golden state warriors bench (Photo: @hoon_oh Instagram account)
Since the All-Star break, the Golden State Warriors have gone 7-2. Part of the reason for the Warriors’ recent resurgence into playoff relevance is their bench play.
After being heavily criticized for most of the season, the bench has been consistently productive and effective at maintaining or increasing leads in a game when the starters go to the bench.
Much of this recent success by the bench can be attributed to Steve Blake. This was the perfect trade for the Warriors, because he can help the Warriors in so many ways.
Off the court, he’s a great teammate, he works extremely hard, and he brings a toughness to the Warriors.
On the court, he is an experienced point guard who can run an offense, create plays for his teammates, knock down threes, play defense, and can play off the ball too.
Based on Blake’s recent production, Stephen Curry has gotten more rest. Curry appreciates Blake’s production immensely, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.
Backup point guard Steve Blake has 21 assists and one turnover over the past five games, and his strong play has allowed Stephen Curry to rest more often.
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“My minutes are down, and I’ve been able to try to be more efficient, which is helpful,” Curry said.
Another reason why the Warriors have had such great bench production recently is because Mark Jackson has been playing Blake, Jordan Crawford, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Jermaine O’Neal together.
Blake runs the offense beautifully with this unit. With Blake taking over the backup point guard duties, Crawford is able to focus more on scoring, which is his strength. With more scorers around him and with Blake setting up shots, Barnes is able to let his shots come to him instead of forcing shots in an attempt to make an impact.
As O’Neal told LetsGoWarriors today after practice, “I think people are gonna talk a lot about Steve Blake, who helps Jordan Crawford be at his natural position, helps our second unit in general get in to our traditional spots and takes some of the pressure off the guys like Harrison Barnes.
“He doesn’t have to handle the ball or bring it up as much,” O’Neal said, “He can get into that natural scoring position. Jordan Crawford the same way and also for myself, Draymond Green as well.”
Green does a little bit of everything for the Warriors, and every NBA team could use a player like that on their roster. It doesn’t matter if he scores two points or 15 points, he’s going to make an impact somehow.
O’Neal, in his 18th season in the NBA, looks like his old, dominant self. He’s inhaling rebounds and viciously blocking shots, and he’s looked much more comfortable on offense, as he’s been more aggressive on post-ups.
O’Neal talked about his injured wrist today after practice, comparing his health now to when he playing hurt and how playing hurt might have cost the team.
“I think the one that I remember the most was the OKC game,” O’Neal said, “Late in the game Russell Westbrook came over the back and knocked (the ball) out of my hand. I’m too strong for that to happen, for a guard to come and knock that out of my hands, especially a rebound that we needed to win the ballgame.”
Westbrook would eventually knock down a fading desperation three-pointer from the corner to stun the Warriors on their home floor back on November 29th.
These five bench players have complemented each other very well, and they’ve found success as a unit because of it. They all provide a different skillset, each one unique and valuable to the Warriors’ overall success in a different way.
“We can do a lot of things now with our second group — no knock against anybody that was here; they were tremendous players too,” O’Neal said, “This scenario now makes us better and now you’re starting to see us play extended periods where we’re increasing the lead and giving our first unit a great rest and an actual boost as well.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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