Where did The Golden State Warriors come from?
The Warriors were a good team prior to the 2014-15 season. Stephen Curry had emerged as a star player under the watch of head coach Mark Jackson.
The team went Next Level in 2014-15 though. Why?
Mike Johnston was the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2015-16 season. They got off to a slow start. 15-10-3. Then, Johnston was replaced by Mike Sullivan. The Penguins took off, and won the Stanley Cup that season and the next.
Did Sidney Crosby just happen to take his game to the next level when the coaching change occurred? Did the Penguins just happen to take off and win two championships in a row after the coaching change?
Matt Williams was a disaster as the manager of the Washington Nationals. Yes, the team had a good record and won the NL East Division Title in 2014, but he prematurely pulled Jordan Zimmermann from Game 2 of the NLDS that year, blowing up that team’s chance to win that series. The team won just 83 games the next year and missed the playoffs.
Williams was replaced by Dusty Baker at the start of the 2016 season. The team enjoyed a complete turnaround. They won 95 games in 2016 and 97 the following season, winning the NL East Division Title both seasons. Yes, the team lost in the NLDS both years, but that wasn’t Dusty’s fault.
Why did Mike Rizzo fire Dusty? Huge mistake. The Nationals will miss the playoffs this year, as I predicted.
Did the Nationals just happen to take off when Baker replaced Williams? Was the team’s success in 2016 and 2017 because of Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg? Or was it because of Dusty Baker?
It was because of Dusty Baker.
See, coaching is determinative. Baseball, hockey and basketball are team games. And teams are led by their coaches.
Leadership Matters. Third principle of SABR Skepticism.
Mark Jackson was replaced by Steve Kerr at the start of the 2014-15 season.
Mark Jackson is a good coach. But Steve Kerr is Next Level.
See, Kerr is a disciple of both Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Need I say more?
Yes.
Phil Jackson is the greatest coach in the history of sports. His record speaks for itself.
Michael Jordan was in the NBA for many years before Phil Jackson became his coach. He became a champion when Phil Jackson became his coach.
Kobe Bryant was in the NBA for many years before Phil Jackson became his coach. He became a champion when Phil Jackson became his coach.
Phil Jackson Matters.
Yet no one ever talks about him. Strange.
Steve Kerr became the coach of the Warriors prior to the 2014-15 season.
Kerr is Awesome. He looks like somebody who has spent a lot of time reading Alan Watts books. That is probably why the Warriors have had so much success in recent years.
Whatever it is, the Warriors went Next Level under Kerr. The Warriors had won 47 games in 2012-13 and 51 in 2013-14. In 2014-15, they won 67 games. WOAH.
That year, in the NBA Finals they were up against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron James’s team.
Early that year in the playoffs Kevin Love hurt his shoulder. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals that year Kyrie Irving hurt his knee. It was just Lebron and the role players the rest of the way.
The Warriors won the series in six games.
What would have happened if Kyrie Irving hadn’t gotten hurt in Game 1 of the series?
The Cavaliers would have won the series. 100 %.
Lebron James is The Greatest Basketball Player in The World. And Kyrie Irving is damn good too.
Don’t believe me? Just look what happened in 2016 when Kyrie Irving AND Kevin Love were both healthy.
That didn’t end well for the Warriors. That didn’t end well for Curry.
Curry is a great three point shooter. But what the Warriors lacked in 2016 with both teams at full strength was a mid-range isolation scorer like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or …
KEVIN DURANT.
The Warriors needed KD to become a championship team.
I don’t care about the 2015 “championship.”
“Real champions prove that they’re champions.” That’s what the song said. Didn’t you watch the 2016 NBA Finals?
The Warriors had a chance to prove their 2015 championship wasn’t just a fluke. They failed.
The Warriors needed KD. They needed that mid-range isolation scorer they could go to when the threes weren’t falling.
The critics said that KD was “riding the Warriors coattails.”
Why? Because the Warriors won a series in 2015 when both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were out with injuries?
This is a joke right?
What would the Warriors have looked like in 2016-17 if KD hadn’t showed up? Would they necessarily have been as good? NO.
People complain about “iso-ball.” They say KD plays “hero-ball.” Why do they do this? It’s simple. They’re jealous of him. See, KD is AWESOME. His critics aren’t. So they scratch and claw up at him like pathetic kitty cats. WEAK!
KD was So Awesome in Game 3 of the 2017 NBA Finals. He was So Legit. That’s why he was named MVP that year. Because he was So Legit.
KD was So Awesome in Game 3 of the 2018 NBA Finals. OMG. WOW. It was just the other day. Curry couldn’t hit a shot! He was So Awful! KD bailed him out again!
Even a great coach like Steve Kerr needs a mid-range isolation scorer with the requisite personality type to lead his team on-court. How did Phil Jackson do when MJ decided to go play baseball that year? Pretty well. But Scottie Pippen is no Michael Jordan. He isn’t a lead jackal.
Curry is a lead jackal. But the three ball can only take you so far. His style of play can only take you so far. That’s why the Warriors needed KD.
As far as I’m concerned, the Warriors are two time champions. 2015 is irrelevant to me.
This Warriors team is damn good now though. Are they beatable?
They have Phil’s guy. They have KD. They’ve got some good role players. That will be a tall task.
Stay tuned.
SABR Skeptic 