Setting plan in motion
The Warriors must stop playing like the Rockets and start sharing the basketball.
SAN FRANCISCO — Mike D’Antoni is winning the coaching battle against Steve Kerr.
And if the Golden State Warriors hope to best the Rockets in the Western Conference finals, that will have to change.
The two men once worked together in Phoenix, Kerr playing GM to D’Antoni’s head coach. They helped draw the blueprint for the modern NBA, emphasizing scoring and small lineups. But now they’re on opposing benches, matching wits and countering styles.
Their philosophical difference is most notable on offense.
On the Rockets’ bench, D’Antoni preaches isolation basketball, meaning his top scorers try to beat their defender one-onone, often dribbling at length while the rest of the team stands around and watches. In terms of basketball aesthetics, it’s painful to watch.
On Golden State’s bench, Kerr promotes constant movement, of the ball and the body. Players are expected to share the basketball, run their defenders ragged and make the extra pass to get the open shot. When executed properly, it’s ballet in shorts.
So, what happens when the two styles meet? We’re witnessing it in this series. When the Warriors execute properly, they blow the Rockets off the floor. When Houston gets it right, the result is a hard-fought victory.
That should hold true for Game 6 in Oakland on Saturday. With a win, the Rockets can eliminate the defending champs and reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995. For the Warriors, a win is needed, if not expected by a fan base that has come to believe that anything short of a championship is a failure.
So, why is D’Antoni winning the battle? It’s simple. Both teams are playing his style.
It has been shocking to watch, really. Kerr’s squad has abandoned its ball-sharing ways for long stretches over the past two games, and has paid for it with back-to-back losses.
The Warriors are isolating superstar Kevin Durant, hoping the 7-footer can create his own shot and return them to the promised land. It doesn’t happen on every play, but it’s happening a lot more than we’re used to seeing.
As a result, the Warriors are easier to defend. The Rockets, not known for their defensive prowess, held Golden State under 95 points in Games 4 and 5. When Durant goes cold in the fourth quarter — as he did in those games— the Warriors’ engine stalls. A few factors to consider
For fans of the go-go, superflow Warriors of the past four seasons, it has been disconcerting to watch.
So, why would Kerr try to beat D’Antoni at this own game? There are a number of factors to consider:
Kerr isn’t consciously pushing the “iso” strategy on his team. If anything, he’s exhorting them to revert to form. He has repeatedly said they need to impose their style of play on the game. The Warriors just haven’t been able to execute that plan since Game 3.
Durant needs to shoulder some of the blame. Plain and simple, he has been playing some “hero ball.” When the ball goes into him on the block, he hasn’t been looking to kick it back out to the open man. Thursday night was a great example. Durant was taking some incredibly difficult shots, and he didn’t have to. There are four other guys out there, three of whom are All-Stars.
Kerr could be heard during a timeout telling the big man to trust his teammates. “Still attack, still look to score, but trust these guys, OK?”
On Friday, the coach expanded on his thinking: “Well, Houston's doing a great job defensively. They're doing what we do. Everybody's saying why aren't you guys moving the ball? Well, it's good defense.” Pass the ball, KD.
Injuries. The series changed when Andre Iguodala went down with a leg injury late in Game 3. He hasn’t played since and his absence has been felt, acutely. Kerr depends on Iggy to coach his teammates on the floor, providing adult supervision, so to speak. Without him, the Warriors have appeared a bit lost at times. Add in the fact that Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are both nursing gimpy knees, the whole thing starts making sense. We should see the flip side of this Saturday, when the Rockets’ point guard and emotional leader Chris Paul will sit out with an injured hamstring. Voila! Kerr will look like a coaching genius again.
The injuries have made for strange bedfellows on the court. Kerr was playing some funky combinations in Game 5, trying to find something that worked. Jordan Bell is your first guy off the bench? Quinn Cook on the court at the end of a tight fourth quarter? A thin bench with too many centers is taking its toll. And finding a rhythm in a motion offense takes familiarity.
Kerr is calling Durant’s number too much. And who can blame him? The man is arguably the best player in the world. After Game 5, the normally amiable coach showed his first sign of rancor this series when asked why the team kept going to Durant in the post. “Is there a price for throwing the ball to Kevin Durant in the block?” asked Kerr. “No, it's a good option to throw the ball to Kevin Durant on the post. It's a really good option.” Kerr keeps talking about Warriors basketball. His team needs to execute it.
I asked D’Antoni about this clash in styles before Game 5 and he gave me some grief at first, saying, “You know, we’re both trying to win, right? So. …”
But then he got down to specifics, and it was surprising to hear that he and Kerr aren’t that far apart. They’re both trying to get the exact same thing, actually.
“Steve plays his guys perfectly, and there are a lot of catchand-shoot movements, and getting guys open,” said D’Antoni. “Where we have some of the one-on-one players in the league, so we try to maximize that, without abusing them, without getting too deep in the shot clock. We try to put a framework out there.” Sticking to his guns
By that, D’Antoni means how long his solo artists get to dribble the ball before initiating a move. In the first few games, it took James Harden and Paul a bit longer to make their moves. Since the Rockets have caught fire, it seems they are initiating those moves a bit quicker.
“I probably didn’t explain it well,” D’Antoni continued. “But when we ‘iso’ … we still try to get 3s, layups and foul shots. We think that’s the best.” (Just like the Warriors!)
“We’re lucky to have guys like James, who gets 3s, layups and fouls. That’s what he does. … And we’ll stick to that philosophy.”
After Game 1, when the Warriors handled the Rockets defensively (winning 119-106), D’Antoni was asked whether he would change his isolationist philosophies. He laughed the questions off, reminding people that the Rockets won more games (65) than any other team in the league this season. He wasn’t about to change his beliefs after one loss in the playoffs. His convictions paid off.
Now it’s Kerr’s turn to believe. If the Warriors believe in their system, there’s no reason they can’t win two games and reach the Finals for a fourth consecutive year, especially if Paul’s hamstring injury keeps him out.
If they can’t recapture that motion magic, though, it will be time for summer vacation.