OAKLAND–Andre Iguodala didn’t have the opportunity to play in the Warriors’ season-opening loss against the Rockets on Tuesday night.
But he did have plenty to say about the game.
On Wednesday, Iguodala met with reporters to discuss the back injury that’s kept him off the court this week, and to share his thoughts on how Golden State handled the challenge Houston presented at Oracle Arena.
Iguodala said he hurt his back over the weekend working out in what he termed a “freak accident.” The Warriors’ wing said he initially thought the strain would go away, but it lingered and became worse. Nevertheless, both Iguodala and Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr are hopeful that Iguodala will return to the Warriors’ lineup this weekend when the team travels east to take on New Orleans (Friday) and Memphis (Saturday)
Iguodala said his back feels tight when he sits for periods of about 20 minutes, but said it wouldn’t be a problem when the Warriors fly on Thursday, because he’ll be able to lie down on the team plane.
Because he wasn’t able to play on Tuesday evening, Iguodala participated in Golden State’s pregame ring ceremony and then retreated to the depths of Oracle Arena to watch the game on television. Iguodala admitted that he found himself screaming at the television more than he normally would, and explained what made him so riled up.
“It was just like little stuff, but like one possession, Steph (Curry) had the ball and we had like all four guys on the right side of the floor in the second half,” Iguodala said. “Like, all four guys were on that side of the lane and I’ve never seen that before. I figured one of them would realize to balance the floor. We had a couple empty possessions, a couple of empty rotations that we saw on film today. We had a really good trap on the ball, and it was easy rotations out of the trap, we just didn’t get there. We had a lot of cross matches in transition with picking up shooters and it was simple. One possession we had four guys back and they threw it ahead and a guy hits a wide open threw and there were only two of their guys past half court. You know, just staying alert, not feeding into too much of what’s been said about us.”
Though the Warriors slipped to 0-1 for the second straight season, Iguodala said the team has reached a point where losses have become beneficial because they serve as teachable moments.
On Tuesday night, with Iguodala out and Draymond Green sidelined due to a fourth quarter knee injury, rookie Jordan Bell and third-year post player Kevon Looney were forced into action in the fourth quarter. Iguodala said the Warriors’ young players received important minutes and indicated that Golden State would be aided by that experience in the long run.
“I feel like losses have a huge effect on us and usually benefit us,” Iguodala said. “I feel like we should have won the game last night, it was right there. I’m upset that we lost cause, even though we didn’t play well. But you can learn a lot from it and it was good to see how we can go in a different direction as far as matchups and it was good to see Kevon Looney get out there. Some humbling experiences for us as well as far as new life in the NBA. We’ve got a lot to improve upon. I shouldn’t say a whole lot, but we know we can’t make those mistakes and win games, but we know we’ve got to just tighten it up.”