Hey, a win’s a win.
The commencement of Steve Kerr‘s expedition wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Expectations were patently not met, although Kerr and the Golden State Warriors prevailed through a night that hovered on the brink of a disaster.
“An offense that was implored by Kerr all offseason to move the basketball was doing merely the opposite.”
Golden State didn’t seem to find any sort of offensive rhythm, particularly in the first half. An offense that was implored by Kerr all offseason to move the basketball was doing merely the opposite. Unexpectedly, there were a flurry of ill-advised jump shots and extreme offensive sloppiness, precisely what Kerr was hoping to avoid in his NBA coaching debut. The stagnancy of the offense seemed to affect the Warriors ability to connect on outside shots. Fortunately, the Kings were not taking advantage of the Warriors’ haphazard play, which allowed Golden State to stay in the game, and eventually break loose.
First half demons lingered on in the beginning of the second half, but then the Dubs erupted in Sleep Train Arena midway through the third quarter. A screaming 22-4 run occurred after Kerr decided to roll out a small-ball lineup while DeMarcus Counsins rode the bench with foul trouble, placing Draymond Green at center and Andre Iguodala at power forward. This was Kerr’s first brilliant maneuver from the sidelines, and it ended up being the decisive run of the match-up.
Unfortunately, I failed to witness any distinctions from last night’s performance under Kerr compared to last season’s under the heavily criticized Mark Jackson. The Warriors remained immensely sloppy, documented by the 22 turnovers, and the offense appeared relatively unsystematic. Luckily, the Kings managed to commit 26 turnovers, which seemed to be the microcosm of their home opener. Sacramento never found an offensive rhythm throughout the totality of the night, even when the Warriors struggled greatly, and self-inflicted wounds deteriorated its chances sharply.
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Furthermore, Golden State shot 44% from the field as opposed to Sacramento’s abysmal 30%. The Kings wasted a plethora of opportunities, however; one must give the utmost credit to the Warriors defense. Retracing their footsteps from last season, the Warriors looked incredibly robust defensively all the way through the course of the game. Limiting the two stars of the Kings in
Rudy Gayand Cousins to 9-of-29 shooting is undeniably the most striking analytic of the night.
To be reasonable, it was only the first of a long 82-game season. Kerr and the Warriors have ample time to gel. Offensively, execution and cohesion were poor, but opening night jitters could have certainly had an effect. I expect the offense to take tremendous steps forward instantaneously. Along with their defensive fire power, when the offense is delineating the dynamism they’re capable of, they are going to be a dangerous unit.
Some notable statistic lines came from Green, Marreese Speights, and the inevitable Stephen Curry. Green played an eye-popping 34 minutes after getting the start due to David Lee‘s absence and recorded 10 rebounds and 12 points on an efficient 4-7 from the field. Speights was 8-of-13 from the field with an impressive 16 points off the bench. Then, of course, Stephen Curry grabbed a whopping ten rebounds, scored 24 points, and had six steals.
It was a struggle, and not very pretty, but hey, a win’s a win.