Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images Lack of good process offensively and lack of stopping power defensively burns the Warriors against an inferior team (on paper). Offense is and always has been quite an adventure for the Golden State Warriors without Steph Curry around to be its focal point. But consider who they were facing — and who also wasn’t there on the other side. The San Antonio Spurs were playing without two of their best players. Victor Wembanyama is shaping up to be a generational player, especially as a defender. Overall, the Spurs were ranked 23rd defensively (118.7 defensive rating) with garbage time eliminated, per Cleaning The Glass. In 2,762 possessions without Wembanyama this season, that defensive rating falls to 124.6 — equivalent to the worst defense in the league. Wembanyama happened to be absent tonight due to an ankle injury, while Devin Vassell — the Spurs’ best perimeter scorer and creator — was also sidelined. Even if Curry wasn’t around, the Warriors still should’ve had enough talent on paper to overcome a Spurs squad that only had 13 wins in 63 games and was bereft of their two best players. But as you’ve probably learned with this team by now, what is often true on paper doesn’t necessarily translate to being the truth in practice — and most if it has been due to self-inflicted difficulties and obstructions. Of course, the number one “obstruction” will always be not having the offensive engine around to be the lifeline of the offense. But beyond that, I felt like the Warriors didn’t do themselves any favors by not establishing their identity on the offensive end to start the game. Their identity, with or without Curry, has always been to move the ball around, move players around, and shift the defense toward one or multiple breaking points. Curry being on the floor makes it a hell of a lot easier to break the defense, while him being absent makes it easier for defenses to pick their poison, to simplify their coverages, and to live with certain shots the Warriors take. But again, consider the opponent — a team that struggles mightily on defense without Wembanyama, whose presence on the floor transforms the Spurs from the worst defensive unit in the league to the equivalent of the ninth-ranked defense, per Cleaning The Glass. Even if the Warriors were without their main engine, the spare parts were certainly viable enough to find those breaking points within a defensively compromised roster. But that ended up being a tougher task than expected — and perhaps the starting lineup choice played a non-insignificant part in that. I understand starting Trayce Jackson-Davis — he was in there to take advantage of the synergy with Chris Paul on ballscreen actions. Draymond Green sliding to the four also made sense, although his fit with Paul is questionable due to their conflicting natures on offense (i.e., more willing passers than they are scorers). Jonathan Kuminga’s presence as a scoring threat was needed, but having him, Green, and Jackson-Davis on the floor presents a whole slew of problems in terms of spacing. I’m not one to pretend that I know better than coaches who are in the NBA, as I am virtually someone writing and tweeting from my couch. *If* I had any say, however, I would’ve preferred to place more spacing on the floor to start the game — Klay Thompson as the starter in lieu of Brandin Podziemski, for example. Or, if the priority was to keep ball handlers on the floor, I much rather would’ve had Green be the starting center, put Wiggins and Thompson on the floor, and maximize spacing and pace. Instead, the problem of a lineup with Jackson-Davis, Green, and Kuminga reared its ugly head. Stagnant possessions that turned into isolations and post-ups were common in the first half. Without the spacing that Curry provided, the Warriors resorted to such possessions that failed to generate advantages. It wasn’t just limited to the starting lineup either — it was prevalent across the board. That’s less of a who-is-not-here problem and more of a process-oriented malady. If you’re not willing to move the ball and place pressure on a defense to actually move around and defend — especially without the presence of your best shot creator and scorer — you’re making opponents who are defensively compromised look much better than their actual quality: This problem was somewhat remedied in the second half. Thompson was inserted to provide scoring and spacing relief, while Green slid from the four to the five to replace Jackson-Davis. The difference in terms of movement, advantage creation, and finding those aforementioned breaking points was apparent:
But another problem surfaced to replace the one they solved: The Warriors couldn’t stop the ball against a team that did not have its two best offensive players. Not being able to stop the ball meant several looks opened up for the Spurs on the perimeter. A mixture of unfortunate variance and compromised defense allowed them to shoot 17-of-33 (51.5%) from beyond the arc. Not much can be done when the likes of Jeremy Sochan (32.4% on threes) and Zach Collins (30.6% on threes) are hitting outside shots when the scouting report says they shouldn’t command defensive commitment out on the perimeter. There is, however, something that could’ve been done about the lack of stopping power at the point of attack, being in constant rotation to compensate for the on-ball deficiencies, and letting the Spurs create open threes as a result:
This isn’t a new problem — I’ve previously written more extensively about the overhelp problem and how most of it starts with a deficiency at the point of attack — but to see it continue to be a problem against one of the worst teams in the league without their main offensive moneymakers is quite concerning, to say the least. This loss further nails the Warriors to the 10th seed and a date with destiny (a mediocre one, at that) with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Play-In Tournament. There’s still hope for them to move out of the 9-10 play-in bracket and move up to the 7-8 tier, which would mean they’d only need to win once to move into the playoffs. An improbable improvement toward the sixth seed — and an outright playoff spot — seems much likely to become impossible with this loss. It’s an unfortunate stroke of luck that Curry was sidelined not long after the Warriors became completely healthy — but again, they didn’t exactly do much to help themselves against the Spurs, either.
Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2024/ ... -breakdown