Everyone wants to be Curry, but Cole is the finishing touch

Maddy said, "If I could, I wish I were Curry." "To make the veteran sigh, Curry's strength is beyond doubt. The new all-time three-point king, the 2020-2021 season scoring champion, with a 59.3 percent shooting percentage. Both in terms of stats and achievements, Curry already has his own place in the league. But Curry was able to reach the peak of today, and the man behind the Warriors, Steve Kerr, was instrumental.

1

In 2009, when Curry first joined the league, as a vassal of warriors guard Monta Ellis, then-head coaches Donald Nelson and Smart regarded Curry as the fourth person to develop the full firepower of Ellis and Margeti.

"I only shot 1 three-pointer in my first game, and I only shot 17 three-pointers in 10 games." Curry talks about his intuitive feelings when he first joined the league. Although Curry became the leading scorer at Davidson College during his college years, setting an NCAA record for three-pointers in a single season. But in the NBA, which was a high-intensity confrontation at the time, the skinny player was not taken seriously.

In 2003, Steve Kerr announced his retirement, shooting a single-season all-time high during his career, and also experienced three consecutive Bulls championships, and finally won the championship with the Spurs. As a player, calm, not arrogant Cole has never been the protagonist on the pitch. After retiring, he chose to become a commentator. At TNT, he was funny and humorous. Coming to Phoenix in 2007, he became general manager of the Suns. Just as the so-called unbreakable, he traded Marion, Dior, replaced the coach with Gentry, the Suns swept the Spurs 4-0, but failed to reach the Western Conference Finals. This time, he chose to leave, asking Tom Thibodeau for advice on how to build an "iron-blooded defensive system" as he waited for a new opportunity.

In 2014, two years after leaving the Suns, Kerr succeeded former Meritorious Coach Mark Jackson at the helm of the Golden State Warriors. At the new coaching conference, Cole's college coach Olsen believes Steve can find a way to succeed in anything, and he's never afraid of challenges. Olsen felt he would be a very successful manager.

2

After Cole became a Warriors coach, his first action was to visit every warrior player, and he even traveled to Australia to meet Bogut. Cole wants to break away from the traditional identity of coaches and players, build a real friendship with the players, and communicate with them about their possible roles and expectations for the future.

This approach had a profound impact on the entire team, and Bogut, who was far away in Australia, was thrilled that Cole would come to meet him. Of course, as the core of the team, Curry's example is the most important. After meeting Cole, Curry praised Cole, saying: "Cole is very diligent, from the time he became a coach to the present, there was no slack, always dutiful. ”

While visiting Curry, Cole plays golf with Curry and his son, after which Cole asks Curry's father, Dell Curry, to learn more about Curry. Dale Curry told him that Curry wanted someone to push him and remind him. And hopefully someone will challenge him.

Kerr followed Dell's advice, and then told Curry that he would need Curry to take on more tasks on the defensive end in the future, and proposed that in his mind, Curry is not only a shooter, but also can guide the whole team while scoring, and is a player with both attack and defense, which makes Curry very excited.

Curry said of the incident: "In the eyes of others, I am just a shooter, and people think that's all I can do." I don't see it that way, I know I can work on other fronts, and I know I'm not just a great shooter. ”

At the time, Kerr saw curry's good qualities and historic offensive influence. This is just like the situation when Popovich excavated Duncan. In the days that followed, as Kerr expected, Curry continued to challenge the ceiling of his defensive end, improving his defensive skills while improving his offensive end and becoming a good defender.

Speaking of Kerr and Curry's ability to quickly build a rapport: "Any time a player knows that the coach will always support him, knows that the coach is willing to tolerate his mistakes and waits for him to grow, then the player will give everything for the coach. ”

3

Before Cole came, Curry's playing style was no different from any of the attacking defenders at the time, mainly blocking and dismantling, and directly singles when there was a single opportunity. But after meeting Cole, there are more no-ball runs, less blocking and singles. Such a system change has improved Curry's efficiency, but more importantly, some people will cover Curry, some people will give Curry assistance, and some people will actively cut with the space involved in Curry, and this transformation has mobilized the enthusiasm of everyone.

