I’ll admit I am a bit biased when I say this, but I really hope that the Golden State Warriors are able to turn the corner with Mark Jackson as the head coach of the team. The fact that they are likely to be able to keep their assistant coach Mike Malone for at least one more season is a definitive plus for Golden State Warriors fans out there.
Can Stephen Curry really come back and be as effective as most people hope he can be. Dell Curry certainly rained some great basketball players and as a basketball fan I hope that Stephen and Seth are both able to reach their full potential as players. Stephen Curry is looking for more consistency and that will start with the returning coaching staff and other important personnel. Curry is certainly more of a scoring point guard than the pass first point guard Mark Jackson, but it certainly helps Curry to learn from someone like Jackson who was a guy who knew how to break down a defense whether his purpose was to open up lanes for other people or scare the defense into leaving an open and capable shooter. Golden State has found that they may have to hoist up a lot of threes in order to sell tickets, but this does not necessarily mean that you will be able to win basketball games with this strategy.
People should look for ways to make sure their team is able to stay relevant in what I consider to be a more balanced Western Conference. The Warriors have missed with some draft picks in the past like Ike Diogu who came out of Arizona State. I will say ahead of time that I thought Diogu would be successful in the NBA despite the fact that he was undersized.
It is moves like these that unfortunately make people question whether or not the Golden State Warriors will be able to move forward.
Klay Thompson and Brandon Rush may be asked to handle more of the scoring load as Stephen Curry tries to become a well rounded point guard. Curry’s growth may have been stunted due to the fact that so much was expected of him under coaches Keith Smart and Don Nelson. The big men will also play a role and hopefully grow under Mark Jackson next year. The hope is that Kwame Brown can come back healthy and Keith Benson can show the type of potential that he did at the University of Oakland.