Kerr kept in mind the play-in loss vs Kings when deciding the new assistant coaches Terry Stotts & Jerry Stackhouse:
“They pressured the hell out of us,” the Warriors head coach told The Athletic. “We didn’t have counters. We didn’t respond. And, you know, I’ve seen that more and more the last couple of years. The bigger the game, the more pressure defense we see and the tougher it’s been for us to execute.”
That was clearly front of mind for Kerr as he interviewed assistant coaching candidates throughout June….To replenish a thinned bench, Kerr and the Warriors’ front office decided to add two assistants with specific qualities to their staff — a former NBA head coach and a former NBA player.
Why Kerr landed on Stotts:
Despite a long history in the same industry, Kerr and Stotts didn’t know each other well before this hiring process. But the mutual respect was there and, as Kerr dissected the offensive issues that need fixing, it became clear to him that Stotts — a noted tactician — had the correct skill set to do the tweaking.
“He fits what we want to do and get a little bit more patterned,” Kerr said. “He loves movement. Portland, you know, they always had a lot of motion and movement, but it was probably more patterned than what we’ve done. Terry can really help us put in some new things that may be easier to run but maintain the motion.”
Terry Stotts on the Warriors Offense & What he could bring:
“They’ve had a great offense for a lot of years,” Stotts told The Athletic. “Steph’s been doing pretty well (laughs). I think I can maybe bring some fresh eyes to it. The roster has changed a little bit. But it’s not like I’m going to be in charge of anything. I think I can be a good sounding board for Steve on the offensive end and might be able to implement some things we did in Portland.”
Stotts was careful to reiterate that he doesn’t want to overhaul an offense that’ll still be built around Curry‘s and Draymond Green’s passingand off-ball strengths. The flow, movement and pet actions those two love will remain. But there’s a rising layer of youth that would benefit from more structure.
“Everyone knows we ran a lot of flares and pindowns (in Portland),” Stotts said. “I think the players we have will be good within that. Steve loves read and react. I think that’s the best way to play. But at the same time, you can put in a framework. What I like to have is — you can have a play call, but within that play call, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You might have splits or flares or pindowns or pick-and-roll and that freedom within a structure.”
Stotts used the “delay” play call as an example. It’s a five-out design with a big up-top initiating action and plenty of freedom to run various action around it, which can shift depending on personnel, an opponent’s defensive scheme or instinct within the moment. This type of nuanced tweak is what appealed to Kerr.
Kerr says the Offense will still mainly run through Steph & Dray, but will implement more 'Repeatable Patterns' via Stotts:
“We’re not going to shift dramatically,” Kerr said. “With Steph and Draymond, we’re always going to run a lot of things through those guys. And they’re going to play the way they play. But I do think that we can be, like I said, more patterned. We have to practice more. Bottom line, we have to practice more. I’ve got to figure out a better way to streamline practice, get our actions over and over again into patterns so that we can execute better against pressure defense. … We’ve always been a team that has had to rely on execution and movement because we’re not a great one-on-one team. But with the group that we have now, I think we need more work and more repeatable patterns.”
Stotts on the Culture Fit:
Kerr said everyone “raves” about Stotts and believes he will fit seamlessly into the staff’s culture.
“Steve and I have had very few conversations before this,” Stotts said. “But I’ve always had a lot of respect and admiration for what he has said from a basketball standpoint, from a coaching standpoint, from a social awareness standpoint. Intellectually, I’ve always had a lot of appreciation of how he represents himself. That was certainly a big appeal to me.”
Stotts' Prior Connections to Key Members of the Org + the Org itself:
- Warriors assistant in 2004-05 under Mike Montgomery, coaching Year 3 Mike Dunleavy Jr
- Stotts worked on the same staff as Warriors assistant Ron Adams for four seasons in Milwaukee beginning in the late 1990s
*Larry Harris, a current Warriors executive, hired Stotts to that Milwaukee staff
Stotts and Stackhouse were having a conversation in Las Vegas when they remembered that Stotts actually coached Stackhouse during his final season in Dallas, one of the least memorable of his storied 18-year NBA career.
“I was just talking to Ron about it,” Stotts said. “I’ve had the good fortune of working for three Hall of Fame coaches. George Karl is in the Hall of Fame. Mike Montgomery is Hall of Fame. Lon Krueger is Hall of Fame. Rick Carlisle will be in the Hall of Fame. Steve Kerr will be in the Hall of Fame. So I will have worked for five Hall of Fame coaches. That’s pretty cool.”
Why Kerr landed on Ex-Player Jerry Stackhouse for One of the Staff:
“We’ve missed having a former player the last couple years,” Kerr said. “I love that he’s been a head coach at Vandy for five years. He’s not only a former player, he’s a former All-Star. He commands respect. He’s just got a really strong presence, and I think we needed that.”
“Just feel like we needed Jerry,” Kerr said. “We have a lot of young players. … There’s something about a former player where those guys can tell our players, ‘I’ve been there, I’ve done this. I know exactly what you’re going through.’ Jerry did it on a really high level, but he’s also coached at a high level. That meant a lot to me.”
Current Front of the Coaching Bench:
Stackhouse’s strategic work will be mostly on the defensive side. He’s expected to work with Chris DeMarco on that end, according to Kerr. Assistant coach Kris Weems will remain on the front of the bench next to Stotts and Stackhouse.