As preseason winds down, some trends are beginning to emerge for Steve Kerr’s 2014-15 Golden State Warriors. Preseason play is hard to quantify. The stats, while meaningful in pointing out some developments, are also largely meaningless. And while everything should be taken with a grain of salt, let’s delve into what we’re seeing so far.
Here are the Top 7 trends we saw from the Warriors in the Pre-season:
More Ball Movement and Motion in the Offence
The main focus since Steve Kerr arrived in the Bay Area has been to create a less predictable offense. Last season the Warriors were last in the NBA in passes per game and passes per possession. The Warriors were among the top 5 in isolation plays and post-ups. Through seven preseason games, we’ve seen a focus on inside-out passing, dribble handoffs, players cutting through multiple screens, and some pick and rolls. The early result is an offense that has looked much less predictable with multiple players moving, confusing defenders:
As a team the Warriors have averaged 27.1 assists per game. To put that in perspective, the Warriors last season averaged 23.3, the Spurs led the NBA with 25.2. A 69.1% of the Warriors preseason field goals have been assisted, which is a 10% uptick from last season. Does this mean the Warriors will set assist records? Probably not. Are assists the only way to measure ball movement? No. But it does show an increased interest in moving the ball and not settling for the first available shot.
NEXT: Too many turnovers