Set plays require certain personnel suited to what the action is trying to achieve. In that regard, anything that has an off-ball screen element (or two) requires those receiving such screens to be considered shooting threats to maximize the opportunity. benefit(s) created. Otherwise what would be the point?

Steve Kerr’s offense is known for its heavy reliance on advantage basketball, with Stephen Curry typically used as the ultimate advantage generator and Klay Thompson a close second in recent years. The great irony of Kerr’s offense is that the structure of his approach to scoring wouldn’t be possible without the randomness and chaotic power that Curry provides – “organized chaos,” if you will. No other team in history has combined two dichotomous concepts as brilliantly as these Golden State Warriors under Kerr and Curry.

Curry – and Thompson, before he took his talents to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area – were two of the best-suited players to represent and promote Kerr’s principles. He spammed its use in the aforementioned screening promotions because it was simply a no-brainer to maximize two of history’s greatest shooters the world has ever seen. Spread actions, pindowns, split cuts: none of these concepts would be possible without the Splash Brothers.

With Thompson gone, his value as a shooting threat around those screens had to be replaced by committee. As Curry bluntly put it after last night’s game: “Without Klay, you have to shoot. We had to shoot anyway.” Buddy Hield is the closest to what a top Thompson could do, while De’Anthony Melton is also a good option as a motion shooter around screens. Moses Moody adding a moving element to his shooting repertoire gives Kerr an embarrassment of riches when it comes to who to team Curry with (or temporarily replace him when he rests) on display plays.

I’ve previously discussed the new offensive sets installed by Kerr with the help of Terry Stotts, whose approach to offense is very similar but structurally different. Like Kerr, Stotts likes movement, flow and read-and-react basketball. But he adds a little more structure and organization to his sets, most of which are based on the Blocker-Mover scheme popularized by Tony Bennett, the now former coach of the Virginia Cavaliers.

“One Chest” – initiated by a “zip” cut into a flare screen and a pindown action occurring at the same time – is an example of Stotts’ influence. As expected, the Warriors took on the Portland Trail Blazers in their 139-104 loss to open the season on a high note. As expected from Kerr and Stotts’ philosophy, ‘One Chest’ requires shooting personnel on both the flare and pindown screens.

Here’s Melton coming off the light screen to give himself an open look:

Note the structure and personnel involved above: Melton runs away from the flare, while Moody runs along the baseline to get rid of the pindown. Kyle Anderson handles the ball (being the third of the three designated “movers”), while Kevon Looney and Jonathan Kuminga are the screeners (referred to as the “blockers”). In short, at least two shooters receive the off-ball screens.

Now notice when the Warriors used “One Chest” again a few possessions later. The setup is the same: a “zipper” cut followed by flare and pindown action. But there seems to be something wrong with the personnel being deployed:

It may seem counterintuitive to have Draymond Green be the recipient of the pindown action – no one is about to chase Green across the screen and jump on him, because it’s common knowledge that Green is far from a shooting threat while he is on the road. Defenders may relax at this thought and lose their sense of urgency unless they figure out what’s going on Real going on.

The Blazers — a young, rebuilding team with promise that might be around three years from now — probably won’t realize what’s going on. As such, they fall prey to what the Warriors really set out to do with a “One Chest” possession with Green as a “shooter.”

The pindown for Green is to get him in position to make an entry pass in front of the post towards Trayce Jackson-Davis. When a Warrior makes a post-entry pass, you have to know very well what will happen next: a patented low-post split action. Green screens for Curry and quickly slides him. The Blazers are then forced to defend the next progression: a Curry/Jackson-Davis pitch-and-screen. Two goes to Curry across the screen, leaving Jackson-Davis free to roll to the rim, receive the pass and score on a wide-open dunk.

This is perhaps what makes this version of the Warriors offense – built on a Kerr foundation and supported by a healthy layer of Stotts – very intriguing to follow this season. It’s easy to expect one thing, but then you’re surprised by something new. New wrinkles and variations keep things fresh and force opponents to be constantly on their toes.

A Warriors offense once thought to be ‘invented’ has new weapons to draw from – both in personnel and in actions. For example, a “reverse” pick-and-roll is pretty easy to understand: a smaller guard setting a ball screen for a taller or taller wing. The Warriors run their smalls right into a ball screen with their “Too Small” play call:

Or move to their reverse setup using decoy action – specifically a wing transfer into a ball turnaround setup to get Curry moving toward the paint, then he moves up to set the reverse ball screen:

When it looks like the Warriors are also about to pull off a reverse ball-screen move with a wing-transfer-to-reverse setup against the Blazers, it’s all a mask – for Curry to turn around, from an exit screen to run away and shake his man loose for an open corner three:

These unique wrinkles and quirks within the game are just cogs in an offensive machinery built on threes – a lot of them. The Warriors took 43 against the Blazers in non-waste time, which was 46.7% of their total shot diet. That’s a significant increase from their 39.4% three-point attempts last season, which ranked sixth in the NBA. Amazingly, it’s 12 percentage points lower than the Boston Celtics’ 58.8% (!!!) rating on Opening Night against the New York Knicks.

Like the Celtics, the Warriors aren’t all smiles; they provide good looks, and it seems like the coaching staff is strongly encouraging them to take those looks when they are up for grabs.

But perhaps the most dangerous looks for opponents are the ones that come out of stops and are triggered by the fast break. Having the likes of Curry, Hield and the rejuvenated Andrew Wiggins will make it difficult for defenses to pick their poison. The Warriors’ defense limited the Blazers to 89.6 points per 100 possessions in non-trash time. The rotations were crisp, gaps were closed quickly, turnovers were forced – and as a result, the Warriors continually forced the Blazers into the background.

Although the quality of the opponent must be taken into account, there are many positives to be taken from this game. Curry had a near triple double (17-9-10) and was one of seven Warriors players to score double figures. Hield set the nets on fire with his 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field (5-for-7 on threes). Wiggins started his season well: 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting (4-for-7 on threes).

The layers that make up this iteration of the Warriors are slowly starting to take shape. The attack feels new, but at the same time is a return to what made them fresh and inspiring at the start of their dynastic period. The defense looks energetic without being too frantic. While there is still a window of 81 games where things could change, the foundation they are building is to ensure those layers don’t crumble so easily.