How Steve Kerr Has The Warriors Playing Their Best Basketball
The Golden State Warriors currently sit at the top of the NBA, remarkable given the fact that they weren’t even at the top of the Western Conference last season.
This is in no small part to the brilliant mind of head coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr has come into the Warriors’ locker room and changed everything for a team that was loaded with potential and on the rise. With resident stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and a defensive-minded center in Andrew Bogut, Golden State was quietly putting the pieces together to create an elite team capable of winning a championship.
All this team needed was the right leader, and Kerr is that man without question.
The biggest reason why Kerr has had success with this team is that he has the attitude and confidence in himself to take chances and risks with his players and rotations.
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Former coach Mark Jackson stuck with traditional lineups during his tenure with the team, playing with a front court of David Lee and Bogut, and plugging in traditional small forward Andre Iguoudala to round out the starting unit.
This year, Kerr has taken the team in a completely different direction, asking two veteran players who are being paid starter money to come off the bench in favor of unique, younger talents.
Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green have come in and have done a remarkable job for the Warriors, having career years as starting players and have even been looked at as important reasons why Golden State has had a top-10efficient defense all season long.
With Green and Barnes on the floor along with Thompson, the Warriors have so much versatility to play around with, especially on defense. All three are around the same size as each other, meaning they can switch onto one another’s man with little to no problems whatsoever.
This kind of constant switching allows the Warriors’ defenders to take more chances than they normally would whether it be going for deflections or blocked shots.
Knowing that you have someone behind you that can pick up your man and help out no questions asked is a big plus for a defensive unit that couldn’t quite get there last season and ultimately was a no-show in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Offensively, all three can hit perimeter jump shots along with outside sniper Curry, making it difficult for defenses to key in on just one player. Not only can this team make shots from almost anywhere on the floor, but they also have two great passers in Curry and Green capable of making plays for others as well as themselves.
Having a passing weapon in the post has been huge for a team that lacked the same kind of ball movement on offense last season than it does now.
Having players that know the game of basketball well and can figure out the best possible spots to get their teammates the ball can be a rarity at times, but Kerr has been able to take advantage of this and put his players in the best possible position to succeed time after time.
There may not even be a handful of coaches in the entire NBA that can do what Kerr has stepped in and done this season with the Warriors. He has trusted his instincts and knowledge of the game and has not only gotten two quality players to accept lesser roles, but has placed big responsibility on younger players and has watched them flourish in the spotlight.
I can’t think of many coaches that would have the confidence to make the moves and adjustments to this team that he has, but that’s what has made the difference for a team that went from middle of the pack in the Western Conference to the best team the league has to offer.
This is a deep and balanced team on both ends of the floor that is capable of making a run at a title. If Jackson would’ve stayed with the team or if the Warriors had gone in a different direction besides Kerr, Golden State probably wouldn’t be in the position its in now.
Truly a remarkable job by Kerr in his first season as a coach to say the least. He’s the Coach of the Year in my mind by far.