Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr plans to pace his star-studded squad this season, ensuring they have the requisite energy (and, more importantly, are healthy enough) for the Playoff grind.
Kerr and the Dubs have no interest in going after their own 73-win record—winning a title is all that matters.
Chasing a third straight Finals appearance, Steve Kerr will "pace" the Warriors this season: https://t.co/NguiyuwBtU
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) October 17, 2016
Golden State’s injuries came back to haunt them in the conference and NBA Finals, though Kerr thinks the team was mentally worn down.
Per the Mercury News:
“We didn’t roll our guys out there for 40 minutes,” he said. “You look at the minutes per game — our top guys were down there at 34, 33. So minutes were fine, very similar to the year before. But it was a different sort of emotional feeling. I don’t think we’ll have that this year. We’ve kind of been through that. We’d rather win a championship than set a record.”
“Over time, that stuff adds up,” Kerr said. “That’s why LeBron (James) going to the Finals six straight years is, to me, one of the great accomplishments of all-time. Like, how many guys have done that? Maybe Bill Russell was the last guy. I know Michael (Jordan) didn’t do it because he took a couple years off. Larry Bird, Magic (Johnson) never did it. Not six. Six is incredible.”
In a much deeper conference, the Warriors are trying to claw back to the Finals for a third straight season. Kerr was part of the late 1990s Bulls three-peat. […] “The third year was the toughest,” Kerr said. “The famous shot that Michael hit over Byron Russell in Utah, people remember that shot. But you look back at that game, Scottie (Pippen) had a back injury, missed 10 minutes in the first half. We were down 15, didn’t have home court. We were up 3-1, lost at home to go back to Salt Lake. We were running on fumes.”
Related
Draymond Green: ‘I Don’t Even Want to Win 74 or 75 Games’
