The Golden State Warriors are undefeated. They’re the league’s best defensive team thus far, and they lead the NBA in possessions per game. They are incredibly fun to watch, and the 4-0 record they achieved along the way is a nice byproduct of all that glee.
As a result, the team is allowing its rookie head coach – Steve Kerr – to sleep well at ease after he has to go pee.
(I’m so sorry for that.)
"I hate to go into detail, but I'm 49, so every night I wake up at 3:30 (a.m.) to take a pee, like most 49-year-olds," Kerr told USA TODAY Sports this week. "And when I was a broadcaster, I went right back to sleep. Now it's 'What plays should we run? What about this? What about that?'
"It's getting better. I'm much more comfortable with the (coaching) routine, and so I have actually been sleeping better. I've definitely been sleeping better the past few days, since we've been winning. But we haven't had a loss yet. As soon as that happens, I'm sure I'll feel it."
Gross.
Kerr has appeared just about unflappable in the months since he took over for the fired Mark Jackson, but you know there has to be some storm and stress brewing inside there.
The Warriors did underachieve under Jackson, but rarely do you see a coach of a playoff participant (one working without its injured and irreplaceable big man Andrew Bogut) be let go after two seasons of significant improvement like this. One could argue that the improvement had more to do with the Warriors’ players than the team’s coaching staff, most of us would fall in line with that argument, but the expectations and weight of a five-year, $25 million contract for a man in Kerr who hadn’t coached at any level had to be a bit much.
Luckily for Kerr, he had the weight of the Warriors roster to fall back on. The team still has its holes, health is a concern for just about every prominent member of the team’s rotation, but this wouldn’t be nearly as gnarly a gig as the New York Knick one Kerr seemed ready to glom onto earlier in the offseason. Despite the re-signing of Carmelo Anthony, Phil Jackson designed that squad to be steeped in stasis, a proving ground before things can get serious in 2015. To say nothing of the New York media, and being an entire continent’s trip away from his family.
Now, Kerr has his own playground’s worth of fabulous Warrior toys, as good a crew of assistant coaches as one can hire, and an undefeated record through four contests. Yes, one of those losses was against the lowly Lakers, but impressive victories over the Clippers, Trail Blazers, and 4-1 Sacramento Kings have the team rolling.
Most intriguingly, this team is all sorts of weird.
The Warriors are not only tops in pace, but tops in defensive efficiency. Basic cable types will continue to take Golden State down a peg as some sort of shoot-first outfit (which was off even when Jackson improved the team’s defense considerably last season), but the Warriors have literally raced out to the top of the league on the defensive end.
More importantly to the fan, possibly in an Eastern time zone and bleary-eyed while the W’s play ‘round midnight? This team is heaps of fun to watch.
The squad had its offensive moments last year, but plays broke down after the initial option was scuttled, and Golden State too often relied on isolation moves in order to make its middling hay on that end.
No more. Though the end results aren’t much better in the early going, holy lord is this a fun team to watch.
Kerr’s best seasons were spent playing in the triangle offense, and while he wasn’t exactly cutting to the rim and taking in passes on his way to a flush, he did play with expert post passers like Dennis Rodman and (do not laugh) Luc Longley often initiating the offense from the low post. The ball is going into a healthy Andrew Bogut more often, players are cutting, and life is good. Sort of.
Bogut has tossed his fair share of lovely dimes to his more offensive-minded teammates, but he’s also turning the ball over on one-third of the possessions he’s using up. For a prominent player to even approach 20 percent in this area is a no-no, so Bogut will have to find a way to cut back on the miscues. Fellow initiator Andre Iguodala isn’t far behind in that regard, as well.
Golden State can’t stop in this area, though. This is what the autumn and winter months are for, establishing a moving mindset and working your way into shape when it comes to spacing, timing, and trust. Bogut has to remain an offensive focus, and the team has to keep moving. They’ll be forced into continued smaller lineups as big forward David Lee (who has played just seven minutes all season) will be out for at least another fortnight with a hamstring injury. This is the time to have some fun, to cough things up, and to figure things out.
Even during Jackson’s isolation-heavy turn, the Warriors were always a must-watch. Now that the team has ramped up the pace, now that Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry are putting (so far, and just statistically) MVP-level work, and now that a healthy Bogut and Iguodala are filling in the cracks, things are changing.
The Warriors have considerable turnover problems, as a team they’re last in the league, and Thompson and Curry can’t possibly sustain this sort of play for 82 games. The squad remains fearful of injury, the bench is a little weak, and four games is hardly enough time to judge the culture that Steve Kerr had hoped to change – be it on court or in front of the tape machine.
It’s a good start, though. And a fun one. Sleep well, Steve, because it’s working so far.
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