Defensive focus key to Warriors reestablishing championship identity originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – For all the offensive fireworks the Warriors provided over the years between the star power of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and many others in their decade as a dynasty, it always was the other side of the ball that led them to counting championship rings on their fingers. Always.
Even at 36 years old, the whole world knows Steph Curry can still score 30 points with ease and explode for 40-point performances – or even more. The Warriors are confident Klay Thompson’s scoring void can be filled by the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and others. But in order for them to avoid the play-in tournament, be a playoff team and have a chance to contend, shoring up their defense will be a top priority.
“We’ve got to get back to defending at a high level,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said Thursday at Chase Center. “We’ve got to be in the top five, six, seven in the league in defense at least. That’s really been the recipe here all along.”
The Warriors last season when they won 46 games but finished 10th in the Western Conference and were crushed by the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament weren’t one of the top five, six or seven teams in the league when it comes to defensive rating. Not even the top 10. Their 114.5 team defensive rating had them right in the middle of the NBA at 15th overall.
Eight teams in the Western Conference had a better defensive rating than them.
When the Warriors won their most recent championship in 2022, they had a defensive rating of 106.6, which was the best in the West and second overall in the NBA. Only the Boston Celtics, the team the Warriors beat in the NBA Finals, had a better defensive rating at 106.2.
Starting with their first title under coach Steve Kerr in 2015, the Warriors finished first, sixth, second, 11th and 11th again in team defensive rating during their run of five straight trips to the Finals. Those last two seasons they also finished third and first in offensive rating with a team that featured a prime Curry, Thompson and Durant.
“Our transition defense fell off the map last year,” Kerr said. “A huge emphasis in camp will be to shore that up.”
The numbers show Kerr isn’t exaggerating either.
Golden State allowed the sixth-most points in transition per game, and the 1.17 points per possession the Warriors allowed in transition was the third-most in the NBA. The Warriors were in the 17th percentile of transition defense, watching others run right by them.
There are reasons for encouragement, though. The Warriors are extremely excited to have a healthy Gary Payton II, knowing how important his availability will be to their success. Adding Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton should be a boost defensively. Trayce Jackson-Davis was a difference maker as a rim protector, and Draymond Green is still a menace for opposing offenses.
“I just want to get back to being really good at that end knowing we can count on our ability to get stops, whatever the ranking is,” Kerr said.
Kerr and Dunleavy also know the Warriors have to improve in transition on offense as well. They were the fourth-worst team in transition points per game last season, and also ranked fourth in transition points per possession. Only the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls averaged fewer transition points per game than the Warriors last season.
The Blazers won a Western Conference-low 21 games, the same number of wins the Hornets had. The Bulls were a 39-win team, far from where the Warriors want to be.
“I think there’s a mentality that we have to reach, and it’s going to be a huge part of the trip to Hawaii and the next few weeks is shifting our mentality, understanding the change of possession,” Kerr said. “The first guy who moves wins, and we were off on the second guy last year. We were a very reactionary transition team in both directions.
“On offense, our problem was turnovers. We turned it over too often. We’ve got to improve our transition spacing. We’ll work on all that stuff in camp. We’ve got to improve our decision making. Hopefully that comes with some maturity for our younger players but also some high-IQ basketball from our newer players. Steph and Draymond, they’ve got to lead the charge on that in that regard.
“As a coaching staff, we have to lay that out exactly what this means to improve in transition in both directions. There will be a lot of drill work that goes into that.”
Having training camp in Hawaii will serve its purpose in bonding time for all. Kerr also has made it clear the real goal amidst palm trees and beaches is creating an identity these Warriors can proudly lean on for all 82 games and beyond.
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