When it was announced that Terry Stotts, former head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, would replace Kenny Atkinson as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant, it marked a clear move to strengthen an offense that – while still ranked in the top 10 in points per 100 possessions without fouling last season – was clearly in need of new ideas despite having one of the deadliest offensive singularities in history.

Stotts’ philosophy was made clear in an article by The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, who had the opportunity to speak with Stotts about his role with the Golden State Warriors.

“Everyone knows we ran a lot of torches and pindowns (in Portland),” Stotts said. “I think the players we have will be good at that. Steve loves reading and commenting. I think this is the best way to play. But at the same time you can put a framework in it. What I like is: you can have a play call, but within that play call you don’t know what’s going to happen. You might have splits or torches or pindowns or pick-and-roll and that freedom within a structure.

Stotts made sure to point out “flares” and “pindowns” – two off-ball screen types common in the NBA. Flare screens are simply when a player comes off a screen in a certain direction leave of the ball, while pindown screens are screens set for a player angled towards the baseline.

Flares and pindowns are the basic building blocks of Stotts’ offensive philosophy: a combination of flow and randomness supported by structure and organization. While the Warriors have historically favored the former over the latter, the inclusion of Stotts means Kerr is seeking a more equal balance between two seemingly dichotomous concepts. “Freedom within the structure,” as Stotts said above, meant that multiple options could be explored while allowing room for improvisation and adaptation.

To serve as an example, a Stotts staple play with the Blazers involving flare and pindown action – called “One Chest” (because the play call for it is a one-finger hold up, followed by the chest tap) – takes center stage in the marriage between randomness and organization.

Stotts based “One Chest” on Tony Bennett’s “Blocker-Mover” offense with the Virginia Cavaliers. Three movers (the flare and pindown receivers plus the ball handler) are paired with two blockers (the two designated screeners) in a “wheel” or continuity scheme whose purpose is to keep the ball and personnel constantly moving.

While the flare and pindown options are central to Stotts’ offensive philosophy – as evidenced by the Portland examples above – they are not the all-encompassing concept. For the Warriors, randomness can still play a role, especially if the original structure falls apart. Kerr and Stotts want to prove that organizations do not have to play second fiddle to chaotic flows, and vice versa.

Instead, if the structure doesn’t yield immediate results, it can instead serve as the foundation for another attack, as the Warriors have shown many times in the preseason. When using their own version of “One Chest,” the initial flare/pindown maneuver puts the players in a position to take advantage of an advantage situation:

Watch as De’Anthony Melton – who starts the set with an initial “zipper” cut (more on that later) – comes off Kevon Looney’s flare screen. Melton’s man decides to go over the screen, causing him to fall behind. At the same time, Buddy Hield running along the baseline to get rid of Kyle Anderson’s pindown serves as a play on the second side that distracts would-be help defenders from turning in the paint.

However, the distracted help defender – along with a few other teammates – realizes that Melton is heading for the edge. They collapse into the paint trying to prevent a layup, leaving Hield free to lift to the wing. Melton says the defenders couldn’t anticipate when Hield would get out of Anderson’s pindown.

The above “One Chest” possession was actually the second time the Warriors played it in the fourth quarter of their second preseason game – while the first was an even more striking example of structure turning into improvisation. When both the flare and pindown options are covered, option C is to flow straight into a Warriors staple.

Watch Brandin Podziemski take command when the going gets tough as the Sacramento Kings eliminate both flare and pindown options. Podziemski calmly calls for the ball to be fed to Anderson in the post – and with Hield next to him, Podziemski knows exactly what to do: set a split-cut screen, followed by sliding the screen to counter an expected switch to go:

“That was a Terry Stotts play, the Portland stuff he was working with (Damian Lillard) and (CJ McCollum),” Kerr said of the above play. “Part of the idea of ​​bringing Terry was that his offense was similar to ours, but had more structure based on personnel. The interesting thing about that piece was that it was all old Portland stuff. And then we got nothing, and then it came back to the split game that we’ve been playing for forever.”

The low-post split is a natural progression from “One Chest” due to the positioning of the pindown screener – already ready to receive an entry pass, with the pindown receiver ready to set a split-cut screen or to receive. Another split action from “One Chest” took place in the asset below:

But if you noticed, “One Chest” above is not the typical “One Chest” shown earlier – because of one key difference:

The pindown maneuver in “One Chest” turns out to be a decoy or dummy action for another action: a “Stack” pick-and-roll, also known as a “Spain” pick-and-roll, where Hield sets the back screen for Looney after setting a ball screen for Podziemski. The Warriors ran it prior to the possession above for Melton – watch Moses Moody fake his way out of the pindown, turn right and set the back screen to open the lane for Melton’s drive off the ball screen:

The wrinkles and variations of “One Chest” could be endless; they will be needed to keep the defense guessing and minimize predictability – which is why it isn’t the only Stotts move based on ‘Blocker-Mover’. The concept (flare plus pindown) and overall philosophy are very similar, but a slight difference in initiation is what describes the difference between ‘One Chest’ and the ‘Thumb’ series – specifically ‘Thumb Fist’.

Notice in the clip above that “One Chest” starts with a “zipper” cut (starting at the baseline and ending at the elbow), followed by the flare action.

In “Thumb Fist”, the starting action is different: an away screen for a man in the corner to receive the ball, followed by a quick spin of the ball back to the original ball handler. This culminates in the classic flare and pindown maneuvers that are central to ‘Blocker-Mover’.

Often the flare and pindown options are not open; option C is therefore a high pick-and-roll for the ballhandler:

Similar to ‘One Chest’, the flare and pindown maneuvers serve as distractors that result in an open path for the ballhandler’s rim attack.

Or as auxiliary distractors for each other:

As such, Stotts wasn’t brought in to completely reinvent the wheel – a wheel that averaged 11.1 possessions per game. off screen play type, which amounted to 9.8% of the Warriors’ total play type. According to Synergy’s tracking, both figures led the league last season. Their 1,115 points per off-screen possession was third only to the Boston Celtics (1,183) and the Miami Heat (1,118). The Warriors don’t necessarily fix what’s broken; they just find new ways to make it even more effective and less predictable.

In a sense, adding a unique sense of ‘flare’ in their attempt to ‘establish’ what it takes to succeed again – perhaps returning to the top, if the cards are in their favor – is an attempt to bounce back returning to what worked great in the past. The flow of the offense has returned to the breathtaking splendor that once stunned the basketball world. It remains to be seen whether it will continue to take everyone’s breath away when the real basketball starts on Wednesday.