Warriors passing and ball movement is key to offensive success this year

On Wednesday night versus the Hornets, the Warriors hit a total of 33 assists. It’s no secret that the Steve Kerr system emphasis on ball movement and man movement.

It’s one thing to be zipping that ball around the perimeter, but the game becomes a whole different story once players are cutting and setting screens for each other, which is so critical to the Warriors man movement on offense as well.

As a team, the Warriors have been averaging a total of 29.3 assists through the first seven games. They have reached at least 25 assists in every game and achieved the 30-assist mark versus the Lakers, Thunder, Thunder (again) and Hornets.

In the game of basketball, sharing is caring, and the team does better when everyone gets involved in the action and gets an equal piece of the pie. This improves the team spirit and motivates the players to work even harder so they can get easy opportunities for each other.

The Warriors love to share the ball. Led by their captain Stephen Curry, his unselfishness and joy for the game becomes contagious to the rest of the team. His unique approach to the game allows others to feed off his success and it’s easy to show why people want to play with him.

The Warriors have a variety of combinations in their offensive textbook, as they introduce many concepts that require multiple reads and reactions based on the initial play. Additionally, the Warriors allow players to freelance at times and be creative when sets are not working the way they’re originally drawn up in practice.

This was evident several times versus the Hornets. Because the Warriors emphasize on sharing the ball, they are ranked fifth in wide open three point looks.

The Warriors have also added wrinkles to their offense. One of their primary actions is the low post split actions. The ball starts on the wing and the player throws an entry pass to the post, who then sets a screen for the shooter coming off the screen.

Usually, this play would be run for guys like Curry, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson. But what makes that action so deadly is the fact that other players can take advantage of the attention that Curry and Thompson brings and find easy looks.

With an improved roster, the Warriors are looking to share the ball early and often. Even though last year’s team had both Curry and Draymond Green in the top 20 list of assists, it sure didn’t look that way.

At times, the Warriors offense would be way too stagnant, with players such as Kelly Oubre and Brad Wanamaker not following simple offensive principals and forcing the offense into a screeching halt when they jack up unwarranted and forced looks.

This year’s squad has seemingly bought into the system collectively, and it has shown with the eye test on the court. It has literally been a night and day comparison when looking at the offensive movement from the previous year.

Player such as Bjelica, Porter and Iguodala have all played for franchises that emphasizes on ball movement. Adding Iguodala back to the fold was just the cherry on top since he can read the playbook from the back of his hand.


The Warriors offense looks a lot more fluid, and when everyone buys into the system, it shows on the record sheet.

(Photo credit: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)