Nevius: Note to Warriors: Bench isn’t just for sitting

Monday night, in the first quarter of the Warriors’ game with Sacramento, Draymond Green was fouled.

He went up for a layup, was body-slammed in the air and ended up flat on his back in front of the Warriors’ bench.

To be perfectly honest, it was a completely inconsequential play. It is doubtful anyone who attended or watched the game on TV even remembers it happened.

I only bring it up because almost exactly a year ago — Nov. 12, 2021 — I wrote about a similar play in this space. In it, Green went up for a shot, was hit and landed on his back in front of the Warriors’ reserves.

The reaction? Green had barely hit the deck before four Warriors, some still in their warmups, bounded out of their seats on the bench, rushed to Green and hoisted him to his feet.

The reaction last Monday? Andrew Wiggins, who was in the game, helped Green up. The reserve players didn’t even stand. Their reaction could be characterized as “polite applause.”

This is becoming a thing.

The point of my column last year was that the Warriors had the most enthusiastic, energetic and joyful bench in professional basketball. Players like Juan Toscano-Anderson were running up and down the sideline like drum majors, exhorting and encouraging teammates with the volume turned to 11.

This year? Mostly crickets.

It is so noticeable that former Warrior — and towel-waving bench cheerleader — Kent Bazemore tweeted photos of previous Warriors reserves in full-blown celebration with the caption “Underappreciated part of the game now.”

It has reached the point where players like Moses Moody are being asked about the energy outage.

And Moody didn’t dodge the question.

“We had really good role models last year,” he said last week. “It was really eye-opening how that can affect a team.”

Moody even told the reporter, “I’m glad you pointed that out.”

Friday night, Moody was conspicuously on his feet, cheering. And reserve Anthony Lamb was waving his arms, exhorting the home crowd.

This isn’t just an idle observation. Last week Steve Kerr stressed that the one-for-all, all-for-one ethos is a key to the Warriors culture.

“It’s very important,” he said. “That balance between the super competitive and joyful on the floor ... that’s what our team is built on.”

Or, as he put it last year, “Winning in the NBA is all about energy. You can have all the skill in the world, but if you don’t have that grit, force and energy, it’s tough to win.”

And right now they don’t have it. And although they squeaked out wins over Sacramento and Cleveland last week, they aren’t winning — only a 5-7 record.

So, what can be done? Well, last year Kerr said it wasn’t about coaching.

“I don’t have to,” he said then. “That’s the beauty of it. It’s organic.”

Well ... it’s sort of organic.

Kerr then went on to state the obvious — Steph Curry.

“Steph is the catalyst behind the joy that our team plays with,” Kerr said last year. “It’s infectious when one of the best players in the history of the NBA is cheering for everybody the way he does.”

God knows Curry is trying this year. It isn’t just the remarkable scoring run, or the clutch shots. He’s playing to the crowd, waving his arms and putting a hand to his ear as if listening for cheers.

On Monday, he even got a technical foul that was clearly deliberate. Upset at a no-call, he ignored play and rushed at the official with such force that the surprised ref took a step backward.

On Friday night, he was everywhere — hitting shots, stealing passes and bickering with officials.

Anything to fire these guys up.

The message seems to be landing. Newcomer Donte DiVincenzo has been injured, but a regular cheerleading presence on the sideline. Now that he’s back, he says he’s going to push the pace, especially when the second unit hits the floor.

“We need to take the energy to a whole other level,” he said last week. “We’re not doing that right now. That is the real thing to me.”

The lack of bench energy, on and off the court, is becoming a thing on social media. A beer company has posted something called a “Joy Cam,” which focuses on thrilling moments for teams and athletes.

At the end of the tight, tense Sacramento game, when the buzzer sounded on an emotional Warriors win, the Joy Cam caught players like two-way players Ty Jerome and Lamb rushing the court.

Meanwhile — and let’s just name names — young, high draft choices Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman strolled casually onto the court and clapped a couple of times.

And frankly, after another stem-winding win Friday night, they weren’t much more enthusiastic.

It looks suspiciously like the two are sulking.

It’s possible. Wiseman hasn’t played in the last two games. And Kuminga didn’t get off the bench in the second half against the Kings and got only four minutes Friday night.

There has even been talk from GM Bob Myers that the two might be sent down to the G League for more seasoning.

If nothing else, that kind of talk should get their attention. Surely they hear what players like Moody and DiVincenzo are saying. Are they taking it to heart?

A year ago, the Warriors’ bench was filled with veteran players who embraced their roles. Damian Lee, Gary Payton II and Toscano-Anderson were there to fill in on the floor when asked and to enthusiastically cheer when they weren’t in the game.

Wiseman and Kuminga may think they are above that kind of rah-rah stuff. But as Bazemore can tell you, that’s what Kerr, and the Warriors, expect.

That’s one reason why G League players like Lamb and Jerome are getting runs on the floor while the two high draft picks sit and mope.

My suggestion is for them to grab a towel, get out of their seats and get with the Warriors’ program.

It’s called energy and joy.

And it starts at the end of the bench.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius