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Warriors considering Azubuike as possible fix to offensive woes
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Kelenna Azubuike is averaging 15 points in 20.5 minutes per game.
The Warriors are halfway through their four-day break in the schedule and are busy looking for answers to their problems after opening the season with back-to-back losses.
One thing they're working on is getting more minutes for Kelenna Azubuike, who worked with the starting team in Sunday's practice.
Azubuike was having a strong training camp until he turned an ankle and his participation was limited and spotty over the final two weeks. The ankle has looked good through two games with Azubuike exploding to the basket for a couple big dunks. He's tied for second on the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game while shooting 61.9 percent from the floor and adding 4.5 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game.
But moving Azubuike into the starting lineup could show just how desperate this team is on the offensive end after just two games. It would seem that Azubuike would step through the revolving door at power forward, which has seen Ronny Turiaf and Anthony Randolph start the first two games.
You have to assume Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis are safe as starters in the backcourt -- both have played fairly well and taking them off the court surely isn't going to make the ball move better on offense. Andris Biedrins is clearly the man at center and it would be hard to imagine the Warriors would risk the possible backlash of taking Stephen Jackson out of the starting lineup at this point. So that means 6-foot-5, 220-pound Azubuike would play the 4.
Talk about defensive mismatches.
But this is something the Warriors are considering because of the offensive struggles. They've averaged only 104 points, which is not what anyone would expect from a Don Nelson small-ball team. When Curry was named the starting point guard, it was a concession that offense trumped defense and the Warriors would use their vast supply of offensive weapons to try to outscore teams.
It hasn't worked as the offense has stalled in a disappointing display of one-on-one confrontations where the first man with the ball past halfcourt seems destined to put up an ill-advised shot in traffic. In Friday's loss to the Suns, the Warriors had only 16 assists on 36 made baskets. They've also averaged 19 turnovers per game, many on lazy or hesitant passes in halfcourt sets where no one seems to know where the ball should go.
Nelson called the offense "inept" after the loss to the Suns and Curry talked about the team's inability to run the plays and players not knowing what to do without looking to the sidelines for help.
Nelson referred to his club as a "slow fast-breaking team" and is looking for answers and easy buckets. And maybe adding Azubuike, another player with 3-point range and the ability to get the basket, will open up the offense and help create easy opportunities.
"I need to do some of everything because this team needs a lot right now," Azubuike said.
Jackson, speaking of the offensive troubles, added a few new entries to his growing list of most memorable quotes:
From The Chronicle: "Through two games, we look like a bunch of guys playing for contracts instead of a bunch of guys playing as a team."
From Marcus Thompson's blog: "It's a new team, so guys have to figure out how I want the ball."
LOOKING AHEAD: The Warriors play the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. Is it possible for the third game of an 82-game season to be called a must-win game? Probably not, but the Warriors desperately need a win here. By the way, Memphis' 6-4 shooting guard O.J. Mayo scored 40 against the Nuggets on Sunday. If the Warriors stay with the Curry-Ellis backcourt, this could be one of those mismatches they feared. But given the current state of the team, can they afford to trade offense for defense? It will be interesting to see what Nelson and the Warriors do.
ALSO: Game 2 photos, season predictions, season preview, updated West power rankings
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