It's no secret that I'm a Clippers guy, and as a given that means I absolutely despise the Lakers through and through. That still leaves two other California NBA teams: the Kings and the Warriors. And because the Kings are no threat at all, we're going to spend this time talking about the Warriors. A fringe playoff team in the West who signed a new coach this offseason and torpedoed themselves to the top of the conference and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Came out of nowhere and grabbed the league and it's audience by the balls. Well, a few things happened to trigger their ascension.
First, and obviously, is the hiring of Steve Kerr. Mark Jackson was a great coach, but not for this team. He tried to force these guys into a more traditional system where they played strong defense and tried to work the ball into the post whenever possible. In Chicago or Memphis that's perfect, but on a team with more possible shooters than the Tupac and Biggie murders combined you need to push the ball and space the floor. Enter Steve Kerr, a former guard and long range specialist, maybe the post perfect person in the entire world to coach a Steph Curry-led unit. With Kerr's help, despite David Lee's injury the Golden State has still managed to average nearly 7 points more per game than last year.
On top of Steve Kerr another key coach was brought in to assist in player development and help maintain Jackson's defensive principles - Ron Adams, former assistant to the LEGENDARY Tom Thibodeau. Thibs Jr. has helped to coach up the guard oriented Warriors defense into forcing two more turnovers per game than last year, which has led to more opportunities to score, something they really like doing a lot. On top of that he has been a key factor in the developments of players like Klay Thompson and Draymond Green who, if it weren't for Jimmy Butler, is arguably the NBA's Most Improved Player.
Golden State was smart enough to see something that all successful sports franchises see. Sustained success is built through youth and the draft. Good coaching and having the ability to consistently develop young players is an essential commodity in building a lasting product. Look at any sport - the Red Wings, the Patriots, the Cardinals, the Spurs. All of these teams have shown just how valuable a quality staff can be, and as a result despite not being in LA or Chicago or New York they still consistently rival the revenue that those teams see, and in some (maybe most) cases they probably surpass it.
Shit. Golden State used to be fun to watch. Now I'm starting to think that they might become a pretty big fucking headache for the forseeable future.
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