The Golden State Warriors had a nice victory on Monday night against the Utah Jazz and it was partly spurred by a fiery chat from head coach Steve Kerr who tore into the team early in the game.
Kerr called a timeout early on after a poor defensive play from Brandin Podziemski, which led to the young player getting benched for the second-quarter after a stern talking to from his coach.
Steve Kerr proves his worth to Warriors yet again with fiery timeout pep talk
"We lost our focus, and I just wanted to gently remind them that we needed to focus more," Kerr said. "Anytime you're in a rut as a team and you've lost a few, you have to dig your way out. And that just means you have to compete every possession."
Kerr keeps his cool for the most part, but he has been coaching long enough that he knows when the team may need a little fire to wake up. Golden State was coming off three straight losses and after a slow start against Utah one could be forgiven for thinking, 'Here we go again...'
But after Kerr's timeout and fiery chat, the Warriors got back on track and played much better for the rest of the contest and ultimately claimed a comfortable 134-117 victory.
These are minor things that usually go unnoticed, but that is the value that Kerr adds as a head coach who has been with the same team for eleven straight years. He knows when his team may need a wake-up call or when a softer approach may be more prudent.
It is that sort of deft touch that makes Kerr valuable at this point, and why any discussions about a Warriors team without him as head coach is scary to think about.
Casually browsing Warriors social media during a game, especially during a loss or when the team is playing bad, will lead you to many posts criticizing Kerr or calling for his firing. He is the head coach so naturally he is going to take heat when the team underperforms, but he still provides value with his ability to manage the team through rough patches.
He has seen it all as a head coach, so even if every decision isn't perfect or he makes mistakes at times, he's still going to push the right button more often than not which is what he again proved on Monday against the Jazz.