First on the Warriors in assists per minute, the team’s late game ball-handler/point guard, and perhaps the only player capable of creating his own shot under pressure, Jarrett Jack was a vital part of the 2012-2013-season success. With Jack now gone, one of the most pressing question Warrior fans have been asking is how will the Warriors fair without him?
First to understand why Jack was so important to the Warrior’s, you have to understand Stephen Curry. Curry is a very good point guard in his own right, capable of running the pick and role, unselfish, and able to find the open man.
The problem (if you can even call it that) is, Curry is also the NBA’s most lethal off ball shooter, shooting the league’s highest eFG% on catch and shoots. Curry is an elite scoring guard who’s simply presence on the floor opens up space, and allows easier penetration and cutting for others, even without the ball.
The combination of Curry and Klay Thompson, crossing and running off of screens was a defensive nightmare. This was never more evident than V. Miami heat in December, where the Heat were so concerned with it, they hedged to hard onto the shooters, and Draymond Green was able to get a clear cut for a lay up with no defender.
So while Curry is this team’s point guard, main play-maker, it’s imperative for the Warriors to have a secondary offensive initiator to truly take advantage of all of his ability and different ways to use him.
Enter Andre Iguodala. The first thoughts on the Warriors all-star signing were about signing a great defensive player. However, Iguodala is equally intriguing to the Warriors on offense. Over the last three years, only one non-PG has averaged more assists than Iguodala, Lebron James.
Iguodala is the quintessential “point forward”, a great ball-handler and passer, who is unselfish and very capable of initiating the offense.
From a statistical comparison POV, over the last 3 seasons:
Category Andre Iguodala vs. Jarrett Jack
Assists per 36 mins 5.8 6.2
Turnovers per 36 mins 2.2 2.4
Assist % 24.1 29.0
Turnover % 15.0 13.8%
(Note: Assist % is an estimate of field goals made by teammates the player assists while he’s on the floor. Turnover % is the percentage of possessions in which they turn the ball over)
As you can see from the numbers, Jarrett Jack is slightly better in all categories except raw turnovers, however in all situations they are very close. And it should be noted, Jack had a career high in every category in 2012/13 largely based on playing with two elite shooters, an all-star big man, and Carl Landry, a very good post scorer.
On the other side, Iguodala’s Philadelphia teams took the 24th most 3 pointers (as they lacked shooters). Last year, the Denver Nuggets ranked 25th in 3 point shooting percentage while his new team, the Warriors, ranked 1st. It’s perfectly feasible to think Iguodala, who has never played with shooters anywhere near Curry or Thompson’s ilk, could see a bump in his assists, and less turnovers by trying to force the issue because of lack of options to pass to.
Iguodala’s athleticism and ball-handling ability allows him to penetrate consistently like Jack, and collapse the defense, leading to open 3 pointers. As evident in both clips posted by SBNation’s Drew Garrison, Andre Iguodala is comfortable both driving and kicking to shooters, or finding cutters like David Lee or Harrison Barnes might be:
Andre Iguodala, Drive and Kick Assist
Andre Iguodala, Pick and Roll Assist
One major difference between Jack and Iguodala offensively is their strengths scoring. Grantland’s Kirk Goldberry posted the shot chart of both players:
Jack’s scoring thrived in the mid-range and with 3 pointers, while Iguodala prefers to get to the rim where he is one of the better finishing wings in the NBA. Ultimately, I think that’s ok, as the Warriors lost their best finisher around the rim (Carl Landry) and last year lacked any perimeter player capable of getting to the rim and finishing.
Replacing Jack’s mid-range shots will likely be a mixture of more 3 pointers, Iguodala’s dunks and lay ups, and team’s variety of good mid range shooters like David Lee and Mo Speights. A major key to Warriors ability to replace Jack will be Iguodala putting pressure on the defense with penetration consistently and collapsing defenses to find shooters and cutters or just finishing himself.
Before the offseason started, Warriors GM Bob Myers stated:
“What you see in the playoffs, is the top six or seven guys basically determining the outcome of every game. You can spend a lot of time trying to fill out the rest of the roster in the perfect manner, but if your top five guys can’t get the job done, it almost doesn’t matter.”
In signing Andre Iguodala, the Warriors gained a player capable of replacing Jack’s role on offense, while providing a defensive upgrade. We’ll all remember Jarrett Jack and remember his vital contributions to turning the team around in 2012-13, but as Bob Myers said, it’s your best players who determine how far you can go and Iguodala is the better overall player, giving the Warriors have a chance to improve and ultimate continue progressing towards the eventual goal of one day being an NBA champion.
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