Thus, on December 11, the Warriors defeated the Rockets 105-93, becoming the 16th team in NBA history to win at least 19 wins and 2 losses in the first 21 games of the season, and Kerr became the first coach in NBA history to win 19 games in the first 21 games of his coaching career. This is a new development for two people, and we have seen the results he has brought to Curry and the entire Warriors team.

In the 2015-2016 season, the Warriors won 73 and lost 9, making it the best team in NBA history to have the best regular season record in a single season.

2014-2018 three seasons of overall champions

Curry became the all-time three-point king, 2 regular season MVP, 2 three-point champion, and so on

Some say it was Curry who changed the way the league plays. But in fact, it may be Steve Cole who really changed the league. It was he who came to the league with the "small ball concept" that led the basketball world trend, flexible rotation positions, rainstorm pear blossom attack, and shattered the old concept of "jump shot can't win the championship". After winning the championship in 2015, Kerr was moved to say: "You (D'Antoni) are right, I proved your great basketball philosophy." As a player, Cole had the best record of 72 wins in history with the team, and many years later, as a coach, he personally broke that record. As his coach said, he can do a great job in any way.

4

As a great coach, we can see in him the shadows of Zen masters Phil Jackson, D'Antoni, Popovich, and Tom Thibodeau. But he learned the lessons of every coach and made improvements. He had witnessed Kobe Bryant's feud with the Sharks in Phil Jackson, so he understood the need to focus on regulating the relationship between the superstars. He had seen Popovich's conflict with Leonard, so he understood that a coach needs to know how to be relaxed. He's been involved in the Suns' peaks and declines himself, so he knows a good team can't rely on just one core.

Cole doesn't just let the superstars hold together, his most valuable thing is the emphasis on role players, he makes those substitute players on the bench regain confidence, and integrate into the team, willing to dedicate themselves to the collective. Because Cole is breaking free from the bench, he knows that the rotation players are eager to prove themselves and the reality and loss that need to be at the bottom of the league. Maybe a few games, a season of snubs will destroy their careers. So he's willing to give players a chance to make a mark. Both Bogut and McGee have publicly thanked Cole, who has said coach Steve Cole has reintegrated him into the team's offense. His optimism made himself better.

5

Kerr has also left the Warriors. In the summer of 2015, after the Warriors won the NBA championship, Kerr had back surgery. That operation caused complications that caused him to leak fluid from his spinal cord, and he had to do surgery again in September to repair it. During that time, as Cole celebrated his 50th birthday, he tried to mend the pain with a smile, but Cole's wife said: "I can feel that he is in a lot of pain." ”

In the months that followed, Cole was cut off from all contact with the outside world, and he had to deal with intense headaches and burns in his neck. In the 2015-16 season, he missed 43 games as a result, and whenever he was troubled by pain, he held on with a strong will. In the 2016-17 season, Cole suffered a back injury again, and his condition began to worsen at the start of the playoffs. However, he insisted on hosting an intra-team training session and announced his departure due to illness the next day.

The news of Cole's departure shocked everyone, and even the players who spent with Cole every day did not perceive Cole's physical condition. After learning of Kerr's absence, the warriors reversed the game in the third round of the first round with the Blazers to win. After the game, Curry took the ball from the game and he was going to give the basketball to Cole. Curry said: "Our coach is very unwell and he told us this morning that we need to stand together in the difficult situation as a way to support him. This victory is dedicated to the coach. ”

When the fifth game of the finals was over, Cole could not hide the corners of his wet eyes with a smile, and even in the eyes of everyone, he still leaned on general manager Bob to cry. In that season, no one but himself could understand what kind of illness he had experienced, and it was only when he himself could not overcome it that he announced his departure to everyone.

Because of the peculiarities of injuries, he doesn't know when he'll be back on the field, and waiting is often the most anxious. So at the moment when the game was finalized, he revealed his sensual side. The joy of victory, the hardships along the way made him complicated inside, even if from the outside world, the Warriors' championship was taken for granted, but for Kerr, he understood that all this was not easy to come by.

epilogue

Behind every victory, it is the players who give their best, and when the players are fighting, Cole watches his children behind the scenes, with love and trust, accompanying them forward.

Steve Kerr, with his unique charm and effective changes, has made the Warriors shine. During his time in charge, he received honors he had never had with the Bulls in the past. Subtly, Cole has gone further and further down the path of making history. Until then, no one wanted to believe that this rookie coach could go to the top. Steve Cole, however, did.