Lowell Cohn: Did Warriors' Steve Kerr learn anything from NBA Finals fiasco?

OAKLAND

When Warriors coach Steve Kerr is relaxed, he is very relaxed. Glories in his state of relaxation. He was relaxed on Wednesday, meeting the media before the start of the Warriors’ season.

It was almost like he and his team had won the NBA championship, repeated as champions. Which, of course, they did not. They lost the final game - Game 7 - to the Cavaliers, allegedly a less-talented team than the Warriors. They lost on their home court. They lost in front of their fans. They lost after leading the series 3-1.

In other words, they flopped. Collapsed. It was a collapse, as they say, of monumental proportions.

With everything at stake, the Warriors played like it was a regular-season game against the Lakers on a Tuesday night in November. No passion. No urgency. No precision. And no scoring. The Warriors tied the Cavs at 89-89 with 4:39 left in the game and never scored again. Did the giant fade.

Which means Steve Kerr presided over the collapse, the fade, the passionless submission. The retreat to the offseason. Which became the fervent pursuit of Kevin Durant, whom everyone, including Kerr and the media, call “KD.”

KD? How does the media know him as KD? Are we his friends? KD indeed.

Yet there was Kerr basking in adoration and good humor on Wednesday. He is a good coach and a nice man - to the extent I know him or anyone else I cover. He seems nice. He likes to be happy and positive. You expect him to wear an Alfred E. Neuman T-shirt: What, me worry?

He spoke about why he hired Mike Brown as his bench coach. Brown is probably a very good coach, but Kerr did not emphasize that. Pay close attention.

“It’s all about the human being,” Kerr said in his philosophical voice. “Basketball is not the most complicated thing. There’s a million people out there who can tell me how to guard the pick and roll, or give me a good play to run. This is all about good people. Getting people who function well in a group. Mike is cut out of that same cloth.”

The Warriors coaching staff sounds more like a psychological counseling group - family and couples therapy - than an actual coaching staff. Or maybe the coaches are counselors at a day camp in the Oakland hills. You can hear the kids calling the counselors Uncle Steve and Uncle Mike.

I don’t believe there are a million people who can give Kerr a good play. Zero people, including him, gave a good play in the final 4:39 of Game 7. And I don’t believe a coaching staff must be The Good Ship Lollipop.

How about some assistant coaches being grouchy and challenging the head coach? Kerr sure needed someone to challenge him at the bitter end in Game 7, challenge him to do better. To do something.

Some staffs need one coach to be the enforcer. To make the players live up to expectations. Is Brown the enforcer? Is Kerr the enforcer? Is anyone? You got me.

I do not consider Kerr immune to criticism even though he had a spectacular first season and a spectacular second season while the spectacle lasted.

“Have you thought a lot about Game 7 of the Finals?” I asked him.

“Sure. Yeah.”

“In what way have you thought about it?” I asked, believing he hadn’t gone into much detail - he usually does.

“It took me about a week to watch the tape. I’ve probably watched the tape a couple of times. The main way I think about it is, ‘How can we get better? What can we learn from that game?’ Not only that game, but really the final 14 games in the playoffs? We were obviously challenged in ways we hadn’t been challenged before. We need to use those experiences to get better.”

“How do you feel about the way you coached in Game 7?” I asked, believing he had been vague and ducked my previous question.

“I could have done some things better for sure. As a coach, you make some decisions that you have to live with one way or the other.”

“Can you give an example?” I said, believing he had been vague and ducked my previous question.

“No.”

“Why?” I asked, knowing he had ducked my previous question.

“Because it’s not fair to the players. It’s not fair to our coaches. We make decisions based on what we feel. What we think is as good move. How the matchups look out there. I’m well aware people are going to want to know exactly, and it’s your job to ask, but it’s not fair to anybody to put that out there.”

“You missed a lot of games at the beginning,” I said, believing he had ducked my previous question. “Did it affect the way you coached - I don’t mean not feeling well. I mean the lack of interaction with the team and coming in when they were winning so big, did it affect the way you coached through the end of the season and in the postseason?”

“No, it didn’t affect the way I coached at all. We couldn’t quite finish it off. I absolutely take plenty of blame for that. That’s part of my job. I could have done a better job in the playoffs. But, the main thing is, who cares? In terms of our team and our staff, that stuff doesn’t matter. People have to write and stuff, and the fans want to read about it, but for us what matters is what did we do wrong and how can we get better. That’s what we’re focused on.”

For what it’s worth, I say Kerr’s absence did affect how he coached. Didn’t want to rock the boat. Mess up a good thing. Be a tough disciplinarian - see Draymond Green.

Kerr’s answers to my questions were vague to the max. Were no answers at all. From a man who has lots to answer for. He needs to reflect on how he failed. He needs to learn how to do better in the 2017 playoffs.

If he doesn’t win the championship, it’s his reputation. Ownership got him an All-Star team and he needs to produce. If he doesn’t, it’s entirely his fault. Certainly more his fault than KD’s. I can tell you that.

For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular, go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.