One of the strangest subplots of the Golden State Warriors since Andre Iguodala’s hamstring injury has been their poor play in first quarters that sometimes spreads into the entire first half. Surprisingly, these problems have often come at home where the team blew the doors off opponents for the first month or so.

This gets interesting because first quarters generally feature each team’s first unit and, other than Draymond Green and Jermaine O’Neal, Golden State’s bench has been a massive disappointment this season. In fact, more than half of the first quarter minutes since Iguodala went down have gone to the five-man unit of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, David Lee and Andrew Bogut, which was the second-most used lineup for all of last season (only second because of time Bogut missed to injury) and the likely starting group had Iguodala signed elsewhere over the summer. That means the slow starts likely come from something other than talent.

Beyond just being a small sample size (that five-man group has played 65 first quarter minutes since Iguodala got hurt), the best explanation could be the lack of a lead perimeter defender. While that group has Bogut on the interior and Thompson is somewhat underrated on defense, Iguodala has proven to have a gigantic impact on that end that has raised this team’s ceiling. His ability to defend any position 1-4 combines with Thompson’s defensive versatility due to his size to make a team that can be creative and aggressive with only one different player. This should not come off as a criticism of Harrison Barnes – being a worse defender than Iguodala describes just about every perimeter player in the world right now.

The other cogent explanation comes in the form of the worse ball movement. Having five capable and willing passers helped produce a Warriors’ offense that bogged down less in the early parts of games and could run without play calls or overarching philosophies, just talented players making the right play. Both Iguodala and Thompson have performed substantially better offensively with Curry on the floor and ball movement plays a part in that since each gets better shots.

While both of these potential flaws typically stem from talent, they can also be remedied at least partially through effort and attitude. Moving the ball and playing defense happen more naturally with the right personnel but can happen well enough with coaching and effort- the consistency of the Spurs reflects this understanding.

Draymond Green has taken a major jump in play this season. While his effort and team-first mentality helped him make an impact during his rookie year, Green’s court awareness and comfort playing in the NBA have allowed his skill to shine through substantially more in 2013-14. His three point shooting was so bad during the regular season (20.9 percent) that when he made some in the Denver series I asked Mark Jackson after one of the games if Draymond had been hitting them in practice enough to warrant that kind of confidence. This season, that 20.9 percent has become 36 percent. While not dominant, it has taken away a negative in Green’s game and changed the way teams need to defend him, particularly if it is an opponent’s power forward. Beyond shooting, his assist rate has increased and he has played better defense, standing as the second-best perimeter defender on the team with some of the versatility that makes Iguodala so indispensible.

After Wednesday’s game against the Mavericks, I asked Green if this team had more defensive potential since he and Iguodala had played so little time together (116 minutes total) and he said "yes" before quickly giving praise to other teammates as defenders. In fact, the Warriors have given up 86.4 points per 100 possession in those 116 minutes Green and Iguodala played together (via the incomparable www.nbawowy.com), a sparkling stat in an acknowledged small sample size.

While Iguodala and Green playing together could work, I am more intrigued by playing Green increased minutes with the remaining starters while Iguodala is out. Despite not being the all-around player of Iguodala at this point and likely ever, Green can more effectively replicate the flow and feel of Golden State’s best five man unit so far this season. Green’s ability to defend 2-4 can be used to protect Thompson a little more on defense and allow him to shut down an opponent’s second-best perimeter player rather than chasing around whoever their shooting guard happens to be.

Having Curry, Thompson, Bogut, Green, and either Barnes or Lee depending on opponent retains much of the passing ability that makes the standard starting lineup so successful as well. Both Barnes and Lee have their merits and will play key roles moving forward but one of the jobs for any coaching staff is putting players on the floor in the best combinations. Even before the season, I talked about having the value of tasking Lee with helping carry the offensive load when Curry sits and we have not seen that much at all so far. Lee has played 165 minutes without Curry out there, but 121 of those came in the three games Curry missed due to injury, meaning Lee has only played 44 minutes out of 653 without a healthy Stephen Curry when both were suited up, less than seven percent of the minutes Lee played in those games. This season, Green has played the most minutes of any Warrior without Curry on the floor and has an even bigger offensive discrepancy between those times than Thompson’s gigantic gulf. That could portend for an even better offensive performance overall with a higher proportion of minutes together.

While Green playing more minutes with Curry and Bogut makes sense in the immediate, it also allows Golden State to use sub rotations that help keep the team afloat when Curry sits once Iguodala returns. As the second-best primary ballhandler on the team, one of Iguodala’s key roles should be playing a key role in running the offense whenever Curry is off the floor. Having Toney Douglas back helps but he works best as an off the ball offensive player who guards opposing PG’s which works with Andre on the floor. Even that small shift opens up minutes for Green that could be incredibly useful and his playing time can be dialed up when anyone gets hurt, including Jermaine O’Neal if Mark Jackson plays David Lee at Center more often. Another perk of shifting Green around is that his defensive prowess can also protect Harrison Barnes when the team goes four out and potentially lead to more post-up opportunities for HB depending on how opponents elect to handle that lineup.

Beyond the numbers, the other reason to give Green more minutes early in games and with the key players overall is that he plays with urgency that can carry over to the other guys. While not knocking anyone else on the team as competitors, the on-court personality of Warriors other than Bogut, Iguodala and Green can be categorized as easier going than most teams. That more passive demeanor may explain some of the lapses coming on the defensive end in first quarters. Having more than one person on the court playing with the fierce urgency of now could help change that. I use that phrase from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech because he was talking about how working actively and immediately to make change should take precedence over relying on the “tranquil drug of gradualism” that may eventually yield progress. While not remotely equating the significance of the situations, there are parallels. After their narrow escape in the game against the Raptors last week, Jermaine O’Neal talked about how each NBA team is comprised of professionals who can exploit openings to win games if the Warriors provide them and how teams need to fight every minute to secure wins. Playing with justified confidence in the team’s ability to come back from seemingly insurmountable deficits should not permit the team to make silly mistakes early in games and giving Green more minutes with the starters could help change that.