{"id":39403,"date":"2025-03-05T01:36:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T01:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403"},"modified":"2025-03-05T01:36:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T01:36:57","slug":"on-steph-curry-and-buddy-hield-performing-a-twirl-to-bring-the-warriors-offense-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403","title":{"rendered":"On Steph Curry and Buddy Hield performing a \u2018Twirl\u2019 to bring the Warriors\u2019 offense to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dubs\u2019 win gives them the sixth seed \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n

While Steph Curry impacted this game more through his passing than his scoring (although 21 points is nothing to scoff at), it was on a specific three-point set \u2014 in which he paired up with Jimmy Butler on an off-ball screening action \u2014 that shined a light on the Charlote Hornets\u2019 coverages and dictated how they defended Curry the rest of the night.<\/p>\n

The set involving the Golden State Warriors\u2019 two main options predates Butler. But its potency \u2014 already enhanced by the willingness of Curry to set a screen \u2014 is magnified through Butler\u2019s involvement. It starts with a standard wing handoff into reversal up top, a common way to initiate sets:<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

After Draymond Green receives the ball reversal, he swings it to the lifting Brandin Podziemski \u2014 with Curry making his way to the middle of the paint, in preparation for the \u201crip\u201d screen (i.e., a backscreen) that Butler is about to receive. With Curry setting the screen for a notoriously dangerous cutter and paint scorer, the defense has plenty of things to think about in terms of coverages:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do we switch?<\/li>\n
  2. Do we stay home?<\/li>\n
  3. Do we double the cutter (Butler) or the screener (Curry) coming off of the subsequent screen up top?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Hornets opted for option two. Curry\u2019s man stays attached, with Butler\u2019s man \u2014 not worried about Butler\u2019s ability to snipe from beyond the arc \u2014 preemptively sagging off to cover Butler\u2019s cut.<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n

    With Curry getting ready to come off of the away screen by Green, watch where Hornets center Mark Williams is at that particular point:<\/p>\n

    \"On <\/picture> <\/span><\/figure>\n

    Pointing behind him with at least an eye directed toward the action up top probably means Williams is wary of the Butler cut \u2014 a cut that is completely covered, with no need for Williams to drop so far back that Josh Green is caught between a rock and a hard place. Draymond catches Josh cleanly on the meeting of the two Greens, leaving Curry wide open for arguably the easiest three of his night:<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n

    As if a collective switch was flipped, the Hornets did not waste time after giving up the shot above. Curry saw aggressive coverages thrown his way the rest of the night, especially when coming off of screens both on and off the ball. It significantly explained Curry\u2019s double-figure assist night in which he dished out 10 dimes.<\/p>\n

    The Hornets were hell-bent on getting the ball out of Curry\u2019s hands, whether it was through outright doubles or multiple bodies pinching in to crowd his drives. In response, Curry had perhaps one of his best passing nights of the season:<\/p>\n

    The set that got Curry the open three \u2014 called \u201cTwirl\u201d by Steve Kerr, who does a twirling motion with his index finger to call out the play \u2014 was also run for Buddy Hield in the second half:<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n

    Hield takes over the Curry role of setting the rip screen for Butler. Taking the three coverage options mentioned above in mind, watch how the Hornets defend the action this time around:<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n

    In choosing option three listed above, the Hornets end up having two defenders gravitating toward Butler\u2019s cut:<\/p>\n

    \"On <\/picture> <\/span><\/figure>\n

    Which ends in Hield \u2014 like Curry before him \u2014 being unguarded around the Looney screen, with Williams once again<\/em> dropping far back in the paint to cover Butler\u2019s excursion inside:<\/p>\n

    <\/figure>\n

    In the same manner that Curry\u2019s \u201cTwirl\u201d three was predictive and consequential in terms of the Hornets\u2019 coverages, Hield\u2019s \u201cTwirl\u201d three put the Hornets in high alert. Hield was monitored almost exclusively off the ball, with his off-ball movement creating open looks for teammates \u2014 in particular, Podziemski, who was able to capitalize.<\/p>\n

    Unexpectedly struggling against a Hornets defense that coughs up 115.4 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage time (18th in the NBA), the Warriors\u2019 offense was boosted by Curry and Hield running off of \u201cTwirl,\u201d creating coverage confusion, chaos, and most importantly, a crucial win, one that gave them sole possession of the sixth seed as they head into a tough matchup against the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Dubs\u2019 win gives them the sixth seed \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":39404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Steph Curry and Buddy Hield performing a \u2018Twirl\u2019 to bring the Warriors\u2019 offense to life - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Steph Curry and Buddy Hield performing a \u2018Twirl\u2019 to bring the Warriors\u2019 offense to life - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dubs\u2019 win gives them the sixth seed \u2014 for now.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-05T01:36:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=39403\",\"name\":\"On Steph Curry and Buddy Hield performing a \u2018Twirl\u2019 to bring the Warriors\u2019 offense to life - 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