Rio: What’s wrong with the Warriors defense?

Currently, the Warriors sit at 3-5 through eight games. Traditionally the Warriors success has been driven by their defense, which often goes unnoticed. Their defense has consistently finished atop the league during the dynasty years and been ranked ahead of their offense. However, so far this season the Warriors defense has not met expectations. Everyone knows it, even the players themselves. Draymond Green simply said “right now we’re…a bad defensive team”. The key word there is “now”. The Warriors undoubtedly have the personnel to be a good defensive team, but to ascend towards the top of the league on this end improvements must be made. There have been a number of factors contributing to the Warriors underwhelming defensive start, but some are much easier to fix than others.

Just like any championship team, Golden State is currently dealing with a “championship hangover”. Of course viewers shouldn’t expect the same level of defensive intensity and attention to detail as the Warriors displayed in the Finals, or even the playoffs, but it’s been evident that often the team’s defensive intensity hasn’t matched that of their opponent. That makes sense for players sitting atop the NBA mountain, but extensive early season struggles could change that real quick.

Switching Struggles

One aspect of Golden State’s defense that has suffered from this lack of intensity has been their switching. From rookies to veterans, the communication and effort while switching hasn’t been great. Communication is necessary to facilitate a switch on-time, and effort is required to execute what’s communicated. Right now the team is calling out unnecessary switches at times due to effort issues, or not communicating well enough so guys are unsure of what to do, putting them out of position and yielding breakdowns and easy buckets. Let’s take the clip below for example. Oubre had been feeling it offensively, so Draymond steps up after the screen action getting to the level. Wiggins doesn’t know whether he’s supposed to switch or whether they are putting two on the ball and scrambling behind it. Steph isn’t expecting a blitz either as he’s not in position to tag the roller and meaningfully give help. Plays like this where there is confusion, lead to guys getting out of position and giving up open shots like Plumlee got here.

Excessive Fouling

The Warriors switching issues can be remedied with more communication and effort, but the current problem has caused a domino effect leading to excessive fouling.

After Sunday’s loss in Detroit, head coach Steve Kerr was vocal about the team’s fouling habits, saying “We just can’t stop fouling”. He followed this up by saying “I think the way we’re playing affects our defense…it looks like a pickup game out there”. What his comments are implying is that the Warriors are disconnected. Switching is a large part of the issue because those struggles have often put players out of position, forcing them to foul and play with poor technique. Currently, the Dubs commit 23.1 fouls per game and their opponents shoot 27.5 free throws per game, which ranks 27th and 28th, respectively, league wide. Free throws are the most efficient shot in basketball on a points per possession basis, so giving up so many free throws is not a recipe for defensive success.

Transition Woes

Another major issue for Golden State has been transition defense, which Kerr has harped on in the media since opening night. Again, lacking communication and effort are the main culprits. Simply getting back before the opponent has been a challenge for the Dubs, and Kerr has alluded to the team not being in great physical shape during the past few weeks. Getting in better shape and giving better effort running back on defense will go a long way, but other improvements must be made too. First, the Warriors have had some uncharacteristic communication breakdowns that have led to the ball not being stopped like we see on PJ Washington’s coast to coast take below.

In addition, when perimeter players have gotten back they haven’t been locked in enough on matching up with offensive players, rather just running into the paint. Communication needs to be a part of this process, but matching up with guys sooner shortens closeouts and decreases open transition catch-and-shoot opportunities. For example, after knocking down a deep 4th quarter three on Monday, Ty Jerome tried to communicate with teammates while getting back on defense. However, he sank into the paint instead of being in the vicinity of his man, who was floating out on the perimeter. A hit-ahead pass was made to Max Struss, forcing Jerome to make a long closeout, and he got dusted by Struss, sending the defense into rotation and eventually leading to an open look. Plays like this exemplify how little mental mistakes can make such a big difference in a possession being a defensive success or failure.

Youth and Versatility

Golden State has leaned into its young players, and thus far it hasn’t yielded great results on the defensive end. Currently the Warriors starting lineup is in the 100th percentile of all NBA lineups, yet the team is 3-5. Additionally, Steph Curry has a career high +26.1 on/off split which is a not only testament to him, but an indictment of the Warriors youth thus far. For long-term dividends, the Warriors must continue to heavily play and develop their young guys, so they’ll have to take the growing pains on the chin. However, the coaching staff can do a better job putting them in positions to succeed.

The first thing the coaches can do to help the young talent is shelve the all bench lineup for the time being. Historically in the NBA all bench lineups have struggled mightily and been a no-no. Monday night was no different, as with the all bench lineup on the floor, Miami evaporated a Golden State lead by going on an 18-3 run. Having a couple veteran starters alongside them at this stage in the season would go a long way to better the communication and on-court knowledge of schematic defensive principles, which would improve the defense in all areas. I expect the young guys to improve on the defensive end, especially in terms of knowing the scouting report. Knowing your opponent and their tendencies is critical. It shapes how you play your opponent, how you rotate, what you want to give up, etc. Right now there are fixable mental errors bleeding points with the young group on the floor. In the clip below, Wiseman doesn’t recognize personnel, as he fails to get up to the level of the screen in PnR to contest a great shooter.

Things like this will improve with time. Additionally, Wiseman’s PnR defense should improve too, as it has already shown major strides within the last few months. This is essential for Wiseman because the Warriors heavily employ a drop defense when he is involved in the action. In theory, his length and athleticism should deter guards from getting to the rim, however it’s not that simple. Though his size and length does alter guards' decision making process as drivers, he’s not taking full advantage of it right now. His positioning, anticipation, and aggressiveness should improve, which will prevent him from finding himself under the basket, fouling, or yielding an easy rim attempt as often as he has thus far. Currently, Wiseman gives far too much ground in drop coverage trying to maintain the ability to play both the ball handler and the roller. Instead, Wiseman finds himself in no-man's land far too often, yielding both a comfortable finish for the roller and an open lob to the rolling big. These struggles show up statistically to the tune of opponents shooting around 70% near the rim around Wiseman. His ability to play cat and mouse in two on one scenarios will get better, but the Dubs don’t have to solely rely on that development of his drop defense.

One of the reasons Kevon Looney is such a valuable piece to the Warriors defense is his versatility. Though he doesn’t offer as much offensive impact, skill, roll gravity, shooting, or finishing as Wiseman, his defensive ability and versatility is what keeps him on the floor as the true center in the best Warriors lineups. With Looney in the game, the Warriors coaching staff is comfortable switching or playing drop to defend the PnR. Looney’s distance management and use of angles is masterful to contain quicker guards. As a drop big, though he doesn’t provide the shot blocking or length of Wiseman, his positioning, ability to play cat and mouse, and verticality (contesting rim attempts straight up without fouling) make him a clear positive impact defender. Moreover, having multiple options Kerr can successfully deploy based on the opponent and their shooting capability is really valuable. Currently, the Warriors staff isn’t confident in Wiseman’s switchability, giving him no defensive scheme versatility. However, the flashes of him switching have been impressive as seen below.

This, paired with his length and athleticism give me confidence that he can be a viable switch big. Giving him the chance to do so would enable the team to be more multiple and less predictable with him on the floor, likely leading to more defensive success.

Overall though, this shouldn’t be high atop the Warrior’s list of priorities on the defensive end. The main areas of focus for improvement should be communication and effort. Fixing these will cause a trickle down effect, impacting the key fouling, switching, and transition defense issues. Golden State might not be expected to be the top ranked defensive team they were last year, but they certainly have the ability to be in the top third of the league defensively if they put their mind to it.

Image via: The Straits Times