“Dramatic shift”: Warriors coach Steve Kerr asks Draymond Green to spur offense.
Perhaps no Warriors player has endured the brunt of head coach Steve Kerr’s offensive shift more than forward Draymond Green, who is struggling to make the highlightworthy plays that were long his signature.
To help jolt Golden State out of its sixgame skid, Kerr plans to get Green more involved in the offense. There will be more possessions in which Green is asked to initiate the attack, read the defense and, if no one is open, hoist a shot. This is the role that was a driving force in Green’s emergence as a threetime AllStar.
But given that Kerr has had to give up many of his motion principles in favor of repeated high pickandrolls for D’Angelo Russell, Green might have a tricky time settling back in as a goto playmaker. In Wednesday night’s loss to the
Lakers, he got the ball a bit more, flashing some growing pains as he posted 10 points and five assists in 28 minutes.
“It’s such a dramatic shift, as we’ve talked about,” Kerr said before Green had 11 points and 4 assists in Friday’s loss to the Celtics at Chase Center. “He’s handled the ball a lot more in the past. We’d like to get him the ball a little bit more, even with this team.”
Green has been more middling role player than twoway force this season. As the only available player from last spring’s Finals run, he has taken a while to find a rhythm with newlook lineups. And it didn’t help that Green recently missed five games with an injured index finger.
Without Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to space the floor, Green has seen fewer openings — either to make a pass or take a shot. His 40.7% clip from the field entering
Friday was on pace to be his worst since the 201314 season. With just five assists per game, Green had been a far cry from the elite facilitator who helped power the Warriors to five consecutive Finals appearances.
Golden State entered Friday with a net rating with Green on the floor this season of minus22.8, easily the worst mark for any Warriors player. That number spiked to minus4.7 when Green is sitting.
“He needs to be in more of a playmaking role at times,” Kerr said. “That’s his strength as an offensive player. We’ll continue to try to find ways to feature him, yet still maintain a lot of the stuff we’ve been doing without him the last couple weeks.”
Injury updates: Kevon Looney (neuropathic condition), Jacob Evans (strained adductor in left hip) and Alen Smailagic (sprained right ankle) will miss at least the next two games with injuries, the Warriors announced Friday night.
Looney, Evans and Smailagic will all be reevaluated by team doctors on Nov. 20, leaving open the possibility for them to return for Golden State’s game in Dallas that night. Having just one of them back would be a significant boost for a team with only 10 healthy players.
Looney has missed all but 10 minutes this season with right hamstring tightness that stems from a neuropathic condition. He has met with a team of specialists to map out a recovery plan, the details of which remain unknown. With Looney sidelined, the Warriors have had to lean on Omari Spellman and Marquese Chriss — more power forwards than centers — as Willie CauleyStein’s primary backups.
Evans has missed the past 10 games with a hip injury he suffered in an Oct. 28 win over the Pelicans. Before he was hurt, Evans was exorcising the memory of a disappointing rookie season, averaging six points and 1.7 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game.
Smailagic, the No. 39 pick in June’s NBA draft, has missed the entire preseason and regular season with an ankle injury he suffered early in training camp. Earlier this week, he dunked in a workout, a sign that he’s getting closer to returning to the floor. Even with the Warriors decimated by injuries, Smailagic is expected to spend much of this season with Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.