Board Team Gets Wins
The small ball Warriors are pounding the offensive glass.
His notorious lack of charisma notwithstanding, Kawhi Leonard gifted us the immortal phrase “the board man gets paid.” More accurately, board team gets paid.1 There’s a reason that offensive rebounding rate was one of Dean Oliver’s original four factors. The picture gets complicated in a hurry once one factors in the obvious tradeoff between crashing the offensive glass and giving up transition points, with that complication getting further complicated.
So, on to the post-trade Golden State Warriors. Some of my prognostications have been borne out: The offense is up, they force more turnovers, get to the free throw line much more, and crucially, are surviving the non-Steph Curry minutes.
Coach Kerr has settled on a small ball starting lineup with Draymond Green at the 5, Jimmy Butler at the 4, and a revitalized Moses Moody at the 3, with an equally revitalized Brandin Podziemski sharing backcourt duties with Steph.2 At 6’7”, Jimmy Butler is the tallest player in that lineup.
Nevertheless, that starting lineup is rebounding nearly a third of its misses; with an offensive rebounding rate of 32%, the Warriors’ starters are in the 87th percentile for all lineups league wide (albeit over a limited 97 possessions) and that mark would be third best amongst all teams this season. That I did not see coming. Jimmy Butler is an excellent offensive rebounder, but so is Andrew Wiggins, the player he replaced. That five man lineup does not include offensive rebounding machine Kevon Looney.
So, on to the tape. Mo Dakhil wrote last season about how corner crashes are an effective way for perimeter players to win their teams extra possessions.
The weakside corner is the perfect position from which to crash the offensive glass because of the way most defenses rotate when the ball is on one side of the court. With most NBA offenses being pick-and-roll heavy, the man defending the weakside corner shooter is often pulled toward the rim to help on the roller…The corner crash is a great way for offenses to steal extra possessions while taking advantage of most teams’ rules for defensive rotations, which require leaving the weak side to help on the ball (strong) side.
A behavioral corollary of standard help rotations is that the weak side low man sometimes falls asleep when it seems like his help won’t be called on. Take Kyrie Irving in the clip below. Kessler Edwards pulls in off Jimmy Butler (in the weak side corner on Steph Curry’s drive.) Once the ball is in Butler’s hands, Brandin Podziemski is in the far (weak side) corner, but with Butler putting the shot up, Kyrie thinks his defensive responsibilities have passed…and Podz takes advantage to crash the glass.
The Warriors are also bringing more conventional corner crashes of the sort Dakhil describes, the weak side corner man diving in as soon as his help defender helps on a driver.
Moses Moody has been a new player since his insertion into the starting lineup and Butler’s arrival. The shooting aside, Moody is taking advantage any time his defender can be caught napping once the ball goes up. It isn’t just from the corner too. Moody will strategically rush in from the top of the arc, or the wing.
The natural question here is: Are the Warriors paying for their hunger for offensive rebounds? Podz in particular has not seen a missed shot he doesn’t like to chase down.
Again, the small ball lineup has played fewer than 100 possessions. But thus far, the transition defense seems to be holding up. That lineup is right up there with the best in the league at limiting opponent transition points.
Go back and look at the clips above. There are two Warriors players above the break and backpedaling on defense even as Podz or Moody crash from the wing. One of those players getting back is typically Draymond or Butler, arguably the Warriors’ two best defenders (in transition or otherwise.) Whether Draymond playmaking from the top of the arc in a delay-type setup, or Butler often stationed in the pinch post, Golden State’s positioning on many of their half court sets allows for the two of them to quickly get into position as the last line of defense when the ball goes up in the air.
Podz and Moody have also been smart about all this; rarely do both of them crash the glass. When Podz crashes from the corner, Moody is already backpedaling with Draymond to snuff out transition opportunities. When Moody cuts in from the wing behind his man, Podz has the awareness to play free safety.
Here’s a favorite from Golden State’s pre-All Star break loss to Dallas. After cutting through the lane, Podz ends up on the wing next to Moody. With just one player needed from a spacing perspective, Moody dives in for a potential offensive board. The cherry on top is Podz lifting up to the top of the arc as an outlet for Butler, which also puts him in better position to track back on defense.
That clip is from the Warriors’ sole loss since the Butler trade. Golden State is a game back of the six seed and finding ways to win the margins.
I will die on the hill that Brook Lopez’ weaker rebounding numbers contribute more to team rebounding than Russell Westbrook’s gaudier rebounding stats.
The Podz-Butler chemistry is thrilling. Over 222 possessions, lineups featuring Podz, Draymond, and Butler are blitzing the league with a +24/100 net rating per Cleaning the Glass. Every number for that lineup is off the charts, allowing Golden State to win the non-Steph minutes and trust that Steph can carry bench units in limited spells.