well, the Dubs got the first win tonight, but Quinn didn't start and he didn't play particularly well.
Gotta say Kerr is a coaching genius, to get that sort of offensive efficiency out of a lineup without a PG. Using Draymond as a Point Forward, as well as Durant as a secondary Point Forward. It also helps that Thompson was absolutely on fire, El Fuegon, en fueguissimo!!!
true, but you still need the right combination of players, and to design plays that get the most out of their skills. They played and beat a playoff team without using a starting PG, and the PG they did play came off the bench and didn't play that well. I think that says a lot about using the combination of players Kerr has and designing plays to get the most out of them.
I'd say you haven't really looked at the data associated with this topic.
With Kerr out in 2015/16 with a back, Luke Walton had a higher win % (39-4 or 90.7%) than Kerr (34-5 or 87.2%). And that was without Durant.
Then last year, with Durant, Kerr missed the first 4 rounds of the playoffs before returning for the finals. Mike Brown coached the Warriors to a 12-0 record in that span.
I love Steve Kerr, but I'd say that the Warriors are pretty good regardless of who's coaching them.
Kerr and his philosophy sets the culture and tone for GSW. I think any thought that GSW would be fine if Kerr left and that team would roll on is incorrect. People can quote data all they want, but Kerr is a huge intangible, whether he's on the sideline or talking to the coaches before and after games. GSW was a first round playoff team, barely getting to the 2nd round with Mark Jackson as coach. Jackson was fired, Kerr took over and won the NBA championship. That was with basically the same team with stars Curry, Thompson and Green.
Cook isn't showing much tonight against the Spurs. SA's D (absent last game) is playing much better this game. And of course playoff basketball is pretty different than playing the Kings and Suns in meaningless late season games. But his play still is solid as a reserve. He's getting minutes.
As I was about to send this, Cook hits a 3 from the corner!'
9F
A lot more changed than just Kerr, though. Two of the reasons Lacob fired Jackson was because Jackson refused to upgrade his assistants, and Jackson didn't have a good relationship with the rest of the organization. Kerr in contrast allowed Lacob's money to help him assemble a great coaching staff, including defensive guru Ron Adams, who is still around and helps a lot. Of the original staff assembled, Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry have left to become head coaches to give people an idea of how amazing that staff was. Also, GSW's staff works extensively with their top-of-the-line analytics department to implement strategy. Something that Mark Jackson would not have done. It's really an organizational success, not just one person.
I do think Kerr deserves credit and has performed like a top-10 coach -- afterall, GSW hired him so he must be good -- but I also think GSW would be fine if he left. As an organization, GSW is smart enough to hire another very good coach (including possibly just promoting from within) to steer the ship.
I acknowledge your points and agree with many of them, but I guess we have to agree to disagree on Kerr specifically. I actually never liked Kerr as a player at Arizona, as I disliked the Wildcats in the late 80s/early 90s due to the Duke/AZ games at the time. I've softened on him over the years, particularly because I found him to be a solid announcer. And now I think he's one of the best in the league. Besides the basics, I think he does set the tone and culture working with ownership and the front office. The players seem to respect him greatly, even Green who can be a loose cannon at times. Coaches and players are never truly plug-and-play. Bring in, say, Phil Jackson or Pat Riley or another "great" coach, and despite their coaching chops there's no guarantee that the coach works well in the GSW ecosystem. I think there's such a thing as the right man at the right time. I think Kerr is that guy.
Anyway, this string is about our guy Cook. He was serviceable last night. He didn't hunt his shot so much, but that's not the game plan in the playoffs. His points all came when GSW had pulled away. 18 minutes in a (mostly) non-rout playoff game still says the staff trusts him on the floor, and his +/- of +3 isn't as worse than it seems - he was on the floor at true garbage time with 1 minute left, and the Spurs outscored the Warriors by at least 4. But still compared to the others who played more minutes, it wasn't quite in the same ballpark. His D really is what I think he should work on over the summer. In any case, so far I'd give him a B in his first playoffs.
