Golden State Warrior’s Split Action

Golden State Warrior’s Split Action:

If you watched Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors during their recent run of success, you’ve undoubtedly picked up on their ability to shoot it from deep. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson make up the duo known as the “splash brothers” and rightfully so—Steph is the NBA’s all team three point maker and Klay owns a career 41% three point percentage. It’s fair to say that Golden State’s ability to knock down outside shots is the biggest key to their recent championships and sustained success.

But if Steph and Klay are undoubtedly two of the best shooters in the history of the game, why are defenses still allowing them open catch & shoot threes? Of course, there are numerous reasons to this—the NBA’s spacing, their ability to move without the ball, and the fact that it is impossible to eliminate all open looks over the course of a basketball game.

However, one of the biggest reasons Steph and Klay continue to get open catch & shoot threes is the Warriors ability to get these two shooters open with masking or false actions.

In this breakdown, we will look at Golden State’s “split” action, which is a popular action utilized by plenty of teams across all levels, not just Golden State. However, it’s fair to say there has not been a team that has run split action with two better shooters than Golden State, which makes their split action that much more effective.

Split Action:

Golden State’s “split” action is triggered by the ball being entered into the low post. When the ball is entered, the player who makes the entry pass (1) will immediately screen away for the next closest player. These two players then “split” apart from each other, hence the name of this action. The player receiving the screen can use the screen, reject the screen and back cut or the player setting the away screen could slip to the rim.

While you’ll see different teams favor different options (Villanova loves to go into “split” and slip the screener to the rim), Golden State almost always sets the away screen for either Steph, Klay or now Jordan Poole to use and come off looking looking for the kick out three from the low post.

When a player makes a post entry to the low post, the defender guarding the entry passer’s first instinct is typically to “choke the post” or help down. However, by doing that he is now out of position to help on the shooter coming off the away screen set by his man.

Another reason Golden State’s split action is so effective is the defense’s natural tendency to relax or let their guard down when the ball is entered into the low post, especially perimeter defenders. Undisciplined perimeter defenders will often turn their head, ball watch or over help when the ball is entered into the post. By masking their true intention (away screen for a catch & shoot three) with a post entry, Golden State’s split action becomes that much harder to defend.

Cuts to Counter:

To take away the open catch & shoot three in the Warrior’s split action, you’ll often see Steph and Klay’s defenders overplay or even deny them using the screen. If this happens they don’t fight it, they simply reject the away screen and back cut to the rim looking for a pass from 5 in the low post.

As you can imagine, teams defending Golden State are hypersensitive to Steph and Klay coming off screens. This leads to another common scenario you will see when Golden State flows into split action, and that is both perimeter defenders taking the shooter as he comes off the away screen. This often happens due to a late switch call or the shooter’s defender getting hit by the away screen and the screener’s defender closes out to eliminate an open look.

If both perimeter defenders involved in the screening action stay with the shooter or if a “switch” call is made, the post entry passer should slip the away screen and dive right to the rim looking for a pass from 5 in the low post.

Double Drag + Split Action:

While split action can be randomly triggered by a post entry in Golden State’s half court offense, Steve Kerr also utilizes it in one of his go-to sets that the Warrior’s have run for years—double drag + split.

Just like it’s name suggests, Golden State likes to run a double drag screen on one side of the floor, with the two players not involved in the action spaced along the perimeter on the weak side. The first screener in the double drag will roll into a post up (post player), the second screener will pop to the wing (screener), and the ball handler will come off the double drag looking to get to the middle of the floor (shooter).

After coming off the double drag, the ball handler will kick the ball back to the second screen who popped to the wing. This player will then make a post entry to the first screener who is now set up in the low post. Once the post entry is made, the Warriors flow into their split action for the original ball handler (usually Steph).