The Golden State Warriors are in unfamiliar territory. After winning the title last season and winning 73 games in the regular season, the Dubs find themselves on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference Finals. Having lost three out of four games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they need to make adjustments and fast.
Head coach Steve Kerr has one simple solution to the Warriors’ woes and it involves getting more out of center Andrew Bogut.
The following from Carl Steward of the San Jose Mercury News:
“He’s fouling,” Kerr said. “He’s got 13 fouls in 56 minutes. He’s almost fouling out of every game in 10-15 minutes. He’s got to be smarter with his fouls. We need him out there — he was plus-7 (Tuesday) night in 11 minutes…
“When he’s out there, we rebound better,” he said. “We’ve got a good passer out of the post. We want to play Bogut more, but he’s got to stay on the floor.”
GSW has been outrebounded in every game of this series, often by huge margins, except for their win in game two. Bogut’s constant foul trouble from the beginning of games has been a huge factor in that respect and has contributed to the two back-to-back blowout losses the team has suffered.
This has been a tough series for Bogut who looks outmatched by the Thunder’s athletic big-man duo of Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka. At his best, the Aussie center provides rim protection and an innate passing ability, but he has simply been unable to stay on the court.
Game five will require major risk-taking by Kerr and the Warriors. If the coach really does believe that Andrew Bogut provides his team with a better chance to win, then he may need to take a risk and keep playing him despite foul trouble. The Warriors have had no consistency at the center position in this series and that needs to change if they are going to come back and right their ship.
