Steve Kerr has put together some terrific plays in high-demand times to get key shots for Golden State Warriors this season. He deserves a lot of credit for coming up with those actions and knowing when to implement them. But when it comes to creating them, the praise may need to be directed in another direction.
All coaches borrow plays, or steal, are inspired by, or steal from others. Kerr is no exception.
In fact, he’s one of the best in the league at seeing something and putting it in the team’s playbook. Warriors. He’s done it numerous times this season at crucial moments.
If you follow people like Joe Viray or Gibson Pyper, better known as HalfCourtHoopsOn Twitter, you’ll see them post plenty of examples of what the Golden State coach is doing thanks to his “stolen” plays.
Here are four examples of fantastic plays Kerr has stolen this season.
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Winner, Brad Stevens
Kerr was applauded for the genius play to tie the Warriors’ Jan. 4 game once morest the Pistons with 4.2 seconds remaining, but it was Stevens who brought the play to the NBA with the Celtics. (And Stevens stole it from Hanover College.)
The key to the action is hang a ball in a throw-inmaking the ball go from corner to corner, and from there to the triple at the top.
2️⃣ ways to win a game from throw-ins
???? Warriors: Brad Stevens SLOB para triple de Thompson
???? Pistons: blind for Bogdanovic and mayhem break loose
???? Express analysis pic.twitter.com/Hi4667RwUW
— Sergio Rabinal (@S_Rabinal) January 5, 2023
Golden State’s sequence in 2023 looks an awful lot like Boston’s in 2016:
Kerr pocketed this play for quite some time. However, the Warriors unsuccessfully executed it in one of the most crucial moments of their run to the ring. Specifically during the Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, where they tried to get a shot for Stephen Curry. The MVP missed with 9.6 seconds remaining and the Warriors were shut out by the Raptors.
Winner it has become an extremely popular play, applied by teams at all levels. The Hornets y Bucks, among others, have done it this season. and the university of North Carolina he successfully executed it to win a game once morest Ohio State in mid-December.
Cyclone, de Fred Hoiberg
The Warriors used to run this play, which was introduced to the NBA by the former Bulls coach. Fred Hoibergmore frequently in previous years.
On December 30, they executed it so that Jonathan Kuminga finished near the hoop:
Hoiberg is often credited with inventing this play, but he also stole it. According to ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, he saw BYU make it in the NCAA during his coaching days at Iowa State. In turn, BYU took it over from Utah State.
Cyclone is another play that has spread throughout the league recently. Miami Heat He has executed it several times in this course, without going any further.
WTF, de Phil Jackson
This play was originally created in 1969 por Red Holzmanwho trained Phil Jackson while playing for the Knicks. Kerr learned it from his coach during his time with the Chicago Bulls and was quick to apply it to the Warriors.
The Warriors have used WTF regularly as a throw-in play for a long time, getting easy baskets with indirect blocks and cuts.
Klay backcut to counter the top-lock in the Warriors’ “WTF” SLOB set pic.twitter.com/1S6pFCmRcC
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) January 5, 2023
Second time the Warriors have scored tonight on their “WTF” SLOB set pic.twitter.com/jMRVzA0tAO
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) January 5, 2023
Kerr is far from the only coach to have stolen this action. as he told MacMullan, “almost everyone in the league has a version.”
Nameless by Quin Snyder
Snyder engineered this beautiful play for Bojan Bogdanovic during the Game 6 of the First Round series of Utah Jazz once morest the Mavericks in the past Playoffs. Bogdanvoic missed the shot, but it was a great slate action.
Kerr took note of that game and has used it twice this season: on Nov. 3 with 31.5 seconds remaining and the Warriors 4 down and once more on Nov. 29 with 4.1 to go and 3 points behind.
The lesson here is that many coaches in the league will run similar plays, but knowing when to run them, once morest what kind of defenses and with the right kind of players is what sets Kerr apart from the rest.
He is always studying the game and thinking regarding how to use what he sees to his advantage. That’s one of the many reasons he’s one of the best coaches in the league.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
