Warriors assistant Jerry Stackhouse believes Jimmy Butler will greatly benefit Golden State's defense.
The defensive-minded coach explained how the team is integrating Butler’s hard-nosed and physical style.
“We’re trying to get him to do things our way, but still not take away his instincts,” Stackhouse said to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ron Kroichick. “There are things he can do defensively that you don’t really teach.”
A five-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection, Butler is known for his ability to shut down bigger players, which the Warriors have lacked all season. Golden State has been unable to stop larger guards and forwards, such as Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, from scoring at will.
For Stackhouse, part of the defensive issues were due to Andrew Wiggins, who struggled against the best scorers on opposing teams.
“I personally didn’t think he was great against the other team’s best player,” Stackhouse told Kroichick. “He was better against those next guys. We’d throw him on [the top players] sometimes, because of the reputation of what he did in ’22 and whatnot, but I saw separation. …
“If you really want to be a good defender, you have to close that distance a little.”
Golden State Warriors
While Wiggins was a strong lockdown defender during the Warriors' last championship run in 2022, Stackhouse believes he regressed. The opportunity to land Butler in a trade with the Miami Heat proved too good to pass up, so Wiggins was shipped off to South Beach.
While the sample size is small, Golden State is 3-1 since the trade, thanks partly to Butler’s defensive and offensive prowess.
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The Warriors' results in shutting down the opposing team’s primary scorer are somewhat mixed. Over those four contests, they gave up 27 points to Coby White, 38 to Damian Lillard, 42 to Kyrie Irving and 25 to Aaron Holiday.
Still, the hope is that Butler can continue integrating his skill set as the second half of the season progresses.
Golden State sits in a perilous position in the Western Conference playoff standings coming out of the All-Star break. At 28-27, the Warriors are in danger of missing the postseason entirely, though they are just three games behind the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
With little margin for error, the team hopes that Butler can be the answer on offense and defense for the rest of the year.
