The Golden State Warriors named a new head coach last week: 17-year NBA professional and former ESPN/ABC analyst Mark Jackson.
At first glance, the hire looks like a bit of a gamble.
Jackson had a decent playing career as a point guard, amassing the third-most assists and 24th-most steals all time while suiting up for seven different teams.
The 46-year-old was also an extraordinary television broadcaster, using quick wit and pointed analysis to break down in-game trends for entertained audiences (criticisms of the Warriors” run-and-gun, no-defense style were certainly engaging).
But it”s hard to overlook Jackson”s complete lack of coaching experience. Few former players succeed as NBA head coaches without first spending time as an assistant on a professional bench — one recent exception being Doc Rivers.
An overriding factor was probably the fact many people think of the point guard as the team”s on-the-court leader, which meant though Jackson had no experience coaching from a bench, he definitely spent time guiding teammates during games.
However, Jackson”s teams didn”t always succeed. His best postseason result was a lone trip to the NBA Finals in 2000, when the Los Angeles Lakers overmatched his Indiana Pacers.
Sometimes though decent point guards make better coaches than great, championship-level ones (in the past 20 years, consider the success of Rivers or Avery Johnson compared to the failure of Magic Johnson or Isiah Thomas).
Jackson”s player-leader reputation combined with his commentating skills, which demonstrated his understanding of the game, to make him a hot coaching commodity this offseason.
And the Warriors jumped at Jackson”s rising stock, investing $6 million in him over three years.
No matter how you look at it, hiring a head coach with no coaching experience is a gamble. Nobody knows what kind of coach the hire will be; there”s no body of work to analyze.
For Golden State, nabbing Jackson should be considered a safe bet, not only because of his reputation and knowledge, but also because he represents much of what the Warriors have ignored during a highly unsuccessful past four seasons.
As a player, Jackson was a passer and defender; two attributes seldom associated with current Golden State players.
Warriors” officials must have realized it was time to develop a team committed to all aspects of the game, not just shooting and scoring — that epiphany no doubt also led to the team taking on Jerry West as a consultant.
Golden State executives have shown they want the team to change its mindset, so one question Jackson now faces is: what players will make up his roster?
The Warriors have a great, offensive-minded core of four starters featuring Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, David Lee and Dorell Wright, all of whom can score and sometimes pass but rarely look to rebound or defend.
The Warriors couldn”t compete against the talent-packed Western Conference during the 2010-11 season largely because of the lack of rebounding and defending, but replacing any of the core four isn”t the answer, before Jackson”s first season anyway. The front office should give Jackson, a guy who didn”t attend the Don Nelson School of Basketball, the chance to educate those four players about his ideas on teamwork and what it takes to win.
Where the team should be changed is the rest of the roster.
The Warriors have three offseason player-needs: a starting center (with offensive prowess), a shutdown defender and a bench scorer. Since the Warriors have only the 11th and 44th picks in next week”s draft, which is thinner than any year in recent memory, team officials will probably rely on other offseason moves to fill those gaps.
The nature of those moves, whether trades or free-agent signings, appears unclear at this point, mostly because of the uncertainty surrounding the league”s soon-to-be-expired collective bargaining agreement.
Once the future of the 2011-12 season becomes clearer, the front office needs to focus on collecting new chips without losing the four most important ones. That would be the best way to cash in on Jackson”s potential and turn the Warriors into a safe postseason bet.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636 ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com.
