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Warriors' Rotation Analysis: What Kerr Is Getting Right and Wrong After 5 Games
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- Warriors' Rotation Analysis: What Kerr Is Getting Right and Wrong After 5 Games
Steve Kerr | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Golden State Warriors have recovered from an 0-3 start, beating the Nuggets and Timberwolves on the road to get to 2-3.
Not surprisingly, Steve Kerr has gotten more things right with the rotation in the last two games, but there are still a few things he should change moving forward.
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Let's go over what he's getting right and wrong after five games.
What He's Getting Right: Playing Lendeborg and Santos Together
There's an alternate universe in which Kerr decided to have Draymond Green and Yaxel Lendeborg start at the forward spots, forcing Gui Santos to essentially be Lendeborg's backup and replacement.
Instead, Kerr has been Green mostly at center, which has allowed Santos and Lendeborg to be on the court together for 161 possessions. They've posted a plus-11.4 net rating in that time, per Cleaning the Glass .
Of the Warriors' four most used lineups, three have Lendeborg and Santos at the forward spots. Those three lineups have plus-25.0, plus-88.1 and plus-73.6 net ratings, respectively.
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What He's Getting Wrong: Curry, Melton, Payton, Niang, Green Lineup
The Warriors don't have enough forward depth to avoid three-guard lineups, so it's at least understandable that he'd try a lineup with Stephen Curry, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Georges Niang and Green.
But the results have been awful.
That lineup has a minus-56.6 net rating in 34 possessions. It is the most used lineup for the team thus far.
The biggest issue with the lineup is its horrible rebounding rate. Which makes sense consdering the heights of the players are 6'2", 6'2", 6'2", 6'6" and 6'7". That's about as small as a lineup will ever be in the NBA.
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What He's Getting Right: Playing Williams and Podz Together
The non-Curry minutes have been a success thus far, and a big reason is the results of the minutes with Brandon WIlliams and Brandin Podziemski.
That duo has a blistering plus-38.9 net rating in 56 possessions.
In contrast, lineups with Williams on and Podz off have a net rating of minus-0.9 in 107 possessions.
It makes sense that Williams would play better with a sharpshooting guard who defends well, and that's what Podz is.
What He's Getting Wrong: Crunch-Time Offense
As I wrote here , the Warriors have had major issues in their two clutch games, blowing a lead against the Grizzlies and almost blowing a lead against the Timberwolves.
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The offense completely shut down in both games.
Part of the issue is the Warriors need Curry to make a higher percentage of his shots, even if they are heavily contested. Curry is 1-of-9 in the last five minutes of those two games.
Against the Wolves, The Warriors went very small for the last 2:44, playing Curry, Melton, Podz, Lendeborg and Green. Santos was inactive that game, so Kerr's options were limited.
Against the Grizzlies, from 5:17 to 1:24 to go, the Warriors had Curry, Melton and Podz on the floor together with Lendeborg and either Green or Ike in the frontcourt.
Kerr is choosing to value the ball-handling and on-ball defense Melton brings over the size, rebounding and interior scoring Santos or another bigger player can bring.
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Against the Grizzlies, you have to wonder if the Warriors would have won that game with Santos closing it out for Melton.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/warriors/onsi as Warriors' Rotation Analysis: What Kerr Is Getting Right and Wrong After 5 Games .
