1-Game Overreaction: Warriors Mediocrity Puts Them In NBA Purgatory

Feb 26, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Andre Iguodala (9) is defended by Chicago Bulls small forward Mike Dunleavy (34) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors were off to a blazing hot start in the second half, and then they ran into the buzz saw that is the Chicago Bulls Wednesday evening.

That’s right. Those pesky (clichè alert), gritty, and all-around gamers known as the Bulls laid a beatdown on a lethargic looking Warriors team and cruised to a 103-83 victory at the United Center.

While it would probably be beneficial for somebody, somewhere to break down the X’s and O’s on why it all went wrong in this one for Mark Jackson‘s group, I think I’m in the majority when I say let’s just move on to the next game and erase this memory from our minds as soon as possible.

After all, it doesn’t require advanced analysis to find the root cause of a loss when no starter reaches double figures in scoring. Consequently, there’s not a whole lot of greater meaning to be mined out of this loss, no illuminating nuggets of evidence to unearth whether or not the Dubs will go all the way. Sorry, folks. It did inspire me to ponder a nice hypothetical, so there’s that.

What this game does serve to prove — and this will continue to be the case all the way into April — is that there’s not an opponent in the league that the Warriors can’t lose to. Not until they turn the offense around from being an inconsistent, isolation-heavy system that often succeeds in spite of itself, thanks mainly to the individual brilliance of Curry.

If you’re looking for the overreaction here, I guess it’s this: The Golden State Warriors, currently holding down the seventh seed in the Western Conference, are unfortunately what their record says they are at this point — mediocre. Whether you want to blame the players or the coaching staff, that’s up to you, but at least there’s no misconceptions at this point as to what the Warriors are. There’s no denying they have a high ceiling, and whether or not they rise to that level is another discussion altogether, but for right now, they are what they’ve shown us, and that puts them in purgatory as far as their championship ascent is concerned.

In other words, welcome to the waiting room everyone. The good news is Golden State moves on to face the New York Knicks on Friday, which, regardless of the outcome, will be a nice reminder that things could always be worse.