During the second episode of “Take care of the game” podcast With JJ Redick, LeBron James broke down what made the Golden State Warriors’ post-2016 post-split plays impossible to defend with Kevin Durant in the fray. While breaking down the stock, LeBron noted that the “two most important players“during the work they were generally those of the”weak side”. Given the Warriors’ relentless ball movement and the presence of elite shooters, weakside players often ended up with open looks.
With two elite shooters in Stephen Curry and Klay Thomspon and a fantastic passer in Draymond Green on the floor, these actions have paid immense dividends for the Dubs. The Warriors always had high-IQ big men like David Lee and Andrew Bogut who could make sets work. For James, adding someone like KD to such a system made the device “unusable.” They could always throw it to Durant, who is standing on the sideline, who is also an elite shooter and can beat defenders off the dribble.
“Nine times out of ten, when we played them in the Finals, it was JaVale McGee, Iguodala, Andre Bogut, Shaun Livingston, Harrison Barnes… When everything went crazy, when there was fucking Kevin Durant there, and another shooter. It was like impossible to protectLBJ reflected to Redick.
What made the play even more difficult to defend was the presence of Draymond Green, who could always make the right crossover pass. If a Cavaliers player decided to help from the weak side, Green was aware enough to throw it to the open shooter on the other side of the court.
James cited a play from Game 1 of the NBA Finals to make his point.
During an out-of-bounds situation, Stephen Curry made a pass to the weakside corner. It meant the ball traveled from one side corner to the other side corner in a flash. LBJ caught up to KD. However, the elite sniper faked a 3-pointer to leave James in the dust, leaving the lane open for a jam. With Durant, an already efficient play became even more lethal.
The Golden State Warriors are the post split champions
The Warriors have been splitting positions even before Steve Kerr took the reins. Under coach Mark Jackson, post plays were also the staple of the Warriors’ offense. In 2013, Dylan Murphy from Bleacher Report published an article about this unstoppable action. Murphy noted how the play was “debatable” without a big-time passer like Andrew Bogut.
The author also noted how during splits, point guard Stephen Curry set the screens while center Bogut could be the designated passer from the top of the key. This unique quality of play, coupled with high-IQ players like Andre Iguodala, David Lee, and Harrison Barnes, made it one of the most efficient plays in basketball, similar in effectiveness to the Bulls’ triangle offense of the 1990s. When Kevin Durant joined the scene in 2016, opposing teams simply had no answer.
Durant could act as a post player and make hockey assists, while at the same time being a perpetual shooting threat. Thus, the Warriors with KD epitomized the rise of the Warriors’ post-split action.
