NBA Coaching Hires: Experience vs. Potential

The philosophy of an NBA team comes from the coach. Coaching determines the way a team plays basketball, but some coaches don't do any more than create a loosely defined offensive and defensive system. When you can find one of those few coaches who can affect your team-whether it's with a perfected defensive system like Tom Thibodeau, an unparalleled motivational skill like Doc Rivers, or a supremely efficient rotation like Gregg Popovich-that is when you found a truly great coach.

Two available coaches really inspired massive buzz this offseason: Stan Van Gundy and Steve Kerr. SVG represents experience here. Here's a guy who's coached for seven years as an NBA head coach and almost thirty years in total. Van Gundy represents the traditional coach: he worked his way up through the NCAA ranks, then became an NBA assistant and then an NBA coach.  At least for a while, he was able to handle the explosive personalities of Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal. We assume he's a great coach because he led a team to the NBA Finals and has a lot of experience. But looking back on his resume, what makes me have the initial reaction of thinking this is a great hire for Detroit? There's nothing unusually incredible about his career so far. He's certainly not a bad coach, and maybe the GM duties the Pistons are giving him will help him construct a team perfectly suited to his style. But somehow my gut reaction was to think that his experience, in and of itself, makes him great.

That brings us to Steve Kerr. When I heard that the Warriors had hired Kerr, my first thought that didn't involve the words "Phil Jackson" was that the Warriors might have needed an experienced coach after the firing of Mark Jackson. Grabbing another coach with no prior experience, I thought, might not work out so well for Golden State. But really, what does that matter? Every coach was a first timer at one point. Yes, there is something to be said for the fact that Van Gundy started in the relatively low-stakes role of a small college's assistant coach while Kerr will be starting in the NBA. Yet that neglects the fact that Kerr learned how to coach a basketball team from two of the best ever in Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and that Kerr knows all about chemistry and winning from being on one of the biggest chemistry successes ever, the late '90s Bulls. Plus, Kerr knows the inner workings of the league from his time as Suns GM. Kerr is a swing-for-the-fences hire: he has a chance of being a truly great coach. We have an idea of what the SVG era in Detroit is going to be like, but we don't know what Steve Kerr will do. That risk-reward factor, though it casts doubt on the Warriors' decision in one sense, makes this a great hire with great possibilities for a young team on the rise.

Potential and experience often come into conflict when making a decision to hire or not to hire a coach. Many teams like to hire young assistants from other squads or former players like Kerr in order to maximize the potential factor. Others are afraid to take such a risk and go after more experienced options. But a coaching disaster can occur regardless of the coach's experience. First-time coach Jason Kidd went though a rough stretch this year where it looked like he might be fired. But Kidd was able to learn from his mistakes and right the ship, while more experienced coaches like Mike Woodson and Mike Brown couldn't fix the issues that plagued their team. Woodson's and Brown's teams will be paying those two coaches to stay away from their team next season after firing the coaches in the middle of their contracts, while the Nets will still feature Kidd front and center. Sure, there are examples of inexperienced coaches being fired relatively quickly, but you can say the same for experienced ones. Coaches who came in with no prior experience may include failures like Vinny Del Negro and Kevin Pritchard, but they also include greats such as Don Nelson and Doc Rivers. At the end of the day, there are three types of coaches: coaches that hurt your team, coaches that have little to no effect on your team, and coaches that make your team better. With an experienced coach, you often times know which of those options you're getting, and since great, experienced coaches usually don't randomly become available, you usually end up with a mediocre or bad coach. With an inexperienced leader, you have a real shot at true greatness. That's why Steve Kerr's coaching potential was too much for the Warriors to pass up.

Find me on twitter @JGBHoops!

Top 5 Active NBA Point Guards- #4

4. Stephen Curry 

With his speedy release and silky smooth ball handling ability, fans have become infatuated with watching Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry perform on a highly basis. Curry softens the most hardened of defenses with seemingly impossible three point makes, that mirror the ones you may see in a game of NBA2K14. Defenses become incensed when Curry is drilling the shots they are begging him to take, and the Oracle Arena crowd is sent into a frenzy, as Stephen puts on a circus act with unimaginable three point precision. 

For Steph, the most celebrated aspect of his game may be his accuracy from behind the arc, but he's becoming a well rounded player that has kept GSW's hopes of a deep playoff run intact despite the plethora of injuries the team has endured. The desired starting lineup of Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Lee and Bogut have only played a total of 43 games together, as each player has been attempting to cope with nagging injuries. Curry has played the most amount of games out of those aforementioned players, competing in 76 games, only second to Klay Thompson's participation in 78 contests. 

For Curry this is impressive, as he's dealt with his fare share of injuries to his ankles throughout his early career. The sign of durability and dependability is encouraging for GSW as well, knowing they can depend on a top tier point guard to always be at their disposal against the stiffest of competition. With a roster that bolsters as much talent as the Dubs do on paper, the 6th seed seems to be somewhat disappointing, but all of the injuries could've had them in a much more unfortunate position. 

