Let me share with you an answer from a Zhihu author. I originally wanted to answer it myself, but found that the author basically meant the same thing as me, and was very detailed!
In the recent NBA, the regular season has gradually entered the final stage. Under the extremely tight schedule of this season, the physical strength and health of the players have been overdrafted. Facing the upcoming playoffs, All the strong teams invariably recuperated their stars, with minor injuries and major injuries--the Jazz also arranged for the absence of Gobert and Mitchell, and the 76ers' Simmons and Tobias Harris also sat out. Off the field. The Nets, which are relatively dependent on stars, have seen the hidden dangers of increasing the use of stars. Harden has been absent continuously, and Durant has suffered a new injury after returning.
At this time, the game will always seem boring and lacking in spectacle. However, the Warriors, who are on the edge of the playoffs, have absolutely no reason to rest Curry due to their single-core characteristics, subjective mentality and objective requirements. And Curry's performance has become the hottest highlight topic in the league.
How good was Curry’s performance throughout April? Just look at his stat sheet and it's obvious. Scored 115.6 points per 100 possessions, 36.6% possession rate, 75% true shooting rate, only 44.5% assist rate, 14.3 three-pointers per game and 50.3% shooting rate. In contrast, Curry's average season performance is only 12.1 three-pointers per game, 43.1% three-point shooting percentage, 113.5 points per 100 possessions, and 66.5% true shooting percentage at 32% possession rate. The assist rate is only 49%. From the assist rate, we can see more things-the season assist rate is 28.9%, the assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.8, and in the last ten games it is only 23%+1.08.
In other words, in the last ten games, Curry has played a more simplistic game---partially giving up on passing and driving, and focusing more on personal shooting and scoring. Judging from the results of the scoring process alone, Curry's "open and wide" model has indeed achieved a very good---even "amazing"--product-efficiency effect.
However, is Curry's recent miraculous performance really the "ball-and-strike development" offense that fans have long awaited and regarded as the correct way to open it? Judging from other data, this is actually far from the case. In two relatively tight defensive states with defenders occupying 0-2FT and 2-4FT, Curry's average shots in the season accounted for 6.9% and 41.7% respectively, while the three-pointers were 3% and 21.2%. %, and in the last ten games, it has reached 7% and 38.7%, and three-pointers are 2.7% and 21%. In terms of the number of touches, Dream Green has averaged 74.1 touches per game in the last ten games and 38 catches in the frontcourt, which are higher than the season averages of 72.3 and 35.6. The average number of passes created per game is Improved from 61.3 times in the season to 61.9 times.
In other words, Curry did not actually encounter more pressing defensive pressure in these ten games. Instead, the shooting environment was more relaxedly optimized. Taking the "multiple people double-teaming Curry" that we are used to seeing this season, this is actually very inconsistent with the opponent's usual defensive strategy against Curry with the ball. While he has gained room for optimization, Dream Green also has a very high weight in the game - he always ranks second in the team in the number of receptions and ranks first in the number of passes. On the basis of the right to organize the ball, he has gained more qualifications to sort out the offense.
To a certain extent, it is reasonable that Dream Green has helped Curry in his recent performance. Of course, what he did was a contribution that began as a peak warrior. But the key to weakening the well-known negative effects of Dream Chaser and highlighting the positive effects is the adjustment of rotation personnel brought about by Wiseman's reimbursement. Wiseman's departure has diluted Dream Chaser's disadvantage in space by adjustments to the rotation. His role in passing has been maintained. Taken together, it has given Curry and the Warriors more support bonuses than before. It's a little ironic, but it's true.
In the eyes of fans, the existence of Dream Green seems to be an obstacle to Curry's "expansion". There is no other reason, but because there are no three-pointers, you can't score, so you can't open up the so-called "space" for Curry's main attack. Indeed, in these ten games, Dream Green's personal offense has shown no signs of getting better. The possession rate of rounds is only 14.6%, and the true shooting rate is as low as 51.4%, averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game. 25% hit rate. However, the combination of Green and Curry actually provided Curry with an offensive bonus---for the entire season, when Green came off the court, Curry scored 39.6 points per 100 possessions, two The assist rates for point shots and three-pointers were 23% and 51% respectively, and the true shooting rate was 58.7%. When Dream Green came on the court, Curry directly improved to 43 points, 45%, 59.7%, and 69.7%. Even leaving aside Curry, Dream Chasing's offensive bonus to the entire team is absolutely positive. The team's true shooting percentage when entering/exiting the court has a gap of 54.3% to 60.9%, and there is a 10.1 point gap in the score per 100 rounds.
