golden state warriors roster: steve blake and jermaine o’neal (Photo: Rocky Widner/Getty Images and Kelley L Cox/USA Today)
Steve Blake and Jermaine O’Neal have filled a deep void, on and off the court, for the Golden State Warriors this season.
When the Warriors were unable to re-sign Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry in the offseason, they lost two players who were the heart-and-soul of the Warriors’ bench last season. Jack and Landry were also a huge part of the Warriors’ miraculous playoff run.
In Jack, they lost a backup point guard who averaged 12.9 points and 5.6 assists per game and who could run the offense, which allowed Stephen Curry to play off the ball. He also was a significant part of the Warriors’ team chemistry last season.
In Landry, they lost a backup power forward who averaged 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. They also lost someone who was that low-post threat that added another dimension to their offense and that they severely lacked for a long period of time this season.
After a short and ineffective stint of Toney Douglas and Marreese Speights taking over their roles, the Warriors are finally getting production from a backup point guard, Blake, and a backup big, O’Neal.
The Warriors’ signing of O’Neal in the offseason was an under-the-radar type of move that many ignored or even criticized. Many said he was too old and too fragile to contribute anything to the Warriors.
When the Warriors traded for Blake, many Warriors fans saw potential in the trade but focused too much on the loss of Kent Bazemore.
Now that O’Neal is healthy and Blake is starting to settle into his new team, Warriors fans are finally starting to see the benefits of signing a proven veteran like O’Neal and trading for a hard-working, smart point guard like Blake.
When glancing at these two players’ stats for this season, they aren’t necessarily jaw-dropping or as good as Jack and Landry’s from last season. O’Neal is averaging 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season, and Blake is averaging 8.0 points and 6.4 assists.
However, their contributions and their effect on this team are much greater than any stat can show.
O’Neal brings a toughness that the Warriors lacked, and, of course, he brings some veteran leadership that has really united the Warriors and strengthened their already impressive team chemistry.
Not only that, but ever since the All-Star break, he’s contributed significantly on the court. He’s been that reliable low-post presence that the Warriors have lacked since Landry left.
Blake has transformed the Warriors’ bench as well. What he does on the court and just his presence alone have led to vast improvements from the bench.
Blake allows Jordan Crawford to play off the ball and focus on scoring, which is his biggest strength. Blake also can shoot threes, as efficiently as Jack did, which gives Harrison Barnes more room to drive and more room for O’Neal to post-up.
Blake is also crafty when it comes to creating plays for his teammates, and he’s more decisive about it than Jack was.
In addition, he brings leadership, basketball IQ, and cohesiveness to the Warriors’ bench. This is how he improves the team chemistry. It’s different than how Jack brought the team together, but it’s just as effective.
In the Warriors’ game against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, Blake had nine points, three rebounds, and eight assists on 42.9 percent shooting from the field and 60 percent shooting from three in just 26 minutes.
O’Neal and Blake have helped turn one of the NBA’s worst bench units into one of the best. They are the new leaders of this Warriors’ bench, and they’re more than making up for Jack and Landry’s absence.
Head coach Mark Jackson is eager to move on from any further comparisons with Jack.
“We don’t need Jarrett Jack on this basketball team,” Jackson said on January 15th when the team acquired Crawford,”What I mean by that is, we have Andre Iguodala. If we had Andre Iguodala last year, and we had Jarrett Jack, you would’ve never have experienced the Jarrett Jack that we experienced last year. We needed a play-maker, we needed an extra ball-handler, we needed a guy that could play alongside of Steph. We don’t need that anymore.
“Jarrett Jack was incredible for us and we fell in love with what he did. He had to do that for us. It was a necessity for him to be able to do the things he did for this basketball team,” Jackson added, “Jarrett Jack played thirty minutes at times. He ended ball games. I can’t tell you how many times, if he played on this team, he would end a ball game. Or Crawford. We’re loaded at the wing position and Steph Curry’s going to end ball games. We need him to hold the fort down, to be a play-maker. We need him to score, we need him to facilitate and get that second unit going. Opportunity’s going to be there, but we do not need him to be Jarrett Jack.”
“The Iguodala thing came up and we pounced on that,” general manager Bob Myers said in a press conference directly after Jackson’s that night, “which gave us what we thought was a little bit bigger, better version of Jarrett Jack.
“I’m not sure Jarrett Jack, on this team as it’s consummated, would have the minutes or opportunity that he got last year,” Myers added, “That being said, I’d love to have Jarrett Jack on the team. He’s a good player, but obviously you have to look at the financial implications of having a player like that and he signed a great deal, and we’re happy for him.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]
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