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The Golden State Warriors have been inconsistent all season. It's been hard to understand why. Some fans have blamed Draymond Green for punching Jordan Poole during a team practice on October 5, 2022.
Despite being the reigning NBA champions, they have been absurdly pathetic on the road this season. They have a 7-25 record in games away from the Chase Center. But they have one of the best home records in the league at 27-7.
Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports recently gave his opinion on the unexplainable home-road disparity. He believes the altercation between Jordan Poole and Draymond Green is the main reason why they can't win a lot of games on the road.
They were on a five-game winning streak before Steph Curry returned from injury and moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference. But all of those games were at home. It looked like the Warriors had finally figured it out. Once Curry returned to the lineup, many felt that they would become an elite team. However, they have lost two straight road games since Curry's return.
"So Golden State's a really good team. They are historically awful on the road this year…They should not be this awful. In fact, the three teams that have the worst road record in the NBA, worse than theirs, are all tanking…It makes absolutely no sense. No sense at all."
"Here's my takeaway: you go on the road with your family, you'll see if you truly get along, cause you can't hide the fissures. At home, if you get into an argument, everyone goes their separate ways."
"On the road, you'll get on the team bus, you'll go to the team hotel. And there's been speculation, that the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole dust-up, the big punch before the season, may have created a fissure on the team."
Colin Cowherd thinks that the Draymond Green punch may have been more impactful than previously thought. It was a huge red flag. Green is expected to be one of the leaders on the team. Punching the franchise's newest $100 million player created more division in the locker room.
Draymond Green apologized and said he would no longer be as verbal and combative with his teammates.
Colin Cowherd believes there is tension between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole on the Golden State Warriors
A team with championship experience should not fall apart so easily on the road. The same roster has been nearly unbeatable at home. For whatever reason, they fall asleep on the road.
Cowherd speculates that there has been a rift between the older and younger players ever since Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole. He added:
"This was always gonna be a difficult team to bridge the gap between these old rich dudes with rings, Draymond and Steph and Klay, and the young guys who are ascending, hungry but haven't done anything."
"So that was always gonna be a real challenge for Steve Kerr, the young guys wanna play and get theirs, the old guys don't necessarily think they're capable of getting theirs."
"But when the Warriors go on the road, does this team get very clicky? Where the young guys hang out with Jordan Poole, the older guys hang out with Draymond Green? I don't have the answer to that, but I do know, this road record makes absolutely no sense at all."
"You don't have to be great on the road, you gotta be confident. I have pretty good sources inside the Warriors and around the Warriors, I know a lot of people that cover them, there is something going on."
Cowherd suggests that Draymond Green and the Warriors might have peaked last season when they won the title. He thinks the home crowd energizes the team. But they lack the motivation to play to their fullest potential on the road:
"Now get can away with it at home…they're still good at home. This old tired team gets infused with energy in front of the home crowd, the loudest arena in the NBA, so they're fine at home. To get them on the road, their age, their energy, they peaked at the end of last year.
"Its a little, clicky, its gotta be something. A team this talented, a coach this great, a front office this smart, they can't be this bad on the road."
The Golden State Warriors have also been without Andrew Wiggins for over three weeks. Perhaps he was the missing piece in some of these recent road losses.
They have 16 games left in the regular season. Nine of these games are on the road. Given how tight the standings are in the Western Conference, the Dubs will be in big trouble if they can't start winning road games.
Poll : Can the Warriors turn it around?
Yes
No
17 votes
