At a pivotal moment, the Warriors brought a dismal 10-12 record into Phoenix this past weekend.

A club that already holds a special position in NBA history—a nucleus of Hall of Fame players—is struggling to find its identity. Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry are trying to show that they are still in charge of this league, but they are faltering too much to avoid raising concerns about their continued relevance.

The motion offense has a history of appearing dated. Curry is the only player who has been able to narrow a sizable scoring differential. The Warriors haven’t dominated any aspect of the game during the first 22 games. As Kerr put it, they are what their record shows, and they have some hope that what they can do well on paper will work out.

How many more blunders, though, until the Warriors give up? Though the season is only 25% over, if this mediocrity carries over into the winter, the season might be spiraling out of control. Curry appears to have a broad perspective.

Curry told reporters in Oklahoma City, “You’ve got to figure out how to stop talking about it and do it, otherwise you’ll be into the new year with the same problems.” If it’s something we can manage, we must take action if we want to be a real team. I’m also tired of hearing about it. We simply must act.

Here, “it” refers to the process of crystallizing an identity. With Chris Paul leading the way, Golden State started the season as the most astute squad in the room—a storied group with the ability to pressure less experienced teams into errors and miscalculations. Curry is still capable of leading a team to victory even if he is in his mid-30s. He continues to be the NBA’s face and a demonstrated master of high-stakes play.

Curry’s bravery is the only instance in which such identity has been evident. The veterans have frequently been the ones making perplexing errors and becoming victims of their own emotions; the older players are the reason for a pitiful turnover rate of 15.8%, and Green has been sent off twice and suspended for five games.

Green stated on Friday, “I don’t feel the urgency we need to have, and that’s on me.” “I promise to be more diligent in ensuring that the boys receive the necessary urgency. I’ll take that on the chin and make sure this team plays with a stronger feeling of urgency because it hasn’t been there and you can’t claim to be leading in that area when things are going well.

The tendency of coaches and players to cling to moral wins is a little concerning. Although they have lost their last three away games, all three losses have been by a total of four points, which is a first for Golden State. The bright side is that they’re winning most of their games against both strong and weak teams; the bad news is that they can’t stay calm when leading.

In the game of shoulda-coulda-woulda, the Warriors lead by a few games after a few things go their way. There are just three victories separating them from the 13–8 Dallas Mavericks, who are now ranked third, and the 11th seed, where they currently sit.

Curry stated, “Right now, it’s just about winning games.” It is imperative to have some sort of safety net in the standings before allowing too much of this early season to pass. You don’t want to be chasing come February and the new year as you iron out some of the wrinkles we need to work through and reach peak performance. It’s challenging enough to win every night, let alone mount a late-season comeback under such duress. All games matter, that much is certain. It’s just not working out the way we’re going about it.