The Good, Bad and Ugly from the Golden State Warriors' Early Season

The Golden State Warriors have roared out of the gate at a 3-0 start and are looking to seize control of a Western Conference that is in flux. There has been plenty of good to go around with a smattering of bad thrown in, but the good news for the Warriors is that thus far, their weaknesses have not caught up to them.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder floundering with injuries, the San Antonio Spurs aging and the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets having yet to prove anything in the postseason, the conference is wide open for a new team to step up.

Flush with young talent and powered by stars, the Warriors are proving thus far that their elite defense from last season was no fluke and that they have the pieces in place to eventually build an offense that can rival that defense.

With Klay Thompson playing like the star he’s paid to be, the Warriors are poised to make the leap into relevance.

There is a lot of buzz revolving around this team based on its hot start. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from the opening week of the season. 

The Good

Klay Thompson

Thompson is looking to be worth every penny of the $70 million contract extension he recently signed. Currently leading the league in scoring at 29.7, he’s proved to be more than just a deadly three-point shooter.

He is attacking the rim with more frequency and drawing contact like never before. The season is early, yes, but the early returns are startling. Thompson has more than tripled his free-throw attempts from last season, and at 7.7 per game, he ranks among the top 20 in the league.

After manhandling Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Thompson received some high praise from the voice that matters most in this league: Kobe himself. Renowned for his otherworldly work ethic, Bryant is no stranger to late-night workouts. And, according to Bryant, neither is Thompson, courtesy of Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com: "I can only judge Klay and what I know of him and what the people don’t see. He stays late at night. I was in the gym lifting weights by myself. Or at least I thought I was. He’s over in the corner lifting weights, too. I judge a player by that stuff."

It’s no surprise that Thompson has elevated his game so much. He’s put the work in all offseason.

What’s scary is that the offense hasn’t even gotten going yet. At 105.7 points per game, the Warriors rank fourth in the league. That’s good. They’ve also been very sloppy and are leading the league in turnovers. That’s bad.

So far, though, it hasn’t mattered. They can thank their defense for that. 

Defense

The Warriors have the best point differential in the NBA right now at plus-5.4, and a lot of that has to do with the defense holding the opposition to just 90.3 points per game.

Opposing offenses are shooting just 39 percent from the field against Golden State, the best mark in the league. The Warriors are generating the most turnovers and are making a concerted effort to close out on shooters, allowing the opposition to shoot only 23 percent from the outside.

The defense is on another level right now, and it all begins and ends with the brilliance of Andrew Bogut.

Warriors broadcaster Jim Barnett always harps on not just Bogut’s shot-blocking ability, but his shot-changing ability as well. At 2.7 blocks per game, Bogut is right up there with the league elite. That is only a fraction of his impact, however.

Bogut never takes a play off, contesting every shot at the rim and ensuring that if points are scored, they are earned. He makes the job of everyone around him easier and has received praise from teammate Klay Thompson over his unselfishness in every aspect of his game, courtesy of CSN Bay Area: "Andrew Bogut has been such a good player for us. I can't describe how good his passing is. He gets me so many good looks every night. I should give a percentage of my contract to him now..."

A healthy Bogut makes the Warriors the favorite in any game because of his impact on the defensive side of the ball. If he can remain upright for the season, this defense has a chance of being the very best in the league. 

The Bad

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Shaun Livingston will step up eventually.

Free Agents

It’s not all bad, but with Brandon Rush yet to see the court and Shaun Livingston being largely ineffective in his short stints off the bench, this is one area where the Warriors can improve.

We won’t hold Rush’s absence against him because injuries are a part of the game. With him, it’s only a matter of time before he’s contributing because, based on his track record, he’s always been the type of player who can only add to a team. With good defense and elite three-point shooting, he’ll be heard of in the near future.

Livingston has been the issue. Before the season started, rustiness was a worry because he missed the entire preseason while nursing a toe injury. So far, that has been the case.

The transition from being a starter logging heavy minutes to a reduced bench role is always tough. We saw it last season with Harrison Barnes. It’s been tough to watch so far. In just 10 minutes of action, Livingston is actually averaging more turnovers (1.3) than assists (1.0).

He’s not shooting very well, contributing less than one point per game at a 25 percent clip. Still, we’re just three games into the season; panicking now would be foolish. As he gets more acclimated to his bench role, Livingston’s play will rise over the long term.  

Fortunately for the Warriors, Leandro Barbosa has been a steady hand off the bench. He’s scoring at an efficient rate and has been reliable with the ball in his hands.

With Livingston sure to improve and Rush on his way back, it’s only a matter of time before this stops being a weakness and becomes a strength. 

The Ugly

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Stephen Curry has been better so far with the ball.

Turnovers

It’s hard to be too picky about a team that’s come out of the gate on a 3-0 start, but if there is one potential Achilles' heel for the Warriors this season, it’s the turnovers.

While Steve Kerr’s offense has shown a lot of promise in the early going, it is evident that not everything has clicked just yet. At 19.7 turnovers per game, the Warriors have a comfortable margin over the next closest team. Generally, that’s not a recipe for success.

Fortunately for them, they have been able to remedy this issue so far by forcing the most turnovers in the league as well. At 22.3 per game, their vaunted defense is once again compensating for the deficiencies of the offense.

Growing pains are to be expected when a complete offensive makeover is in the works, and as it stands, the good has outweighed the bad. As the season progresses, the offense should continue to jell, and the turnovers should decrease.

The Warriors have all the tools necessary to forge a deep run in the playoffs this year, and as it stands, only one team seems capable of derailing that: the Warriors. If they can get the turnover issue under control, their ceiling is scary.