Is It Time to Start Looking for a New Coach?

Is It Time to Start Looking for a New Coach?

By Jason

After our Golden State Warriors lost to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, December 2nd, the team and I have been reeling trying to figure out what has gone wrong. The Warriors have gone 0 - 5 since they could not beat the Suns. 0 - 6 if you count the San Antonio Spurs game before that. One argument is the Warriors started off with an easy schedule during of the beginning of the season and went 7 -5. Since November 21st, the Warriors are in a tough part of their schedule mostly against teams over .500 and they’re 1 - 10 and out of playoff contention. Yeah, that’s a good explanation, but the Warriors are supposed to win some of those tough games if they’re a team bound for the playoffs. The Warriors need to beat some of those better than .500 teams and especially PHX, Portland and Denver in order to make it to the playoffs; These are the teams that will compete for the seventh and eight seeds in the Western Conference. To make matters worse, our starting PG is out with a re-injured sprained ankle and may get inconsistent PT due to it as it has been a nagging injury. Second, and even bigger problem is the Warriors aren’t scoring enough to beat the competition. They’re supposed to have gotten better defensively, but they’re still allowing the opposition to score and average of 107 ppg while they’re scoring an average of 100.6 points. That’s an average of 8.2 ppg less offense than last season.

The Warriors have had some injuries such as to starters Stephen Curry and David Lee and to reserves Ekpe Udoh, Lou Amundson, Brandan Wright, Rodney Carney and so on, but it is not an excuse as injuries are part of the game. So that brings up the coaching. I have been hearing complaints, from Don Nelson fans mostly, that the new coach Keith Smart is the problem. He’s implemented his defense, but has made the offense which was what made the Warriors exciting to watch and get some wins so much worse. The Warriors are now scoring an average of 100.6 ppg while allowing 107 ppg. As comparison, they scored and average of 108.8 ppg and allowed 112.4 ppg under Don Nelson. Clearly, they are scoring less under Keith Smart’s offensive schemes. So we have to put the new coach Keith Smart under the microscope and see whether or not he can regroup this team and make them produce. To the Smart detractors and bring back Don Nelson crowd, I say that Keith Smart was Nelson’s protégé and choice to replace him, so they should give him more of a chance or admit that Smart is another one of Nelson’s miserable failures.

 

in my opinion, there's no need to slow down the offense if it's just going to result in a premature and unwise jumper anyway...just let the team run! honestly, we do nothing but allow layups, and then we shoot prayer jumpers on the other end. i'm at home scratching my head, and smart seems to be doing nothing. yeah, i'd agree he needs to change something...

 

I'm not sure where to get the numbers to prove it, but I'm willing to bet the Warriors fast break points are way down from last year. They aren't running breaks and one of the problems is their big men aren't pushing the ball out fast enough after rebounding. The first time I really noticed this happening was the other night when Louis Amundson came back, he seems to be the only one really getting the ball out fast to ignite the break. Most likely this was really implanted in his brain in Phoenix. Since they stink in the half court game, this is critical, if they aren't running, they aren't winning, period.

 

I don't think the Warriors need to look for a coaching change right now. If the losing woes go through January and we are entering February, then it may be time to start thinking about a change. Though I am less concerned with the losses than I am disappointed on the regression in the quality of play.

HiRez, you have a good point there. Jim Barnett has been noticing this and he puts the blame more on the wing players like Monta Ellis who are not going to the proper spot to catch the outlet and start something in transition.

I think Smart can use some help with some more quality reserves, but the systems need some help too.

 

That's what I don't get though, why do we slow the game down if we have no solid plan for a halfcourt setup? Opponents PPG isn't a good indicator of our improvement in defense because we've just slowed down the game tempo. We still play our best offensive ball when we're hitting a quick outlet and pushing down court. My other issue with Smart is his substitution patterns...I guess it's been a few games, but at least for a while there, he was sitting key players at weird times, and wayyyy too long into the 4th.

 

This is the huge #1 complaint from Nelson fans. I get it. With Nelson, the team only played run and gun, transition and matchups. However, that philosophy only focused on the offense and not defense. Smart wanted to play D, but he's got to produce and he hasn't done that. 1 - 10 is miserable and there is no turnaround in sight. I was willing to let Smart go until the end of season, but I think the Warriors are a playoff contender, so they need to get back to running again. Defense doesn't have to go by the wayside, but they can't slow the offense down to do it. If Smart can't turn it around quick, then maybe one of the assistant coaches like Jerry Sichting can take over.

 

It IS ridiculous. We'll have to see if Smart does see the light and gets the offense back to running. Right now the players are confused and too many bad things happen when you're confused. But if Smart continues to insist on D and the team continues its losing ways, then Larry Riley needs to take action!

 

Running and then missing the quick shot ends up killing your rebounding because you have no one underneath and then the other team is exploiting you in transition. That's why you only run if you're more skilled than the other team. The Warriors right now? Bad gamble because they would be at the losing end of some ugly 120-95 scores if they started running even more.

 

I don't get it. Smart played guys like Gadz and Rad over Lou and Udoh last night. Smart is in the hot seat, so he has to get guys out there to produce and give the team a chance to win. He hasn't done that. He's a Nelson's protege, so this could explain the fail.

Fortunately, we do not have the Cohan run Warriors anymore. They may have brought back Don Nelson for the umpteenth time to deal with the downward spiral. New management said Smart was a "test drive," so I do see another option in place in case they didn't want to buy the car. However, the end of the test drive seems to have come earlier than anyone anticipated.

 

Shoulda kept Nellie. Lacob's a fool.

 

The other guys aren't in game shape yet. Gadz has earned his minutes, for the time being. Let them get strength and wind, so they don't hurt themselves.

Do you honestly believe this? Come on. I understand pulling for your team, but this team has so many holes in it. Maybe they might be structured for a run if they make a move or two before the trade deadline, but even then they'll need to learn to play together. I still think this is a 32 win team as structured.

@Kajita - If this team had a chance to push for the playoffs I would agree. Nelly would've probably won more games, but it would've been rough as a lame duck trying to throw his authority around.

 

damn, i wish i saw the w's as a playoff team...right now, i'd just be happy with a single win. it feels like we've lost 15 straight.

 

With the lockout coming, everyone is a lame duck ;-)

 

I don't mind having a longer rotation with Smart than what Nelson used. But please don't put in all reserves without any starters. I think at least one of Lee and Andris needs to be in at all times. I think another starter is needed for some scoring. Thus I don't think it's beneficial to have more than three reserves at a time. This bench is not good enough to keep things rolling by themselves as seen by last night's game.

 

I liked last night's rotation much more from Smart. Only change we could expect is that Monta won't play all 48 each game. I think Steph coming back, Law addition, and Williams heating up will change that though. Rambis, IMO is the one with the questionable rosters. How do you choose to have Ridnour guarding Ellis for so long?

 

monta can create offense like no other...that was fun to watch. also, it's very nice to see radmo hitting some jumpers these last few games....he's still good for a few brainless plays each game, but it's muuuuch more tolerable when he's hitting jumpers. on the other side of the court, we need to figure out a way to stop letting teams shoot 60%+ for long periods. at least last night, agianst the wolves, it seemed like they were forcing them to shoot harder shots, and they were just going in...it wasn't an all-out layup fest like a few other games this season.

 

Is he your worst defender? He's in contention, 82games seems to think so too.

 

He is the Warriors worst player.