The Golden State Warriors need to get around Draymond Green’s three-point shooting woes, yet they need to keep his offensive distribution.
Draymond Green leads the Golden State Warriors in assists per game with over 6.5 per game. He helps make the offense go round.
That’s his role on the team. He’s a dominant two-way player that thrives from setting his teammates up, and he does that role almost better than anyone in the NBA.
However, he’s started to see different looks from defenses, and it’s really destroying his game offensively. Those looks are rather simple: defenses force Green to shoot. He’s been far from a capable three-point shooter this season, and teams are picking up on that.
For coach Kerr, the solution might not be just forcing Green to shoot more efficiently. After all, he once did shoot over 30% from deep. Now, he shoots under 25% from deep and being left wide-open actually doesn’t help too much.
What should he do then to help increase Green’s effectiveness and make him less of a liability?
The answer might be quite simple: put him in the post. Green shoots over 60% of his shots without taking a dribble. While not a huge issue, his spot-up or catch-and-shoot percentages are not in the Warriors’ favor, so continuing that trend isn’t wise..
This video showcases a great setup.
Green gets to the post, looks to distribute first, and then takes it himself. Green’s typically got a mismatch on his hands. He’s bigger and more aggressive than many players defending him.
Green shoots over 50% from two-point range yet under 25% from downtown. Yet, Green’s too valuable to not play, so Kerr and co. will have to live with his percentages and find ways to utilize them.
The post, a comfort zone for Green, should be what Kerr opts to do. The main thing it forces defenses to do is to play up on Green. It makes them put a defender on the four-time All-Star, and that could be huge for the offense’s spacing.
I’ve seen the team put Green in the post a few times and allow him to operate in that way. It seems to work well and creates many weak side opportunities.
That said, this is the way to go for Green and the Warriors.