Golden State can move up before next Saturday's playoffs commence, but to do so they will need some luck and or a some virtuoso performances from Stephen Curry. The performances don't seem to be an issue, as Curry led GSW on Friday with 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in only 35 minutes of work against the lowly Los Angeles Lakers.

On the season, Curry is averaging 23.6 PPG (career high,) 8.5 APG (career high,) and 4.3 RPG. The former Davidson Wildcat is shooting 47% from the field and 42% from three showing that consistency is highly in his favor. His usage rate is as high as it's ever been (28.2 up from 26.4 last year) but Golden State is content with this, as Curry has delivered time and time again for the championship hungry team. 

In statistics among point guards, Curry is 1st in scoring, 4th in rebounds, 2nd in FGM and FG%, 6th in assists and 3rd in double-doubles with 27, which includes 4 triple-doubles. Curry is 7th in scoring amongst all players, and his 247 three point field goal makes can be accredited to this. Curry is more than a 3 point specialist, but drilling bombs from beyond the arc is what he does better than anyone else, and this is what makes him incredibly lethal. From the 5 major three point areas on the court (right corner, right wing, straight ahead, left wing, left corner,) Curry is shooting 37% or better from each area. Omit the right corner, and Curry is shooting above 40% from all of the other spots. 

Curry also thrives in crunch time, as his performances in the clutch place him statistically as one of the top clutch players in the league. In the 38 games that have produced "crunch time" Curry is averaging 3.4 PPG which is 6th among qualifying players. He's shooting an 41% in these situations, higher than the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. 

On pull-up jumpers, Curry is shooting 60% from the floor. On step-back jump shots, Steph is shooting 65% from the field. This is remarkable, as most defenses would be content with a player having to consistently knock down a shot of that nature. With a player of Curry's caliber, defenses are forced to adjust accordingly, and just when they do so, Curry uses his wizard like ball handling ability and craftiness to get others involved along with creating for himself.

Curry is averaging a career high in assists, as he's grown more comfortable with playing the point guard position. His assists have generated 1,440 points the highest of his career and 259 more points than last year. He is averaging nearly 4 turnovers per game, (3.8,) but the climb in that figure shouldn't be too surprising as it was mentioned before that Curry's usage rate has increased. If Golden State wants to shake things up in the western conference, Steph has to devote himself to having that turnover per game number shrink when the playoffs begin.

Steph is able to slice and dice through the defense when they attempt to take away his air space, as his sly and quick movements allow him for effective and deadly penetration. He can dump it off to one of his talented bigs for a layup or dunk, or sling it out to the other "Splash Brother," Klay Thompson for a three point bomb. Curry is playing calm, cool and collected basketball and he hopes to lead Golden State on a furious run in the postseason. With a win in Portland tonight, the Warriors will have their first 50 win season since 1993-1994. Curry would've only been 6 years old. The 26 year old hopes to cement his own legacy in GSW, as that passionate fan base yearns for a major accomplishment. 

If anyone can bring these accomplishments it's Curry. He's recognized as one of the leagues top point guards and players, but to truly become respected he must generate some type of postseason success for the Dubs. Right now would be a fantastic time to start, and if a surprising deep postseason run occurs for GSW, Curry could easily find himself moving up on this list. 

*All statistics were researched BEFORE GSW's game against Portland on Sunday.
*Steph Curry is the first player to make 250 three's in multiple seasons

Do you think Stephen Curry is a top 5 point guard in the NBA? Should he be ranked higher or lower? Hit me on Twitter with thoughts (@wcboyer24) and remember to continue to support The Basketball Society. 

#2 - Golden State Warriors

Fan of the Golden State Warriors or not, you either grinned or saltily grimaced when you heard they signed unrestricted free agent Andre Iguodala to a multi-year deal back in July. As if the Warriors didn't have enough upside seeing young assets Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green show growth in their six-game playoff defeat to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals. Adding Iguodala to this mix not only presents a necessary benefit for this Warriors team on both ends of the floor, but makes them one of my favorites in the Western Conference.

Iguodala is a widely recognized defensive specialist and premiere glue guy in the NBA, which is precisely where the Warriors needed a boost from last season's young, emerging roster. Head coach Mark Jackson did experimenting with Harrison Barnes at the stretch-four slot in last year's playoffs, which can also be asked of Iguodala, depending on how "small" or "big" Jackson goes with his line ups. Center Andrew Bogut just signed a three-year extension, and you still have David Lee, so you now have some flexibility in the Warriors' front court. Jackson will be able to use Iguodala at every position except center, and with Stephen Curry healthy, he won't be burdened as the be-all-end-all for the offense, much like he was subjected to in Philadelphia and too often in Denver. If Curry, Bogut, and Lee are healthy come next April, I believe Andre Iguodala is exactly the person to help ascend this Warriors team into legitimate NBA Finals contenders.

- Martin S. @marley_mcfly