Curry's Offensive Influence

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During the timeout, Gentry took the tactics board and explained the strategy to the players:

"We can no longer give No. 12 an open shot. Wait for Steve, focus on following him, don't assist too much on defense. If he and Curry are covering each other, you must change defenses decisively!" He continued, "Wait for our offense to play like this. Steve, you still start by blocking in the middle, but remember, the Warriors will definitely send in reinforcements to protect the rim to make up for their lack of height, so we will play like this..."

The timeout quickly ended, both teams returned to the court, and the game continued.

The Suns attacked, and the players positioned themselves according to Gentry's setup, still with Nash and Robin Lopez blocking in the middle lane, and Tony Allen was in the same role as before, trying to block between Nash and Robin Lopez to prevent their pick-and-roll from being fluid.

But this time, Robin Lopez used a fake screen, and as soon as he reached the top of the arc, he immediately turned around and ran to the basket. Green, who had gone with him, was caught off guard and didn't follow him. Nash passed the ball inside, and Robin Lopez, who was a half-step ahead of Green, caught the ball and powered in, easily dunking the basketball.

At 69:51, the Suns had closed the gap slightly.

Green, who had made an error in judgment, slammed the ball and raised his hand to signal to his teammates that it was his fault, and Gentry smiled from the sidelines.

"Youngster, I have to say, you have admirable courage. You're under two meters tall and dare to play center, but you're not qualified to subvert tradition. Today, I'll teach you a good lesson."

Mike Breen says:

"The Suns played well, Green was obviously tricked. He didn't expect that to be a fake screen to open up."

The eyes of Jeff Van Gundy showed a look of remembrance:

"You have to pay tuition to learn how to play. When I wasn't retired, my elders would often teach me a lesson. Today, I encountered the old and savvy Nash, which is good for Green."

The play shifted, the Warriors attacked, Curry brought the ball to the frontcourt, handed it off to Green, and ran a cross-screen with Klay. But this time, the Suns' defense was organized and immediately chose to switch, not giving them any opportunity, and the follow-up coverage set up by Butler and Tony Allen for the two was squeezed by the pursuers and didn't work.

Green saw that without the ball, there was no effect, so he didn't stay at the top of the arc to watch the play. He passed the ball to Curry, who came off the corner to catch it and ran toward the corner to create space.

Liam had no intention of cultivating Green as the king of the arc. He didn't have an unusual attachment to the passing system and team basketball like Kerr. In his opinion, passing and cutting was a means to win the game, not the end itself.

In his past life, under Kerr's training, the Warriors gradually moved toward a more paranoid path, and the other 29 teams in the league had a great deal of pick-and-roll tactics, but the Warriors rarely played pick-and-roll. Curry, as the point guard, would pass the ball to Green at the top of the arc as soon as he crossed half-court, then run a few screens in succession and spin through the muscle jungle before being left with no opportunity to get a pass from Green to shoot.

Liam had always been very puzzled by this approach. Clearly, a screen could shift the opponent's center to the front of the library so Curry could play a small-big game. Why waste so much time?

After becoming the head coach, Liam realized that this process of running without the ball relied on Curry's massive shooting threat to attract the opponent's defensive attention, break the opponent's defense by running without the ball, and play the role of "gravity" to create opportunities for teammates to cut to the basket.

If Curry played a lot with the ball, naturally, it would be easier for him to score, but the overall offense of the Warriors wouldn't benefit much.

In fact, the Warriors' passing and cutting system is "Curry's system," all built around Curry's shooting ability.

In the 2019-2020 season, when Curry was injured, Kerr was still the head coach, and the Warriors kept playing the pass-first style, ranking among the top in the league in assists. However, without the "gravity of Curry," it was difficult for other Warriors players to find easy scoring opportunities, and the Warriors' record immediately plummeted to the bottom of the league and secured the first pick in the 2020 summer draft.

