Golden State Warriors: Kerr Starts Barnes, Iggy Off Bench
By Ben Woodward
Back in August, Steve Kerr, newly-anointed as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, made some comments about his plans for the starting rotation that perked the ears of media and fan alike.
Speaking with the San Jose Mercury News, the rookie coach made mention of the fact that he would consider utilizing All-Star swingman Andre Iguodala as a leader of the second unit off the bench.
“Andre started last year, which he probably will (again), but there’s a lot of options that we have because we’ve got really good players in Harrison (Barnes) and Draymond (Green).”
Two months later, with training camp and the preseason as a good measure for what Kerr may want to try to start the year, he stuck true to his original thoughts.
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In Wednesday night’s season opener for the Dubs, Kerr instituted a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut. Green got the nod over power forward incumbent David Lee, who is out dealing with a hamstring strain.
To be fair, Kerr had Iguodala pegged for starter’s minutes from the get-go. Iggy was the first off the bench about halfway through the first quarter, sending Barnes for a breather after missing his first three shots. Iguodala ended up playing a total of 29 minutes off the bench, identical to Barnes’ minutes as a starter.
What does this mean going forward?
In that same interview back in August, Kerr also mentioned that his lineup decisions are all about the right combination, and how the pieces to the puzzle fit. The Golden State Warriors’ next game is a home contest against the struggling Los Angeles Lakers. As far as a small forward matchup, Byron Scott has started Wesley Johnson.
Will Steve Kerr task Klay Thompson with checking Kobe Bryant? Or could this be one of those puzzles that Kerr attempts to solve, where he uses his best defender in Iguodala to guard the Lakers’ only offensive threat?
Personally, I would like to see Klay step up to the challenge and defend Kobe Bryant, who just added a 31-point game to his 2014-15 homecoming campaign on Wednesday night. It would be great for Klay’s confidence and certainly won’t hurt his argument for that max deal he’s after.
But if Kerr is planning on using Iguodala in specific situations “where the puzzle pieces fit,” Iguodala is an extremely valuable asset for defending an opposing team’s best/only offensive weapon.
Offensively, it’s no secret Iguodala has become a different player all together. We’re a long way from his 2007-08 season with the Philadelphia 76ers where he averaged 20 points per game. As a matter of fact, his scoring outputs have dropped on an annual basis since then.
But as we all know, it’s what he does without the ball in his hands that makes him valuable. He’s got great court vision, he’ll play lockdown defense, shoot a high percentage, give you consistent minutes, and he buys in to the team.
As far as Harrison Barnes goes, I think Kerr wants to get a better idea of what he can do in a different system. Kerr can read reports and watch game film from past seasons until his eyes are sore, but before all the anti-Barnes folks come forth, give it a few weeks to breathe.
Let Steve Kerr be the judge of his player and how he can be used. I’ve heard far too many people on Twitter and in barber shop conversations who think they know Harrison Barnes is a bust already. Give the kid a chance with this entirely new coach and system before you mention him in the same context as Ekpe Udoh.
When David Lee returns to his spot at the power forward position, I expect Kerr to continue to experiment based on matchups, and unless he really wants a long hard look at Harrison Barnes in a starting regular season role, I expect to see Iguodala and even Draymond Green get starts at the three.