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The Golden State Warriors are destined to be the 2015 NBA Champions. Granted, the Cleveland Cavaliers will put up a strong fight in the NBA Finals, but given how healthy the Warriors have been all season long, combined with their high-octane motion offense and aggressive team defense that produced 67 wins during the regular season, I don’t see the Cavaliers putting up much of a fight.
Much has already been said about the outstanding job Steve Kerr has done in only his rookie season as an NBA head coach. His brilliant offensive sets, firm understanding of lineups and substitutions, and overall phenomenal utilization of the weapons he has is what has already made him one of the best coaches in the league.
Many like to claim that he inherited a good team and that the Warriors’ success this year is mainly because of that. There are some out there that also believe that Mark Jackson did an outstanding job and did not deserve to be fired after the overall solid job he did in his three seasons as the team’s head coach.
Personally, I disagree with both of those sentiments. Sure, the Warriors were a good team before Kerr got there, but it was Kerr who talked Andre Iguodala into coming off the bench, while instead starting Harrison Barnes at the small forward position. And instead of starting David Lee at power forward, Kerr went with the more versatile Draymond Green, who finished second for the “Defensive Player of the Year” this year.
I also am not totally sure Jackson was that great of a coach. If you watched tape of the Warriors during those three years he was there, their offense was not that much different compared to the isolation/hero-ball offense run by Scott Brooks during his time as coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jackson often relied on dump-off isolation sets for Stephen Curry, which sometimes resulted in his offense going stagnant and mostly relying on their best player to make clever plays and difficult shots on a large portion of possessions. Like Brooks, Jackson is a good motivator and his in-game huddles were definitely a highlight of his ability to reach his players, but I am not totally sold that he was the best fit for the Warriors in terms of drawing up the right plays. And neither were they, which is why they released him and brought in Kerr.
It might seem a little premature to say this, but I think that Kerr could potentially become the next Gregg Popovich. After all, he played under Popovich as a player when he was on the San Antonio Spurs, and compared to the Spurs’ playbook, the Warriors mirror a lot of what they do in terms of motion sets, ball movement, and cuts to the basket. Like Popovich, Kerr also demands the best out of his players on the defensive side of the floor, and listening to how he coaches is definitely reminiscent to that of Pop too.
A huge reason Popovich has been so successful with the Spurs is because of his ownership and front office’s trust in him, which is why he is the longest-tenured coach in the league at 19 years. As long as the Warriors can keep most of this year’s team together for the near future, Kerr finds himself in a very similar position too. I’m not sure he will end up coaching two decades for the same team like Popovich has, but I definitely see him winning a few titles in his coaching career as long as this Warriors team stays together, and it looks like they will, given that the NBA salary cap is expected to jump by a considerable amount next offseason, meaning they should be able to hang on to players like Green and Barnes.
Kerr still has plenty to learn too, which is scary considering what he has already accomplished. Anyone who has ever heard him commentate games or appear on talk shows/podcasts over the years knows just how smart he is and how well he knows the sport of basketball.
Will he become the next Popovich? I am not sure he will be regarded in that respect when his career is over. But will he be in the ball park of that discussion when it comes to the all-time great coaches? I think so.
Dan Schultz is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.
