How should the Cavs defend the Warriors pick and roll?

With the NBA Finals rematch set between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, how the Cavs defend the Warriors pick and roll will be a key for the series.

It’s impossible to stop Stephen Curry. Suchlike his finals opponent LeBron James, Curry is a member of the exclusive ‘you can only hope to contain me’ club.

Sometimes you need to live with the shots Curry hits. His sensational ball handling can give him enough space he needs for a shot, and the moment he gets the ball, he is a threat to shoot. Additionally, he is adept at using off-ball screens to separate himself from a defender.

One of Curry’s most dangerous weapons though, is the pick and roll. Being the greatest shooter of all-time, Curry demands a heap of attention when he is the ball handler, and thus, creates a number of problems. You can’t go under the screen, as it leaves Curry open for the shoot but going over the screen is risky, as he can use a deceptively quick fast step to get to the basket.

Curry’s teammates also make the pick and roll such a headache for Warriors opponents. If you choose to trap Curry, he can pass it into Draymond Green at the top of the key. From there, Golden State has a four on three advantage, and with Green being one of the NBA’s smartest decision makers, it puts the defense in a precarious position.

Who the Cavs put on Green in these situations is another debate. Tristan Thompson seems to be the most logical choice, as his defensive versatility could bother Green. This could allow Green to pull Thompson away from the basket though, which may neglect his rebounding impact.

Before Cleveland focuses on what they do with Green however, Curry needs to be the attention.

This season, Curry scored 1.11 points per possession when he was the pick and roll ball handler, first in the league of players with at least 50 such possessions. This placed Curry in the 97.6 percentile of ball handlers in the screen and roll game, a ranking that confirms his unstoppable status. Curry had an effective field goal percentage of 61.1 percent in these scenarios, but he also turned the ball over on 14.1 percent of these possessions.

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This presents a slight weakness the Cavaliers need to exploit. In a pick and roll defense breakdown by Phil Handy, via Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, the Cavs assistant coach explained how the team tends to trap a proficient shooter such as Curry in the pick and roll. This helps getting the ball out of Curry’s hands, and can also assist in forcing turnovers.

The Cavaliers have already had success with this strategy in the playoffs. The intensified trapping of Reggie Jackson, Jeff Teague and Kyle Lowry has helped Cleveland reach the finals but Curry presents a threat that is on another level then those three guards.

As aforementioned, trapping Curry leaves the floor open for Green to operate with a numbers advantage. It’s great to get the ball out of Curry’s hands, but the quickness of the big man to get back onto Green before he makes a pass or shoots the ball, is vital. If the ball leaves Green’s hands before the big can recover, the Cavs defense will be on their heels, trying to rotate in time to defend the Warriors boisterous passing attack.

This is why the Cavaliers shouldn’t use a hard trap to stop Golden State’s pick and roll. Rolling the dice on defending four on three with Green on the ball is too much of a risk, one that would burn the Cavs more often than not.

However, Cleveland shouldn’t completely abandon the trap. The Cavs other options for defending the pick and roll don’t offer much hope. Switching will create mismatches that Golden State will feast on. If the Cavs ICE, it’ll encourage Curry to shoot, which is a death wish for any defense. Finally, showing is a weaker version of trapping, so the Cavs will be faced with the same Green four on three problem.

So, the Cavaliers will still need to trap Curry, just not as aggressively. A soft trap may be Cleveland’s most appropriate option to try and slow the Warriors pick and roll.

Take a look at this play from the Western Conference Finals. Kevin Durant and Steven Adams are still trapping Curry, but notice Adams doesn’t fully commit to the trap. Instead, he stays a couple of feet away from Curry, which allows Adams to stay aware of Festus Ezeli. Thus, Golden State can’t generate an advantage, despite the Oklahoma City Thunder sending two defenders to Curry.

If Cleveland can execute something similar to what the Thunder did when their took a 3-1 series lead over the Warriors, it will go a long way to delivering the city its first championship since 1964.

“I think everybody knows a lot about (the Warriors),” James said about his finals nemesis, via AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today Sports. “It doesn’t mean anything. You still gotta try to stop them, and that’s a tall task. They’re a well-oiled machine, obviously well coached and got so many great players on their team. So it’s going to be very challenging for us, and we have to be ready for it.”

James, and the Cavs, understand stopping the Warriors is like telling a dog not to chase a cat. It’s a mighty task, however, stopping the initial pick and roll will assist Cleveland in attempting to slow down a historically good offense.