Most teams in the NBA would be thrilled with a 5-3 start to the season, but the Golden State Warriors aren't most teams.
After making three-straight trips to the NBA Finals and winning two titles, expectations are a little higher in the Bay Area, so it almost feels like the sky is falling in Oakland right now.
However, the Warriors have lost to some good teams - the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons - so it's not quite time to sound the alarm yet, but there are still some concerning signs.
Obviously, it's still early in the season, so there is plenty of time to turn things around, but that needs to start now for Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the Warriors.
Fortunately, there are some easy fixes that coach Steve Kerr can implement to get more production out of his team - stars and role players alike.
Here are three things the Warriors need to do in order to start playing like the elite team they've been in recent years:
Play with more tempo
In losses to the Pistons and Grizzlies, the Warriors played at the slower pace preferred by both teams instead of at their usual run-and-gun pace.
Following a huge win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, Kerr said he'd like to see his team continue to get more shots than opponents (via ESPN.com):
"Our whole thing is, if we get more field goal attempts than our opponent, there's a chance we're going to win," Kerr said. "But we haven't been doing that. We came in averaging nine fewer attempts."
With the shooters the Warriors have on the roster, it makes sense that they'd want to let the shots fly in any given game and take their chances. We'll likely see a lot more of that moving forward.
Get more production from Andre Iguodala
Though Andre Iguodala is the Warriors' sixth man, he's still an incredibly important part of what the Warriors do.
He and Shaun Livingston lead the Warriors' second unit, but Iggy has been hampered by a back injury at the start of the year.
When Iguodala isn't able to play the minutes he normally plays, it puts more pressure on the star players to stay on the court for more minutes, which is less than ideal at this early point in the season.
Iggy has been playing his usual minutes in recent games, but he still needs a bit more time to work his way back into top form.
Stop giving up second-chance points
The Warriors have been doing a decent job of grabbing rebounds, but they are struggling mightily when it comes to keeping opponents off the offensive glass.
In fact, by allowing 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, the Warriors rank 29th out of 30 NBA teams - one of very few categories Golden State struggles in.
Since the Warriors don't play Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee or David West for very many minutes a night, that rebounding load is going to fall to Green and Durant, who are currently averaging 8.3 and 7.8 boards per game, respectively.
Against bigger, more physical teams like Detroit and Memphis, the Warriors might want to consider giving Pachulia - who is averaging 5.3 rebounds in only 14.6 minutes per game - more playing time.