3 Reserves Who Must Step Up for Golden State Warriors During 2015 NBA Playoffs
Having already clinched a playoff berth with 10 regular season games still to play, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr may want to ponder his postseason rotation before the festivities begin in late-April.
The days of rolling out 10 or 11 guys will be gone and, instead, Kerr will have to decide which duo or trio will soak up the majority of the available reserve minutes.
But given the fact the Warriors have been one of the deepest teams in the NBA this year, the particular task at hand won’t necessarily be an easy one to complete.
However, going off of what we’ve seen lately—as well as throughout the entire season—it appears likely Andre Iguodala, Leandro Barbosa and Marreese Speights could compose the triumvirate that’s called upon as Golden State’s bid for the Larry O’Brien trophy continues.
Iguodala is arguably the most important piece here. After a somewhat disappointing first half, Iggy has stepped his game up in a big way post-All-Star Weekend. In the past 18 games, the veteran wing has averaged a more appropriate 10.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals on a scorching 57.9 percent shooting from the floor (43.1 percent from beyond the arc). Heck, he’s even converting nearly 70 percent of his tries from the charity stripe.
All of those numbers are improvements on what he recorded from opening night leading up to the midseason break. And if the Warriors are going to ride their hot play into and throughout the postseason, they are going to need that type of consistent and efficient production out of their sixth man extraordinaire.
Barbosa is another guy Golden State is going to need at peak performance for this part of the process—although Shaun Livingston could easily be the guy here.
Most likely, the two will share minutes, and Kerr may even decide to play them together depending on the situation. But as it stands, the pick has to be Barbosa, especially considering he’s finally starting to lock in defensively at just the right time.
The Brazilian Blur has posted his best single-month defensive rating during the 12 contests of March, currently holding opponents to 97.4 points per 100 possessions. Granted, Livingston’s hasn’t lagged too far behind, but it’s Barbosa’s superior ability to score the basketball that’s going to make defenses play more honest.
Finally, another potential toss-up for that third and—possibly—final reserve spot comes down to a battle between Speights and David Lee.
This particular part of Kerr’s decision-making process will prove to be the most difficult, as Kerr hasn’t blatantly favored one over the other since the All-Star break. But based on season-long trends, it appears Golden State’s headman sees Speights as the better fit in his system.
He’s a better defender than Lee, even if he isn’t a stellar one himself, and can spread the floor more effectively with his smooth mid-range jumper, whereas Lee does most of his damage close to the basket.
It will all come down to how Kerr wants to play it. Will he continue with a quicker tempo or will he submit to the common theme of teams slowing down the pace in the playoffs? The former would probably mean Speights while the latter would likely call for Lee. Regardless, one or the other is going to have to rise to the occasion when their name is called.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com.
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