Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has won more than just about anybody, both as a player (5 rings) and a coach, where he has led the Dubs to four NBA titles in eight years.
Kerr is far less accustomed to losing, and the defending champs are doing more losing than winning right now, a situation exacerbated by Finals MVP Steph Curry‘s recent absence due to injury.
Despite recent blowouts, Kerr remains very measured in the postgame media sessions, though he does get animated during the games, conferring energetically with his assistants — especially former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.
Kerr is accustomed to spending at least part of his postgame pressers talking about how marvelous Curry is, win or lose. Now with that option off the table, Kerr has to grimly and patiently face facts.
After last night’s 143-113 shellacking at the hands of the red hot Brooklyn Nets (and ex-Warriors star Kevin Durant), Kerr talked about turnovers and other things the Dubs needed to address.
Those details represent the proverbial trees, but the forest is of more interest. The forest is this: What is going on with the Warriors, essentially the same team that cruised to the Finals last year?
Asked what he took from the current road trip, Kerr noted that the team had gone 1-5. “A bad road trip,” Kerr said matter-of-factly.
“As Bill Parcells said, ‘you are what your record says you are.'” The Warriors are 15-18, a “below .500 team,” Kerr concedes, saying “we have to find a way to reverse that.”
Parcells is the NFL coaching legend who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowls behind one of the greatest defenses of all-time, led by the Hall of Fame legend Lawrence Taylor.
It’s no surprise Parcells and his teams are on Kerr’s mind just now. Last year the Warriors ranked #2 overall in NBA team defense. This year they are 25th out of 30 NBA teams.