This is also why many role players who performed well on the Warriors immediately declined after joining other teams and soon ran out of playing time. Later, except for the Lakers, who had been the first to sign "Warriors veterans," other teams became "cautious," and players leaving the Warriors were no longer in demand.

As a result, there is a very strange phenomenon: players who couldn't play on other teams often revived when they came to the Warriors, while players who played well in the Warriors struggled after leaving.

In fact, the reason is simple: Curry's presence, drawing the majority of the opponent's defensive attention, opens up an extremely wide offensive space for the Warriors. As long as the role players execute the tactics actively, it's easy for them to get open looks.

After all, there has never been a superstar in NBA history like Curry, who can shoot from anywhere on the court, dominate offensively with and without the ball, and is willing to run tirelessly without the ball.

To put it bluntly, as long as Curry is on the court, even if he's doing nothing—just standing in the corner and smoking— the opposing team has to send their best perimeter defender to follow him, practically glued to Curry, while the entire defensive focus is on Curry, fearing he'll get a little space.

At that point, the rest of the Warriors have an opportunity to cut to the basket, and Green has the vision to dish out the ball. Even when Curry doesn't touch the ball the whole time, as long as the Warriors score, Curry still gets at least half the credit.

Therefore, Curry's high-level stats have always been at the top of the league, and his influence on the offensive side is so tremendous that his career can be described as "organization-free." While he doesn't dish out nearly 10 assists a game like Paul or Nash, his primary role in the overall offense isn't just comparable to traditional point guards—it even surpasses them.

Of course, Curry is still in the process of making a name for himself. His "off-ball gravity" hasn't fully developed yet, and the Suns won't focus most of their defensive attention on him. His body hasn't yet developed that "gravity," so even though Liam wants to run the Warriors' passing and cutting system as in his past life, it's unlikely to work at this point.

But on the other hand, the Suns' defense against Curry holding the ball isn't as frantic as it was in Liam's past life. After Curry and Butler set a screen and split, Nash directly switched onto Curry.

In last season's playoffs, Curry's shot selection was mainly off-target and small. He didn't attack the Suns' perimeter players, and wasn't much stronger than Nash at that point. His movement skills and ball control were still relatively underdeveloped, making it difficult for him to shake off defenders.

But now, after a summer of intense training, Curry's body has been strengthened, and his skills have gained a year of NBA experience. He's now received specialized training, becoming more refined. According to Liam's estimates, Curry is currently at the level he was in his 2013-2014 season.

If Curry was voted as an All-Star starter last year, supported by the "friendship votes" from many Chinese fans, this year, Curry is not only as popular as the league's top point guards but also strong enough to match them.

Today, he showed his progress over the summer in front of Nash.

Against Nash's perfect defensive positioning, Curry made a quick change of direction, transferred the ball to his left hand, and gave a subtle yet extremely realistic fake with his left shoulder that made Nash's center of gravity shift unconsciously to the right. Curry immediately shifted the ball to his right hand from behind, moved with his right foot, and cleared the left side of Nash's body.

By the time Nash reacted, Curry was already a step ahead of him, driving into the Suns' interior. Robin Lopez rushed to help defend. Even though it was a two-on-one, Green's height was an issue, and Robin Lopez was confident he could disrupt Curry's pass.

But Curry didn't pass it to Green. Instead, he made an emergency stop, causing Robin Lopez to do the same. He then handed the ball back to his left hand, moved to Robin Lopez's left side, leaned on him, and then jumped to the basket with one step, finishing with a left-handed layup.

Robin Lopez's center of gravity was thrown off by Curry, and he couldn't turn around in time. He hurriedly extended his large hand to try to block the shot, but the distance wasn't enough, and he hit Curry's left arm with a "snap."

Curry's layup immediately deformed, but the summer training paid off. His excellent core strength allowed him to maintain control over his movements, and even though his balance was broken, the basketball still went up steadily.

"Swish!"

