SAN FRANCISCO — Cutting down on turnovers was such an emphasis for the Warriors entering this season that Steve Kerr decided to overhaul their entire offensive system.
Yet, four games in, they’re coughing up the ball even more than ever.
High-usage rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is one culprit. The other? Draymond Green.
“I would say he is just trying too hard to make plays right now and turning it over too often, just being too aggressive,” Kerr said of the 12th-year veteran. “He’s got to get more comfortable with these new concepts that we’re putting in and be more patient.”
Golden State turned the ball over 87 times while going 2-3 over its first five games, an average of 17.4 per contest, compared to 15.4 per game last season. Green has committed 17 of the turnovers in the four games he’s played, a career-worst 4.3 per game.
Green has turned the ball over more times than he’s directed it toward the basket, with only five buckets on 13 attempts from the field. However, he has still been a distributor, with 6.8 assists.
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With the emergence of Lendeborg and the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, Green has been asked to be the Warriors’ primary center, which has led to fewer shot attempts.
It has also matched him up against far bigger players than his 6-foot-6 frame. In their win over the Timberwolves, for example, Green held 7-foot-2 Rudy Gobert to one point on four attempts.
“I think he’s still brilliant defensively. I think he’s still doing a great job at that end of the floor,” Kerr said. “I think he’s really adapting to the things that we’re trying to get him to do. He’s crashing, getting more offensive boards.
“We talked a little about him shooting more 3s in the summer, but with Yaxel starting, Draymond is now our five again, almost fulltime. So he’s usually in the pick and roll, which is great for us.”
Kerr said that Green has approached him multiple times during games to take accountability for his turnovers. But Kerr is giving Green — and the rest of his team — a long leash as they break in a new five-out system with more set plays, designed to reduce the chaos.
Kerr understands that it’s going to take some time for everyone to get on the same page.
“These things take time,” Kerr said. “Phil Jackson once told me the Triangle for a new team took a year to implement. Not that we’re implementing the Triangle, but we’re implementing new concepts.
“I think anytime you shift some schemes, some strategies and it’s new to players, especially older players, experienced players, I can look at all of our turnovers and I can say the vast majority of them are correctable. We just have to keep at it.”
