Game 2 Adjustments Golden State Warriors Must Make
By Danny Saeed
The Golden State Warriors came out with fire pouring out of their mouths in Game 1 after a full week of rest and defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-86 at Oracle Arena.
Draymond Green had one of those especially rare shooting days, where he essentially became the lead Splash Brother early in the first quarter, sinking three triples. He went on to score 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
Golden State had plenty of offensive help, with the actual Splash Brothers leading the way, tallying 40 points on effecient shooting. The bench gave the Warriors a legitimate 30 points, and starting forward Harrison Barnes was incredibly efficient, going 4-for-4 and tacking on a critical 11 points.
Although the score seems to be indicative of the Warriors cake-walking past the Grizzlies, that surely was not the case. The Grizzlies did not play physical enough to impose their will in the painted area, but their two star bigs dominated offensively. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 41 points on 14-for-25 shooting without playing nearly as aggressive as they should have.
The Warriors need to switch Andrew Bogut and Green defensively — have Green defend Randolph and Bogut defend Gasol. Gasol is simply too tall for Green, and it creates a mismatch to where he can rise right over Green and get a solid 10-15 footer any time he wants. When he puts his back to the basket, it’s tough for Green to bother his shot, for his 7’1 body shields him off. Green is an undersized power forward, listed at 6’7, though that’s usually masked by his relentless and aggressive play down-low.
Gasol, however, was taking Green to the basket and getting fouled consistently, which put Green in early foul trouble and forced him to sit.
May 3, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph (50) attempts to gain control of a rebound between Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) and forward Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies 101-86. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Bogut is a stellar rim-protector, but when he has to defend another big capable of establishing an offensive game 10-15 feet away from the basket in a face-to-face situation, he struggles. He isn’t fast enough, nor does he have the foot work to effectively defend Randolph or Gasol. Nonetheless, he must defend one of them, and I think his size matches up with Gasol much better than Green. Bogut found himself in some foul trouble too, so he and Green will have to be wiser defensively.
I thought the Warriors’ perimeter defenders did a spectacular job, which ultimately won the game for them. The Warriors’ backcourt was far superior both offensively and defensively. Tony Allen is a tremendous defender and was bothering Thompson during stretches, but Thompson managed to stay aggressive and took advantage every time Allen was either off the floor or not defending him.
Nick Calathes did a superb job defending and containing Stephen Curry in the first half, but he ate up all his energy on the defensive end, resulting in sloppiness offensively as he turned the ball over excessively and failed to score a basket.
The Grizzlies are an inside-out team with or without Mike Conley, and if the Warriors are unable to stay out of foul trouble and contain their front-court, it’s going to be a long series. If Conley plays in Game 2, then this series is going to get interesting.
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