Golden State Warriors: 3 significant changes when Stephen Curry returns
By James Siegle
2. Performance
Despite their greatness, even Golden State is prone to slumps. However, these stretches become 10 times worse without Steph.
It doesn’t matter how good a squad is, injury hurts. Losing a player of Curry’s caliber will be felt.
Forbes’ contributor Patrick Murray wrote a recent article titled “Without Steph Curry And Draymond Green The Warriors Are Mere Mortals.” Here’s what Murray says about the Curry-less Warriors:
"“Curry is the center of their entire revolutionary offensive system, using the threat he poses the moment he crosses the halfway line to set up easy buckets for teammates. “When he’s not on the ball he’s cutting and moving and generally disorientating opposing defenders to the point of nausea. Without him, the offensive system grinds to a halt, and the joy gets sapped from the game.”"
Murray also speaks to the Warriors’ attitude with and without Steph:
"“Curry brings that joy, that flair, that fun. Everybody has a good time and looks good playing next to him.”"
The article goes on to give an interesting statistic. In 2017-18, the Warriors were 41-10 with Steph. Without him, the Dubs were just 17-14.