After Saturday night’s 127-108 loss at Utah, a game that the Warriors never led and in which they trailed by as many as 40 points, head coach Steve Kerr could have harped on any number of concerns with his squad.
Chief among Kerr’s worries is the Warriors’ lack of ball movement.
The Warriors finished with 30 assists in Salt Lake City, but the number is quite deceiving. After falling behind 19-2 in the game’s first 4:13, Golden State all too often turned to isolation offense in an attempt at a quick comeback.
It wasn’t until fourth-quarter garbage time that rookie guard Nico Mannion tallied four assists in 9 ½ minutes, and second-year guard Jordan Poole added three assists. Among the Warriors’ starters, only point guard Stephen Curry (seven) and forward Draymond Green (six) had more than two assists.
“I think the most disappointing aspect of this game and the last game (a 119-104 home loss to New York on Thursday) is the number of times we did not move the ball onto the other side of the floor,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to understand that, especially when you’re playing against (New York’s) Mitchell Robinson and (Utah’s) Rudy Gobert, you’ve got to look to get the ball swung. You can’t just keep attacking a shot-blocker or pulling up for mid-range shots. It’s got to be drive and kick. That’s the name of the game.”
Instead, the Warriors would time after time loft quick 3-pointers off one or two dribbles or break out of offensive sets to shoot mid-range jumpers.
The lack of passing is a far cry from what fans became accustomed to enjoying during the Warriors’ dynastic run from 2015 to ’19. Ball movement became a staple of a team that led the league in assists each season during five straight trips to the NBA Finals, never averaging fewer than 27.4 and posting a whopping 30.3 in 2016-17.
“We’ve got to find our identity as a team,” Green said. “Sometimes we move the ball. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we defend. Sometimes we don’t. We’ve got to establish an identity and decide what kind of team we’re going to be. Are we going to be a ball-movement team or are we going to be an iso team?
“We’ve got to figure it out.”
Like most things in basketball, it’s all connected.
Curry said that it’s more difficult to get players to buy into the pass-up-a-good-shot-for-a-great-shot philosophy when they’re constantly taking the ball out of the opponent’s basket and chasing deficits.
“One side of the floor always kind of dictates what happens on the other side,” said Curry, who scored a game-high 24 points, including going 5-of-10 from 3-point range to pass Reggie Miller for second place on the NBA’s all-time list. for 3s “Usually, if you’re getting stops, you can get in transition and put the defense on its heels. That’s when the ball starts hopping.
“When the defense is set, they’re feeling good and energy is up, that does impact how we play on the offensive end.”
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
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January 24, 2021 at 01:16PM
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What happened to the beautiful ball movement that was a staple of the Warriors’ dynasty? - San Francisco Chronicle
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