there’s just a lot of counters to that.”
Kerr pointed to league-wide data backing his point: post-ups simply aren’t as efficient as they once were. Defenses collapse lightning-fast, turning potential advantages into stagnant possessions. “I think the points per possession reflect that around the league,” he noted. “The post-up is not as efficient as it once was.”
This isn’t Kerr’s first rodeo calling out these issues. Similar problems plagued the Warriors in their recent clash with the Milwaukee Bucks, only to rear their head again against Indiana. Adding to the mix, offseason acquisition Al Horford—hoped to be a stabilizing force—hasn’t delivered the impact the team envisioned, further exposing vulnerabilities.
As the season unfolds, Kerr faces mounting pressure to tweak the roster and refine their approach. With talents like Butler, Kuminga, and Green at his disposal, the potential is there—but only if the Warriors shed outdated habits and embrace the modern game’s emphasis on speed, space, and sharpshooting. Can Golden State turn the tide and reclaim their contender status? Time will tell, but Kerr’s bombshell critique is a wake-up call they can’t afford to ignore.