Kevin Durant, Steve Kerr at odds over how much Warriors should pass

The Golden State Warriors offense struggled Wednesday in a loss to the the Utah Jazz, scoring just 103 points, well below their season average of 115.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the team’s trademark ball movement was missing against the stout Jazz defense, resulting in a season-low 18 assists.

Head coach Steve Kerr, whose arrival in Golden State in 2014 came with a basketball philosophy built on sharing the ball on offense, wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort on that front against Utah.

Steve Kerr wants more ball movement

“We’re not moving the ball,” Kerr said. “We’re not playing the way we’ve played the last few years, where the ball is really moving and we’re taking great shots.”

The addition of Kevin Durant in 2016 brought with it a clash in philosophies. Durant, an unmatched physical specimen and arguably the league’s most talented scorer, thrives in isolation and pick-and-roll situations where he can take advantage of his superior size and abilities.

And while he’s perfectly capable of playing his role in moving the ball until the perfect open shot is found, the ball is going to inevitably stop with Durant sometimes. If he’s not looking for those situations, he’s not going to maximize his advantages.

Durant wants more isolation, pick and roll

Durant spoke to that clash of styles after the loss to Utah, which consistently gives Golden State problems. It sounds like he doesn’t agree with Kerr that lack of ball movement is the problem.

“They’re selling out to stop those threes,” Durant said.” So we pass the ball too much, it’s not going to flying around against a good defensive team like that. I know we want to have that ball moving and get 30 assists and 300 passes. But sometimes, it’s not going to be that way.”

Warriors offense not clicking as usual

So what do the Warriors do? The San Jose Mercury News notes that Golden State ranks 16th in the NBA in 3-pointers, a shocking number from the team that led the league in that category in 2015-16 prior to the arrival of Durant.

While they’re second in the league when they do shoot from distance, converting 38.7 percent of their attempts, they’ve gotten away from the philosophy that led to their rise as an NBA juggernaut.

They’re 21-11 this season, well off the pace of the 73-win and 67-win teams of years past, and even lagging last year’s team that won 58 games.

Not a big deal in December

But the clash of styles is a good problem to have when it means having Durant on the roster and one the Warriors have overcome just fine in winning the last two NBA championships.

But as with other issues that have surfaced in Golden State this season, this is one worth watching. If Kerr and Durant are still disagreeing on how to play basketball in April, then there might be a real problem.

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