GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — The Golden State Warriors could have drastically changed its roster this summer with the trade rumors for Kevin Love, but general manager Bob Myers kept the core intact.
Ten players from last season’s roster are still with the franchise and, per John Schuhmann of NBA Hangtime Blogs, this ranks Golden State fifth in the NBA in percentage of returning minutes at 85.9%. Playoff perennials the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder rank first and third, respectively.
Schuhmann writes:
In the NBA, continuity and success are closely linked. Talented teams need time together — maybe two or three seasons — before they can make the most of that talent. And teams that win usually stick with what they’ve got.
“One of the reasons I was excited about this job was what they built already, the continuity that’s here,” head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the Warriors disposed of the Los Angeles Lakers in preseason play last Sunday, “These guys have played now for a couple years and it’s easy to see they know one another. They won 51 games last season for a reason…It’s a high-IQ team.”
Myers has assembled a bunch of high-character guys who are willing to make the individual sacrifices needed to help the team win.
“They’re all really willing, coachable players,” Kerr told reporters yesterday after practice, “They want to play together. It comes naturally to them.”
Warriors forward Andre Iguodala echoed that sentiment today after practice.
“You don’t get too many groups like this one,” Iguodala told LetsGoWarriors.com, “You have a lot of mature, professional athletes. We’re not just professional athletes, but we’re professional human beings, the way we carry ourselves on and off the court.”
“That goes a long way as far as getting in here, doing our job, getting our work in, putting in the extra time in the gym, understanding how to handle ourselves off the court,” Iguodala said, “Guys trying to set themselves up after basketball, small things like that. That’s not talked about as much, but we have that group, which makes it easier when you’re out there playing basketball. You know everybody’s motivated.”
Iguodala himself has handled the issue of coming off the bench behind Harrison Barnes with a lot of class.
The professionalism even pervades down to the rookies, many of whom such as Aaron Craft and Mitchell Watt have seen themselves not play a minute in an entire preseason game, despite the Warriors being in dominant control at various stages in each of their first three exhibition games.
“This is about the most mature group of rookies that we’ve ever seen,” Kerr said in reference to his tenure with the Phoenix Suns alongside current Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry, “They’re smart. They pick things up. They’re great guys. It’s just a really good group to be around and I’ve really enjoyed having them all here.”
When asked which players may have helped themselves earn a roster spot after the consecutive wins against the Lakers, Kerr said, “I haven’t really thought of it in those terms and, really, that’s simplifying it too much.”
“We evaluate these guys everyday in practice,” Kerr added, “It’s not going to be fun when we have to let a few people go.”
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