If there's anyone in the NBA who knows the challenge of getting an uber-talented team to fit and play together, it's Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Ahead of the Warriors' clash with the Celtics this Saturday at TD Garden, Kerr shared his thoughts with Steve Bulpett on the difficulites of developing chemistry with a stacked roster.
I mean, the pieces have to fit. You have to have talent, but then does the talent fit together? And once you learn how to execute together what you’re trying to accomplish strategically, the next step is chemistry. Are you playing for each other, and are you fighting for each other?
Kerr led the Warriors to a 140-24 record and a championship in his first two years with the franchise. Then they added Kevin Durant, turning Golden State into the overwhelming championship favorite for the foreseeable future. Kerr made it work, leading to two consecutive championships, and even after adding four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins to the roster this summer, the Warriors have managed to make all their pieces fit.
The Celtics haven't had the same luck getting their talent to consistently play well together. After losing their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward last season, Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown led Boston to the brink of the NBA FInals.
Most of the Celtics' issues have stemmed from their players trying to adapt to different roles than last season. Kerr hasn't watched much of the Celtics this year, but understands what they're going through.
I haven’t seen them a whole lot, just because we haven’t played them yet, but obviously a lot of talent. And it’s not easy incorporating new players to a situation from a year ago where everybody was pretty comfortable in their roles. It looks to me like the roles have had to shift, and that’s always a little tricky as a coach.
You know, I think players go from one season to the next expecting things to be the same, but every team’s different, and you have to find roles, and players have to accept new roles. And those are the things that we sort of all deal with, and it looks to me like that’s been part of the process for the Celtics.
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The Celtics are trying to get to where the Warriors have been for the last five years. It's not as easy as throwing talented players together, Kerr can certainly attest to that.
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