Yahoo Finance Steve Kerr staying positive amid struggles, injury battles so far this season
The Golden State Warriors are extremely depleted.
In fact, coach Steve Kerr has frequently only had eight players available each night — a problem he’s rarely had throughout his lengthy time in the league.
“You need bodies in the NBA, especially to get through the long haul,” Kerr said, via ESPN. “And playing eight guys, as long as I’ve been doing this, 30, 31 years in the league, it seems like maybe one or twice a year you have eight guys. Maybe, because of crazy circumstances.
“So for us to be doing this almost routinely now is — I’ve never seen it. So it’s a testament to the group, the ‘Elite Eight,’ that I like to call them. The Elite Eight’s doing a hell of a job hanging in there.”
Outside of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — who are both recovering from major injuries and aren’t expected back for some time, if at all this season — Draymond Green has missed nine games with a finger and heel injury. Kevon Looney has been out since their season-opener with a nerve condition, and both Alen Smailagic and Damion Lee are out with an ankle injury and a hand fracture, respectively.
Only three players have appeared in all 18 games: Jordan Poole, Ky Bowman and Glenn Robinson III.
Yet even with players falling left and right, Kerr is keeping his head up. He knows he has to.
“I think it’s important to keep accentuating the positives,” Kerr said, via ESPN. “We’ve gotten a lot better the last few weeks. And [it’s] not easy playing with eight guys … It’s kind of one step at a time, and having said all that, I’ve been doing this for a long time in one capacity or another and I see a lot of really positive things from this team.”
Despite his positivity, though, the Warriors still aren’t winning. They boast a league-worst 3-15 record, and have lost 10 of their last 11. The lone win in that stretch was a 114-95 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies last week, which Golden State immediately followed with a 48-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks the next day.
While the team isn’t what it used to be, Kerr still believes positive things are coming his way.
“We’re going to start winning some games,” Kerr said, via ESPN. “We just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”
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