And in the ten games when Curry was at full strength, Dream Chaser's score per 100 possessions was even as high as 118.1, higher than Curry himself.
So, how does Dream Green provide bonuses for Curry when his personal offensive ability has not changed much? How to provide bonuses for the entire Warriors team? This is the skill we often talk about---passing organization.
In the 2.0 era when the Warriors were at their peak, Dream Green often received a disgraceful comment: just deal cards at the top of the arc, direct traffic, and distribute the ball to superstars to hit it in. Anyone can do it. It can be done. However, is this really the case? This season, the Warriors' offensive resources are by no means strong. They scored 110.2 points per 100 possessions, ranking only 20th in the league. Curry alone averaged 31.4 points per game, and Wiggins, the second-leading scorer, averaged 18.1 points. The regular lineup also includes laggards like Oubre, who has a true shooting percentage of 52.8%. In such a team, Dream Green's assist rate remains at 33.9%, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.9.
In the last ten games, due to Wiseman's reimbursement and Oubre's injury, the Warriors' regular lineup has further changed to Curry + Dream Green + Bazemore + Rooney + Wiggins played 75 minutes in one game, while Bazemore scored only 101 points in 100 rounds, and his offensive intensity further declined. Under such circumstances, Dream Chasing still maintained a 32.4% assist rate + 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. In his previous season, even if Durant + Curry + Klay Thompson came together and went through a season of running-in, they reached perfection in the 17-18 season. In theory, the lineup was the best to "deal". Here, Dream Green's assist rate is only 28.6%.
This certainly does not mean that Dream Green's passing ability has become stronger this year than in his peak period. The increase in assist rate is directly related to the increase in ball rights and the increase in organizational weight. This season, due to the Warriors' lineup configuration issues, Dream Green, as one of the few members who can hold the ball and conduct, has received more priority than during the peak era of the three-core era. In the 17-18 season, it was built on persistence On the basis of a strong configuration with rich ball resources and average conduction ability, the Warriors have established a system of all-member passing and all-member finishing. During this period, Dream Green's role in organizing the ball was evenly diluted. Duran, who ranked third on the team, Te averaged 42 passes per game, but for Toscano Anderson, the third player this season, the number dropped sharply to 31.5.
However, what we can see is the excellent level of Chasing Green in "digesting more organizational rights" - in the 17-18 season, due to the dispersion of ball rights, Chasing assists The turnover rate is 28.6%, and the assist-to-turnover ratio is 2.5. This season, when the organizational power is more concentrated on him and Curry, although the turnover rate has also increased from 22.5% to 30.3%, the assist rate and the assist-to-turnover ratio have increased simultaneously, which fully illustrates the pursuit of success. When the organizational tasks are aggravated, Meng's overall performance is that "positive contribution efficiency is greater than negative mistakes and leg-breaking".
When given more organizational tasks, Dream Green can digest it well and turn it into positive energy, instead of handling more balls and hitting the ceiling with a higher proportion of turnovers. In fact, the evaluation of the ability to digest the ball and combine it with production efficiency is not limited to individual scoring, but also has similar logic in passing and organization. Dream Green is obviously an organizer who can break through the production limit in terms of passing organization and handle more ball-playing work. This season, Dream Green has 14.2 potential pass assists and a pass-to-assist conversion rate of 14%, both ranking first in the team.
This shows that when teammates generally have insufficient passing ability, when holding the ball in hand, Dream Green is the one who is better than Curry in creating direct opportunities for teammates and delivering team scores - --Of course, this is limited to the passing and pie-feeding session. And Dream Green's passing ability is by no means a simple matter of handing out assists to superstars. Even when facing a group of teammates with overlapping offensive methods and areas of expertise and poor efficiency, he can still provide enough opportunities for Library. Lee and everyone else got help.
