Warriors Film Breakdown: Dubs show multifaceted offense in win over Blazers

Standard situations require specific personnel that correspond to the goal of the action. In this regard, anything that has one or two off-ball elements requires those receiving such screens to be viewed as a shot threat in order to maximize the advantage(s) created. Otherwise what would be the point?

Steve Kerr's offense is known for its heavy reliance on advantage basketball, typically using Stephen Curry as the ultimate advantage generator and Klay Thompson as a close second in recent years. The great irony of Kerr's offense is that the structure of his scoring approach wouldn't be possible without the randomness and chaotic juice that Curry provides – “organized chaos,” if you will. Arguably no other team in history has married two dichotomous concepts as brilliantly as these Golden State Warriors under Kerr and Curry.

Curry — and Thompson, before he took his talents to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area — were two of the best-suited players to represent and promote Kerr's principles. He spammed their use in the aforementioned screenings because maximizing two of history's greatest shooters the world has ever seen was simply a given. Stagger actions, pindowns, split cuts – none of these concepts would be possible without the Splash Brothers.

With Thompson gone, his value as a shooting threat around those screens had to be replaced by committee. As Curry put it bluntly after last night's game, “Without Klay, you have to shoot. We had to shoot anyway.” Buddy Hield comes closest to what a top Thompson could do, while De'Anthony Melton is also a good option as a motion shooter in front of screens. With Moses Moody adding a moving element to his shooting repertoire, Kerr will be spoiled for choice as to who to partner Curry with in exhibition action (or temporarily replace him when he rests).

I previously reported on the new offensive sets Kerr has installed with the help of Terry Stotts, whose offensive approach is very similar but structurally different. Like Kerr, Stotts loves movement, flow and read-and-react basketball. But he adds a bit more structure and organization to his sets, most of which are based on the blocker-mover scheme popularized by now-former Virginia Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett.

“One Chest” – introduced by a “zipper” cut into a flare screen while a pindown action takes place at the same time – is an example of the Stotts influence. As expected, the Warriors did it against the Portland Trail Blazers in their 139-104 win and opened the season on a high note. As expected from Kerr and Stotts' philosophy, “One Chest” requires shooting personnel on both the flare screen and the pindown screen.

Here you can see Melton coming out of the screen to get a clear view:

Note the structure and personnel involved above: Melton runs away from the flare while Moody runs along the baseline to get away from the pindown. Kyle Anderson handles the ball (as the third of the three designated “movers”), while Kevon Looney and Jonathan Kuminga are the screeners (referred to as “blockers”). In short: At least two shooters receive the off-ball screens.

Now notice when the Warriors played “One Chest” again a few possessions later. The setup is the same: a “zipper” cut followed by a flare and pindown action. But something doesn't seem right about the staff deployed:

Draymond Green being the recipient of the pindown may seem counterintuitive – no one is going to chase Green across the screen and pounce on him, since Green is known to be far from a shooting threat when he's on the move. Defenses may weaken at the thought and lose their sense of urgency unless they figure out what it is Really continues.

The Blazers — a young, rebuilding team with promise that may be three years away — probably won't realize what's going on. As such, they fall victim to what the Warriors were actually trying to accomplish with a “one chest” possession with Green as the “shooter.”

Green's job is to get him in the right position to make a pass toward the post toward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Whenever a Warrior makes a post-entry pass, you should know exactly what will happen next: a patented low-post split move. Green screens for Curry and he slips quickly. The Blazers are then forced to defend the next progression: a Curry/Jackson-Davis pitch-and-screen. Two go to Curry around the screen, leaving Jackson-Davis free to roll to the rim, receive the pass and score with a wide-open dunk.

That's perhaps why this version of the Warriors' offense — built on a Kerr foundation and bolstered by a healthy layer of Stotts — is so fascinating to watch this season. It's easy to expect one thing, but then be surprised by something new. New wrinkles and variations keep things fresh while forcing opponents to be constantly on guard.

A Warriors offense that was once considered “sophisticated” has new weapons – both in terms of personnel and in terms of operations. A “reverse” pick-and-roll, for example, is pretty easy to understand: a smaller guard provides a ball screen for a larger wing or big. Either the Warriors have their smalls go right into a ball screen with their “Too Small” play call:

Or, get into their reverse lineup through deception—specifically, a wing handoff into the ball-reversal lineup to move Curry toward the paint, whereupon he lifts up to set up the reverse ball screen:

If it looks like the Warriors are going to run inverted-ball screen action with a wing-handoff-to-reversal setup against the Blazers as well, it's all a mask – for Curry turning around from an exit Screen runs away and his man shakes easily for an open corner three-pointer:

These unique intricacies and quirks within set pieces are just cogs in an offensive machine that relies on threes – lots of them. The Warriors scored 43 of them against the Blazers in non-garbage time, accounting for 46.7% of their total shot diet. That's a significant increase from last season's three-point attempt rate of 39.4%, which ranked sixth in the NBA. Amazingly, it's 12 percentage points lower than the Boston Celtics' 58.8% mark (!!!) they set on opening night against the New York Knicks.

Just like the Celtics, the Warriors don't just throw things around – they make them look good, and it seems like the coaching staff strongly encourages them to get those looks when it comes to them.

But perhaps the most dangerous looks for the opponent will be the ones that come from stops and are triggered by the fastbreak. With players like Curry, Hield and a rejuvenated Andrew Wiggins, it will be difficult for defenses to pick their poison. The Warriors' defense limited the Blazers to 89.6 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage time. The rotations were crisp, gaps were closed quickly, turnovers were forced – and so the Warriors constantly pushed the Blazers on defense.

Although the quality of the opponent must be taken into account, this game can bring many positive aspects. Curry nearly had a triple double (17-9-10) and was one of seven Warriors players to score in double figures. Hield set the Nets on fire with his 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field (5 of 7 on threes). Wiggins started the season well: 20 points on 8 of 15 shots (4 of 7 on threes).

The layers that make up this version of the Warriors are starting to take shape. The offense feels new, but at the same time a return to what made them fresh and inspiring at the start of their dynastic career. The defense appears energetic without being overly hectic. While there's still an 81-game stretch where things can change, the foundation they're building is designed to ensure those layers don't collapse so easily.