The Golden State Warriors’ Turnover Problem (Persists)
By Greg Chin
During the offseason, I wrote an article detailing and breaking down one of the Golden State Warriors’ problems on offense last season: turnovers.
They turned over the ball 15.2 times a game, and were a middling offensive team.
Eight games into the season, have the Warriors managed to curb their unhealthy addiction to turnovers?
Short answer: No.
The Warriors have actually gotten worse – they now average 20.8 turnovers per game, the worst in the league (yes, the Philadelphia 76ers aren’t worst in the league at something). It’s been frustrating at times to watch the Warriors in a tight-game scenario throw away possessions careless with sloppy passes or silly mistakes.
David Lee has even described the inexplicable turnovers as “lunacy”.
And honestly, it is. For a team so talented and deadly on the offensive end, the lost possessions really hurt the Warriors. They are currently the best shooting team in the NBA with a 49.1 team field goal percentage. If they can reduce their turnovers to the league average 14.9 per game, that’s an extra six possessions for them to score.
That said, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. The Warriors are still in the midst of learning coach Steve Kerr’s new offense – it’ll be 20-30 games before they are completely used to the ball movement and rotations on offense. The repetitions and game time will be crucial in ironing out the kinks that the offense will undoubtedly have.
Under Kerr, the Warriors are also playing at a league-best pace (102.24 possessions per 48 minutes). The extra possessions leave room for more turnovers, and their insistence at running the ball after each defensive rebound increases the chances for turnovers. Watch Andrew Bogut gather a defensive rebound and you’ll notice that he immediately looks for Stephen Curry to push the pace. They like catching the defense off-guard before they get into their half-court sets, plus Curry and Klay Thompson love pulling up at the three-point line for a fast-break three point attempt.
The turnovers are also a result of the way the Warriors pass the ball. Curry, Bogut and Andre Iguodala all have a penchant for fanciful passing. They zip the ball from corner to corner, throwing bounce passes in between opposing players – it’s electrifying and entertaining as hell to watch. These types of passes are high-risk, high-reward passes, and while they may look good when executed well, the Warriors average 8.25 bad passes that lead to turnovers per game.
The “Showtime” style passing has become part of the Warriors’ identity. The Oracle Arena home crowd goes berserk when a behind-the-back pass finds its target. It would be impossible and detrimental to order the Warriors to remove all “fancy” passes from their repertoire. What the Warriors need to learn though, is how to take care of possession during crunch time. Veteran teams are always known for “executing down the stretch”, and it’s a skill that the young Warriors have to learn if they intend on being an elite team in the NBA.
The Golden State Warriors are in a very peculiar position. Despite not performing at their full capacity, they sit third in the Western Conference with a 6-2 win-loss record. Their defense remains one of the best in the league, and their offense, despite the turnovers, is much improved from last season.
This should serve as an encouragement to Warriors’ fans and a warning to the rest of the league: the Warriors are going to get a lot better.