This season, a very serious problem in the Warriors' offensive configuration is the high degree of overlap in the end zone. At the same time, the ability to handle the ball passing is poor. This season, Oubre's shots within 10 FT of the basket accounted for 49.7%, Kevin Rooney's was 78.3%, and Wiggins was slightly better, 39.5%. In the last ten games, the reused Bazemore has 37.9% of the basket, and Toscano Anderson has 67.5%. It can be seen that excluding the dealer Dream Green, whether it is Oubre who is regularly used by the Warriors, or the recent Rooney, Anderson, or even Bazemore, who is a three-pointer and accounts for 46.6% of three-point shots. A considerable proportion of the shots are at the basket. At the other extreme, another common area for these role players is three-pointers - Oubre accounts for 39.2%, Bazemore 46.6%, Anderson 42.3%, and Rooney and Wiseman do not have it. this property.
This leads to a very serious problem: the individual scoring methods of the Warriors' role players in the offense are very easy to judge and grasp.
Three-pointers + catch-and-shoot/no-ball cuts are the main content. As for three-pointers, based on 36 minutes of data, Oubre can only hit 1.9 goals with a 31.5% shooting rate. Bazemore He hit 2 goals with a 40.6% shooting rate, while Anderson hit 1.2 goals with a 41.3% shooting rate. Although the latter two are very efficient, they are not fatal in terms of output, and they are at a level of output that can be strategically abandoned. What the opponent really needs to mark is that these role players have a high propensity to attack the frame and score in efficient areas.
On the other hand, the ability of these players to conduct themselves and form linkages after getting the ball is far from enough. Oubre's assist rate is only 6.6%, second attacker Wiggins' assist rate is 10.9%, turnover rate is 10.4%, Bazemore 12.1%+16.7%, Wiseman 5%+12.9%, Rooney 14.6%+16.5 %, Anderson 16.7%+20.1%. Except for Wiggins, almost no one has the ability to lead the team with the ball and absorb the increase in passing weight. Especially Wiggins, as the Warriors' second-leading attacker this season, his true shooting percentage of 57% is acceptable, and his pick-and-roll ratio with the ball is 23.8%. However, he only scores 0.95 points per round, combined with low assists and turnovers, and has a tendency to pass. Not too high either. He averaged only 6.2 and 4.3 passes per game to Green and Curry, and only 1.4 shot opportunities per game for Curry. He is not an excellent attacker or active leader.
Therefore, when Curry holds the ball, opponents can double-team him unscrupulously. On the one hand, this is of course due to the so-called lack of pulling space caused by the limitations of the personal output of his teammates, but on the other hand, it is also due to the lack of space caused by his teammates. Lack of conduction. With the combination of the two aspects, even if Curry tries his best to pass the ball, and his teammates get the opportunity to handle the ball, they often prefer to attack on their own rather than forcefully pass the ball, and the only thing worth defending in the offensive method is Attack the frame.
In this way, the opponent only needs to allocate a part of the defenders to shrink, and keep their attention on the receiver of Curry's pass, give up the player without the ball in time, and rotate to the receiver to interfere. At this time, the opponent can of course try to double-team Curry without worrying about insufficient deployment of defensive resources. This season, 34.5% of Bazemore's shots are wide-open three-pointers, and 32.1% of Anderson's shots. Even the second attacker, Wiggins, who in principle needs to be defended second by the Warriors, has 55.5% of his total shots that are wide-open or wide-open. Bit. It can be seen that relying solely on the abilities of these players - even Wiggins - is not enough for opponents to pay attention to them and create space for Curry - especially Curry with the ball.
Curry's off-ball aspect allows him to effectively avoid flanking attacks and achieve excellent catch-and-shoot efficiency, or conversely, create a threat of flanking attacks without the ball through excellent catch-and-shooting. This creates a relaxed environment for teammates to handle the ball. This season, Curry's catch-and-shoot shooting percentage has reached 44.9%, and it has increased to 51% in the last ten games, fully meeting such conditions.
The only thing missing is a passer to use Curry's defensive containment in the off-ball phase to accurately deliver the ball to defensively omitted positions, allowing these individuals to attack. Role players who are easy to judge and defend get opportunities. From another level, even when Curry is holding the ball, the defense's crazy attacks on him will cause loopholes in the defense at other positions. What is also needed at this time is a passer who is good at reading the defense and can After receiving the pass from Curry, he quickly made the second pass.
This is the reason why Dream Green must exist. His personal offense is of course seriously lacking, but he is the only passer who is as good as -- or even better than -- Curry, who can handle second passes when Curry holds the ball, and when Curry holds the ball, he Organize yourself when there is no ball, thereby maximizing the defensive containment created by Curry and the opponent's rotation loopholes into a real "catch---grasp---score" instead of "open--the ball is not available" To---attack".
