Warriors:
Even in reduced role, head coach helping Golden State succeed
Flourishing Stephen Curry and Golden State try to complete a sweep of the Spurs tonight.
SAN ANTONIO — The Warriors practiced Sunday, because that’s what you do when you’re deep in the playoffs. But it seemed almost a silly exercise, considering that the Warriors are up 3-0 and the Spurs are desperately loading spitballs into their cannons.
You almost could see the ghost of Allen Iverson hovering over the AT&T Center court Sunday, scolding the Warriors. We’re talkin’ ’bout practice, people.
There wasn’t much breaking news from acting head coach Mike Brown or the players, but attending practice is useful, for the daily Kerr check. Is head coach Steve Kerr in the house? If so, you figure he’s feeling reasonably good. If he’s sitting courtside, reading a paper or chatting with people, that’s an even more encouraging sign.
Outsiders, and maybe even the Warriors’ players and assistant coaches, are continually reading the tea leaves, looking for indications that Kerr
might be on the mend, rather than simply appearing in public between ball-peen-hammer headaches.
What’s notable now is that Kerr is not merely sitting and watching. On Saturday, for Game 3 of the series, it was his call to move JaVale McGee into the starting lineup for the injured Zaza Pachulia. It was Brown who pushed the right buttons during the game. He took a risk leaving Stephen Curry on the floor with three fouls in the second quarter, and Curry then led a crucial 24-8 run.
This two-headed coaching situation is working great, despite the juicy potential for ego clashes, confusion, mixed messages and blurred focus.
As practice wound down Sunday, Kerr seemed upbeat and laid back, but just another courtside lounger while, 30 feet away, Brown held court with the media army that is growing as the Warriors approach an epic showdown with the Cleveland LeBrons (Sunday’s shocking loss notwithstanding).
I asked assistant coach Ron Adams how the Warriors have managed to tiptoe through the minefield of this unique coaching situation.
“I think it’s not a minefield because Mike and the rest of us all like hearing Steve’s voice,” Adams said.
The tea-leaf readers were encouraged that Kerr was at the arena for Game 3, watching on TV from the locker room. (He also participated in the coaches’ video-study session Sunday morning.) When Kerr is at the arena for games, he talks to the team at halftime.
“He had some pertinent things to say at halftime yesterday,” Adams said, “and we want his planning input. He’s looking at the game from a different viewpoint than we are. He’s a little detached; he’s got a great view of the game.
“He’s very frustrated that he can’t be (coaching). He loves being around these guys, and it’s eating him up, but I must say when I look at it, the positive is that he is involved and he has pertinent things to say. And Mike is just so great in that equation. It’s very workable right now.”
Before Kerr underwent his most recent treatment, his participation was spotty and unpredictable. But Adams said, “Since he’s been back and feeling a little bit better, I think his role has been pretty consistent.”
I asked Adams what Kerr told the team at halftime.
“It wasn’t our best game,” Adams said, “and Steve has a way of guiding this team and keeping its eye on the target, let’s put it that way. He’s very good, he’s very nuanced about staying with that theme, and making sense to the guys . ...
“He’s giving this team a lot. He’s empowered this team. They have ideas, they have thoughts, you have to be kind of on the same page with those thoughts, and at the same time, you have to be a leader. You have to understand what you’ve created, what your small group’s thought processes are, and be able to guide them and lead then, and this is what he does extremely well, and I thought he did it again at halftime last night.
“It wasn’t any great talk or anything like that, but it was a very well-thought-out analysis of where we were in that game and what we had to do to get better.”
The system that’s working so well now is not a sustainable model, long-term. I’m guessing Kerr worries that the longer he’s out of the top seat, the greater the risk of him losing connection with the players, of losing his ability to contribute significantly to the mission, which would mean he’s just in the way.
If that’s what Kerr is thinking, as smart as he is, he might be underestimating what he has built and what the team gets from him.
When Kerr is around, the Warriors are better. It’s that simple, and that’s not going to change over the next three weeks.