Warriors: McCaw tries to seize chance in starting role.
NEW YORK — Patrick McCaw’s Warriors teammates often call him “P-Nice.” A savvy rookie whose poise belies his youth, McCaw excels at limiting turnovers, finding open teammates and reading defenses.
Now, with McCaw starting in place of Kevin Durant, some of Golden State’s elder statesmen have encouraged him to be more aggressive. This advice helped spark a memorable performance in Thursday’s loss to Chicago, when McCaw scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, nabbed two steals and corralled a career-hightying four rebounds in 29 minutes.
“My teammates are telling me to be a little bit more assertive on both ends of the floor,” said McCaw, who is averaging 10 points on 54.3 percent shooting in five career starts. “Just be a little more vocal, and bring energy because we’re missing a lot without KD. Guys have to step up to fill that void.”
Though new addition Matt Barnes might seem a more natural fit in the starting lineup with Durant sidelined at least four weeks by a left knee injury, head coach Steve Kerr has opted for McCaw — a 6foot-7, 185-pound combo guard — for two reasons: It allows Kerr to keep the second unit intact, and it lends experience to a player who could be an important cog long-term.
After re-signing Durant and Stephen Curry this summer, the Warriors will have a tough time bringing back free agents Shaun Livingston and Ian Clark, among others. There is a good chance McCaw will be Golden State’s third guard as soon as next season.
With that in mind, Kerr has given McCaw more minutes the past five weeks. His highlight came in the Warriors’ Feb. 13 loss to Denver, when he nearly orchestrated a fourthquarter comeback and finished with a career-high 19 points.
Though McCaw seldom takes ill-advised shots, he tends to defer to others when sharing the floor with Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia .On Thursday, after hitting a threepointer late in the first quarter, McCaw began to attack the rim. He drove hard for a layup and leaked out for an alley-oop dunk.
“I think he’s been amazing,” Green said. “One thing about Patrick is he has the utmost confidence in himself. … You’ve got to appreciate that about him. That’s why he’s had good games, and that’s why he’s played well for us.”
Kerr has yet to commit to a starting lineup with Durant out. With 21 games left, all he knows is that McCaw will get plenty of run.
“It’s unreal to even be on this team,” said McCaw, a secondround pick from UNLV. “It’s still surreal, and I’m still just taking it all in.” Rare practice: The Warriors held practice Saturday morning at the NBA Players Association offices in Manhattan. Not including shootarounds, it is Golden State’s only team workout in a two-week stretch. The club, which is three games into a five-city, eight-day trip, returns to Oakland for a March 8 game against Boston. Then, it’s on to Minnesota and San Antonio for a back-to-back road set.
That leaves minimal time for Barnes, who signed Thursday for the rest of the season, to get acclimated to his new team. After practice Saturday, he spent about 20 minutes reviewing out-of-bounds plays with assistant coaches Jarron Collins and Willie Green.
“This is our only practice basically in about two weeks,” Kerr said. “So, we needed it.”