Have Steve Kerr's Recent Rotations Been Affecting Steph Curry?

The past three games, Steve Kerr has tried tinkering with something that hasn’t been tinkered with in nearly 6 years: Steph Curry’s substitution patterns.

Since 2015, Steph Curry has generally played the whole first and third quarters, while sitting for the first 6 minutes or so of the second and fourth quarters. This rotation pattern has obviously led to good results, as Steph has consistently been one of the most consistent scorers and shooters in the NBA. The past few games, though, Steve Kerr has tried a different rotation pattern.

In recent games against the Thunder, Kerr took Steph out with around 4 minutes left in the first quarter. Against the Hornets, however, Kerr took this rotation pattern to the next level and pulled Steph with around 4 minutes left in the first, second and third quarters. In this game, Steph was a -1 while shooting 28% from three-point range.

At first, after watching Kerr alter Steph’s typical rotations, I was really irked. To me, it seemed like pulling Steph midway through quarters wouldn’t allow him to get into enough of a rhythm to shoot his way out of his slump, but Steph’s “slump” began before the substitution changes. In games before his different rotations, Steph was shooting 42% from the field and 39% from three-point range. Granted, these numbers really aren’t that low, but they’re lower than Steph’s typical standards.

It’s also worth noting that during the past few games, Kerr has made remarks that Steph has felt “under the weather,” and that the rotation changes were due to him trying to “keep his total minutes down in the 34 range.” While the Warriors have found success in recent games when Curry’s minutes have been non-typical, Steph hasn’t found these different substitution patterns to be in his comfort zone.

“We’re winning right now,” said Curry with a playful wince on his face when asked about his new substitution pattern. “It’s still early in the year. I wanna play 48 minutes. I’m always surprised when I come out. We’ll fine-tune that as the season goes on, but we’re winning.”

Curry’s right, the Warriors are winning despite his odd substitution patterns. Since the October 30th game against the Thunder in which Kerr started showing signs that he would be altering things, the Warriors have outscored their opponents by a total of 84 points.

While Steph’s numbers have been down, you can’t argue with the good results—albeit these results have come against subpar teams. If the Warriors were losing during this experiment with Curry’s sub patterns, I would be much more bothered and would worry that Kerr was doing too much to keep Steph fresh. But since the Warriors are winning, I’m choosing to view this change in Steph’s norm as a good sign from the coaching staff. Kerr has been unwilling to adapt in the past, but watching him try something new alongside Kenny Atkinson and Mike Brown is encouraging. This team has a lot of depth, and with the emergence of Gary Payton II, there’s a lot of room to work and try new things.

I do think Kerr and the Warriors’ coaching staff needs to be careful, though. For the past six seasons, Curry’s substitution patterns have worked and provided good results. Like the old saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. All in all, Steph has a good attitude about his minutes, despite his hesitancy and lower numbers.

“I’m open to different looks that may keep minutes monitored but still allow it to be continuous and what I’m used to. But again, it’s a long season and these things get ironed out pretty quickly.”

(Photo credit: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

Ben StrawnStephen Curry, Steve Kerr, WarriorsComment