Warriors film breakdown: How the Dubs use creativity to solve a classic Andrew Wiggins problem

There have been many nights where cries for the Golden State Warriors to pressure the rim and attack the paint were commonplace. For a team that doesn’t rely on traditional or conventional sources of rim pressure — the unconventional method being the outside-in approach made possible by the likes of Steph Curry and Buddy Hield (and Klay Thompson in years past) — finding creative ways to solve a deficiency problem (ie generating rim pressure) while staying true to their overall offensive principles has always been their modus operandi.

This creativity on offense can come in many forms: a certain formation, certain moves, certain personnel, certain screen types, etc. Generally, the Warriors with their motion offense have preferred to stand out and “flip” the floor with their big up top ball handlers instead of parking themselves in the low post and/or the paint. It requires their bigs to be adept at making decisions with the ball, know how to deliver the ball correctly, and know what to do when they give the ball up.

It also requires certain demands on the other four players on the floor: knowing what to do if and when the ball comes their way, reading the defense and making decisions based on what defenders decide to do, and—perhaps most importantly – the ability to pressure the rim and make split-second decisions as defenders rush their way. For obvious reasons, Curry is the poster boy for all of the above, especially when he comes off one or more screens. But while he can touch the paint and draw defenders on his outings, he is somewhat limited by his lack of height and the micro-decline in speed and explosion.

If not Curry, it’s mostly been other shift shooters like Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton (before he was ruled out for the season due to ACL surgery), Lindy Waters III, Moses Moody and, to a lesser extent, Brandin Podziemski who have been the recipient of off-ball screens in reverse floor setups. But oddly enough – albeit not to the same extent and volume as the aforementioned players – Andrew Wiggins has also gotten some of those reps.

In all of these reps, a common theme has emerged, perhaps born out of a need to simplify decision-making on the fly for a player not particularly known for making advanced reads and high-difficulty deliveries. Note this possession during the first regular season game of the season vs Portland Trail Blazerswith the Warriors out of their “Delay” action (a 5-out inverted floor setup with their play call being “Open). Curry drives toward the corner to set an outside screen for Wiggins followed by Wiggins receiving the ball on a pass and driving down downhill (called “Chicago” or “Zoom” action):

Whereas the most advanced and best-of-the-best when it comes to the pick-and-roll pass anticipate the help coming from their “blind” side (or the side of the floor they dribble off of); as exemplified by this Luka Dončić pass to Klay Thompson in the weak corner as Moses Moody (the short man) commits to pinching in early:

Wiggins made the pass in the first clip, where he could immediately see where the help was coming from:

This pattern — along with another common similarity — continues on several other possessions by Wiggins in pick-and-roll and pick-and-roll adjacent actions, where he comes off a screen with the ball in his hands, sees a defender in his moment . field of vision helps off, and gives it to the open man:

The open man in every case above happened to be Draymond Green, a common fall target on opponent scouting reports. For the foreseeable future, nothing about how Green is guarded on the perimeter will change, despite shooting 43% on 3.5 attempts from beyond the arc. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Green is the target of most of Wiggins’ assists — given that Green’s defenders are expected to leave him alone to help on drives, the Warriors have purposefully made it so Wiggins finds Green on most of his drives to simplify his. processing on the go.

In return, Wiggins provides a fair share of the touches and decision-making responsibilities, allowing him to perform better in attack and similarly be engaged as a defender – which was certainly the case against Atlanta Hawks. Plays like the one below have been common for him, a throwback to his championship-winning form in 2022…

… and partly caused by an increased confidence in an offensive role after a season of instability, even while Wiggins does not have an eye-popping average (16.2). However, he has decent shooting percentages (52.2% on twos, 39.3% on threes, 72.3% on free throws, 58.2% true shooting), boosted by his 27-point performance against the Hawks. Steve Kerr is finding ways for Wiggins to be involved and engaged, and Wiggins has repaid him with dynamic two-way play.

On the reverse floor layups outside of the “Delay” action, Wiggins is given the opportunity to pressure the rim with another handoff action to him – this time with an empty corner. He takes the dribble handoff from Trayce Jackson-Davis and waits for Clint Capela to commit to his downhill drive before feeding Jackson-Davis on the roll:

These “Zoom” actions are a creative solution to a straightforward problem (ie Wiggins’ shaky handle preventing him from being a reliable linear isolation hitter). It bypasses the need for him to pound the ball, slow half-court possession to a claim and face a set of defenses that don’t need to move around or scramble:

Wiggins being able to score consistently in the above fashion gets him more attention from defenses, especially as a pick-and-roll ballhandler. When it’s usually Curry who gets the majority of reps on “Angle” pick-and-roll possessions (simply because they’re set at an angle to the square or wing area), Wiggins gets more of them called after him. With Kyle Anderson in the corner and Lindy Waters III on the wing in the possession below, Wiggins dances to the beat of Jackson-Davis’s constant screening and redirection. Anderson clears to the other side of the floor to make way for Waters’ wash toward the corner. As the next defender, Bogdan Bogdanović is drawn in by Wiggins’ drive, a maneuver well within Wiggins’ immediate line of sight. Therefore, the reading he does is simple and straightforward:

Having a big-man partner act as a screener, re-screener and transfer hub bypasses Wiggins’ shortcomings and turns him into a round peg for the round hole that is the Warriors’ offense, elevating parts of his game that would otherwise be buried. and remain latent:

“Latent” is an apt term for Wiggins’ last few seasons, no doubt caused in large part by family issues off the field, something that has been woefully underappreciated as the cause of his struggles on the field. But he has entered this season with a seemingly renewed purpose and drive, fully engaged and dedicated to the mission at hand. The last time that happened, the Warriors won a championship, with Wiggins making a case for being the second-best player in their playoffs. While his start this season isn’t an ironclad guarantee that history will repeat itself, it certainly doesn’t hurt the chances that it is indeed a case of déjà vu.