The Golden State Warriors regular season ends Sunday afternoon at Chase Centre, one of Draymond Green's favorite matchups. Against the LA Clippers. The greens will definitely be intense as it is likely to have a postseason impact.
But it's not one of his favorites for a matchup with Ivica Zubac, the bruising center he has to face. Or Kauhi Leonard. Or James Harden. No, Green loves matchups for opposing head coach Ty Lu.
“When I played against his team, Green said, “I feel like it's a chess game between me and him.”
This is a window into why Green is here. At 35, he is well-starred to deserve consideration for this year's defensive player. He isn't as fast as he once was, and isn't as explosive as when he last won the award in 2017. His body endures and is the typical wear and tears of a career of over 1000 games.
But Green makes up for him. Through six NBA Finals trips and four championships, the advanced knowledge of Green, a constant IQ player, has emerged, evolving him to demolishing offensive algorithms.
He still has some specific strengths. He is strong. He remains vomited. He also has a 7-foot-2 wingspan that behaves like a weapon. That makes up for him being only 6 feet six. Sometimes he protects people in the air with one hand, like a fly swatter.
But the activation of these tools is his special trick. It's not a checker. It's not green. He doesn't want to win a matchup. He wants to confuse the entire scheme. He hasn't seen a fight with players in court, but he aims to achieve what they want to achieve.
“Every crime in the NBA is built to put (defensive) players in the rotation,” Green said. “So, if I know that and I know the rotation… if you know if you're doing this or you're doing this, do you get it done?
“I want everything I thought I would come to this game, I want to get all of that out of the table. So I want to talk to the coach. …This is my little fight with the coach. About that.”
What does the monkey of defense ring out? Green sat down and broke five plays from this season, giving a window into his defensive mind. Watch the video to hear a detailed explanation of Green.
Warrior vs Pelican | October 30th | Chase Center
Zion Williamson returned when he spryed in healthy terms, reaching five out of 20 in this early season showdown. Green made him annoyed on the rough night. He used this sequence as an example to explain how he did it.
Williamson caught the pass as he was curled up in the lane. However, Green changed his approach after Williamson saw Williamson score 31 points in the previous night shooting with the Warriors: Give Williamson space.
“He's fast and powerful, so I want to get away a little bit. You know,” Green said. “But I don't want to give too much distance to where the momentum of the bump he's trying to deliver. It's driving me.”
For tall players like Nicola Jokic and Anthony Davis, Green needs to be close enough to get a good contest. Williamson is only 6-6. Green gave him space and he was still able to compete thanks to his wingspan.
Williamson settled on the midrange jumper and missed it badly. Wide left. He managed to get the ball back, but Green hunted him with his fly swim and challenged him to his shot. He calls it the deflector's hand.
“It's a deflector,” he said. “I need a deflector. I'm not 7 feet so I have to raise this hand. If my hands are slow, it's a lap. I'm 6-5.”
Warriors vs. Mavericks | November 12th | Chase Center
One early in the first quarter and one later in the fourth quarter revealed the nuances of chess green play.
At the time Dallas star Luka Doncic ran a pick-and-roll with Daniel Gafford of the Dallas Mavericks Center on the left. Andrew Wiggins and Trace Jackson Davis locked Doncic into the sidelines. Green defended Naji Marshall. However, he left Marshall and covered Gafford.
The spinning scheme called for Green to pass through Gaford after reaching the free throw line. Too far from his man would give Doncic a simple pass to the open shooter. However, Green didn't mind the shot.
“Tag Gaford. What would Luka Gon do if he didn't tag Gaford?
Sticking to Gaford did two things. One is that Stephen Curry is locked out of the rotation. He was Roman, who was responsible for cutting off the big diving tycoon. Green discouraged the pass to Gaford, preventing the roll, allowing the curry to remain connected to Clay Thompson at the corner of the weak point, without having to spin. And then warrior DeAnthony Melton was able to stick to Kyrie Irving, rather than zoning to cover both Thompson and Irving if the curry had to spin.
Doncic dribbling around Jackson Davis, covering Rollman, driving the baseline. The double team was with him and Doncic was under the ties. Thompson was covered in Curry, Irving, Melton's Irving and Green Gaford.
Doncic, such an exceptional passerby, knew his only option, but that was behind him. He wrapped around an unappearable two-handed pass from the low block on the right, where Marshall was wide open, to the wing on the left.
Note that the green's back is on Doncic. However, Green had already diagnosed what Doncic would do. The ball was barely coming out of Doncic's hand as Green moved towards the Marshall on the wing.
Greene freelanded the defensive scheme, baiting Doncic and throwing where he wanted the ball, “jumping the route” and getting one of his patented 3-pointers. This was relatively easy.
Green said most defenders would run towards the open guy with their hands raised and open when they saw the open player. The defender is trained to reach for the shooter, so he instinctively raises his arms during closure. However, Green said he would slow down the defender.
