Golden State Warriors: Will Steve Kerr improve team?

Few really doubt the basketball expertise of new Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. After all, his knowledge was on display for all of America to judge for eight NBA seasons.

What we learned about Kerr is that he thinks about the game a lot, and not from the usual broadcast, color guy sort of way. He seemed to approach it as a coach, delving into numbers and X’s and O’s. Where most color guys will throw up every ounce of knowledge they researched prior to a game, Kerr always seemed to be carefully holding his cards and deciding which to share.

More from Golden State Warriors

He has the respect, too, having achieved success as a five-time NBA champion. For this, he will have the respect of Warriors’ star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

The question is not if Kerr will be a good coach, but if he will make the Warriors better than they were with former coach Mark Jackson. It’s a question asked by Lang Green of BasketballInsiders.com.

"Here’s what we know: Golden State executives grew weary of former head coach Mark Jackson’s behind the scene antics and decided to dismiss the coach and walk in an entirely different direction. Enter Steve Kerr, a former general manager and NBA champion during his playing career. Kerr has no head coaching experience but Warriors’ officials deem him to be a better fit for their strategic vision. But here’s what else we know: The Warriors players had a very strong chemistry built with Jackson and most would run through a brick wall for him.Chemistry is an underrated aspect of today’s NBA. The players loved Jackson. Ownership wasn’t as enamored. Leadership is fully onboard with Kerr, but will the players now follow suit? This is a risky position for Golden State because anything less than what Jackson accomplished for the Warriors will be deemed a failure."

Let’s be clear, Jackson was fired because he clashed with management, not because he led Golden State to two-straight playoffs appearances and a 50-plus win season. So asking if the team will be any better on the court is a legitimate question.

Kerr, while he may get along with the guys in the offices better than Jackson, will face a learning curve taking over as head coach. The players, too, will have to be patient. The Warriors retain much of the same roster as Jackson worked with last season. Players knew what Jackson was going to do. He was going to play his starters together a lot, was going to preach defense and run boring pick-and-rolls on offense or let Curry make it up as he goes.

Kerr will likely hope to retain Jackson’s values on defense and spice up the offense with more ball movement to create open shots for everyone on the team. This, in the long run, should help the Warriors get over the hump in the playoffs. But it will take some time, and Warriors fans should be patient.

Home/Golden State Warriors

Will the Golden State Warriors be better with Steve Kerr?

By Wes Goldberg | Sep 3, 2014