Stephen Curry sent a strong message to the rest of the Golden State Warriors following their season-high fourth straight loss — 1113-105 to the Phoenix Suns on November 30 as questions about their 12-man rotation continues to bug them.
“When you’re winning, it’s fun,” Curry told reporters about the pestering question about the sustainability of their expanded rotation. “When you’re not, questions pop up.”
Kerr played 13 players against the Suns, with 12 of them playing seven or more minutes. Only four of the starters, including Curry, reached 30 minutes.
“It’s hard as hell,” Curry said. “No two ways around it.”
Curry referenced Moses Moody and Kyle Anderson‘s fluctuating minutes.
Moody only logged 2:46 after averaging close to 17 minutes in the Warriors’ first 18 games. Anderson played only seven minutes, snapping his three-game streak of double-digit playing time.
“It’s hard for everybody,” Curry told reporters. “Coach’s job is to make those tough decisions. It’s our job to help him. If you’re not playing, don’t pout; don’t bring the locker room down. It doesn’t help anybody. Including yourself.”
Curry ultimately suggested cutting the Warriors’ rotation to 10-11 deep.
“Do we need to shorten it?” Curry said. “We probably need to be more predictable on a night-to-night basis so guys can get a little bit of a rhythm. Is that shortening it to one or two guys? Maybe.”
Moses Moody’s Playing Time Shortened Since Controversial Comment
Moody went scoreless and only played a total of 16 minutes over the last two games following his postgame comments about his playing time.
“That’s not a luxury I’ve had through my career, so I’ve kind of had to figure out how to play — whatever happens, whatever the opportunity is,” Moody told reporters following their 128-120 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on November 25. “I kind of just deal with whatever it is. I don’t necessarily look for outside things as in playing time, rotation, or whatever it is. When I get the opportunity, I take the shots that I get. I take the driving lanes that I get and just play.”
Two-way player Pat Spencer played more than Moody against the Suns.
Kerr acknowledged the difficult situation of spreading playing time to an expanded rotation.
“As soon as you lose, you’re going to have guys that are pissed off,” Kerr told reporters. “I’ve been in their shoes. I used to be pissed off at my coach all the time when he didn’t play me. That was most of my career. This is how it is. It’s the NBA. It’s a competitive, vicious league. Four games ago, we were on top of the world. Everybody’s happy. Now we’ve lost four in a row. Everybody’s pissed.”
Brandin Podziemski Replaces Lindy Waters III in Starting Lineup
Kerr pulled the plug on the Lindy Waters III experiment as he reinserted Brandin Podziemski next to Curry in the Warriors starting backcourt against the Suns.
“We wanted to get Brandin with that first group,” Kerr told reporters. “We feel like he is best suited to be a secondary ballhandler playing off Steph and Draymond because he’s great attacking closeouts. I like how he looked out there tonight.”
Podziemski scored 12 points, including a quick eight-point outburst, in Phoenix. He’s now scored in double digits in three of his last five games.