“When I see the ball passing by, I take off and sprint. I raise my hand at the last moment. Before my hands go up, I'm on a dead sprint.”
There was a bead in the play, a sprint closeout, a 7-2 wingspan, which was a simple block of Marshall's 3-pointer.
Oddly, the biggest defensive play of the game took place as Green made the opposite choice from Gaford and intentionally opened the Mavericks big man.
The Warriors were down the points with 2:21 left and needed a stop. Doncic was running a pick and roll with Maverick Quentin Grimes of the time, trying to get curry with Doncic. Greene fed Doncic and handed it to Gaford. Green parked on the center free throw line and denied Grimes' rolls in the basket.
Green knew Gafford behind him. He wanted Doncic to feed him the ball. They have been in this situation before.
That worked. Doncic passed behind the green to Gaford at baseline. Green was not in front of Gafford. Instead, he essentially gave Gaford a lane on the edge.
“Because I know I can get the ball on the back,” Green said. “…I come to him and put my body in front of him and he's too big. He's just lying here, chasing me off, and at that point I get my body in front of him. I'm at a disadvantage.
Rockets Warrior | December 11th | Toyota Center
Alperen Chengen of Houston turns green in isolated paint and decides to post a little warrior. The Rockets big man is 6-11, 235 pounds, one of the best in the NBA, turning his back on the basket. But Green did his quick work in the paint. He used his hands to keep Chengen from entering his body.
Chengen entered the low post on the left block. However, Greene predicted his move and used his baseline as the defender to interrupt his body as Changen tried to return to the middle.
“He always wants to spin,” Green said. “So, when he leaves, do you guess where he's going? He's back to the right. So now I need to pin him that way. I can't spin back to your right hand, and you're too deep. You're under the backboard.”
Off-balance Schengen was an easy prey. Green stripped the ball and the Warriors were on the other side.
Warrior vs Knicks | March 15th | Chase Center
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors took control of the game. Greene launched the play at Josh Hart in New York, a non-taker who allowed Green to play center field. When Mikal Bridges rounded off the screen, Midori stopped the bridge and stopped it. Green knows that Bridges likes to reach midrange pull-ups.
“As soon as I saw him come out of the screen with a little space, I said, 'Yeah, I need to jump up. If it doesn't, he shot it. It's his pet shot. So I need to put this fire out right away.”
Instead of taking a midrange shot, Bridges lofted a pass to the left to advance OG Anunoby. Karl-Anthony Towns set the screen on Warriors Forward Gui Santos, which hid Anunoby. The town then left the screen and kicked out Jimmy Butler, who was in town.
This gave me a clear path to Anunoby's rim.
The bridge floated to the top after making a pass. However, Greene did not follow him. He dumped the bridge and fired him behind the arc.
“I don't think he can make this pass,” Green said. “He can't make that pass. He doesn't even see it. … He drives to the rim. He's not passing by.
Freelancer Green spins Moses Moody and Butler to cut off Anunoby at the baseline. Green blocked it to complete the play as the Knicks leapt forward towards the rim for a layup.
So Green started with Heart and switched to the bridge before blocking Anunoby.
Warrior vs. Bucks | March 18th | Chase Center
The Warriors had paused to seal the game. The green was in Giannis Antetocompo.
Antetokounmpo forwarded Kyle Kuzma to Pick and Roll for a dribble handoff (DHO). Buddy Heald, chasing Kuzma, zips around Giannis to keep his connections with his man. He finds himself behind Giannis' screen.
However, Greene did not return to cover Giannis.
“My thought process here is being on the screen level,” Green said. “Because I have to take the 3. We're up 11 points in 51 seconds. I need to take this 3 away.”
So Midori immediately ate the space between him and Kuzma. For one thing, he wanted to speed up Kuzma. He also wanted Kuzma to make passing difficult. And Green already knew that Kuzma could no longer have a game of two lying around the corner and Giannis lying in an open space basket.
“Look at where the scum catches the ball,” Green said. “He's in the prime trap spot. He has sidelines. He can't go anywhere…. I'm dying him here.
Green is back at Giannis. Butler was spinning to cover the green, but now Green has driven him away. He was ready for a second effort on defensive possession.
Green was in a better position to defend as Giannis kicked out the ball further.
“So now I can beat (Giannis) there and I know my shoulders are coming, so I can prepare for them,” Green said. “I can hit.”
Green certainly absorbed Giannis' shoulders, preventing his shot attempt. Giannis passed to Damien Lillard at the corner of his weakness. The green remained connected to Giannis, and Giannis drifted to the left. However, Green had to make a third effort when the ball turned over to the opposite corner.
He ran off to compete for the Open 3 from Prince Taurian. Green was closed enough to fake Prince Pump and get away from Green. This change was enough to confuse the prince, and he missed it.
The play began when he blasted out their pick-and-roll scheme and ended with a good contest. Ball game.
(Illustrated by Demetrius Robinson / Athletic;Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Nbae, Elsa, Tharon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
