SAN FRANCISCO – Pat Spencer has thrust himself into the national NBA consciousness with his late-game shotmaking, over-the-top trash talking and a unique career path that has seen him go from one of the greatest college lacrosse players into an unlikely contributor for one of basketball’s biggest brands.
The 29-year-old third-year pro helped the team go 2-1 on the most recent road trip … and in the process, he did more than just provide some of the most unexpected highlights of the early season.
The mustachioed 6-foot-2 sparkplug fundamentally changed how the Warriors approach offense.
“It’s a pick-and-roll threat that he brings,” Kerr said after Spencer put up 19 points and seven assists against Cleveland. “He just takes care of the ball … he just gets us into a really good offensive rhythm and gets guys shots, and creates really good possessions, even when we don’t score.”
The Warriors have long eschewed the most popular play in basketball.
While the rest of the NBA became infatuated with the spread pick-and-roll/pop, the Steve Kerr Warriors have zagged.
This season has – mostly – been no exception.
They are 26th in the NBA in plays that end with a pick and roll ballhandler making a play, and 20th in plays concluded with the roll man finishing a possession. Steph Curry (4.8 possessions as a ballhandler) and Jonathan Kuminga (3.2) are the only Warriors to run at least three such actions per game.
Neither rate in the Top 40 in the league in that category.
But with Curry injured for the past five games and the team no longer in possession of the league’s most dangerous offball threat, and Jimmy Butler sidelined for several of those games, Kerr adapted.
Sure there were still the famous split cuts and quasi-triangle actions, but there was also a healthy dose of standard high-ball screens with Spencer doing his best Chris impression.
His passes off drives have helped create open shots on the outside for two of the team’s top snipers.
Fifteen of Buddy Hield’s shots over the last four games came off Spencer passes, and Quinten Post fired up 12 shots after receiving a pass from the point guard.
And everyone has benefited from the Warriors’ commitment to playing with a renewed sense of pace.
“We have the ability to run and space the floor and put a lot of pressure on the defense with ball-movement,” Spencer said. “We get to our spacing, and the ball zips from side to side and we create an advantage.”
On the season, Spencer ran a pick-and-roll on 32% of his possessions, and took an average of two shots per game out of this action according to the NBA’s website.
However, this is also influenced by four games where he attempted just one shot and played under 10 minutes.
Statistics for each NBA team’s total pick-and-roll possessions – including those not ending in a shot or pass – are not available to the public.
However, according to Warriors stats guru Daryl Arata, Golden State has run a healthy 78 such plays per night over the last four games, with Spencer being responsible for 31% of them.
Per NBA video partner Thinking Basketball, NBA teams set around 55 ball screens per 100 possessions, which is a shade under the average number of possessions a NBA team has in a game.
So compared to the average team, the Warriors’ pick-and-roll frequency has been higher than most units.
Now, the question is, with Curry back in the lineup, how much of that conventional NBA offense will remain?
Well, if Kerr’s recent comments are anything to go by, expect to still see Spencer operating as the ballhandler on a plethora of possessions when he is in the game.
It is Spencer’s borderline-maniacal mentality that also has made him indispensable, as has his much-improved 44.4% accuracy rate from 3-point distance while on a two-way contract that limits him to just 50 NBA appearances.
“The energy and competitive spirit is a huge part of winning basketball, and that is what Pat has brought to us,” Kerr said. “There’s a different vibe on the floor and in the locker room with what Pat doing. He’s changed our team, for sure.”
Yes, even when Curry is in the game.
The iconic point guard has redefined the NBA by being the league’s most lethal off-ball threat, and he envisioned Spencer as being someone who can make his own life easier.
“When I’m out there, to be able to play off the ball with him initiating, taking advantage of the space and all that type of stuff, it should be pretty seamless,” Curry said on Thursday.
The offense will still run through Curry, Green and Butler.
But if there is anything to be learned from the past three games, it is that Spencer is more than capable of bringing an added element to the Warriors attack.
