Jimmy Butler, how to become the Warriors savior?

After losing the first game of the series, the Timberwolves beat the Warriors in the second and third games. After Curry was gone, Butler, who was supposed to stand up and lead the team to win, seems to be helpless at the moment.

Looking back at the whole season, if there is a game that can prove Curry's core value to the Warriors, it is likely that these two games. The Warriors who are not Curry are completely lost. They even often face the Timberwolves who make mistakes, they still seem vulnerable. After their first victory, they lost to the Timberwolves two consecutive games.

return to home court in the third game of the series, the Warriors still lack firepower support. Although Butler tried hard to score 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, he obviously released all his strength in the second half of the game, and he could not stand up and dominate the game as before. He could only watch the younger Edwards and Randall regain his touch. The Wolves' dual core teamed up to take away the key second win in the series. The

series score is currently 1-2. There is a high probability that Curry will not play in the fourth game. He may have to wait until the fifth game to come back, and it will be even later. This also means that the Warriors must win at least one game in the next game before Curry can return to the team.

However, this may require Butler, who recreated the playoff mode of the previous Heat period, to be resumed. In the second game, Butler still only played the role of tandem offense, and only made nine moves in the first three quarters. When the team needed him to stand up and fill Curry's offensive vacancy, he was not even willing to try.

And these nine shots seem to be forced most of the time. Either they have to take action after almost completing the countdown, or the opponent's defense is too loose, but Butler will only take action when facing an absolute open position. From a team level, it is a good thing to have teammates participate in the offense, but problems can easily arise when your offense is too hesitant and leave the responsibility for creating scoring opportunities to other teammates who are incapable of taking on them.

Even in the first game of the series, Butler scored 20 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, his score was still more inclined to speculative mode, which was far from the offensive initiative expected by fans. Butler is a speculative and stable scorer. His scoring pattern mainly comes from fouls when the offensive time is about to end, or an empty cut opportunity without the ball, etc.

Once the opportunity to directly damage the basket is lost, Butler's intention to pass is obvious. From an optimistic perspective, this is his willingness to create opportunities for his teammates, and from an unoptimistic perspective, such a move can also be understood as being unwilling to take responsibility.

As long as he can avoid taking direct moves, he will even pass the ball to Rooney at the periphery position when the offensive time is almost over, even though the opponent is a big center standing outside the three-point line. In contrast, Hild, who is in the scorer position, whether it is the first game in the semi-finals or the seventh game against the Rockets in the first round, Hild seems to have always been a player who is more active than Butler to seek key opportunities.

We can say that Butler helped Hield create a better opportunity to make a mobile phone, but in some ways, it can also be said that Hield took on the responsibility Butler was unwilling to take. Judging from the content of the competition, the real facts are basically between the two.

In any case, overall, Butler did have a positive impact on the Warriors. From the moment he joined before the trade deadline, the difference between the new team, the Warriors and the old team, the Heat has become more and more obvious. But it is precisely because of this overall contribution and the various praises that followed that concealed Butler's hesitation on the offensive end to some extent, and the problem of being willing to take action unless he had no choice. Even if other options are far less effective than his own direct attack, Butler still prefers the former.

Regarding Butler's negative offensive phenomenon, the relevant media had interviewed him before. Butler's response to reporters was very simple:

"You will know it immediately when it's my turn to take action."

Around this sentence, people can't help but wonder:

If the second game of the Western Conference Semi-Finals and Curry's absence are not considered the "critical moment" he said, then when will it count?

The reason why Butler suddenly became a passive attack is not something that happened suddenly. His style of play has always been more cautious and opportunity, and he always hovered on the edge of offensive hesitation; but in the past, Butler had the ability to jump out of his comfort zone at critical moments and actively seek offensive opportunities. After the second game of the

series, Butler said in the interview:

"I don't have any pressure or expectations. I just play basketball in the right way. I will continue to play basketball in the right way. If it is the moment when everyone says I should score 40 points, I can do it, I can. But I prefer to make my teammates feel at ease and pass the ball to them."

Judging from this answer, the reason why Butler didn't take the lead when the team needed him in urgent need was because he didn't want it? He can score 40 points on the court, bringing continued life-saving firepower to the Warriors' offensive system that is completely inoperable after Curry is missing, but doesn't he want to?

Such statements sound a bit ridiculous. Of course, it may be just that Butler expressed it very clearly.

From the perspective of fans, we naturally hope that there are other reasons behind him not actively attacking.. Perhaps his injury in the first round still has an impact? Or maybe he is accumulating energy for himself. Because Curry is absent, all the opponent's defense focus begins to be focused on him, so it is natural that he will find it difficult to play out the situation of an outbreak on the field, so he chose to save his firepower for the subsequent third or fourth game, and to save his only energy to the most dangerous critical moment. Will this be the case?

Or, could Butler, now, can he be unable to break out to dominate the game?

However, after Butler scored 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in Game 3 of the series, these doubts seemed to be gradually dissipating. He performed positively enough in the third game. When his opponent would give the strongest pressure regardless of whether he held the ball or not, Butler took the initiative to take on the scoring offense and scored 28 points in the first three quarters.

But this also brought a problem. After entering the fourth quarter of the game, it was obvious that Butler was a little overwhelmed. He made only 1 of 7 shots, and his personal positive and negative values ​​in a single quarter were also the worst -11 in the team. Especially in the last few minutes of the game, facing the situation where his teammates were transmitted to him and misplaced against Gobert, Butler obviously could not exert force. He could only rely on dodge defense to complete the shot, and ultimately missed the chance to score.

Previously, Butler emphasized in front of the camera that he was Robin next to Curry, the Batman. Combining this paragraph, Butler seems to be trying to convey a message, seeing himself as the second core of the team.

If this is true, it is understandable. After all, Butler is now 35 years old. After experiencing countless hard baptisms in the playoffs, star players like Butler often have higher expectations for fans. Even though his strength is no longer at its peak, many fans still believe that he has such abilities.

It is undeniable that Butler is still a very outstanding player and can even play a greater value in an ideal environment. Just like the Warriors who he now partnered with Curry, as long as the two can stay healthy, they are one of the strongest duo combinations in the league.

If Butler still hopes to be able to fight side by side with Curry, then he must try to get out of his comfort zone in subsequent games. Even if he has gradually opened up the gap from the Heat Butler mode, he must at least try to find it himself, try to return to the superhero version of himself, and be prepared enough for Curry to return to the team.