Golden State Warriors fans were never afraid to criticize their old coach, Mark Jackson. The frustrations that he had simultaneously taken the team forward while also holding it back never ceased throughout his tumultuous final year.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob went out of his way to criticize the former coach yet again this weekend.
Right now, (Kerr) looks great,” Lacob said at the Western Association of Venture Capitalists/National Venture Capital Association luncheon Wednesday as reported by Diamond Leung of Inside Bay Area. “I think he will be great. And he did the one big thing that I wanted more than anything else from Mark Jackson he just wouldn’t do, in all honesty, which is hire the very best.
“Carte blanche. Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants there are in the world. Period. End of story. Don’t want to hear it. And (Jackson’s) answer . . . was, ‘Well, I have the best staff.’ No you don’t. And so with Steve, very, very different.
It came out of left field.
There was that sense that the disconnect between coach and owner was present and that led to Jackson’s departure.
The Warriors do not seem to notice too much, winning their 12th straight game in Chicago 112-102 at United Center. And the reason for that win? Put it on one of the players who struggled to flourish completely under Jackson.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
| Golden State | 112 | 116.7 | 51.7 | 31.3 | 11.5 | 28.1 |
| Chicago | 102 | 101.1 | 47.6 | 40.5 | 22.8 | 32.5 |
Draymond Green (GSW) — 31 pts., 7/13 3FGs; Klay Thompson (GSW) — 24 pts.
Pau Gasol (CHI) — 22 pts., 20 rebs.; Jimmy Butler (CHI) — 24 pts.
Game to Watch (12/7): Heat vs. Grizzlies, 6 p.m.
Draymond Green scored 31 points, making 7 of 13 3-point attempts, to power the Warriors to the victory.
The Warriors have those two big players that everyone knows, but they only go as far as their supporting cast can take them. That includes the young Draymond Green.
He found his minutes and his play to be inconsistent under Jackson. He was not the player he is now, but he was not quite used efficiently. It just was not a good fit for player and coach.
So far this year, Green is averaging 13.5 points per game, more than double the 6.2 he averaged last year. His field goal percentage and 3-point shooting have greatly improved and he is still producing on the glass too. Kerr is trusting him more, playing him 32 minutes per game — a 10-minute increase from last year.
It would have been hard to say Green was in Jackson’s dog house last year. He was part of the rotation. And, in his third year, Green made individual improvements too.
This seems too far afield though — his per 36 minute scoring numbers are up to 15.0 from 10.2 — to just be Green’s self improvement. Kerr is using him in a way Jackson did not.
And, it has become clear the Warriors are benefiting from the switch in the ways they envisioned.