It is kind of sad for Casspi once again. The guy leads the league in games played without ever getting to play in the playoffs. And he's 5th all time in that ignominious category. Here comes Cook, a 2-way player with a few games under his belt. And bang, he's in the playoffs. If it was Cousins (2nd most active in this category), I wouldn't shed a tear. But Casspi seems like a good guy who got snakebit this season.
This is rad:
https://twitter.com/nbagleague/statu...993259009?s=20
Contains 8+ minute video about Quinn.
Quinn with a solid game off the bench in the Game 3 win last night, 12 pts on 9 shots! In fact, the bench PG combo of Quinn + Livingston scored 30 very efficiently. I'm not sure how necessary it was to keep Quinn on the roster, given how the starting lineup has been reshuffled, but i'm glad he's still playing, and doing well. If Curry remains either out or below 100%, Quinn's value will certainly grow a lot in the 2nd round.
Kyle gets BUCKETS!
https://youtu.be/NJWPASQZqLc
I wondered that too...the new lineup, using KD in an unusual role, and almost Dukie Livingston on the bench - it does beg the question as to whether Quinn would've been signed had Kerr stumbled upon this idea earlier. But Quinn is deserving, and I'm so happy for him. He'll do well.
And maybe Kerr did have this idea earlier, and wanted Quinn anyway.
Even though Quinn is coming off the bench, he's still played 25, 18, and 21 minutes in the three games so far. Any rotation player is important because you can't have someone like Quinn who is playing >40% of the game on average be bad and compromise your team during those minutes. Quinn is an important piece.
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/04/24/nb...-stephen-curry
Just posted today in si.com:
A Warriors-Spurs postseason rematch was once highly anticipated. Kevin Durant cooking with Steph Curry sidelined was always expected. Durant feeding a fellow Warrior, curling off a pindown screen, is typically regimented; Quinn Cook serving as that teammate—draining a two-dribble pull-up jumper and extending Golden State’s lead into double digits—was, even very recently, highly improbable.
Cook will play a valuable role as the Warriors look to vanquish San Antonio in Tuesday night’s Game 5. He’s seen 19.8 minutes per outing during the first-round series’ initial four contests, providing imperative floor spacing for Golden State’s reserve units that often feature interior-inclined veterans Shaun Livingston and David West. Cook has earned Steve Kerr’s trust. You warrant quite a bit of faith after seamlessly starting in Curry’s place for 18 games, shooting 44.2% from deep and routinely scoring 20 points. “It was just a wild, wild year,” Cook says.
Quinn played some nice minutes — 22 in all — on the way to 9 points in the Warriors opening game win over the Pelicans. At one point in the first half Quinn scored 4 straight points to pull the Warriors out of a tie game. It seemed clear that Steve Kerr and his teammates like Quinn and what he does.
Will be interesting to see how much burn if any Quinn gets after Curry returns, which looks like it will happen in game 2. Quinn has proven himself as a capable backup off the bench but may become unnecessary on this particular roster.
I think Curry's return will impact Kevon Looney's minutes more than Quinn. Steph's return moves Iggy back to the 2nd unit. Iggy's natural position is SF and Looney has been playing that role on the 2nd team. I think Quinn will remain the 2nd team PG/SG alongside Livingston. Looney is averaging 20 mpg thus far in the playoffs while Quinn has been at 18.2. I won't be all that surprised if Looney goes down to about 8-10 and Quinn stays close to the same.
-Jason "Of note -- before Steph went down Looney was averaging about 11 min/game. After Steph got hurt, it was 22 min/game" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
And he got to play in front of Jay-Z and Beyoncé who had courtside seats.
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/arti...e-12872778.php
Quinn also had a great interview on Comcast Bay Area Sports after the game, they were full of praise for Quinn.