Even casual NBA observers know that opposing teams give Draymond Green the full Tony Allen treatment on the perimeter. Draymond and the Warriors have found ways, creative and simple, to counter this. A favorite is the classic pitch-back, with Draymond’s man too deep to put in a good contest (Zach Lowe and others have written about this.)
The Warriors and Draymond also combine fake DHOs, slip screens, and standard rolls for Draymond to effectively leverage Steph Curry’s gravity. Three straight offensive possessions in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic on Thursday night presented a fun chess match (well, maybe not so fun for the Magic.)
It starts with a standard roll from Draymond after his man (Nikola Vucevic, who was put through the wringer all night) shows on Steph.
Chuma Okeke (#3) probably has help responsibilities there, but Draymond’s quickness and Terrence Ross’ half-hearted help from the strong side probably confuses things enough to leave both of them caught in no-man’s land.
Next offensive possession, from the same spot, Steph rejects Draymond’s screen and has the foot speed to go around Vucevic. One of my favorite parts of this play is how Steph’s angle causes Vooch to screen his own teammate, Steph’s man (Steph is a low key expert at leveraging opponent bodies as screens!) Ross stunts towards Steph off the strong side, but my guess is that Steve Clifford does not have help typically coming off the strong side and Steph knows this, so he know Ross is going to stay tethered to Mychal Mulder in the corner. With Draymond’s roll from the previous play fresh in his mind, Okeke shades towards Draymond at the top of the key…at the perfect time to clear the lane for Steph to get an easy layup.
On the next trip down, again initiating from the same spot, Draymond fakes the handoff to Steph and races to the rim. Vooch plays the same coverage, perhaps expecting the help to finally come after they got burned on the previous two plays. Whether by design or not, this time Okeke is on the strong side and Ross is in the weak-side help position unlike in the first play. Maybe the Magic are committed to the help coming off the strong side given that Okeke is the one who digs, but the Magic look pretty confused. Either way, neither man commits and Draymond gets a dunk.
Two plays later, Vucevic has clearly had enough and plays drop coverage, leaving poor Dwayne Bacon to fight over the Draymond screen. Damion Lee is sufficiently deep on the wing to ensure that his man wouldn’t be in position to help Bacon even if he wanted to. We all know how this ends.
Final play of the quarter and Vucevic, realizing the foolhardiness of asking Bacon to fight over the screen with no help in sight goes with Steph off the Draymond pin down. Poor Bacon, burned from the previous play, is in full on sprint mode though, which Draymond (because he is Draymond) surely expects. Draymond slips, the help has too much ground to cover, and yet another Warriors dunk stemming from Steph’s gravity.
Jakob Poeltl and the San Antonio Spurs feel your pain Vooch. This also reminds me why watching consecutive possessions illuminates so much more than watching isolated highlights. Okeke shading towards Draymond in the second play has to be viewed in context of the previous play, Vucevic and Bacon both going with Steph on this play is better understood in the context of the earlier step-back. And the chess game goes on.
More Draymond goodness
A random play that illustrates all the little ways in which Draymond Green is a genius: In transition, he shades towards Terrence Ross to screen for what looks like a Kelly Oubre drive left. Ross take a hard step back to meet Oubre’s drive on the other side, but Draymond responds with a subtle two-step to screen Ross at the perfect time that Oubre can pick the ball up in his shooting pocket. Had that screen come even a fraction earlier, Oubre isn’t in position to rise up and shoot (with James Ennis III also in position to deter the shot.) The timing and footwork from Draymond makes this Oubre 3.
Wiggins and Oubre learning the Warriors way
A random play earlier in the game that I took special joy in, mostly because it shows Oubre and Andrew Wiggins fitting in with the Warriors’ system. Wiggins steps in for the screen on the Steph re-locate on cue and Oubre knows to immediately look for Steph off the pass from quarterback Draymond. These types of plays were instinctive during the dynasty years and while there is still a degree of awkwardness when the new players run them, this is definite growth.