2 items have have made things look worse for Draymond than I think they are. 1. No Klay means floor is only stretched to Curry's side. 2. No Chriss and an infant Wiseman means the floor is not stretched vertically. Weak side (opposite Curry without the ball) defenders have been able to sag and interior defenders have been able to cheat towards Draymond on his drives. Once Klay returns and Wiseman learns to proficiently exploit the airspace, scoring should come a little easier to Draymond. Not to mention, with Klay out, Wiseman a rookie, Oubre's early struggles with the system, and the top priority of having someone on the floor who could consistently find Curry, Draymond has had to carry a lot of other people's water. Rightfully so, he has had to push his own scoring down the priority list. In time, with better spacing and other players needing less of his on-court guidance, I suspect his scoring will improve enough to keep teams 'fairly' honest.
Excellent thorough and meticulous article, DDD! (You put the “anal” in “analysis”!)
As has been said many times, Draymond is a really useful piece on a really good team. Right now, Draymond is like a QB going through his reads and since he has only one really good scoring threat to look for, his priorities are 1. Curry 2. Curry 3. Curry 4. Someone else.
I’m not giving up on this season, but I’m looking forward to him having more options next season, including Klay, Chriss and Year 2 Wiseman.
Isn’t it strange that the best Warriors lineup; The one that shows how truly dangerous this team can be; is the one with both Looney and Green on the floor? It’s almost like tempting teams to not guard a guy that Steph can run at and get a handoff from, is one of the best forms of Warriors offense (ever since the Bogut days) and the defense is, and always will be, the key driver in wins. With Oubre or Wiggins stepping up on open shots and cutting in a timely fashion this team can win some big games if they put it together. Wiseman dominating against backups would be a pretty good cherry on top too.
Watching the Warriors stand around while Steph is triple teamed and zones to death isn’t my cup of tea. You need players moving out there, and Green adds to the offensive flow. He’s clearly not the issue on offense. It’s guys defaulting to standing around the perimeter like lumps when they get tired leading to Minn style Wiggins stepback bailout shots that kill this team.
Green should have to do a bunch of layup gauntlets with people swatting at him. If he just takes and makes shots at the rim he’s an amazing offensive player. It’s the JTA preseason passes that should have been layups that turn into fast break points for the other team that hurt.
I think Green and the Warriors have another gear to get to and it’s time to go.
Random, but relevant...anyone else think that the dust up with Kerr in OKC back in 2016 (the one where Kerr was telling him to take better shots and Dray had his infamous "I am not a robot" lashing out) mess his confidence up?
Obviously they've patched things up, and yes he's got mechanical issues with his shot, but I can't help but wonder if that's always in the back of his mind...
Also I have seen some talking heads complain about why didn't Dray take the 3pt shot on the last possession in Magic game. Incidentally, some of these people also had a problem when he took that "smartest-dumbest" shot a while ago (I forget which game).
If you are looking for tiniest of hope and for FWIW, Dray's shooting % have gone up just a bit from Jan to Feb. Still really bad, but one can hope he will get way better by the time Playoffs come around .
_____ppg__2p%___3p%____ft%____efg%__ts%
Jan. 4.8___34.9___21.2___66.7___39.2___42.3
Feb. 5.9___37.3___25.0___68.8___40.7___44.7
He actually said something in that regards today (see PMC's video on Youtube) where he is talking about getting more aggressive and finding more opportunities to get good shots. I am hoping that indeed comes true and it's not all talk.
As long as Draymond's ability to finish at the rim is enough that defenses have to respect it, everything else about his scoring is pretty irrelevant. If he starts getting the Ricky Rubio treatment—where smart teams assume he's going to pass it even under the basket, leading to turnovers—that's when things get dicey.
He just needs to be able to score if the defense doesn't rotate to defend his drive, and if they do, he needs someone who can catch and finish the interior pass or lob. Looney does that second at a respectable level; Wiseman was really rough at it early in the season but has gotten steadily better. And, in all fairness to Wiseman, that was partly about Dray and others developing chemistry with him. When JW is more consistently the high-level stretch-5 we've seen glimpses of, that'll help Draymond's non-scoring offense even more.
What a great polarising article. Such good banter.
I’m firmly on the Dray is one of a kind, irreplaceable golden state juggernaut. But I guess my profile pic says as much. Cheers to watching a few more low percentage backpack 3s!
I wish Draymond would develop that Tony Parker style tear drop. He'd be unstoppable in the middle after Steph gets doubled coming down the lane - tear drop or kick out to a shooter.
If the team has its eye on the future, which I assume it does, rather than the immediate 'win now' mindset, Green will not be in their plans. He's had years to change his flaws and they have accelerated. Sure, he's a valuable asset, but to think that the Warriors can't win without him is nuts. He is not a Lebron or Kobe, he is a support player, an incomplete support player that happens to be a liability as well as a help. Will the greatest shooter of all time wither without Green? Will the Splash Bros lose their skills and mojo without Green? It will be different, but not a disaster if the team carefully trades him or grooms his replacement. While I admire his court awareness and passing abilities and defense, I don't see the Warriors falling on their face without him and they could use his contract to fill some real needs on the team. A trade should be on the table, in my estimation.
I had my say about Good Dray's value and Bad Dray's behavior in a previous thread. As for his scoring or lack thereof, it doesn't bother me that he can't consistently hit from distance. Sdot didn't even try to shoot 3s but he was deadly from midrange, so fine. I don't even expect midrange shots from Draymond. Just consistently finish at the rim, layups and a dunk now and then. A few years ago he could do that. He can still physically get to the rim. I don't understand why he can't finish consistently now.