The baseline referee, standing in front of the two, saw it clearly and immediately blew the whistle. Curry fell out of bounds, sliding across the floor for a long distance, almost hitting a photographer. His eyes remained locked on the ball until it hit the rim, bounced off the net, and then he apologized to the photographer beside him.

But instead of getting up, he sat cross-legged on the floor until Green and Klay arrived and helped him up.

"Great job, Stephen!" Green laughed out loud.

Though this was just Green's first official NBA game, he didn't behave differently from practice. He often reminded his teammates to switch defenses and fill positions after big plays. Others would celebrate loudly after scoring, and if there was a mistake on defense, he'd immediately raise his hand to admit it. He didn't seem like a rookie just entering the league, but rather an experienced veteran.

Klay, on the other hand, was much quieter. He just smiled at Curry and said softly:

"Great layup. You're way better with the ball than I am."

Tony Allen, following behind, watched Green and Klay behave very differently, but neither seemed nervous in the slightest. He looked at them in surprise, letting out a small sigh.

The last time he saw such calmness from a rookie in their debut was Rondo, who entered the NBA in 2006. In both, he saw the same ease that Rondo had.

Klay was understandable. Like Curry, he had grown up in the NBA, having watched many NBA stars, so he wasn't new to the NBA games. But Green's ability to carry himself with such confidence was much more unexpected for Tony Allen.

Along with Curry, supported by Klay and Green, Tony Allen suddenly felt that these three young players might be able to do something special in the future. And he himself would be part of that.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward to give Curry a high five:

"Well done, Stephen, stay tough. Remember, the less fear you have for physical confrontation, the less anyone can stop you. If you avoid it, then you're covered!"

Hearing Tony Allen's rough tone, Curry nodded seriously:

"No problem!"

Seeing how Curry attentively listened to his advice, a smile curved Tony Allen's lips.

It was a feeling he never experienced with the Celtics—a feeling of being respected and valued.

With the Celtics, no one would ever belittle Tony Allen, but he was just a role player. All the attention was on the Big Three, and no one really listened to him in the locker room.

His only option was to make the most of every minute of playing time, aggressively defending the opponent's perimeter stars, and showing his worth to the team.

After joining the Warriors, Tony Allen became one of the team's most experienced veterans and the only one with a championship ring.

All the young Warriors players respected Tony Allen, asking him about his experiences in the Finals, his extreme defense of Kobe Bryant, and what it was like playing in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Finals, and even winning a championship.

Tony Allen was more than happy to share his experience with his younger teammates, telling them what he had learned and the lessons he had picked up over his career so they could avoid the same pitfalls.

With the Warriors, he felt something very different from when he was with the Celtics. Everyone had a positive attitude, the relationship between players and coaches was very close, and what was most special about the Warriors was that the true leader of the locker room was the head coach!

From the beginning of training camp, Tony Allen had deeply realized the high status that Liam, the young head coach, held in the hearts of the players.

Curry and Butler didn't need to be mentioned—they were taught by Liam. The other young rookies and undrafted players were also discovered by Liam, Chandler was traded for by Liam, and Yi Jianlian was Liam's fellow countryman… Almost all the players who joined the Warriors had some connection to Liam and had changed their destiny because of him.

Liam was also the owner of the Warriors. In the Warriors, it was absolutely the same. This made the Warriors' locker room very united. There was no second voice except Liam's, and every player respected Liam. They would never be dissatisfied with the coach's tactical arrangements. Everyone executed the plan meticulously, and there would never be a situation where the head coach lost control.

The most intuitive embodiment of this was when Butler was benched during training camp. Matthews didn't show much better performance than him, but Butler didn't complain at all, as if he didn't feel his tactical status in the team was diminished. He still trained hard and played hard.

"Go ahead, score this basket!" Tony Allen snapped back from his divergent thoughts and cheered Curry on again.

A month had passed, and he had gotten used to his "big brother" identity.

Curry walked to the free-throw line and made a free throw to complete the 2+1, receiving cheers from the Warriors' fans.

End of this chapter

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