It can be hard to gage development and talent when going against inferior opposition, as they did in their home wins on Friday and Monday against the Clippers and Nets. Now, this is not to say that these teams are too far behind the Warriors in terms of talent, yet each has flaws that keep them from delivering the goods teams need to bring in order to make the playoffs. (To be clear, the Warriors have not done that either this season).

That said, there are a few things the last few games should teach the Warriors.

1.    The bench needs to play an important role.

The emergence of Dorell Wright as a legitimate NBA starter has given the Warriors at least four starting-quality players to go with the inconsistent production of Andris Biedrins. Even as Keith Smart continues to ride the starting five heavily in terms of minutes, getting quality minutes from the rest of the guys in the rotation makes the difference in a surprisingly large number of games. Getting five decent starters provides enough of a challenge for most teams, with both the Nets and the Clippers providing examples of how having a missing link in the first five can undermine an offense, defense, or both.

If a team has that under control, as the Warriors do, the challenge is making sure the other players fit in. This fit needs to be cohesive with both the starters and the rest of the reserves.

Reggie Williams can play that part as far as the perimeter goes. As Coach Smart said after Monday’s game against the Nets, one of the benefits of having him come off the bench is that he can do a wide variety of things well. Williams is a proficient passer and scorer while also being an active defender. The other fortunate part of Williams' game is that he can play SG opposite either Stephen Curry or Monta Ellis with the ballhandling duties adjusting accordingly.

As someone who advocated for the acquisition of a big guard like Shaun Livingston for this exact purpose for the past few years, having someone like that on roster helps because both Curry and Ellis can use time playing off the ball and each has his own advantages to doing so. Curry was the best spot-up shooter in the entire league last year, while Ellis can use his first step differently when he does not handle the ball as a lead guard.

However, as Coach Smart has discussed in some detail after the last few games, Williams needs to develop the consistency and confidence to be that guy each and every game. I think back to Williams talking after one of his first big game in this stretch about a previous game where Ellis passed him the ball and yelled “Shoot it!”

Even with that encouragement, Williams passed up the shot and drove it. Now, there are clear benefits in certain circumstances to having a more deferential bench player, yet the benefits of having another assertive player out there outweigh the benefits for a still young Warriors squad.

The other issue with Williams is that it appears that Smart chooses to use him at the expense of Stephen Curry in pivotal moments. While Ellis has had a commendable season thus far, Curry still stands as the future of the organization. He needs to be the point guard of the future and play in key moments as long as he can stay on the court. Heck, Curry should be learning more about how to play with fouls as well. Using Williams sparingly to close out close games against big guards like Baron Davis is one thing, but using him against the Nets in a game with a relatively clear outcome yields no benefit long-term.

Beyond Williams, the team needs more from the bigs, though Vladimir Radmanovic has had a strong stretch over the last few games. I would like to see more of Ekpe Udoh, as his defensive energy and potential has brought more to the court than Dan Gadzuric the last few games. Each is a clear #5 scoring option at this point, yet both can bring rebounding and shot-changing to the rotation if used properly.

2.    The only way to win an NBA game without playing good defense is to play a team with even worse defense.

Golden State has been lucky enough to go against two of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen in person at any level. As has been a big bone of contention for yours truly as it concerns the Warriors, both the Clippers and the Nets continually put Warriors in exactly the right positions to succeed offensively. Both Curry and Radmanovic got plenty of wide open looks to get into their rhythm while the rest of the roster got clear options at varying distances from the hoop. Simply put, teams have to make the shots Golden State generated the last two games, and the Warriors did.

Furthermore, the Warriors looked absolutely strong over the few minutes in the Clippers game where they played defense. After the game, Coach Smart talked about how he wanted the team to handle Blake Griffin with an aggressive double team that sealed him in, and it strangely took until about three minutes left for it to actually happen. Once the scheme was followed, the team produced the margin that led them to victory.

Certain players on roster are capable individual defenders and Smart has some defensive ideas worthy of praise, to be sure. However, the team must embrace defense from t he beginning through the end of the game as the fuel for their offense and overall team success from here on out.

3.    The Warriors need to win the rebounding battle to beat good teams.

The already-discussed flaws of their two opponents gave the Warriors some margin for error in the other components of the game, yet the rebounding in both games left much to be desired. Despite outshooting New Jersey from the field and a near wash from the line, the Nets outrebounded a pretty close to full strength Warriors team. On top of that, the Griffin-led Clippers outboarded the Warriors by six and got a whopping 12 offensive rebounds and a 10 point margin in second chance points (19-9). Now, both of these squads are better rebounding teams than their overall talent would indicate, but the West is full of teams with one or more bigs that can cause problems for even a full-strength Warriors front line. Each and every interior player needs to come out with all of their energy on the boards (especially the defensive boards) and utilizing the full rotation to make sure guys play intense minutes could help.

All in all, getting two wins helps generate momentum going into two more easier teams before the onslaught that is the Spurs, Hornets, Bobcats, and Jazz all in the same week. Hopefully the team can use their two core bench players and the moments of defensive sunlight to guide them through what becomes a much more challenging homestand.