Steve Kerr Stresses Ball Movement As Key To Oft-Stagnant Warriors Offense

Steve Kerr has already said he plans on lessening the offensive load of Stephen Curry this season. Speaking with reporters yesterday, the Golden State Warriors coach laid out broad strokes of his offensive system that will help do exactly that.

Via Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:

We want to move the ball, we want to cut back on our turnovers. I think we averaged 17 a game last year. We want to get the ball moving from side to side.

There’s a lot of different ways to do that but the whole idea in this game is to make the defense have to react and adjust and make multiple rotations. And if you can do that efficiently then they have a better chance of breaking down and you get a good shot.

I will take from all of my experience as a player. You will definitely see some influences of the Triangle, you’ll definitely see some influences from San Antonio. Alvin Gentry was my coach in Phoenix when I was GM and you’ll see some things that might remind you of the Suns from a few years ago.

But our job as coaches is to try to blend all this. We have a lot of ideas, but we’ve got to figure out what works, what fits our players and sort of condense it into our style and our system, but that takes time. So we have to grow into that.

Kerr touched on those same themes when he was initially hired and is mostly speaking in generalities here, but his thoughts should still come as a breath of fresh air to Warriors fans. Golden State underachieved last season by ranking 13th in offensive efficiency, and the team’s overall stagnancy and frequent reliance on post-ups for several different players are chief reasons why.

Nothing supports the ineffectiveness of Mark Jackson’s system on that end of the floor better than this: The Warriors ranked dead last in touches per game and total touches last year, an incredible feat considering the wealth of versatile and talented playmakers the team had on its roster.

Curry, Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Andrew Bogut, and Draymond Green all boast excellent vision and court sense for their respective positions, but Golden State passed the ball less often than every team in basketball regardless. More than anything else, that’s the tendency Kerr is trying to curb by continuing to insist that Curry will spend more time off-ball and that the Warriors want to get to multiple sides of the floor on every possession this season.

Kerr later lauded Bogut’s ability as a creator, calling him “one of the best [passing centers] I’ve ever seen.” Combine that sentiment with the well-known prowess of Curry and Iguodala in that regard plus the underrated passing abilities of Lee and free agent signee Shaun Livingston, and it seems a virtual certainty Golden State will rank far closer to the top of the league in touches than it did last season.

And should that prove the case while the team maintains its esteemed defensive standing, the Warriors will be even better in 2014-2015 than anyone is anticipating.

What do you think?

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