Klay Thompson on the Golden State Warriors’ unselfishness: "It’s amazing what a team can do when no one cares who gets the credit"
Despite Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green headlining the Golden State Warriors, they’ve always prided themselves on their “Strength in Numbers” mantra. Over the last eight years, they’ve backed that up by being one of the best teams to move the ball.
When prompted by Warriors legend Chris Mullen in a postgame interview about their assists and shot selection, Thompson had this to say:
“It’s amazing what a team can do when no one cares who gets the credit and I feel like we personify that. Our style of play kind of reflects that. That’s what we did tonight and it was such an amazingly balanced scoring effort from everybody.”
Klay lives for compliments from Mully and @DWRIGHTWAY1 😂 https://t.co/9k9wVvYfHD
Sharing the ball and looking for the best shot possible has been at the core of what the Bay Area team does. Since winning the title in 2015, they’ve ranked in the top 10 in assists per game as a team. They have been first, first, first, first, second, ninth, first and fifth over the past eight years.
The Golden State Warriors’ mantra of sharing the ball doesn’t apply just when they are successful. They had the worst record in the NBA during the 2019-2020 season and still finished ninth in assists. Despite their early struggles this season, they again lead the assists chart.
In their lopsided win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Warriors played their vintage style of basketball. They had 36 assists in 20 made baskets. Draymond Green set the tone with seven in the first quarter, eventually finishing with 11. Steph Curry dished out eight dimes of his own.
That was fun. https://t.co/nsqP2nOx4f
When the lead ballooned to 28 points, the Golden State Warriors took their foot off the pedal. Otherwise, their assist numbers could have risen much higher.
The Golden State Warriors defense has slowly improved as well
The Golden State Warriors have an 8-3 record over the last 11 games. After falling to the New Orleans Pelicans 114-105 on November 4 to drop to 3-7, their defense has improved steadily. It’s a big reason why they’ve hiked up their win-loss slate to 11-10.
The Warriors started the season near the bottom in terms of defensive efficiency, which was surprising because of how strong they've been on defense over the years. They now have a 113.4 defensive rating, good for 22nd in the NBA.
Steve Kerr’s squad has blended exceptional ball-sharing with suffocating defense for almost a decade. Their offense seems to be humming along now and as soon as their defense catches up, other teams could be in trouble once again.
Since, November 6th, only Boston(10-1) has a better record than Golden State (8-3). During that time, the Warriors have a Top 10 offense, 115.0 rating(6th). They also have a Top 10 defense at 110.4(8th best rating). These numbers include the blowout loss in New Orleans.
The season is long and there are still issues hounding them like rebounding and turnovers. But when they share the ball like they’re accustomed to and bring back their defensive identity, their hopes of repeating will greatly improve.
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