The special ways through which Moses Moody and Quinten Post have become valuable specialists

Dubs keep on rolling.

With no knowledge of what transpired throughout the game, guessing what the first bucket the Golden State Warriors scored against the Portland Trail Blazers would net answers such as a Steph Curry three, a Draymond Green layup off of Curry drawing two to the ball, or a Jimmy Butler and-1 after drawing a foul in the post against a smaller defender. Even a Moses Moody three generated off of an advantage created by Curry or Butler wouldn’t be a farfetched guess.

A Quinten Post three also isn’t that wild of an answer. Rather, it’s how Post managed to get his three-point look that was quite unusual, especially knowing how this team has had a history of centers whose effectivity downslopes the farther they are from the paint. In order to understand how unusual the setup was, take note of this typical staggered-screen setup, in which two players set staggered away screens for a shooter, who may choose to come off of both screens or curl/reject the first screen:

Should Klay Thompson choose option one or two (reject or curl) in the example above, the next progression should be the first screener coming off of the second screener in single away screen action, as what happens below for Patrick Baldwin Jr. (remember him?):

Looking back, Baldwin — a 6’10” stretch-four — was a precursor to what happened against the Blazers tonight. Just like Baldwin, the 7-foot Post was the first screener in a staggered-away setup for Curry, who chose to reject Post’s screen in order to clear toward the weak side. Green then comes over to pin in for Post, whose man (Donovan Clingan) is far from accustomed to having to guard an off-ball screening action, let alone having to saunter out on the perimeter:

Which makes Post quite a unique weapon, a specialist in the sense that he is the only one on the roster, at his size and position, who can do what he does on offense: stretch the floor from a position where most of his counterparts are uncomfortable guarding the three-point line.

Post is also a specialist on defense, albeit in a different manner — for better or worse. Post’s immobility renders him unable to diversify his pick-and-roll coverages. Switching him out onto a quicker guard or wing turns him into a virtual traffic cone, both unable to keep his man in front while also not being able to stay underneath the rim to act as the last line of defense. Having him step up to the level of the screen or commit to a full hedge or trap is matchup dependent — while also running the same risk as if he were to switch out (arguably more of a risk, due to the rest of the defense being put in rotation and having to scramble in such scenarios).

Drop coverage has somewhat of a notorious reputation in the modern NBA, due to the proliferation of pull-up shooting that can punish bigs dropping back in ball-screen actions. Given certain conditions — a proficient drop defender and an on-ball defender who can navigate screens, for example — drop coverage can be a useful tool to keep possessions two vs. two and prevent a defense from being put in rotation.

Against the Blazers, Post flashed his discipline and fundamentals as a drop defender. Him being able to contain and corral ball handlers while also keeping tabs on the roll man — i.e., playing the middle ground effectively — stood out.

(Note how the rest of the Warriors defenders did not have to significantly move off of their assignments. Curry doesn’t stray far off of Toumani Camara in the weak-side corner; Green marginally “tags” Clingan but otherwise stays in position to close out on Deni Avdija; Moody stays home on Anfernee Simons in the strong-side corner, as he should.)

As mentioned, effective drop coverage possessions often require two components: the drop big and the on-ball defender. Being paired with Moody — whose screen navigation and ball pressure have stood out over the past few games — helps Post play his part effectively:

Another specialist extraordinaire in the making, Moody’s on-ball defense complemented Post’s drop coverage perfectly — while also standing out on its own merits. Not too long ago, Moody was lauded for his exceptional on-ball defense against the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, whom he “iced” and “weaked” profusely in an attempt to deny Brunson from driving down the middle of the lane. He picked up where he left off from that game:

While also excelling as a ball-pressure specialist against Simons and against Moody’s high school teammate Cade Cunningham a few nights ago. Bolstered by familiarity, Moody was able to give Cunningham fits in spots. Suffice to say, Cunningham was made to work for all of his points, just like Brunson before him:

Moody’s development as a point-of-attack specialist is adding to an existing skill set as a roamer/help defender, whose 7’1” wingspan transforms wayward passes into forced turnovers. When playing the role of the one “helping the helper” in the possession below, he splits the difference perfectly between the dunker spot and the corner — stunting to take away the dunker option, compelling Avdija pass to the corner and making Avdija realize that it’s exactly the move Moody wanted him to make:

But perhaps the most impressive trait of his defense has been his lock-and-trail chops and screen navigation when chasing movers off the ball. He tracks Simons around the off-ball screen below, gets in front on time to contest and force the miss, and triggers the break — one that he himself finishes:

All while shooting the three-ball at a 38.3% success rate — projecting him as a valuable 3-and-D specialist whose tenacity as a ball hawk and proficiency as a help defender are making it very, very difficult to justify a reduction of minutes, should one ever come.

While Curry’s rejuvenated sense of purpose and Butler’s timely arrival are the major reasons behind this late-season surge, the emergence of specialist skill sets to complement Curry and Butler shouldn’t be ignored. Post and Moody have been two glaring examples of such — special to watch how they’ve specialized and filled in glaring gaps the Warriors needed to fill after the trade deadline.