Zeroing in on how Steph Curry and Buddy Hield create easy buckets

11/16/2024 03:55 AM

Their nature as dynamic shooters have created plenty of easy looks for teammates.

Approaching the seven-minute mark of the first quarter of the Golden State Warriors' win over the Memphis Grizzlies — their second win of the NBA Cup group stage — the Warriors were running back in transition against a Grizzlies defense scrambling to get set, which is often considered the ideal state of being for the Warriors and not-so ideal if you're their opponents. For one, having to find Steph Curry in transition and making sure he's not wide open takes precedence, regardless of who takes the assignment and not taking into account potential cross-matches that may happen because of it.

There was no cross-matching that occurred in this instance — Scottie Pippen Jr. was on Curry the moment he touched the ball. One certainly can't blame Pippen for staying attached to Curry at all times (as GSOM legend and current DubNation HQ mainstay Eric Apricot likes to say, "No one ever got fired for sticking to Steph Curry.") But a big reason why Steve Kerr hasn't been fired yet himself — among four other big reasons — is because he has weaponized Curry's ability to make defenders stick to him at all costs. As Thinking Basketball's Ben Taylor once said of Curry, the Warriors superstar is a "nasty little screener."

After Curry gives up the ball he goes to set a screen on rookie Jaylen Wells. Note where Pippen stations himself when Curry makes contact:

Pippen isn't behind Curry — he's facing toward the direction of the corner, expecting Curry to slide past Wells and preparing to intercept him around his teammate. But Curry's screen demands a different kind of coverage, with Curry gesturing toward Andrew Wiggins to cut inside while Wells is being held up by the screen. Pippen is none the wiser, while Desmond Bane elects to stick to Lindy Waters III as he lifts from the corner toward the wing.

As a result, Wiggins finds himself with an easy bucket, with Jaren Jackson Jr. electing not to rotate from the weak side:

On a baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) play, Curry finds himself as a screener once again, on the Warriors' staple "Rub" BLOB action. Multiple options out of this particular set means the defense is often left to pick their poison — for the Dallas Mavericks, their choice to focus on Curry's screening action underneath the rim meant falling behind on Curry running off of a down screen toward the wing:

Against the Grizzlies, however, the incessant desire to stick to Curry — in lieu of switching the screening action — means that his screen once again leaves Wiggins open on a cut, resulting in one of the easiest looks Wiggins will get this season:

While Curry is arguably the league's premier screening guard — not just on off-ball actions but also as a pretty competent on-ball screener on "inverted" pick-and-rolls for the likes of Draymond Green:

His newfound Splash "Buddy" in the literal Buddy Hield isn't too shabby of a screener himself — with the argument that, compared to Klay Thompson, Hield is much more of an effective and willing screener than Thompson was. The willingness is the important part for Kerr and the coaching staff, allowing them to insert Hield in situations where he acts as a Curry doppelganger of sorts as a screener.

On an action that the Warriors have run plenty of times this season — and where Hield (or Curry in the instance below) starts in motion before setting a backscreen, which is typically window dressing for him coming off of an away screen for a three:

The backscreen ends up creating a cocktail of confusion for the Grizzlies. Track Hield in motion as comes up to set a backscreen for Jonathan Kuminga. Hield catches Luke Kennard clean with his screen, which ends up in Kennard falling behind on the Kuminga cut. Jackson is forced to sink deep to take Kuminga — resulting in Vince Williams Jr. on an island in his effort to top-lock Hield away from Trayce Jackson-Davis' screen.

With Jackson preoccupied near the baseline, Jackson-Davis finds himself with an open lane to cut, resulting in another easy bucket created by the screening efforts of Hield:

On another inbounds set — a classic Warriors staple under Kerr called "WTF" — Hield against acts as a backscreener. Take note, however, that the backscreen option is typically expected by opponents and, as such, acts as another form of window dressing for the backscreener to come off of a down screen for a three. In their recent tilt with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Curry was able to display both options of "WTF": as a screener freeing up the inbounder through his backscreen, and as a movement shooter coming off of the down screen:

With Hield in place of Curry in "WTF," the Grizzlies' reticence in switching off of Hield (a recurring theme in these screening actions), frees Moses Moody's path toward the rim. Again, both the willingness to screen and the effectiveness of the screen from Hield allows these possessions to happen — a luxury Kerr has as a coach and Curry has as a teammate:

In 109 minutes, the Curry-Hield pairing has outscored opponents by a total of 75 points. On a per-100-possession basis, they are currently scoring 124.7 points per 100 possessions against opponents, which is certainly a testament to how they have torched opponents not only on an individual basis, but as a duo. The reason behind it is simple: the more dynamic shooters defenses have to guard, the more difficult it is to guard the entire offensive machinery.

It also doesn't help them if those shooters are, to quote Ben Taylor once again, "nasty little screeners."