Golden State Warriors: Mark Jackson … The Perfect Fit
A new era of basketball has emerged in the Bay Area, and no, it’s not the Sacramento Kings. The Golden State Warriors went in to the 2013 playoffs relatively under the radar and many wrote them off as a first-round victim of the Denver Nuggets. However, sparked by the incredible shooting of the “Splash Bros.” (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson), the Warriors defeated the Nuggets in six games, marking the biggest upset in the playoffs that year. They entered the next round as the underdog against the San Antonio Spurs, but hey, everyone loves the underdog. The Warriors certainly gave the Spurs a run for their money and all they could handle, but ended up falling in six games. The series seemed much longer as it featured two overtime games, one of which took two overtime periods to complete, and almost every game leaving fans on the edge of their seats. Yes, the Warriors, coming off a solid, yet average for the Western Conference, year, certainly finished in dazzling fashion and left fans greatly anticipating next season. But what was the biggest reason for the Warriors’ success? Was it the incredible shooting of their amazing backcourt? Sure. Or the amazing play by their rookies like Harrison Barnes, Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green? Definitely a factor. But to be successful, every good team needs a great coach in order reach that next level of greatness. Mark Jackson, in his second year as a head coach, demonstrated an incredible ability to lead his team through adversity while at the same time making them believe they could accomplish anything. Yes, Mark Jackson is the perfect fit for this group of players.
Mark Jackson has proved to be the perfect fit for the Warriors.
(Photo Credit: Yarnivore Flickr.com)
When the Warriors hired Mark Jackson as their new head two years ago, many questions and concerns arose. He’d never coached before. Could he be a successful coach? The risk is too big. He can’t lead this group of players. On and on the criticisms went. Granted, Jackson had no coaching or assistant coaching experience and although he had a very successful playing career as a point guard for 17 seasons, he still had no experience. His previous position was a color commentator for ESPN and while his catch phrases like “that’s a grown man move” or “Mama, there goes that man” provide a great deal of entertainment for the fans, it does nothing for his coaching ability. His first year, unfortunately, seemingly proved these critics right. With a goal of making the playoffs, the Warriors finished with a record of 23-43 in the shortened season. With the flop that was the 2012 season. Jackson vowed to turn the team around and prove the critics wrong in 2013. He was true to his word as the Warriors finished sixth in the West with a 47-35 record, the best team record in almost 20 years. Jackson’s ability to inspire his team is unmatched by any coach in the league. While coaches like Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich prove to be masters of strategy, Jackson’s best asset is his ability to motivate his team to produce greatness.
“I said I’ve got the greatest shooting backcourt that’s ever played the game. Call my bluff.” Mark Jackson has said this repeatedly about his stellar-shooting backcourt of Thompson and Curry and while this statement may not be true and there may be those who disagree ( Jeff Hornacek and John Stockton, Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars) it gives both guards immense amounts of confidence that will carry far into their careers. Jackson has the entire team buying into his plan for success and with the incredible team chemistry and love for their coach the Warriors possess, anything is possible.
This season, Jackson and the Warriors overcame many people counting them out of the playoff conversation, especially after guard Brandon Rush tore his ACL in his left knee in the second game of the season. Jackson continued to motivate his team by continuously telling them they would have to find a way to win without Rush, which they did. The Warriors continued to defy expectations, but whenever they hit a rough patch during the season, they knew where to turn. Jackson always found a way to inspire and motivate his team to play a higher level of basketball and work harder than their opponent. It can’t be stressed enough how Mark Jackson has truly changed the culture of the Warriors so far in his coaching tenure, but this is just the beginning. Jackson has the entire team believing they can shock the world; how big will the shock be?