James Wiseman’s star-crossed rookie year was a tale of two seasons; the first half struggle and a promising second half. Coach Steve Kerr unlocked that promise by simplifying Wiseman’s role in the offense, eschewing complex read-and-react expectations in favor of a more basic high pick and roll attack. The Warriors teased a similar offensive role for Wiseman in the preseason.
With Kevon Looney firmly entrenched as the starting 5, Wiseman will be coming off the bench for the foreseeable future. Many of the PnR reps will come with super sixth man Jordan Poole as the ball handler. Poole’s breakout last season showed his potential. The Warriors scored 1 point per possession out of pick and rolls with Poole as the ball handler, placing Poole eighth in the league (just two spots behind teammate Steph Curry) per NBA Advanced Stats.1 While we can expect to see plenty of the Donte DiVincenzo-Wiseman pick and roll this season, the success of the Poole-Wiseman pick and roll is key to the Warriors’ long term vision.
We got a glimpse of that future in Tuesday night’s opener. While there are two key players in a pick and roll (the ball handler and the roller), the PnR runs best when all five players on the floor know their role and execute it. Here is what it looks like when the play runs well. Pay attention to Moses Moody clearing out the weak side as Wiseman sets his pick, while Jonathan Kuminga lifts up to the wing:
Moody clearing out the weak side leaves LeBron James as the lone defender there. James is forced to choose between tagging Wiseman’s roll and sticking with his man, Kuminga, on the perimeter. This is known as a single side tag situation. Kuminga’s lift creates further indecision for James by giving Poole an easier passing window to Kuminga.
Now here is what it looks like when the play doesn’t run as well. Ignore the fact that Wiseman makes the basket and watch Kuminga on the right side of the floor:
Watch the clip again and you see Steph Curry waving Kuminga out of the corner as Steph moves towards the same spot. Kuminga seems to have misread the play here and should be clearing out the spot that Steph is heading towards. In addition to cluttering up that side of the floor, Kuminga makes it easier for his man to help on Wiseman’s roll (which subsequently happens; credit Wiseman for the tough finish over the defender).
Execution will improve as the Warriors kids get more reps under their belts.
Speaking of Wiseman, he built on his strong preseason showing with another solid game. He was challenged by Anthony Davis’ agility at times, but held up as well as could be expected. There will be tougher challenges than Wenyen Gabriel down the road, but his single block stood out less for the block and more for the fact that he did not jump at the pump fake and maintained verticality.
I expect to be writing about Wiseman a lot more this season. Happy opening week!
Amongst players who ran at least four such possessions per game.