The Warriors used a ‘gimmick’ defense to stop Trae Young
Hawks' young firebrand torched Golden State for 21 first-half points
before Warriors employed a box-and-one
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 8: Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (11)
dribbles against Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) in the third
quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 8,
2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 8: Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (11)
dribbles against Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) in the third
quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Nov. 8,
2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By EVAN WEBECK | ewebeck@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 9, 2021 at 11:07 a.m. | UPDATED: November 9, 2021 at
11:15 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/09/the-warriors-used-a-gimmick-defense-to-stop-trae-young/

SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry has seen his fair share of interesting
counterattacks over the years. After getting torn apart by his
second-coming Monday night, the Warriors flipped the script to slow down
Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young.

With Gary Payton II hounding Young, Golden State employed the
tried-and-true — but admittedly a little gimmicky — box-and-one defense,
stashing defenders at four corners of the key while Payton did his best
to deny Young the ball.

“We hit him with a box and one. As soon as he got off it, I wouldn’t let
him catch it,” Payton said. “So we kind of limited him in the second
half and made other people score.”

The Hawks’ young firebrand matched Curry shot-for-shot in the first half
with 21 points and helped facilitate a 65-point first half for Atlanta
with seven assists. But while the Warriors’ offense kept whirring in the
second half, Golden State took Young out of the game and disrupted
Atlanta’s entire attack en route to a 127-113 win.

The Warriors limited Young to seven points on six attempts from the
field and only two assists after halftime. The Hawks’ 48 second-half
points couldn’t keep pace with the flurry from Curry, who finished with
50 to Young’s 28.

“I think we tried a little gimmick defense of our own to try to slow
their rhythm down a little bit,” Curry said. “It worked. A night like
(Monday) you’ve got to be able to make those adjustments on the fly,
especially against a player as dynamic as he is and was in the first half.”

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 8: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) hugs Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (11) following the Warriors
127-113 win at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday,
Nov. 8, 2021. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Young was Payton’s primary responsibility.

Curry, for once, got to experience the box-and-one treatment from the
other side.

“I loved it,” he said. “It’s great to be on the elbow instead of trying
run around myself.”

Slowing Young still proved to be a challenge — Payton eventually fouled
out — but it was the kryptonite to Atlanta’s offense. The 23-year-old is
a threat to pull up from anywhere but an equally adept passer, who’s not
afraid to thread the needle to lob threats like Clint Capela and John
Collins. The offense runs through his hands, which are almost always in
control of the ball if things are going right.

“As they say, take the head off the snake,” mused Damion Lee. “He has
the ball in his hands and he was kind of getting everything. He was able
to get into the lane, get his floaters and get the lob, so it was a
matter of trying to contain that in the second half.”

Admitted coach Steve Kerr, “Trae was spectacular, especially in that
first half, he was destroying us.”

The decision to resort to the eccentric package, which forces a single
offensive player to attack a four-man zone defense while facing an
on-ball defender, came on the fly as Golden State cycled through
defensive strategies to contain Young.

“We just changed it up and tried to show them different looks,” Payton
said. “We saw there were having trouble scoring with the box-and-one
without him in the actions and creating for others, so we stuck with it.
… I’m pretty sure it’s like 95% of all their action comes from him,
initiated by him, so just get him off it and don’t let him touch it and
make other guys make plays for them.”

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Kerr called the turnaround to hold the Hawks to 48 points after halftime
a “huge success.”

Atlanta’s 113 points were the most allowed by the Warriors since their
first two games.

They’ve since established themselves as the top-rated defensive team in
the NBA, with 98.6 points allowed per 100 possessions, a title that
didn’t take as much of a hit Monday as it first appeared, thanks to
their second-half adjustments.

“We expected them to come in and play well, and they did,” Kerr said.
“It really required a great defensive effort in the second half along
with Steph’s incredible individual performance.”

--
Evan Webeck | Reporter
Evan Webeck covers high-school sports on the field and beyond — and a
little bit of everything else — for the Bay Area News Group. A Pacific
Northwest native and graduate of Arizona State, Evan has previously
worked for The Seattle Times, MLB.com and Sports Illustrated.