Return of injured players may affect Warriors' team chemistry

Ronny Turiaf, out since the second game, could return Saturday against the Lakers.
Associated Press

Chemistry has been a big buzzword around the Warriors this season.

What will the chemistry be like between Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry? How long before all the young guys develop some chemistry? How much is Stephen Jackson's bad attitude hurting the team chemistry? Team chemistry is so much better now that Stephen Jackson has been traded.

Besides the obvious (Jackson), consider these obstacles to building good chemistry:

-- Through 14 games, the Warriors have used eight different starting lineups. (For comparison, the Lakers, Saturday's opponent, have used three different starting lineups).

-- The opening night starting lineup was used only once all year.

-- If Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow, Vladimir Radmanovic and Mikki Moore start on Saturday, it would be third straight game and fourth overall that group started together. That would tie the season high for consecutive games with the same starting lineup and would be the most-used lineup of the season.

-- Ronny Turiaf, who started the season opener, hasn't played since the second game of the season.

-- Andris Biedrins has played in just four games and has missed the past nine.

-- Kelenna Azubuike, who made a push to be a starter in camp before an ankle injury, stepped into the starting lineup in the second game of the season and started seven straight games until a season-ending knee injury.

-- Of course there was also the negative atmosphere surrounding Jackson prior to his trade and the wildly fluctuating minutes for players like Anthony Randolph and Curry, who has started 11 of the 14 games but basically didn't play in New York and sat three straight games after starting the first six.

And now, when chemistry seems to be at its highest point of the season for a team brought together through adversity and the trade of Jackson, they face a new challenge -- the return of injured players.

Turiaf practiced on Friday and acting coach Keith Smart said he expects to use him off the bench Saturday against the large front-line of the Lakers. Devean George, who was signed in the offseason but hasn't played all year, also practiced on Friday and could see his first action soon. C.J. Watson came back after recovering from the flu and the Warriors are anxious to have Biedrins back.

Obviously the Warriors need the extra bodies, especially the big men. But it's almost like starting over -- yet again. And that's a scary thought.

"Hopefully we'll keep the same chemistry and keep playing at the same level," Curry said Friday when asked about getting some teammates back in the fold.

Since the trade, the severely undermanned Warriors have gone 2-3 against some of the elite teams in the league as spacing and ball movement have been optimized and they've played with a certain air of confidence.

Lanes to the basket have opened up for Ellis, who is playing like an All-Star while averaging 30.8 points per game over the last five and is coming off a career-high-tying 42 points on Wednesday. When Ellis hasn't finished himself, he's been able to find shooters like Morrow, Maggette, Curry and Radmanovic on the perimeter for open spot-up jumpers.

With no threat of being removed from the game for taking or missing too many shots (there aren't many options when playing with six players), the shots went up with confidence as everyone got involved in the offense.

In the last game against the Spurs, however, when the Warriors had nine players rather than the six they had in the win over the Mavericks the night before, no one got hot to help Ellis, who made 16-of-25 shots. Morrow disappeared as he did at times early in the season, taking just seven shots after averaging 14.5 in the previous two wins. Curry (5-of-16) and Radmanovic (2-of-8) struggled and if you take away Ellis' night, the rest of the team combined for just 62 points and shot less than 40 percent from the field.

How much of the dropoff can be attributed to fatigue and the Spurs' defense, and how much can be attributed to another change in the team dynamic?

The return of Turiaf is huge when it comes to interior defense and rebounding. But because Turiaf does most of his work near the block, it means there will now be two big bodies in the paint taking up space and closing off lanes, not to mention the fact that one of them will be determined to stop Ellis and his explosive forays to the hoop. Take away those drives, and suddenly Ellis, who only in the last game finally hit his mid-range jumper with consistency, isn't a dominant scorer and jump-shooting teammates aren't so wide open.

Getting Turiaf back also means Randolph has more competition for minutes. Hopefully he won't be looking over his shoulder wondering how quick the hook is going to come if he struggles early.

The same scenario plays out on the perimeter with the return of Watson, who saw big minutes at the expense of Curry during that stretch before Watson was diagnosed with the swine flu and left the team. Curry has to be wondering if there's a number of turnovers or missed shots that will trigger his removal and benching. Suddenly, worried about making mistakes, passes and shots are more tentative and less effective.

When Biedrins returns, the high pick-and-roll becomes a bigger part of the offense and there's another big body that could possibly get in Ellis' way. Offensively, the Warriors will have to regroup and reconsider how best to attack opposing defenses.

Getting healthy will be a huge benefit in the long run. But in the short term, it could be another obstacle in the Warriors' season-long quest to build team chemistry.

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