With all the talk this offseason made by Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob about the W’s making the playoffs, (he guaranteed it in writing), their 5-11 start to the season has been a bit deflating to the fans.
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News took some time with Joe Lacob in a phone interview Wednesday, discussing his feelings on the start of the season.
-Q: You had high hopes, so how disappointing is it to be sitting at 5-11?
-LACOB: It is disappointing…with a new coaching staff, in fact an entire new organization, there was always that risk of a slow start, perhaps. Not that I’m blaming any of this on that.
So a little bit disappointed certainly up to this point. I think mostly because we’ve been in so many games, it’s just an odd way to lose.
Certainly we all are. Kawakami went on to ask whether or not Lacob ‘overestimated’ the level of talent on his team, which Lacob sort of try to avoid answering:
-Q: Do you believe you’ve over-estimated talent on this roster from the beginning of your ownership? I’ve said it before and I’ve tweaked you about it recently. Isn’t it just over-optimism on your part to think this is a good team?
-LACOB: Well, as of today, you have a better argument position than I do. We’re 5-11. We can’t hide from that.
We have not closed games. We have not performed to the expectations we as an ownership group and management have for this team.
Can’t hide from that. You want to print that, print that. We’ll take our blows and we’ll just move on here, see if we can’t rectify the situation and prove we were right. If not, we’ll admit we’re wrong and move on.
Lacob certainly beat around the bush, but he certainly didn’t seem pleased at how it’s turned out so far.
As to the recent talk of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis not being the elite backcourt that they’ve been billed as, Lacob had this to say:
That is going to be a question everyone’s going to ask until we’re shown to be a victorious team.
I think we did add some size on the backcourt, but it’s young–with Klay, Brandon Rush can play the 2 and 3. I think the size issue has sort of been addressed.
But I think the guys do have to perform at a higher level than they have in terms of taking care of the ball and leading us on the floor.
If this W’s team manages to find some success in the near future and actually starts winning games, much of this talk will go away. But until they prove they can win together, questions will always abound.
For more on the Warriors, check out Golden State of Mind.