No Experience, No Problem: A Look at the Game That Erased All Doubt On Steve Kerr's Coaching Ability

In every sport, no matter the era, there is a Goliath that we all love to gather around and hate as a collective unit for no real substantial reason aside from them being good. We don’t understand why they’re good, we just see them constantly winning and we don’t like it. We sit, and hate, and try our hardest to diminish anyone associated with their winning.

In the NFL it was the Patriots pre-Brady Buccs era. They had the well-oiled war machine, handpicked pieces, the guy picking defenses apart, and a coach reigning in the credit for their god liked feats.

In the NBA that team has been the Golden State Warriors. They’ve been good… really good… 73-9 good. They’ve had the guy...or two. They have the personalities and the storylines, and the coach that gets the credit.  

So what makes them great? What’s the formula? Who’s the mad scientist behind the creation of the league’s Iron Man suit?

Well the answer to that my friends, is a 6’3” retired shooting guard from the mean streets of Pacific Palisades by the name of Steve Kerr.

Hired in the spring of 2014, Kerr had zero head coaching experience but had the trust of the Warriors’ front office. 

"Yes, it's true, (Kerr) has not coached before,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said back in 2014. “But this is what management is all about. You have to be able to pick people, and he is incredibly prepared…Every detail you can imagine. We're taking a little bit of a risk on his coaching ability, but we did that with Mark and it worked. So it's just about finding the right fit for the organization and a guy who has extremely high potential, is a hard worker and is very prepared. That's what we have got."

Fast forward six years and that faith in management built an empire. Kerr has led the Warriors to a 337-138 record since then-- that record including this current injury-riddled NBA season, five straight NBA Finals appearances, and three championships.  

And yet, Kerr doesn’t get the full credit he deserves. Granted, any Goliath will receive their unlogical criticisms. For Bill Belichick, fans like to throw around the cheater tag and criticize Belichick for having so much talent. 

Similarly, Kerr is also ridiculed for having a heavy load of talent, and some believe that he didn’t have to develop that talent-- his predecessor did.

Of course, you can not compliment the butterfly and disregard the caterpillar, but you also must acknowledge the cocoon-- the changes that were made for that caterpillar to become the butterfly it is.

Mark Jackson manufactured the group’s grit, grind, and hunger. He had a successful record and was well-liked by the players. Jackson’s offense relied heavily on basic plays that ended in stagnation and isolation: limiting each player’s overall versatility specifically role players. Stephen Curry was great. Klay Thompson was good. David Lee and Andre Iguodala were established.

Now insert Kerr. A system reliant on constant motion was installed and the Warriors went from the sixth quickest pace in the league to first, last in the league in passes-made to first, as well as first in assist compared to sixth the year before. The ball, that was seemingly stuck to Curry’s hand the season before, was zipping around the court with Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut seeing massive increases in halfcourt touches per game.

"He's well prepared,” Andrew Bogut said during the first year. “His practices are well structured. He knows his stuff. We go through things we need to go through, late-game situations and that kind of stuff.”

Kerr made immediate changes to the starting line-up, inserting Harrison Barnes for Andre Iguodala and Green for David Lee-- both unpopular move among fans and the media at the time. 

Kerr’s knowledge of the roster, each player’s overall ceiling specifically,  allowed him to place them in high percentage situations individually. This came as no surprise to the front office, who saw Kerr’s high knowledge of the squad in his interview.

“He knew our roster in and out,” Lacob said. “He had assistant coaches he wanted to go after. It was like a tour de force. Look, at the end of the day, I know he knows a lot about basketball.”

Those changes seemingly made the Warriors go from an afterthought to the best team in the league.  Even with that, there were still reservations about Kerr’s abilities as a coach. Those reservations were largely based on the success of the players in which he allowed to flourish.  In that, some felt and still feel that Kerr doesn’t have to make in-game adjustments because of the overwhelming talent he has.  

But Kerr has made plenty of in-game adjustments. The most telling coming in Game 4 of the 2015 NBA Finals.

The Warriors weren’t a 73-9 team yet. Stephen Curry wasn’t a unanimous MVP yet. Kevin Durant was further rehabbing in OKC as a member of the Thunder, and the Dubs were down 2-1 to the Clevland Cavaliers.

Cleveland, led by a Finals regular Lebron James, had stolen a game in Oakland and won their first home game of the series to take a demanding 2-1 lead despite injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. 

The Warriors stars didn’t have extensive playoff experience, and their success was a surprise to many around the league who expected their Pacific Division rival the LA Clippers to take the jump the Warriors did.

The Warriors’ appeared to had reached the ceiling of their breakout season, as the series seemed to be falling out of their grips. That’s when, thanks to the suggestion of his assistant coach Nick U’Ren, Kerr decided to ditch the lineup of traditional one through five and insert Iguodala to the three-position, moving Barnes to the four and Green to the five.

The move was not a popular one in the eyes of the media in the days between games. Barnes was the tallest player on the floor at 6’8” while Green, who is 6’7” on a good day, was tasked with playing center-- meaning he had to guard the Cavs’ center Timofey Mozgov who was 7’1”. 

