Camila Sosa
Since Draymond Green returned from an 11-week absence due to a back injury, the Golden State Warriors figure has not lived up to his game and he himself is aware of it.
Following the Warriors’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Green took advantage of the media to confess his frustration about the way he’s been playing.
“I’ve never been on a team that gets worse when I’m on the floor. That’s where we are right now,” Green said according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
Draymond Green returned to the team on March 14 after recovering from a back injury and was expected to help improve a quintet that had not been doing things very well defensively. However, everything has turned out even worse since entering the rotation: the Warriors are 1-6 and have allowed 116.8 points per hundred possessions when he has been on the court. In addition, the former Defensive Player of the Year records a -41 point differential, the third-worst mark among players with similar minutes in those seven engagements.
“I feel terrible. I’m healthy, but I feel terrible,” said the six-time NBA All-Defensive team. “I am aware that I came out of a very serious injury for 11 weeks. Seven or eight of them couldn’t even touch the ball. So being critical of myself, I’m aware of that. But I don’t care, I’m still a competitor.”
Green’s bad timing is coupled with the absence of Stephen Curry, who was injured during the forward’s second return commitment. That’s why it’s more imperative than ever that the four-time All-Star returns to his level and he knows it.
“You always strive to get it right. So regardless of the circumstances, I keep thinking and I know I can have very good performances. And I haven’t. So those are the expectations of myself,” Draymond Green added. “I just have to strive to get out of this. Make plays and impact the game. That’s why I feel like I’ve been terrible. I don’t feel like my impact has been in the game when it should be and it usually is. I just have to work to take that chip off every time I go out on the court.”
With seven games left in the regular season, the Warriors are assured of their participation in the postseason and are looking to hunt down the second place in the West, the Memphis Grizzlies, a team they play against on Monday night and from which they are four games away. It’s worth remembering that the first and second seeds in each conference have the first round of the playoffs free, so Golden State can still fight for something important these days and Draymond Green must be an important part of it.
