The Golden State Warriors ownership group parted ways with its head coach Wednesday, deciding not to pick up a team option to keep Keith Smart for one more year.
The longtime Warriors assistant got his one and only chance to helm the team this past regular season, leading Golden State to a 10-game improvement compared to its 2009-10 season.
But the better record still resulted in a disappointing overall mark of 36-46, meaning, at face value, that Smart merely helped the Warriors avoid a playoff appearance for the 16th time in 17 seasons.
Obviously the team”s ownership group, headed by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, found the 2010-11 final outcome unacceptable.
Though the Warriors did take positive strides in Smart”s one season, such as giving up 6.7 fewer points per game, the team didn”t improve enough where it counted.
The Warriors finished in the bottom half of the NBA in many categories crucial to overall team success: total rebounding (19th), turnover differential (25th), opponents” field-goal percentage (20th), points allowed (27th) and free-throw differential (30th).
On the other hand, Golden State did earn respectable totals in expected categories, such as steals per game (second) and points per game (seventh), both of which were conducive to the success of the Warriors” recognizable, up-tempo style.
Therein lies Smart”s biggest mistake: he didn”t do enough to differentiate his coaching style from that of his predecessor, Don Nelson, whom the new owners wanted nothing to do with.
Nelson”s style was exciting and entertaining but rarely produced ideal yearend results (though he did lead the Warriors to that lone playoff appearance in 2006-07). Team officials no doubt hoped they were getting something a little different with Smart.
Too bad Smart”s players really didn”t do enough to help him keep his job.
While the top four starters excelled beyond expectations (guards Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis improved, newcomer David Lee showed why he was a former All-Star and forward Dorell Wright had a career year), the rest of the team did next to nothing.
The Warriors got no offense from their starting centers, most notably Andris Biedrins, who had another abysmal season. A team must have quality big men to succeed in the Western Conference.
More importantly, Golden State received little help from its bench players. Only Reggie Williams averaged more than 6 points per game off the bench, which put too much pressure on the starting four and forced them to play too many minutes all season.
Smart simply lacked the correct pieces necessary for consistent success last season – perhaps more of the blame should”ve fallen on recently retained general manager Larry Riley.
Because of the team”s disappointing finish, the owners had the right to let Smart go; he didn”t meet their high expectations. But that doesn”t mean they should”ve done it.
The Warriors” offseason (which was already going to be highly dysfunctional because of the imminent labor dispute) should have focused on one thing: adding good players.
Now Golden State has to worry about filling its coaching vacancy ahead of all other concerns because it”s almost impossible to attract good players without having a coach in place, as some learned last offseason.
The unfortunate fact looms that there aren”t many desirable coaches available who have a history of playoff success, and the owners clearly want a coach who can deliver immediately. Then again, maybe they”ll get lucky and the current coach of an underachieving playoff team will get axed.
A splashy hire seems unlikely at this point, but perhaps ownership”s vow to bring change will come to fruition. Even with a good hire sitting at the head of the bench, the Warriors” success will still hinge on whether proven players fill the rest of those seats.
Time spent on hiring a new coach will be time lost in recruiting available players. Smart could have improved in Golden State with better players. Too bad he wasn”t given the chance.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636 ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com.
