Yesterday after practice at the Golden State Warriors facility in Oakland, Coach Mark Jackson answered some questions about the status of Harrison Barnes, as well as any concerns about chemistry. True to Jackson’s modus operandi, he turned it into a culture-reinforcing opportunity and a chance to showcase his bigs.
Jackson has established his culture throughout the two years as head coach of the Warriors, as well as in training camp this season. Back on Saturday, he gave a hint that, after consecutive poor showings against the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trailblazers to close out the preseason schedule, there was some reset of core values needed.
“(We just need to) continue to work on our rhythm, offensively and defensively, clean up some of the mistakes that we’ve made in the preseason. We’ve got to understand everybody’s role, which will be made plain and simple where everybody understands it,” he said, “We’ll know who’s on board and who’s not. Hopefully that won’t be an issue and we’ll move forward. I think those are things that we have to strive for looking towards Wednesday (Opening Night against the Los Angeles Lakers).”
This came as a bit of a surprise, as during training camp and the trip to China, players such as Jermaine O’Neal had repeatedly talked about having defined roles on the team.
But yesterday, When asked if Draymond Green could possibly be a Sixth Man in Barnes’s absence (Klay Thompson will start tonight), as Green did in one of the preseason games, Jackson replied, “I’m not really sure. It depends on how those other guys are playing, how they’re feeling.
“Draymond is a guy that we ask him to stay ready, to be ready, and I don’t know when, if, or how I’m gonna call on him but he’s a guy that has a body of work, that’s always prepared,” Jackson said, “I have no problems at all throwing him into the fire.”
When describing the new team in comparison to last year’s team, Jackson found his usual opportunity to put his stamp on things. It was as if he were leading a fast break himself.
“A lot of teams what they do is, when it gets tight, you all of a sudden stop looking to run and you want to execute. I want my guys to push the basketball first, and if we don’t have anything, execute our offense,” Jackson said, “I encourage my big guys to rebound the basketball and they have the ability to lead the fast break. I don’t think many teams have the luxury of having…big guys that are skilled.”
“We were a fast breaking team last year. All I’m asking them to do is take a step further. We are not the Showtime Lakers, though,” Jackson said with a chuckle, in reference to the hype created by SportsIllustrated in their cover depicting the Warriors as The New Showtime,
Well, then, how about the Big-Time Warriors, Coach?
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