The Golden State Warriors may have been met with some unfortunate news regarding De’Anthony Melton and his season-ending surgery to repair his injured ACL but they still managed to pull out a dominant 120-97 win over the Atlanta Hawks at home on Wednesday night. The Dubs continue to click, as a unit, and tonight, it was Andrew Wiggins who was the star of the show as he poured in a game-high 27 points on 12-17 shooting from the field.
However, one important Warriors player is yet to hit the ground running this season. Brandin Podziemski, who was deemed untouchable in blockbuster trade talks for the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Paul George, has struggled mightily, averaging just 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 37/21/60 shooting splits through 13 games. And to make matters worse, Podziemski had to exit their game against the Hawks early after getting hit on the face (by his teammate, no less), therefore aggravating his nose injury.
But for Warriors forward Draymond Green, he knows exactly who to blame for the narrative surrounding Podziemski’s sophomore struggles.
“What he’s trying to work through is y’all’s fault. … It’s hard having a great rookie season and coming back having a good second year or better. It’s tough. That’s why you’ve always heard about the sophomore slump. I think for him, he’s just put so much pressure on himself or the player he wants to be or that he thinks he should be, and that’s unnecessary,” Green said in his postgame presser, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Indeed, a huge spotlight was cast on Podziemski and how big of a role he’ll be playing in his sophomore year for the Warriors now that Klay Thompson is gone. The Dubs wanted him to take around eight threes per game; suffice to say, Podziemski is not a like-for-like replacement for Thompson, as his game is predicated more on being the ultimate glue guy who can space the floor as well.
The good news is that it’s early in the season and that Podziemski has plenty of time to figure it out — as long as he starts listening to the correct voices in his head.
The Warriors believe in Brandin Podziemski
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The reduced minutes and role for Brandin Podziemski early in the season is not a sign that the Warriors have lost trust in him. In fact, Draymond Green reiterated that Podziemski should focus on the belief his teammates and coaches have in him and to not let all the external pressure get to his head.
‘Why put the added pressure on yourself? Why beat yourself up? We believe in him. The amount of pressure that he puts on himself on each shot is insane. I’m saying this so I hope he hears it,” Green said.