When Curry holds the ball, Green can cooperate with Curry in high-post screens. Although he can't change the opponent's double attack on Curry, he can successfully use Curry to name the opponent's big man (defending his opponent), and the opponent's big man changes defense (no one will trap Curry in the face of Curry, except Trail Blazers), the defensive situation, and thus make a quick choice---feed the ball to Curry to score at the moment when the double attack is not completed and the opponent squeezes into the screen (this season, the shooting opportunity given to Curry by Dream Chaser Green, Curry (averaging 9.2 shots per game, shooting 50.2%), or do you distribute the ball to the other side when the opponent's flank defense delays interference and further rotates? Similarly, when Curry holds the ball and initiates a two-man pick-and-roll, Dream Green can also cooperate with Curry's choice, respond when Curry feels the defensive tendency and pass back, think of the same place with Curry, and quickly distribute the ball Give it to the weak side and seize the opportunity when the defense focuses on Curry. At the same time, Dream Green can also hold the ball by himself and break up the strong-side cooperation with Curry. Instead, while Curry moves without the ball to attract flankers, he can find loopholes in the defense and pass out wonderful passes.
It can be said that in the current Warriors, only the passing of Dream Green can allow Curry to change the threat of defense with or without the ball, and truly quantify it into the final result of the offense.
In the peak period of the Warriors, this was slightly less important due to their abundant offensive resources, but it is extremely valuable in the current situation where the Warriors' role players have overlapping offensive areas and are highly dependent on cutting to the basket and feeding cakes on the line.
This is why Curry's offensive performance improved in the April game after Wiseman's absence. The increased playing time of Anderson and Looney allows the Warriors to obtain more positive resources, and downplays the side effects of Dream Green, increasing his positive effect. In fact, this season, Green has been paired with Anderson or Rooney, and the results have been good. When Green and Anderson played together, the team won 9.9 points per 100 rounds, 14.3 points with Rooney, and an embarrassing -9.8 points with Wiseman. If the threat of Dream Chaser is completely negative, then he should have a negative effect when paired with any player, but this is obviously not the case. The only combination he really cannot match is Wiseman.
In fact, this is also something that is easy to understand. Rooney, who is well versed in the inside function of the Warriors system, can further smoothen the transmission of the Warriors, complete the screen with and without the ball, and flexibly cut inside when Dream Chaser and Curry get the ball. This season, Rooney ranks first in the team with 3.1 screen assists per game, followed by Green with 2.9 and Wiseman with only 2.4. In terms of assist rate, Rooney also had 14.6%, while Wiseman only had 5%. In this way, Rooney's screen for Curry, the screen for Oubre or Wiggins, Rooney's transition, and Rooney's finish can all create an environment for Curry to receive the ball, an environment for teammates to participate in the offense, and the team can use it Curry's pulling power has gotten better. Although neither he nor Chai Meng has three-point space in the narrow sense, it can make Curry score better and his teammates can score better with Curry's buff. What the Warriors need most is not just offensive scorers, but also passers, so that the opportunity lines created by Curry can really be used.
The combination of Anderson and Dream Green has a simpler logic. He does not have the overall perspective like Rooney, and his style of play is simplified to space-based three-point shooting, but the single space attribute can open up the inside and complete the response. It is also a necessary condition for Curry to move around the baseline and attack the frame teammates. The emergence of more opportunity lines also facilitates Green's passing. In the absence of Dream Green, Anderson cannot get the pass when Curry is flanked and gets an open space, but the appearance of Dream Green can solve this problem.
Accumulating offensive development resources in an absolute sense is by no means the correct idea for building a system. As far as the Warriors are concerned, they cannot bring out the configuration they had at their peak and field a five-man group that is both good at conducting and attacking. Forcing a pile of scorers will only slow down the flow of the ball. Moreover, the Warriors' attackers are also deficient in the richness and absolute strength of their methods. They are all just monotonous three-pointers or frame attackers. Individual offenses are easy to judge and are not efficient enough. Passing is poor, and defense is easy to judge. This leaves Curry, the only player with the ball, completely exposed to the attack. It can be said that Curry will be severely double-teamed if he is unable to reach the level of Dream Chaser and increases his attack points. This is due to the strength of the Warriors' configuration of "sluggish teamwork and monotonous individual attack".
