Unlocking Andrew Bogut Is Key to the Golden State Warriors' Success

Steve Kerr remains mostly unproven as an NBA head coach, but he gets an early point in his favor for recognizing the best way to unleash the Golden State Warriors' offensive potential: Get Andrew Bogut the rock.

As we'll see, letting the big Aussie play a key role in the offense is an obvious move. But when you're a veritable coaching newborn, you have to make sure you nail the obvious stuff.

After Bogut balled out against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Dubs' preseason opener, Kerr was rightfully pleased, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"This is exactly what we envisioned. Play him on the elbows and get him on the low block as well. Get him the ball and cut. He’s such a great passer. If we hit him and just move around him, he finds guys. He’s a really good weapon." 

Bogut made all five of his attempts from the field, scoring 10 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists in the 112-94 Warriors win. And though that pair of assists might not seem like a rousing endorsement of Bogut's facilitation skills, don't be mislead—he was at the center of tons of successful Warriors possessions.

Like this one, for example, in which Bogut was not credited with any statistic:

You can see Bogut take the ball as a trailer, free up Klay Thompson for a cut with a sneaky brush-off screen, think about slipping one through the D for a layup and then dribble over for a handoff to Stephen Curry. He removes Chris Paul from the play with another pick, then rolls to the middle, drawing DeAndre Jordan back toward the bucket.

Curry's individual skill finishes the play, but Bogut sets the chain of events in motion. He controlled the possession.

There were plenty more plays like that in Golden State's win, and it was a welcome change for the big man, who'd been forgotten on offense over the past two years.

And this isn't just a boon for Bogut individually; it also hints at the vast potential of the free-flowing offense Kerr hopes to create.

"I'm not a big iso guy," Kerr told Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.

Know who was? Former head coach Mark Jackson, whose stagnant 2013-14 offense ranked 12th in efficiency and dead last in passes per game—by a huge margin, per NBA.com. Kerr intends to use all of the same pieces Jackson did, just to greater effect.

And why wouldn't he? The Warriors have elite shooters in Curry and Thompson, a skilled big in David Lee, a clever cutter and ball-handler in Andre Iguodala...and, of course, Bogut, whose highlight reel has always featured a bevy of slick passes, like this:

Or these:

It's all there—the touch, the anticipation, the creativity.

Most of all, there's a willingness to move the ball. Now, you might argue that Bogut has become a passer by default because the gruesome broken arm he suffered in Milwaukee ruined his shooting form. While it's true Bogut will never have the range of motion in his right arm that he once did, the notion that he passes because he can't do anything else is misguided.

First of all, he was a phenomenal passer in his early (read: healthy) years with the Bucks. During his time there from the 2005-06 season to 2011-12, Bogut registered the third-most assists in the league among centers, per Basketball-Reference.com. And his assist percentage during that span was 12 percent.

For reference, noted big-man facilitators Marc Gasol and Joakim Noah have career assist percentage marks of 13.7 and 14.7 percent, respectively. Until Bogut arrived in Golden State, he was moving the rock at an elite rate for his position.

There's no reason he can't do so again.

"I’m not a selfish guy by any means. I never have been. I’m definitely willing to make life easier for Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) to get some easier jumpers," Bogut told Simmons.

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Therein lies the real value of Bogut's rediscovered offensive gifts: The impact they'll have on his teammates.

Throughout Jackson's tenure with the Warriors (and last year especially), there was a sense the team underachieved offensively, that the on-paper talent wasn't producing the expected on-court results. Maybe that was because Bogut had virtually no role on offense.

If Kerr sticks to the plan, and if what we saw against the Clippers carries over into the regular season, things will be different. Cutters in Kerr's motion-heavy offense will be rewarded. Shooters will enjoy more space as extra defenders sag down to keep Bogut from getting to the hole himself. Even Lee and the other bigs on the roster will benefit from the attention the newly involved center will draw at the elbows.

To maximize his effectiveness, Bogut must be a threat to score, and there are legitimate questions about his willingness to attack. For what it's worth, he took what the skeptical defense gave him against Los Angeles, driving to the rim and finishing deftly with either hand when the opportunity presented itself.

If he does that consistently, the defense will have to honor him, which means venturing farther away from Golden State's most dangerous perimeter weapons.

It's worth mentioning Bogut is sometimes a little too creative with his passing. His turnover percentage is routinely high, and it was through the roof at 19.8 percent last year, ranking him in the bottom 10 among centers who played at least 50 games, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Of course, the Warriors coughed the ball up like crazy last season, with Curry and his 294 throwaways ranking second in the NBA. So it's not like letting Bogut take a little pressure off Curry in that regard is likely to make the Warriors' turnover issues any worse.

The Dubs were fringe contenders last year because of their stellar No. 3-ranked defense (of which Bogut was the centerpiece, by the way). Removing that fringe qualifier this season will depend on elevating their play on the other end.

With the defense looking as dominant as ever, and perhaps more dominant with Shaun Livingston and Brandon Rush shutting things down on the wings and a hopefully healthy Festus Ezeli clogging the lane behind Bogut, the Warriors only need minor improvements on offense to profile as a real title threat.

Kerr's first big move, giving Bogut the ball, might end up being the one that makes those improvements possible.