Warriors defeat Hornets with lineup ingenuity and brilliant play design

of golden state warriors was able to win the Charlotte Hornets Despite shooting just 8/37 (21.6%) on threes. Prior to this win, the Warriors hadn’t won a game making his 3 under 12 this season.

Much has been said about their offensive process against the Hornets. They totally hummed in that regard in the first half, earning an offensive rating of 118.2 which equates to the best offense in the league. Most of their efficiency came from the half court (his rating of 102.2 offensive, which equates to him fourth in the league).

In the second half, the Warriors forgot all about the good process of the first half and developed tunnel vision. They began throwing outside shots at the expense of developing and maintaining rhythm and flow in their paint attacks. At one point, the Hornets had taken a penalty, but the Warriors still opted for the outside shot.

The Warriors finished the game with 37 points in the paint, 30 of which came in the first half. That alone proves how they’ve moved away from what worked for the most part.

The Hornets were 9-25 before the game, compromising on both offense (107.8 offensive rating, 30th) and defense (114.7 defensive rating, 27th) without some of the key pillars of their rotation. . first half.

Kevon Looney committed two quick fouls, forcing Steve Kerr to sit in the starting center in favor of Anthony Lam for the 5. The move forced the Warriors to play smaller lineups they’ve faced in the past — interestingly, it worked in their favor.

Looney has been a strong base center, but he just doesn’t have the physical strength to beat Mason Plumlee. Without the athleticism and roll fairness that matched or surpassed Plumlee (an early foul that also haunted him), Rooney saw limited time against the Hornets.

By inserting Ram and playing a smaller, more mobile lineup, the Warriors were able to take advantage of Plumlee and capitalize on the lack of scheme diversity in the Hornets’ defense. ‘s basic pick-and-roll coverage has dropped significantly.

Almost immediately, the Warriors punished Plumlee for drop coverage, put him in ball screen action, and exposed his immobility.

A smaller line-up maximizes cross-matching and more easily generates sources of advantage creation. As the Warriors slow down and pick up the pace, transition defense principles force Plumlee to pick up the pool.

Just a simple “boomerang” pass to reset Poole’s dribble would allow Poole to take Plumlee and pass him for the point of attack.

Lineup choices with a smaller composition worked in favor of the Warriors both in the first half and late game. When the Warriors struggled to generate efficient looks, they again went straight for the easiest targets.

Away from the double-drag screen combined with Spanish pick-and-roll action, Poole targets Plumlee again.

And again, during possession of:

Forcing Plumlee to defend at the perimeter is forcing someone to step on thin ice. There’s a reason Plumlee likes to defend near the paint, and the possession above is a prime example. The pool spins round and round, PJ Washington is forced to help Jonathan his cuminga, and a heady baseline his cut allows Poole to dump it into the cuminga for a game-sealing dunk. increase.

Smart lineup decisions weren’t the only way the Warriors were able to capitalize on enemy talent. Sprinkled in were highly engineered set pieces that targeted the Hornets’ lack of defensive versatility.

Thanks to Plumlee playing Drop, the Perimeter Defender is now responsible for navigating the screen in an attempt to stay attached to his mission. This fact is even more pronounced in sets based on off-ball moves such as “Floppy”.

“Floppy” is a classic set where the motion shooter can choose to move staggered screens on one side or a single downscreen on the other. Whichever you choose, if a defender runs into trouble trying to navigate the screen, the shooter will most likely be freed up for the jumper.

With Plumlee in a deep drop observation position, Hayward has to fend himself off as he tries to chase Klay Thompson around the screen.

“Floppy” is a relatively simple action, but a more complex set with multiple layers of thought behind it caused more problems for Plumlee.

For example, use this set to start the second half.

The above set is floppy-adjacent action, but the complexity comes from the initial downscreen and curl by the pool. Poole moves towards the weaker corner and takes Terry Rozier. This is followed by Thompson running around the same downscreen producing a screen-and-roll his action of an empty corner (an empty strong side corner ensures that help is needed from the weaker side ).

Plumlee chooses not to back down and moves up to screen height to take Thompson’s space. But like some choices and decisions in basketball, getting rid of something almost always means giving up something else.

In this example, Looney rolls to the rim without help from a strongside corner. So, as mentioned earlier, help has to come from the weak side. This is where the first pool decoy genius is revealed.

It was important to have Plumlee as mobile as possible to take advantage of his relative immobility. Carr thought in a similar way, the theme of the set he created was to take Plumlee for a drive, punch holes in his ability to defend multiple spots on the floor, and give players the chance to attack numerous crevices. I decided to make it.

Kerr is greatly underrated as a designer of after-timeout (ATO) play. Like the best of them, he combines creativity and purpose. He rarely builds sets without rhythm or reason.

Kerr hit a brand new ATO play disguised as a classic Warriors staple (split-action) and took Plumlee out of his comfort zone (watch Plumlee throughout the possession):

Donte DiVincenzo’s “Iverson” cut (a player who cuts from one wing to the opposite wing using two screens placed at both elbows) is where Plumlee cuts while Rooney sets up a split. Gives him enough momentum to help with potential downhill drives. Cut screen of the pool. Plumlee cautions against split action and rushes to the pool to dissuade the shot.

This flows into a pocket pass on Looney’s short roll, and Looney finds Draymond Green cutting from his weaker elbow. Plumlee scrambles and scrambles back and forth between several spots in an attempt to stop the progress of each.

The Warriors rarely explicitly identify their opponent’s weaknesses, preferring to establish a motion offensive flow. But on the rare occasion that the Warriors try to find his point of pressure, their method could become an unholy mixture of traditional ball-screen hunting and complex action with multiple layers baked into it. there is.

There’s a reason the Hornets compromise more defensively when Plumlee is on the floor (118.9 ERA) than when he’s on the bench (114.4 ERA). The Warriors were able to set their sights on that key aspect and move forward for another win at home.