5 Biggest Takeaways from the Golden State Warriors' First Half of the Season
The Golden State Warriors have absolutely destroyed expectations this season and are now the big dog in the NBA. The team has performed at such a high level that losing a game is a scarce and monumental occasion.
The duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is taking hold of the title for the Association’s best backcourt, and the grizzly Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut lead a very formidable frontcourt.
Oh, yeah, the Warriors have a new coach this season who had a lot of questions raised about his lack of experience. The efficiency on both sides of the ball combined with the NBA’s best record put that debate to sleep a long time ago.
With everything moving in a relatively dreamlike state, what are the biggest takeaways from the first half of the season? Let’s take a look at the positive news.
The Warriors Are Efficiently Passing the Ball
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Last season’s offense was predicated around the isolation play. Per Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, “Nearly 11 percent of the Warriors' possessions last season were isolation plays, the third highest rate in the league, per Synergy Sports. Nor were the Warriors efficient on those plays, scoring just .842 points per isolation, which ranked 14th.”
The turnaround has been astounding, as the Warriors’ offensive rating is fourth in the league with 112.44 points scored per 100 possessions per Basketball-Reference.com. The team leads the league at a 98.8 pace factor (number of possessions in 48 minutes) with 27.3 assists per game and a decent 1.85 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Warriors use a total team effort to be productive. The result of the extra pass or two combined with screens set by center Andrew Bogut is more open looks and higher field-goal percentages.
The team is shooting a league-leading 48.4 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from behind the arc. The floor spacing is the key here, as defenders have to move by taking extra steps to get into position to influence shots.
The Warriors are currently doing it better than any other team right now. Until teams make that adjustment, coach Steve Kerr will continue with the current style.
Steve Kerr Can Coach
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Head coach Steve Kerr has answered every question that has been thrown at him so far.
Could he transition from the television booth to being a head coach? Could he be successful running a team that had strategies borrowed from coaches Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich?
Those answers are easy with the affirmative, but Coach Kerr has pushed the limit with his players dominating on both sides of the ball.
He saw the writing on the wall when he chose the Warriors over the New York Knicks. He needed to open the offense and get the ball moving around.
Kerr also hired some of the best assistants around, given the experience of coaches Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams, who bring 45 years of combined knowledge. He also brought on former players Luke Walton and Jarron Collins to go with his former college teammate, Bruce Fraser.
The Warriors are ranked at the top of the league in several categories, mostly influenced by the pass-happy offense. The team is the leader in field-goal and three-point percentage, and per game in assists, points and point differential.
The defense has been doing its part on the other side of the court. Per Basketball-Reference.com, the Warriors are tops with a 100.3 defensive rating, meaning the number of points scored per 100 possessions.
Wins are great, but they are not the only thing that Coach Kerr focuses on. Per Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, Kerr sees the bigger picture with his team playing the way it has.
"My biggest concern as a coach is to not confuse winning with progress, if that makes sense,” Kerr said before the game. “It’s a hard message. The last couple of games, we’ve won by a pretty fair margin, but I feel like we’ve regressed with our execution. We’ve averaged 18 turnovers a game the last two games, so we’ve had spells where we’ve lost our focus.
So how do I get that message across to the team? 'Hey, guys, we’re lacking. I know we won by 20 the other night, but we’ve got to get better.’ But that’s a dangerous thing for a team that’s got big aspirations. It’s easy to slip and not perform to your level and still win games and then you don’t realize what’s happening.
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The true measuring stick will be how far the Warriors can advance in the playoffs and what adjustments he makes to keep the team moving toward its championship goal.
Klay Has Evolved into Arguably the Best Two-Way Shooting Guard in the NBA
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Klay Thompson is so hot this month that he is putting NBA Jam and “he’s on fire” to shame. Whenever he shoots, the net is burnt at the end of the stroke.
His 52-point outburst in the 126-101 win over the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 23 was unparalleled by scoring an NBA-record 37 points in the third quarter. Thirteen shots went up and 13 went in the hole.
That night was just a glimpse of what he has brought to the table this season after being rumored as part of a trade package for Kevin Love. In hindsight, the Warriors received the better deal by holding off.
