How Mike Brown’s tactics have given Kings 2-0 lead and created challenges for Steve Kerr, Warriors
The Warriors have been competitive in both games, but Mike Brown’s tactical decisions have undoubtedly made an impact. Steve Kerr acknowledged a handful.
SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr called it, and Wednesday afternoon his prediction was confirmed: Mike Brown, Kerr’s longtime assistant with the Warriors who took over as head coach of the Sacramento Kings this season, was named the NBA Coach of the Year.
With 100 first-place votes from a panel of reporters and broadcasters, Brown became the first-ever unanimous winner.
Wednesday, just before it was announced, Kerr sat at the podium at the Chase Center and said the Warriors need to make some adjustments against the Kings, who came into the series as heavy underdogs but now have a 2-0 series lead.
The Warriors have been competitive in both games, but Brown’s tactical decisions have undoubtedly made an impact. Kerr acknowledged a handful.
He talked Wednesday about how the Kings have done a good job blitzing Steph Curry and forcing him into questionable decisions, often hurrying the Warriors on offense.
“The greatest basketball quote of all time is from John Wooden, ‘Be quick but don’t hurry,’ ” Kerr said. “That summarizes everything about the game. That’s what we need to think about. Our guys have been in a hurry, we showed them a lot of turnovers from Game 2. Frankly, most of them were unforced, most of them happened because we were in a rush to make a play.”
Often hounded by defenders, Curry went 3-for-13 (23%) from the 3-point line in Game 2.
“They’ve got a good plan and they’re doing everything they can to slow him down,” Kerr said.
Curry acknowledged before the series that Brown “knows us well, we know him well, so the adjustments and all that stuff will be interesting throughout the series.”
After his poor 3-point shooting in Game 2, Curry said, “I have to make adjustments.”
He added, “We know they’re trying to be physical, especially on the perimeter to try to take us out of our sets and our patterns, and we have to respond.”
Wednesday, Kerr again talked about the pick-and-roll situation, which has been too often exploited by a Kings team that uses Domantas Sabonis to set picks on the perimeter, allowing De’Aaron Fox to create scoring chances through the middle, often against Kevon Looney.
Even if Kerr wanted to swap out Looney to create a better defensive matchup, the coach’s hands are tied; he needs Looney to help rebound.
The Kings, who entered the postseason ranked 23rd in the NBA in offensive rebounding, have launched an assault on the glass. After averaging fewer than 10 offensive rebounds a game in the regular season, they retrieved 29 of them in the first two playoff games.
“It’s something we haven’t done well this series,” Kerr said about keeping the Kings off the glass.
The Kings’ physicality is perhaps the biggest surprise of the series, Looney said. He knew they’d play fast, but expected the Warriors to win the battle for 50-50 balls.
“We have to focus in on the details, boxing out every time,” he said. “Sometimes four guys box out, one doesn’t, they come get the ball. It has to be a group effort. Five guys have to go to the glass. Five guys have to box out. We have to play with force and take care of the small things.”
Too much physicality (and a bit of a temper) is what got Draymond Green suspended for Game 3, when Sabonis, laying flat on his back after taking a spill, yanked Green’s ankle, then Green stomped him on the chest.
Now the Warriors have to find a way to combat the Kings’ strength in the paint without one of their most physical players.
Perhaps the referees let the game get out of hand early in Game 2, something Kerr alluded to after the game when he said the refs established they weren’t going to call much.
ESPN analyst J.J. Redick said on the air on Wednesday, “The referees have dictated too much in the Kings’ favor in this series.”
But surely there’s more credit to be given out. Some should go to Fox, Malik Monk and, of course, Brown, Kerr’s assistant of six years. Brown’s marching orders have produced a pair of masterful performances by a Kings team that is trying to do something no other has been able to: beat Kerr in a Western Conference playoff series.
Under Kerr, the Warriors have gone 18-0 in such series.
Now they need to defend the pick and roll better, rebound better, bring more physicality, create space for Curry and cut back on their turnovers.
Said Warriors forward Moses Moody, “We’ve got to go out there and figure it out.”
As for the Kings?
“Mike Brown has been coaching circles around Steve Kerr,” former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins said on ESPN on Tuesday. “We thought the Warriors were going to make adjustments (in Game 2). It was the Kings who actually made adjustments.”