Steve Kerr Sees a Similar Vibe to the 2014-2015 Championship Team After Hot Start
With the Warriors off to a fast 4-0 start to the season, fans can’t help but think about the potential of this current roster. Is it time to officially overreact and mark this team down for a championship run?
This year’s roster is full of experienced veterans and a group of talented youngsters. We’ve also seen the usual fireworks of Stephen Curry and the continued excellence of Draymond Green.
Sound familiar? It might be a stretch, but many fans have noticed the similarities between this team and the team back in the 2014-2015 season – the one that kicked off the five-year historical run.
In an interview with 95.7 the Game, Head Coach Steve Kerr commented on that very thought.
“What is similar is the chemistry that exists and the unselfishness and the depth of the roster,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a whole team of guys who we feel are very comfortable playing.”
The bench is averaging an efficient 37.5 points over the past four games with players such as Damion Lee, Gary Payton II, Nemanja Bjelica, and Andre Iguodala all hitting double digits in this stretch.
The Warriors have been sharing the ball too, averaging a total of 28.3 assists and hitting the magical number of 30 assists versus the Lakers and the Thunder.
This ball movement is very reminiscent of the 2014 team. It’s no secret that the Steve Kerr system emphasizes not only ball movement but also man movement. When that ball is zipping around the perimeter, players are cutting and finding gaps in the defense. This yields open shots for threes and layup attempts, which the Warriors are taking full advantage of.
That’s where the comparison starts. Let’s look at the 2014-2015 roster to find the similarities.
Starting at the top, Steph Curry has been, well Steph Curry. A 45-point performance versus the Clippers should tell you that much, with Curry launching audacious threes all over the court.
Jordan Poole has also shown tremendous growth as Curry’s running mate. Poole exploded during the preseason and has thus cooled off, but nevertheless has shown that he’s developed into a three-level scorer.
Next, we have Andrew Wiggins who has been Mr. Consistency since he’s moved to the Bay. Similarly, like Harrison Barnes, Wiggins has flourished in the Kerr system by slashing to the hoop and knocking down the open shots from teammates. He’s also found a knack of hitting timely buckets and earned the moniker of Two-Way Wigs for his defensive abilities.
Draymond Green has shown a resurgence since last season. Green has been all over the place defensively, and it seems like he’s not afraid to shoot it more often this season as well.
Kevon Looney has been the reliable veteran like Andrew Bogut. Looney understands the offense well and continuously finds his teammates and is a great passing big, much like the Aussie center.
Nemanja Bjelica has been David Lee reincarnated. If you squint hard, you’ll see a familiar power forward who has the outside shot, who is a willing passer and who is able to do the dirty work and be an enforcer when necessary.
“All these guys, when we put them in, we expect them to play well. It does remind me of 2015 when we had Barbosa [and] Livingston,” Kerr said. “They’re in a similar dynamic.”
With the bench production of Lee, Porter and Bjelica, it’s not hard to imagine the likes of Livingston, Barbosa and Speights in that second unit. With these new scoring threats, the Warriors were simply hard to stop.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)