Golden State Warriors: Ranking Their Most Efficient Lineup Combinations
Mar 11, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes (40) drives in against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the New York Knicks 92-63. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
4. Lineup: H. Barnes – A. Bogut – A. Iguodala – D. Lee – K. Thompson
Minutes: 54, OffRtg: 82.8, DefRtg: 88.1, NetRtg: -5.2, Starters: 4
This is the first blip on the x-ray.
This lineup looks amazing on paper. Who wouldn’t want to trot out a lineup where the smallest player is 6’6” without missing an offensive or defensive beat?
I can’t think of another team that can put out such a tall lineup without it being a complete joke. The problem is, so far, even if Iguodala can play point guard, this offense sputters and is nowhere near as efficient offensively as the traditional starting lineup (Lineup 2). These players may still be getting acclimated with each other and most of their time together has come against three tough teams in the Spurs, Wolves, and Grizzlies, but the eye test shows some glaring problems this lineup creates.
First, as athletic as Iguodala is, he does not move well with the ball laterally. With him, Thompson, and Barnes on the court together, the Warriors have three players that are used to finding space behind the arc then waiting for a Curry drive and kick. None of these three blow by their man enough to draw defenders and create open shots for others. Consequently, the majority of plays end up late in the shot clock taking a highly contested jumper.
Second, having three big guards should cause the opposition to have a major height deficiency at, most likely, the point guard spot. The issue is Iguodala doesn’t usually operate in the post. This season, only 4.6% of his total offensive touches have been within 12 feet. If he’s not comfortable with his post game, the team is wasting possessions continuing to feed him the ball thinking he will dominate the post simply because he is taller than his defender. If he doesn’t have a post game he isn’t going to, magically, gain one overnight. Barnes displayed his ability to take advantage of smaller guards in last year’s playoff series against Tony Parker and the Spurs. In Games 5 and 6 of that series, he scored 25 and 26 with the majority of his looks coming from easy post up opportunities against Parker. However, defenses will most likely put the taller defender on Barnes because they recognize he is more dangerous than Iguodala in the post. So, the promising advantage is gone and this lineup is simply left with Iguodala as a bigger, slower point guard.
It’s not all doom and gloom for this group. Playing against most team’s starting lineups, the defense is efficient posting a DefRtg of 88.1. It’s encouraging to know even if this group has trouble scoring, the opposition is in just as dire straits. This will be a fun lineup to follow for the entire season and Jackson will use it frequently while the backup point guard position continues to be in flux. Maybe the offense can be tweaked for this group to create a better flow. It’s ironic with all the talk of the Warriors transitioning to more small ball lineups that this “big” lineup may be the most intriguing.
Even though it’s still early, it is fun getting an idea of what is — and isn’t — working with this squad. The good news from all of this: as Jackson plays around with lineup combinations, he knows his traditional starting lineup is getting the job done. The challenge going forward is finding small niche combinations that will strengthen this team overall.
As the season begins to mature, we will see how all these lineups continue to perform. If you haven’t explored 5-man lineup data before it’s extremely interesting and I encourage you to check it out.
All data is through 11/20/2013 and provided by NBA.com