Though the Warriors have had their share of controversy thus far this season, they still find themselves at the top of the Western Conference. Perhaps representative of the team’s “struggles” up to this point is Draymond Green’s lackluster year—Green is averaging lows in PPG, RPG, FG%, and 3P% in his 5 years since being named a starter; despite all that he is still what makes the Warriors tick.

Steve Kerr’s ball movement offense is widely publicized and copied throughout the league, and for good reason. Because of that, the Warriors rarely run straight pick n rolls, due to Kerr not wanting to “alienate” the players outside of their stars.

You can absolutely understand the logic and value of involving everyone in the offense, making it that much harder to defend. But with that in mind, Golden State still finds ways to maximize the playmaking skills of Draymond in the Short Roll.

The Short Roll is, as you can guess, a play in the PNR where the rolling big gets the ball before getting all the way to the basket and from there makes a play based on how the defense reacts. Because of the lethality of Steph’s shooting, the defense often hedges on him in the PNR, meaning the defending big lunges out quickly at him before returning to his man. This can buy the on-ball defender some time to recover over the screen. Still, this requires the next level of defense to be in sync and ready to help wherever necessary.