Ok so in hindsight, yeah there should’ve been doubts. The Cavaliers were already dominating the Warriors on the boards-- outrebounding the Dubs by +24. On top of that, James and crew were easily getting to the rim, meaning that rim protection should’ve been of the utmost priority.

As much as these points made sense to the general public, that is why the general public isn’t coaching the Warriors.

Kerr moved Iguodala into the starting lineup, birthing one of the most feared lineups in the league’s history-- the Death Lineup.

The lineup created a matchup hell for the Cavaliers, as the floor was spaced with five playmakers. Any one of the five could initiate the offense, freeing Curry and Thompson to run the court for spot-up opportunities-- that in turn created even more layup opportunities for Barnes and Green through back door cuts. 

Defensively, the unit was quick enough to help and recover on James as he got downhill, while Iguodala was a strong enough defender to turn James instead of letting him attack the basket in a straight line.

They were big enough to rebound with Tristan Thompson and Mozgov, and far too quick for them on the other end. The Cavs had no choice but to bench Mozgov, and even then there wasn’t a counter to the lethal playmaking of the Warriors’ small ball.

Each player benefited tremendously from the move.

Barnes, who prior to the season had built the reputation of being consistently inconsistent, had started to grow into his own in Kerr’s system. His percentages had gone up in almost every category-- specifically usage-- and his defense improved from subpar to good. Once Kerr moved Barnes to the four, not only did he continue to score at an efficient rate within his role, he also pushed Thompson off the blocks defensively-- creating an easier opportunity to double down on the block as well as a rebounding position. 

This move showcased Barnes’ offensive reliability, as he continued to hit open shots and handle the ball in transition, and his versatility as a defender.  Fast forward two years and Barnes’ versatility was enticing to the Dallas Mavericks who offered Barnes a max contract based on his play in the Bay. 

In the same sense, the legend of Draymond Green was born in this series. The undersized forward was barely an afterthought in Mark Jackson’s system. Under Kerr, Green became a starter with the responsibility of initiating the offense. Once Kerr employed the Death Lineup, Green’s defensive mastery was in the spotlight. With their unit undersized, their defensive philosophy morphed from help and recover to switch everything.

Green, especially, thrived. When the Cavs tried to exploit mix matches, Green was able to move his feet on the wing and force guards to pick up their dribble, while creating a wall to change the shots of bigs at the rim. This series was the birth of a future Defensive Player of the Year and enabled what is now known as the heart and soul of the dynasty.

Klay Thompson is an interesting piece to all of this. Thompson had shown the potential to be a prominent specialty player under Jackson and surpassed that projected ceiling under Kerr-- transforming into an All-Star. With all of that said, Thompson is also very limited compared to the rest of the gang. 

The sharpshooting All-Star is a master at moving without the ball and utilizing screens to create space but is unable to create space on his own with his handle. Other stars have commanding handles that shift defenders enough to create space to get their shot off or attack the basket. Thompson not so much. 

Well, no problem. 

Kerr’s offense utilized constant dual action that included: pick and roll at the top of the arch while a double screen is being run on the baseline, handoffs into pitches, using Steph as a screener-- the ultimate action in the NBA-- etc. Thompson benefits from this motion, as he often doesn’t need more than three dribbles to score-- as time screamed in later years.

The creation of the death lineup put another playmaker on the court. With four people who could create for Thompson, on top of his own IQ that guided him on when and where to make optimal cuts on the court, Thompson not only maintained the feat he had achieved prior but became an even more lethal specialty player in the Death Lineup.

Curry was arguably the most important piece in the workings of the Death Lineup offensively, as his presence opened the lanes for Green, Barnes, and Iguodala to create spot-up opportunities for Thompson and Curry, and allowed for wide-open dunks for the three. Along with his presence, Curry’s floor vision and playmaking made the small ball unit work for shaky shooters like Iguodala and Green-- giving them more time to set their feet. 

As far as helping Curry, the lineup made the Cavs have to make the choice between giving up open lanes for the others or leaving a defender on an island with Curry. Most of the time, the Cavs chose to bite the bullet and leave the lane wide open, while there were times that Curry had clean one on one opportunities with his defender… he averaged 26 points and six assists.

The biggest benefactor of the move was Andre Iguodala. Being tasked with defending James is not an easy task. While James still had a great series, Iguodala was able to contain him enough for the Warriors to send doubles and dig down once he got downhill-- forcing him into turnovers that created easy transition. 

Iguodala was a benefactor of Curry’s presence as well, often being left open for dunks and easy jumpers as the Cavs doubled Curry and didn’t help off of Thompson. The combination of Iguodala’s ability to run the lane and make layups, and make James work on offense led to Iguodala receiving the prestigious award of Finals MVP.

The Warriors went onto win the series and become a dynasty that grinded the gears of sports fans around the world.

But the fun didn’t stop there.

After the Warriors’ 2015 Championship, a movement started. The NBA saw the extinction of traditional fives, the three-ball was utilized at higher levels at every level of basketball, and a jump-shooting team won championships-- despite everything Charles Barkley told us.

Steve Kerr’s adjustments not only changed the course of Warriors’ history but changed basketball altogether.