Through the first 10 games of the 2014-2015 season the Golden State Warriors hold a dominant 8-2 record. The Warriors are off to their best start since 1975 and are on pace for 66 wins. Not bad at all for a team that not too long ago could barely amass that win total across 3 seasons.
Looking over my season preview, the Warriors did make a few nice offseason acquisitions (on paper at least) in Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa, and Brandon Rush, plus the return of Festus Ezeli.
SEE: 2014-15 Golden State Warriors NBA Blog Preview- It finally makes sense.
I might be going out on a limb here, but I'm sure more hoops followers will agree that while those player moves were meaningful, the biggest offseason change for this team was in the coaching department. Warriors management replaced Mark Jackson and his almost universally regarded sub-NBA-caliber assistant coaching staff with Steve Kerr, his 5 rings, Alvin Gentry (thank you Clippers!), Ron Adams (DEFENSE), Luke Walton (my boy's new next-door neighbor!), Jarron Collins (FEAR THE TREE), and Bruce Fraser.
The 8-2 record thus far speaks for itself, but I'll dish out a quick assist to friend Adam Lauridsen over at the mighty Fast Break for the offensive and defensive statistical comparison:
Good to Great — Mark Jackson, Steve Kerr, and the Warriors’ Statistical Improvement [Fast Break]
Offense
"There's more than just one biggety, biggety O in The Town."
- Offensive Rating (points per 100 possessions): 105.3 (12th) vs. 107.1 (7th). +5 improvement.
- Assist Percentage (percentage of assisted makes): 59.1% (12th) vs. 63.8% (5th). +7 improvement.
- Assist Ratio (assists per 100 possessions): 17.5 (9th) vs. 18.8 (4th). +5 improvement.
- Assist to Turnover Ratio: 1.53 (13th) vs. 1.29 (23rd). -10 decline.
- Turnover Ratio (turnovers per 100 possessions): 15.4 (15th) vs. 19.4 (30th). -15 decline.
- Field Goal Percentage: 46.2% (9th) vs. 49.9% (1st). +8 improvement.
- Effective Field Goal Percentage (adjusted for threes): 51.7% (8th) vs. 56.2 (1st). +7 improvement.
- True Shooting Percentage (adjusted for threes and free throws): 55.0% (10th) vs. 60.2% (1st). +9 improvement.
- Fast Break Points: 15.1 (11th) vs. 20.3 (1st). +10 improvement.
- Pace (possessions per 48 minutes): 98.5 (6th) vs. 102.2 (1st). +5 improvement.
Defense
"The buck stops here with a Bogut block."
- Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions): 99.9 (3rd) vs. 95.5 (2nd). +1 improvement.
- Defensive Rebound Percentage: 76.3% (5th) vs. 74.2% (15th). -10 decline.
- Opponents’ Second Chance Points: 13.0 (15th) vs. 13.8 (21st). -6 decline.
- Steals: 7.8 (13th) vs. 8.3 (9th). +4 improvement.
- Opponent Turnover Ratio: 15.1 (16th) vs. 16.3 (10th). +10 improvement.
- Points Off Turnovers: 17.0 (12th) vs. 18.5 (6th). +6 improvement.
- Opponent Field Goal Percentage: 43.6% (3rd) vs. 41.4% (1st). +2 improvement.
- Opponent Three Point Percentage: 34.4% (3rd) vs. 29.5% (3rd). No improvement/decline.
- Opponent Effective Field Goal Percentage: 47.7% (3rd) vs. 45.2% (3rd). No improvement/decline.
Takeaways
- Passing is good.
- Smart defense is great.
- Hockey-style substitutions are dumb in the NBA.
- Constant post-game platitudes are not missed.
- Steve Kerr's humor is much appreciated. (With 30 years of coaching under his belt I could see him reaching Don Nelson-like levels of entertainment!)
The basketball fans with the highest hoops IQ in the association will easily infer where my vote is going on this installment of Polling GSOM, but where is your vote going? Who would you rather have coaching the Warriors right now -- Steve Kerr or Mark Jackson?
VOTE and COMMENT below!