Golden State Warriors Playoffs 2014: Individual Matchups vs Los Angeles Clippers (Photo: via 5thquartermag.com)
WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY — Over the past two days, the Golden State Warriors covered some of their individual matchups coming up against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Klay Thompson, the Warriors 2-guard, will defend the Clippers’ point guard Chris Paul to start.
“I’m not sitting here saying that we have a Chris Paul stopper, so it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson, “He’s gonna create challenges…for our defense and any defense.
“Like I’ve said all along, I’ll take great offense over great defense,” Jackson added, “Chris Paul, if he gets it going, there’s nothing you can do. It doesn’t matter if you got one guy defending him or four. Jamal Crawford, we’ve seen his ability to create his own shot against whoever it is, J.J. Redick‘s ability to constantly move and without the basketball. So they create problems.”
It’s uncertain how much time Andre Iguodala will spend guarding Paul. The Warriors will see how things go.
“We have a few schemes that we’re prepared to switch up at any given time,” Iguodala explained, “We’ve done a good job scouting some of the plays and trying to get them out of their comfort zone, so we’ve had some success throughout the season and then we’ve had the two games where we didn’t have as much success. The biggest thing is to try to just force our will and make them adjust to us.”
As for guarding a guy like Crawford, who tends to take shots even if he has a hand in his face, “We really want to play to the percentages sometimes,” Iguodala said, “So you just gotta switch it up a little bit sometimes the percentages go in your favor other times guys just get it going.
“I’ve been playing a long time, so I can get a feel for what a guy likes to do and just really get him out of his comfort zone, trying to push the catch out things before he gets the ball. You want to try to do to make him uncomfortable.”
Thompson is ready to adjust to either Paul or Redick, who play different styles.
“Redick’s real good. He can catch and shoot coming off screens and Chris Paul is a good iso player coming off the pick-and-roll,” Thompson said, “So totally two different styles and you want to deny the ball with both as much as possible.
“I know I’m going to have to go at a lot of ball screens because that’s what they’re best at, with (Blake) Griffin diving to the rim, J.J. spotting up, and Chris Paul coming off the pick-and-roll,” Thompson added, “I’ve just got to be in great shape and be ready for it, because that’s a tall task guarding Paul. He and (Darren) Collison coming off those pick-and-rolls. So that’s something that I’m ready for and, playing them four times this year, that I’ve experienced.”
Stephen Curry points to the familiarity as well.
“The way that we get our points, it’s definitely more prone to swinging the ball to get open shots for three,” Curry said “They’ve got guys that can plain shoot it and are not afraid to shoot it, even at high volumes. So if a team gets hot, it’ll be significantly tougher to guard, but it’s about sticking to the game plan for us defensively against them, kind of knowing their tendencies inside and out, knowing where they like to get their shots, what plays they like to run in certain situations throughout the game. We have to know those things to try to limit them as much as possible.”
Draymond Green, however, has a simple, focused message.
“Battle. Battle. No secret, just man up and battle,” Green said “At the end of the day you’re not gonna win every matchup and we’re not gonna stop every guy, but give it what you’ve got and a lot of times giving what you got is enough, but just battle. It’s no secret technique or nothing like that, just all about heart.”
Green, who can guard anywhere between a 1 and a 4, feels up to the task.
“Everything presents it’s own challenges,” Green said, “It’s the NBA. There’s great guards and there’s great big men. Everything presents a different challenge. Some guards are tougher to guard than some big men, some big men are tougher to guard than some guards.”
When asked about potentially guarding MVP-candidate Griffin, Green said, “Blake’s a good player, but I don’t mind covering anyone.”
As for the starting assignment on Griffin, that boils down to David Lee, who just came off a hamstring and nerve inflammation injury.
“I don’t think health is going to be an issue,” Lee said, “but that’s what you play the game for. That’s why they’re rolling the ball out and they’re having the playoffs. It’s a chance to go compete and chance to go play the best that I can against him.”
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