Golden State Warriors: 5 Areas To Improve In Second Round
4. More Offense At Small Forward
Before the season began, head coach Steve Kerr had a choice to make at small forward. Did he want to start Andre Iguodala, a veteran and terrific glue guy? Or did he want to place his trust in a young Harrison Barnes, who could be molded into one of the league’s most underrated players? So far in the postseason, at least on the offensive end, it hasn’t mattered too much.
In Barnes’ first round series against New Orleans, the 22-year-old averaged a meager 8.5 points per game while shooting 43.3 percent from the floor. Those aren’t terrible numbers, but they’re a notable drop-off from the 10.1 points per game on 48.2 percent shooting he averaged during the regular season.
But at some point the Warriors are going to need a few jump shots from Iguodala and Barnes especially.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) April 26, 2015
Barnes upped his rebounding and shot the ball well from downtown in this series, but a little more offense from him would be welcome moving forward. As for Iggy, he got considerable minutes off the bench and did his thing defensively, but he shot a woeful 31 percent from the floor.
Iguodala did enough of everything to make up for his poor shooting, and Curry and Klay Thompson going off certainly didn’t hurt. But the Dubs will need him to score easy points in transition and knock down open three-point looks when he gets them. When better defenses key in on the Splash Brothers, guys like Barnes and Iggy will need to be ready to step up on offense.
Next: No. 3