If you've been pounding the table for the Warriors to run considerably more ball screens for Steph Curry, well, keep pounding.
It doesn't sound like you'll get your wish anytime soon -- or at least not to the extent that you'd like.
Coach Steve Kerr made that clear Monday ahead of the Warriors' game against the Pelicans, in which he laid out the reasons as to why Golden State can't construct the same sort of offense that, say, Houston uses with James Harden.
"We could turn him into James Harden and give him the ball every play... that's really hard to do. You have to build a team for that."
Steve on Steph's usage.
(via @anthonyVslater) pic.twitter.com/U0p6PqMY38— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 28, 2019
"I don't know that it's that simple," Kerr said at his pregame media availability in New Orleans. "We could turn [Curry] into James Harden and give him the ball every play, but that's really hard to do. You have to build a team for that. Houston has put five shooters on the floor for years now with Harden to give him that space. We don't have that kind of personnel. There's not the same spacing.
"That kind of basketball wears you out, too, especially for a guy who is 180 pounds like Steph is. So, I don't think the answer is just run a million high screens. We don't really have the personnel for that."
Sports
All right, a couple good points there. As if the Warriors' first two games didn't make it overwhelmingly obvious, they don't exactly possess the depth of talent that the Rockets do. And nobody would ever confuse Curry's body type for Harden's. They're simply built differently. But that doesn't mean the Warriors shouldn't find ways to put Curry into more advantageous positions more often.
"I don't think it makes a ton of sense from Steph's standpoint," Kerr continued. "What we have to figure out is how can we free him up better. Those are the things we are exploring every day. How can we free him up without having the floor-spacing bigs that are popular around the league. So, trying to create space, trying to create penetration, trying to create clean looks and an offensive rhythm within all that.
"That's the challenge. That's what we're working on."
[RELATED: Warriors have been plagued by defensive laziness thus far]
Clearly, the Warriors haven't started their season how they'd hoped, and they're still figuring out things on offense (and defense, for that matter). Don't expect Golden State to turn into the West Coast Rockets, but also don't be surprised if you start seeing an alteration in the way Curry is being used.