He has improved his offensive game in that he isn’t afraid to use his handle and can finish strong at the hoop. He has already surpassed his career-high number of dunks this campaign, and the season is just over the halfway mark.
The improved ball-handling skills have made defenders back off, because he can take it to the hoop and pull up for a three-point attempt or a mid-range jumper. As a result, he is a shooting career-high 48.1 percent from the field and 45.6 from beyond the arc to go with 23 points per game and 3.0 assists per game.
His defense is still top notch, as he is using his positioning and length to force turnovers. Thompson is currently averaging career highs of almost a block per game and 1.3 steals.
An All-Star invite to go along with the four-year, $70 million contract would definitely make this the best year of his career.
The Warriors Are the Deepest Team in the Association
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The Warriors could line up two separate units and would have success playing against most of the teams in the NBA. When two former All-Stars come off the bench and the head coach expects that group to extend leads, depth is present.
Going back to school, some of the most efficient organizations use the 5S methodology, by using just-in-time production and interchangeable parts to run a smooth, efficient, constantly producing group.
In many ways, Coach Kerr is doing the same with the Warriors. When Andrew Bogut was injured for a month and later Festus Ezeli, Kerr used his second-unit power forward, Marreese Speights, to do the job.
The Warriors didn’t come off the tracks; instead, they held a record of 9-3 in the games without Bogut. Speights returned to the bench, but he still holds an impressive stat line of 12.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.0 APG and 0.6 BPG.
David Lee’s early-season injury affected the balance at the power forward position. Draymond Green saw an opportunity and took full advantage of it by currently leading the league in defensive rating and defensive win shares, per Basketball-Reference.com.
He can guard all five positions, has a genius-level basketball IQ, is gritty, defends his teammates (on and off the court) and wants to win. Green’s line is 11.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.4 BPG and is well worth the contract that he will be getting this summer.
As for the remainder of the starters, the Warriors have a dominant backcourt with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Harrison Barnes is having a solid season after reclaiming the starting 3 position from Andre Iguodala.
Justin Holiday is evolving from being a D-League find to providing quality minutes with defense, athletic ability and even clutch shots from behind the arc. Shaun Livingston is doing his job, sparing Curry minutes and handling the ball for the second unit.
The Warriors will have a difficult time finding minutes for everyone come playoff time. However, while Curry and Thompson will eventually get more rest later in the season, the interchangeable parts have to keep the production going.
Stephen Curry Is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player
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Warriors management should be thankful for each game that Stephen Curry shows up on the court, because they are getting the most out of one of the best contract deals. Curry is nowhere close to the player he once was with ankle problems when he signed a discounted four-year, $44 million contract.
Curry is one of the most dynamic players in the NBA, and he is skying even higher after last year’s appearance as the starting point guard of the 2014 All-Star Game. He makes his teammates better by distributing the ball, and the team is a whopping 523 points better than opponents when he is on the floor.
In such a crowded field of star guards, it is nice to be recognized at the top. Per the Jan. 7 edition of The Dan Le Batard Show, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard stated, “the best point guard in the league right now I’d probably say is Steph Curry.”
He does a great job by spreading the ball around with sleek passes, getting his teammates involved and finishing opportunities. He doesn’t mind if he is being closed out by a bigger defender, as he will pull up for the jumper, slide around him or make an unorthodox move at the basket.
He is the leader of the Warriors, and even though he made a judgment error by trying to advance the ball in the closing seconds of regulation in the 113-111 OT loss to the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 27, he still leads a team that has a 36-7 record.
On top of that, Curry is extremely efficient with a PER of 27.03 (fifth in the NBA). He is trying to limit his turnovers this season with the help of his mom, and he is doing a better job taking the ball away with 2.1 steals per game.
James Harden is probably his closest competitor so far this season, but Curry owns a 4-0 record versus Harden's Houston Rockets. Harden has not had his best games primarily because of the defense of Splash Brother Klay Thompson.
Curry will continue to pile up accolades with the help of his teammates, like when he won the NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for October and November. He will also try to improve on his already impressive line of 22.8 PPG, 8.2 APG, and 4.7 RPG.
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