The Golden State Warriors aren’t just an offensive juggernaut. They’re also one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. And according to coach Steve Kerr, he doesn’t deserve credit. Mark Jackson, the man whom he replaced, is the man responsible.
Steve Kerr was asked how he got the Warriors to be a defensive-minded team 👀 pic.twitter.com/783OIHpOdT
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 6, 2017
There’s a good deal of truth in that. Under Kerr, the Warriors became a much more efficient offensive team. They learned to rely more on passing and good team ball.
Jackson depended on the individual skills of guys like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Those guys are great players and that certainly helped team make the playoffs in 2013 and 2014, but Kerr’s adjustments were integral in making Golden State champion in 2015.
Defensively, though, the Warriors made big leaps under Jackson. Curry, in particular, evolved as a defender. Jackson turned Curry into a good team defender who makes the occasional sneaky good one-on-one play. He’s not a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but he’s not a liability, either. If you’re going to have a strong defensive team, you can’t have a liability defender on the floor.
Kerr may be shortchanging himself in one regard, though.
Under Kerr, Draymond Green became a full time starter for Golden State. Green also became a power forward and eventually, small ball center under Kerr. With Jackson, Green was used off of the bench, mostly as a small forward.
The influence and continued versatility of Green has helped the Warriors’ defense immensely. There are a lot of great defenders on the team, but Green is the backbone.
So, while Jackson deserves a great deal of credit for making Golden State more defensively sound, it would be wrong to think that Kerr did nothing to put his fingerprints on the defense.