Post#244 » by Samurai » Sat Nov 21, 2020 1:15 am
Kerr and the coaching staff will need to adjust their strategy around the new personnel. Oubre is a very different animal than Klay and if Kerr draws up plays expecting Oubre to keep running behind screens to jack up 3's all night, we're in trouble. On the other hand, Oubre is an elite finisher in transition. He scored 228 points in transition (on only 229 transition possessions - an incredible efficiency!) which was good for 15th best in the league between Ben Simmons and DeAaron Fox. The names above him are guys like Giannis, Harden, Westbrook, LeBron, Siakim, Beal, etc. are fairly good transition players themselves! That's not bad company and in that regard, he is much better than Klay. So if the Dubs can rebound (paging Mr. Wiseman) and get the ball to Steph or Dray to lead the break and tell guys like Oubre, Wiggins, Wiseman and Chriss to start sprinting, we should get more easy buckets.
The challenge will be more in the half-court. Oubre isn't a catch-and-shoot threat like Klay (he shot only 34% on catch-and-shoot 3's). But he did shoot 38% on pull-up 3's, which should be something Kerr can live with. And he shot an excellent 43% when the defender was within 2-4 feet but only 34% on wide open 3's (defender more than 4 feet away). So again, designing plays based on Curry's gravity to create wide open looks for Oubre likely won't be nearly as successful as when designing those looks for Klay. But if Kerr can work with Oubre's strengths and not force him to play to his weaknesses, the Dubs should still be able to score, albeit differently than they did with Klay. It's up to Kerr to show he can create the type of running team that will let athletes like Oubre, Wiseman and Wiggins be most successful.