2 items have have made things look worse for Draymond than I think they are. 1. No Klay means floor is only stretched to Curry's side. 2. No Chriss and an infant Wiseman means the floor is not stretched vertically. Weak side (opposite Curry without the ball) defenders have been able to sag and interior defenders have been able to cheat towards Draymond on his drives. Once Klay returns and Wiseman learns to proficiently exploit the airspace, scoring should come a little easier to Draymond. Not to mention, with Klay out, Wiseman a rookie, Oubre's early struggles with the system, and the top priority of having someone on the floor who could consistently find Curry, Draymond has had to carry a lot of other people's water. Rightfully so, he has had to push his own scoring down the priority list. In time, with better spacing and other players needing less of his on-court guidance, I suspect his scoring will improve enough to keep teams 'fairly' honest.
Excellent thorough and meticulous article, DDD! (You put the “anal” in “analysis”!)
As has been said many times, Draymond is a really useful piece on a really good team. Right now, Draymond is like a QB going through his reads and since he has only one really good scoring threat to look for, his priorities are 1. Curry 2. Curry 3. Curry 4. Someone else.
I’m not giving up on this season, but I’m looking forward to him having more options next season, including Klay, Chriss and Year 2 Wiseman.
Isn’t it strange that the best Warriors lineup; The one that shows how truly dangerous this team can be; is the one with both Looney and Green on the floor? It’s almost like tempting teams to not guard a guy that Steph can run at and get a handoff from, is one of the best forms of Warriors offense (ever since the Bogut days) and the defense is, and always will be, the key driver in wins. With Oubre or Wiggins stepping up on open shots and cutting in a timely fashion this team can win some big games if they put it together. Wiseman dominating against backups would be a pretty good cherry on top too.
Watching the Warriors stand around while Steph is triple teamed and zones to death isn’t my cup of tea. You need players moving out there, and Green adds to the offensive flow. He’s clearly not the issue on offense. It’s guys defaulting to standing around the perimeter like lumps when they get tired leading to Minn style Wiggins stepback bailout shots that kill this team.
Green should have to do a bunch of layup gauntlets with people swatting at him. If he just takes and makes shots at the rim he’s an amazing offensive player. It’s the JTA preseason passes that should have been layups that turn into fast break points for the other team that hurt.
I think Green and the Warriors have another gear to get to and it’s time to go.
Very good write-up and let me compliment you on the illustration.
Random, but relevant...anyone else think that the dust up with Kerr in OKC back in 2016 (the one where Kerr was telling him to take better shots and Dray had his infamous "I am not a robot" lashing out) mess his confidence up?
Obviously they've patched things up, and yes he's got mechanical issues with his shot, but I can't help but wonder if that's always in the back of his mind...
Golden ratio diagram is a nice touch. :-)
Also I have seen some talking heads complain about why didn't Dray take the 3pt shot on the last possession in Magic game. Incidentally, some of these people also had a problem when he took that "smartest-dumbest" shot a while ago (I forget which game).
If you are looking for tiniest of hope and for FWIW, Dray's shooting % have gone up just a bit from Jan to Feb. Still really bad, but one can hope he will get way better by the time Playoffs come around .
_____ppg__2p%___3p%____ft%____efg%__ts%
Jan. 4.8___34.9___21.2___66.7___39.2___42.3
Feb. 5.9___37.3___25.0___68.8___40.7___44.7
He actually said something in that regards today (see PMC's video on Youtube) where he is talking about getting more aggressive and finding more opportunities to get good shots. I am hoping that indeed comes true and it's not all talk.
As long as Draymond's ability to finish at the rim is enough that defenses have to respect it, everything else about his scoring is pretty irrelevant. If he starts getting the Ricky Rubio treatment—where smart teams assume he's going to pass it even under the basket, leading to turnovers—that's when things get dicey.
He just needs to be able to score if the defense doesn't rotate to defend his drive, and if they do, he needs someone who can catch and finish the interior pass or lob. Looney does that second at a respectable level; Wiseman was really rough at it early in the season but has gotten steadily better. And, in all fairness to Wiseman, that was partly about Dray and others developing chemistry with him. When JW is more consistently the high-level stretch-5 we've seen glimpses of, that'll help Draymond's non-scoring offense even more.
What a great polarising article. Such good banter.
I’m firmly on the Dray is one of a kind, irreplaceable golden state juggernaut. But I guess my profile pic says as much. Cheers to watching a few more low percentage backpack 3s!
And here I was expecting a point forward comparison to Billy Owens :(
I wish Draymond would develop that Tony Parker style tear drop. He'd be unstoppable in the middle after Steph gets doubled coming down the lane - tear drop or kick out to a shooter.
If the team has its eye on the future, which I assume it does, rather than the immediate 'win now' mindset, Green will not be in their plans. He's had years to change his flaws and they have accelerated. Sure, he's a valuable asset, but to think that the Warriors can't win without him is nuts. He is not a Lebron or Kobe, he is a support player, an incomplete support player that happens to be a liability as well as a help. Will the greatest shooter of all time wither without Green? Will the Splash Bros lose their skills and mojo without Green? It will be different, but not a disaster if the team carefully trades him or grooms his replacement. While I admire his court awareness and passing abilities and defense, I don't see the Warriors falling on their face without him and they could use his contract to fill some real needs on the team. A trade should be on the table, in my estimation.
I had my say about Good Dray's value and Bad Dray's behavior in a previous thread. As for his scoring or lack thereof, it doesn't bother me that he can't consistently hit from distance. Sdot didn't even try to shoot 3s but he was deadly from midrange, so fine. I don't even expect midrange shots from Draymond. Just consistently finish at the rim, layups and a dunk now and then. A few years ago he could do that. He can still physically get to the rim. I don't understand why he can't finish consistently now.