Golden State Warriors: Steve Kerr is an early COY award candidate

Steve Kerr is doing an amazing job with the Golden State Warriors this season

Steve Kerr might be on the verge of the most impressive coaching season in his seven-year stint as head coach of the Golden State Warriors. It may sound odd since he coached the Warriors to five straight NBA Finals appearances from 2015-19, winning three championships, including back-to-back titles.

This 2020-21 season has turned into a battle of attrition early on for Kerr and his Warriors. With Klay Thompson being out all last season and now missing this season due to an Achilles injury, it was inevitable that this team would suffer through some growing pains early on. Add to that Stephen Curry missed the majority of the 2019-20 season with a broken hand, and it is easy to see how the Warriors finished with the worst record in the league.

This season was supposed to be different, though. Thompson and Curry were both set to return healthy, and the Warriors had the number two overall pick in the draft. The Warriors used this pick to draft Memphis big man James Wiseman, who by all accounts looks like a star in the making early in his rookie year.

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On the same day, Wiseman got drafted second overall, the news broke just hours before the draft that Thompson had suffered a lower leg injury, which turned out to be the Achilles tear. Thompson had been rehabbing and had recovered from the ACL tear he suffered almost 18 months earlier during the 2019 NBA Finals.

Moving forward with what seems like a whole new team, the Warriors started on rocky grounds this season. The Warriors began the season 0-2 and looked all out of sync against the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively. The Warriors are now 8-4 since that 0-2 start. Curry is even looking more like his old self with each game.

Draymond Green had to deal with a foot injury that kept him out early this season, but since his return, the Warriors look so much better on offense and defense, especially. You can’t just hop online and look at Green’s stat line each game and deduce what his impact is on the floor. This Warriors team now more than ever is much better when Green is out there directing. Green averaging 4.3 points per game and shooting 31.6 percent from the field are both moot points. This team functions far more efficiently on Green’s sheer presence alone.

Having Curry back at his MVP level is a big part of the team’s turnaround, though the adjustments from coach Kerr should not go unnoticed. Not having shooters such as Thompson, and Kevin Durant has seen a shift in the Warriors’ style of play. Not having those sharpshooters on either wing has forced Curry to be more careful with the ball. It is like a flashback in a movie as Curry is now the only player on the team that Kerr can count on to score close to 30 points every night.

As hot as Thompson can get on a given night, he only averages 19.5 points per game for his career. But when he [Klay] gets hot, he gets scorching hot and winds up breaking records. But the Warriors do not have the luxury of having Thompson catch and shoot this season. This makes the job Kerr has done with Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. even more impressive.

Both players are looking more comfortable in their new roles with every game they play. Wednesday night in a victory over the San Antonio Spurs, Wiggins and Oubre Jr. combined to score 34 points on 5-9 shooting from behind the arc.

Oubre Jr. had his coming-out party of sorts on Monday night in the Warriors’ comeback win over the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. He [Oubre Jr.] scored 23 points in the 115-113 thriller and had a good night on the defensive end as well late in the game. Wiggins is playing more consistently over the past couple of weeks and is averaging 17.8 points per game for the season. He is settling into that second scorer’s role and is even looking more aggressive in finding his shots.

Wiseman is looking like he’s more than worth such a high draft pick. The Warriors are bringing Wiseman along slowly, but in almost every game, he’ll show flashes of what he may be very soon.
Coach Kerr and his staff should get plenty of credit for the adjustments that have been made over the first month of the season.

No one expected much out of this Warriors team coming into the season, so the fact that they are hanging around in games against both LA teams, let alone pulling out victories over both is hugely impressive. Kerr is showing off his coaching chops so far this season. Kerr will need to continue this if this team has plans on making a playoff run.

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Should the Warriors finish the season as the fifth seed or higher, Kerr will receive votes for coach of the year and will stand a good chance of winning it.

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