This is exactly the reason why Curry "the more his teammates pull his hips, the more he should avoid holding the ball all the time": he is too exposed to the defense and needs to relieve the pressure without the ball, or his teammates respond to the pressure. As long as his teammates There is an organizer who can accurately judge the situation and give him or others a chance. This is why Chasing Dream is indispensable to the current Warriors - he can't shoot, but those who can shoot are not more attractive to defenses than him, so his passing can at least take advantage of the opponent's attack on Curry. It provides accurate opportunities for these teammates who are passive in offense and have overlapping areas. It also allows Curry to quickly receive the pass when he reaches Rooney/Dream Chaser's opponent through the pick-and-roll point.
The team does not handle the ball enough and has a single offense. Therefore, Curry has a lot of defensive pressure with the ball, so he needs to relieve it without the ball. Teammates who attack alone also need organizers to use Curry's gravity to let themselves Get the ball directly instead of holding the ball when Curry doesn't have the ball. If there is Dream Chaser, then the Warriors will have people who can play ball for these players who have overlapping personal attacks and mediocre passing. Only then can Curry's containment power create an environment that can truly exert Curry's containment power, which in turn will add to Curry's strength, not even if Curry creates an environment, and those who handle the ball just make bad passes, or attack on their own and their methods are seen through. Without someone who can pass to the position, no amount of mediocre attackers will be enough to relieve Curry's defensive pressure.
It can even be said that when Chai Meng plays, Curry is better equipped to hold the ball - when the opponent needs to worry about the delivery opportunities of Chai Meng passing the ball after excessive flanking, and no longer thinks of "Curry passing the ball" Curry's pressure on Curry will lessen when his teammates are not very good at handling the ball. In the past ten games, Curry's dribbling and holding the ball per round has increased, from 4.2 seconds per catch in the season to 4.5 seconds. Second. But at the same time, the defensive pressure he received has been optimized as mentioned above - holding the ball under relatively loose pressure, rather than holding the ball with a single core.
This is an example of the role of dream chasing.
On the one hand, he can judge the difference between Curry and his teammates when he is holding the ball, and choose the route based on Curry's restraint, allowing Curry to get the chance to get the ball when the roll call is successful, and also driving the efficiency of his teammates. On the other hand, His ability to pass the ball immediately improves the quality of his teammates' offense that is easy to judge due to overlapping areas and lack of connection. It prevents opponents from double-teaming Curry and increases Curry's ball-holding time.
Rooney can further enrich the quality of conduction and cover, and Anderson can provide space, which is indispensable for dream chasing. Such a combination is very reasonable. The problem with Wiseman is that he lacks both of the above. He is just a product of the Warriors' forced training and reuse. He cooperated with Dream Chasing for too long, blocking space and reducing offensive resources. He also lacked team lubrication and teammates' opportunity delivery. The shortcomings of Dream Chasing's limited offense and inability to attract defense could not be neutralized through the team, and the monotonous attack due to monotony could not be overcome. The situation becomes more severe. Such a duo will naturally have negative effects. For him, these requirements are still too high.
Objectively speaking, Wiseman's absence in ten games and the presence of Anderson and Rooney neutralized Dream Chaser Green's disadvantages and increased his advantages, thus to a large extent. It constitutes an important reason for Curry's outbreak.
Of course there are problems with Dream Green. If the Warriors can have a stronger offensive configuration, whether it is personal attack or passing, or even a center who can move outside and pivot, Curry can enter more easily. attack mode. However, given that the current configuration of the Warriors' individual offense and passing is not good enough, Dream Chaser at least ensures Curry's relatively relaxed pressure in harsh environments, and maximizes the team bonus of Curry's pulling power.
But we also have to see the limitations of many opponents in recent games: the Heat are the only one that has not squatted and called targets, the Warriors have scored countless points inside, and Butler and Ariza have obvious double-triple protection frames. Not as good as Claude. The 76ers even lack Simmons, who is most suitable for defending Curry's pick-and-roll combination, leaving Embiid infinitely exposed to shooting with the ball.
Curry's explosion is very powerful. In this state, he can almost solve most mid-range teams by himself. However, the imperfect allocation of resources to capture opponents may be due to the addition of Curry's personal ability and the positive effects of strong organizations chasing dreams outweigh the negative effects.