Good read
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/sports/basketball/golden-state-warriors-south-plains-texans.html
Really interesting read here about a coach completely switching the way his team plays to be like the Warriors. Its about a JUCO and a couple of the guys will be playing at TTU next season.
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Cool article! Sounds like those kids going to Tech will be interesting to deal with next season.
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@BeddieKU23 Really going to have to keep any eye on the Raiders next season! Lots of seniors and then adding some good bench pieces like this make them interesting.
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I love the open style that GS plays. They spread the floor and everyone except their few tree post players can drive the ball. Sometimes it feels like they are running a 5-man isolation.
Kerr looks at players through a PG’s eyes. That is why they have become so great. He looks to sign players with definite “motion offense” skills.
What Kerr doesn’t really get credit for is his ability to make his teams respectable on defense. We all know how difficult it is to take offensive-minded players and turn them into decent defenders.
I think a big part of it is their ability to speed up games.
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@drgnslayr Well, speeding the game up is definitely a huge part of it. There are some games that they are up 30 at half just because their offense is so good and the other team is just trying to keep up, but can’t.
But the other part is simply versatility. KD, Green, Iggy Livingston and Klay are all 6’6 or taller and strong enough to guard a post or quick enough to take a guard. Makes it harder to score in transition and under 5 seconds against them. Plus, the length itself completely changes the game. They have done a helluva job building a roster for this.
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Definitely, Brangers making 10 3’s in a game, that’s exactly the type of player Tech was missing this season to compliment Evans…
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I’m pretty sure I could coach GS lineup to the championship game and I’ve never coached a game. Easiest job in basketball.
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Klay Thompson is to me the key to GSW. Interestingly, although he is tall, he is still shorter than his 1978 Gophers All-American, 14-year NBA, 2-time NBA champ father, Mychal.
I wonder if he grew up having to shoot long shots, and perfecting them, while trying to play Dad on their home hoop?
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@dylans Frequently the team with the most very good or great players is the hardest to coach. The biggest task for an NBA coach is handling egos. Handling those egos is also made more difficult because they are making a lot more money than the coach and they have guaranteed contracts. Even the most team oriented players still have to be handled correctly. That is especially true when there are a number of all stars involved. GS was only beginning to get the most out of the addition of Durant about the time he went down. It’s great to have 3 or 4 players who can score at any time, but the issue is who is handling the ball at the end of a tough game. KD was the man ever since he was at Texas. Steph has been the man the past few years. Even when they want to play team ball it is still a hard practice to break not to want or need the ball at the end. The coach has to convince everyone to buy into what he wants the people to do.
The other thing that people forget about is that the starting 5 are not the only key people. In college most teams go with 7 or 8 players getting the majority of the time. That has to go up to 9 or 10 in the NBA because not only are the games are longer but the level of competition night to night is higher than in college. Determining the best rotation of the top 9 or 10 and adjusting that because of match ups is not easy.
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@sfbahawk Phil never struggled to win with talent. Spolstra didn’t and Kerr is not getting the most out of the talent. It’s best of seven series, not the NCAA crapshoot, the most talented team should win if the coach is up to the task.
