Draymond Green: Forward has timing to make deft lob passes
This isn’t a breathtaking alley-oop pass, flung from 30 feet and jarring in its audacity. This is more like a strategic basketball delicacy, carefully calculated and completed with deft touch and precision.
Warriors forward Draymond Green has all but mastered the art of the lob pass, much to the dismay of the Clippers and Rockets in these NBA playoffs.
Green threw several short, productive lobs in Game 6 of Golden State’s first-round series, carving up the Clippers on dunks by Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney. Then, in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against Houston on Tuesday night, Green did his thing again.
He twice teamed with Iguodala (who is jumping like he’s 25 years old, not 35). Most memorably, Green set a high screen
for Stephen Curry midway through the fourth quarter, rolled toward the free-throw line, took a pass from Curry and immediately lofted a soft lob to Iguodala.
No dribble, no hesitation, easy dunk.
“It’s our time to make the highlight reel,” Looney said, smiling.
JaVale McGee routinely made the highlight reel the previous two seasons, blending his leaping ability and long arms with Green’s passing skills. Now, with McGee gone, Iguodala and Looney — and occasionally Shaun Livingston — are the main beneficiaries.
This exemplifies the Warriors at their unselfish, active, quick-passing best. They are more than jump shooters, no matter what Charles Barkley says, even if the longrange accuracy of Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson leads to this version of Lob City.
Think about the dilemma for defenses. They don’t want to leave Curry, Durant or Thompson unguarded beyond the 3-point arc. So the high screen frequently causes a double team on the (potential) shooter, who passes to the rolling Green to create a 4-on-3 advantage.
And when he gets the ball near the free-throw line, as he has in recent games, watch out. The Warriors shrewdly space the floor with shooters, leaving Iguodala, Looney or Livingston to “dive” to the basket for uncontested dunks.
“Draymond has grown so comfortable playing that high screen with Steph,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “With the amount of attention Steph gets, sometimes Draymond gets that ball in the pocket and it’s 4-on-3.
“With Andre out there, and two shooters on the wings, it puts a lot of stress on the defense. Draymond has great touch on that lob pass. It’s fun to see when they connect like that.”
If this somehow sounds familiar, there’s ample reason. The high screen-and-roll, followed by the dive-and-lob, was an even bigger part of the Warriors’ offense in 201415, when they won their first of three NBA championships in this era.
Opponents took notice and began to take away the play. Then, as Curry and Co. buried more and more 3s, the screen-androll occasionally became open again — and so did the lob-and-dunk finish.
“It’s kind of a feel thing,” Green said. “That’s worked for us over the years, not just these two series. The way people guard us nowadays, we don’t get it as frequently as maybe we used to. … Nonetheless, when the play is there, you’ve got to take it.”
Green also took it in the second quarter Tuesday night. Thompson shoveled a pass to Green, who quickly redirected the ball to Iguodala for a dunk.
Looney watched knowingly from the bench. He realizes the play doesn’t magically happen. It requires practice and timing and, well, Green with the ball and his hands and his eyes wide open.
“As soon as Draymond runs up there for the screen, I know to expect the pass,” Looney said. “We’ve got to be in sync. The timing has to be right. …
“It takes a lot of touch, a lot of vision, a lot of patience. You’ve got to have a feel for the game. Draymond is probably the best passer on our team, and one of the best passers in the league.”
Or, as Livingston said, “Dray just has a knack for throwing lobs.”