While the Warriors struggled through last season with a string of inexplicable losses, coach Steve Kerr analyzed the team’s operations. By season’s end, he’d come to several conclusions, one of which was that his staff needed more authority.
After consulting with general manager Mike Dunleavy, Kerr turned to former NBA players who were well-respected and unafraid to get tough, especially on the defensive end.
Carr interviewed several candidates before hiring Jerry Stackhouse, who fits that description perfectly.
“What I heard from Mike and Steve was that they were looking to acquire some former players,” Stackhouse told NBC Sports Bay Area, “and my teams have always played well defensively, both in the D-League and at Vanderbilt, and that’s how my teams were when I was at Memphis, so this is a great opportunity.”
A two-time NBA All-Star, Stackhouse spent his 18-year career surrounded by players like Charles Oakley and Zach Randolph whose attitude could be summed up in six letters: be careful. They had their “mean faces” on before the game started and kept them there until the final buzzer rang, during which they were ready to shake their fists. Some guys step on the court and they’re serious about it. Stack was serious about it.
After retiring in 2013, Stackhouse focused on coaching, with stints with the Toronto Raptors (where he led the D-League team to a championship in 2017) and the Memphis Grizzlies. When Vanderbilt University offered him a six-year contract as head coach in 2019, Stackhouse accepted.
Stackhouse stayed at the school for five seasons, but did not have a five-star freshman recruit and the team never made the NCAA Tournament. Two months after Stackhouse was fired in March, Kerr and Dunleavy contacted each other. Stackhouse met for dinner in Los Angeles, and the next day they watched video and discussed strategy. Two weeks later, Stackhouse was offered the assistant coaching job. He would sit on the front bench with Terry Stotts, Chris Weems and Kerr.
Stotts is the respected figure on the offensive end, while Stackhouse will be expected to bring solid defensive principles and a demeanor that suggests they are best followed.
When asked about his vision for the defense, Stackhouse was quick to respond.
“Physical. That’s the one word I like to say,” he said. “Physical. You have to be able to scramble, you have to be able to rotate, you have to see things. A lot of it is just natural in a way. We want to avoid going against something that’s not natural. That’s been the philosophy defensively since I’ve been a coach.”
“But you always have to look at the player and adjust accordingly. Avoid being rigid about doing things a certain way. Some players have special talents, but they don’t have to do things the same way as others. You have to understand that. And sometimes, coaches make mistakes.”
The 49-year-old Stackhouse believed in physical strength as a player, so it makes sense that he would emphasize it as a coach. He’s the man who, as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, thwarted a breakaway dunk attempt in the 2006 NBA Finals by slamming his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame into the shoulder and neck area of the 7-foot-1, 320-pound Shaquille O’Neal, sending Shaq sprawling toward camera crews lined up on the baseline.
Stackhouse ended up receiving a one-game suspension, but O’Neal and his Miami Heat teammates got the message home about transition defense, tenacity and a willingness to make sacrifices.
It’s no wonder Stackhouse is excited to partner with Draymond Green, an elite defender whose physical prowess at times defies common sense.
“We talked in Las Vegas,” Stackhouse said of meeting with Green two weeks ago, “and we’ll talk more once we get there and things are really gelling. But a lot of the things I want to implement, he does naturally. It’s not about him. That’s number one. What he brings is a competitive spirit. I can relate. Always have.”
The Warriors posted a defensive rating of 113.5 in the 55 games Green played in last season. In the 27 games he missed, the rating rose to a dismal 121.1. A Stackhouse-Green pairing could improve both of their ratings.
Since winning the 2022 NBA Finals, Golden State has finished sixth (2022-23) and 10th (2023-24) in the Western Conference. Much of the blame lies with its defense, which was second in the league in rating (106.6) in 2021-22 before slipping to 14th (113.4) and 15th (114.5) the past two seasons.
It’s fair to assume this slump has something to do with the departure of lead assistant Mike Brown, who led the defense for six seasons and went on to become head coach of the Sacramento Kings after the ’22 Finals.
Outside of the dismal 2019-20 season, in which the Warriors finished 15-50, their worst defensive rating under Brown was 109.4.
Stackhouse has been asked to replace Brown.
“Defensively, I think Steve and Mike were hoping for a little bit more reinforcement,” Stackhouse said. “With Mike gone, things changed a little bit and the defense shifted to the middle.
“You’ve got to stay focused, keep your eyes on the guy and the ball, and not get pinned down and have an ‘Ah (expletive)’ moment,” he added. “You’ve got to stay focused, and that usually starts with transition defense. We want to force the other team to play half-court defense against us. We know pace is important, but the best way to force a team to play solid defense is to get back in transition and force them to play the half-court, and I think this guy can do that.”
Kerr lamented the Warriors’ lack of grit on multiple occasions after losses last season — slack defense, complacency or just plain disinterest.
With Stackhouse on the bench, that should happen less often. Kerr is motivated to make the Warriors better than they were the past two seasons, and like Stackhouse, Kerr knows the first step in rebuilding the Warriors is to get the defense right.
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