The Golden State Warriors have been very inconsistent on the defensive end
After the Warriors' very disappointing loss against the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, one big thing going into question has been the team's defense.
The Warriors allowed the Trail Blazers, without Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday, to score 127 points, with four different players scoring 20+ points. The ultimate insult was Caleb Love scoring 26 points off the bench in 38 minutes.
After the game, numerous members of the Golden State Warriors roster were asked about the team's defense, but it was Jimmy Butler who gave the most honest response.
Jimmy Butler's Thoughts on the Warriors' Defense
"We're just not guarding nobody," Butler said. From what I can tell, I haven’t been here long, but that’s never been the formula here. In order to win a championship, you gotta take each and every matchup personal. Yeah, help is gonna be there, but we gotta do way better guarding."
When it came to which part of the Warriors' defense was struggling specifically, it was on the perimeter. The lack of being able to defend the perimeter unlocked the Trail Blazers' entire offensive scheme.
"Everything," Butler said about the poor perimeter defense. "You're not taking anything away. You're not taking the paint away, you're not taking away layups, free throws, lobs, threes. So, we don't know where they're going to get a shot from. So, tonight they was getting whatever shot they wanted."
What Jimmy Butler Wants From the Warriors
The big thing Butler wants the Warriors to do is to start taking their individual matchups more personally. The ability to guard a man 1-on-1 has been lost more and more in the modern NBA, and that's what Butler wants out of his team. However, that's not always the easiest with an older team.
© Robert Edwards-Imagn Images"I'm always optimistic, but I'm also honest, a truth teller," Butler admitted. "We can beat individuals on some nights whenever we're scoring the basketball, we can't always bank on shots going in, for whatever reason why. We always have to be able to guard. Until we get back to guarding and taking people scoring on us personally, we'll be in some fault for a while.
Fortunately for the Warriors, they'll get a bit of a break before their Monday night matchup against the Utah Jazz. However, that's a game that the team can't afford to lose. Utah has an overall record of 5-10, and a loss would give Golden State a losing record.