Warriors: Benefit of the doubt? Not with Jackson

Tweet

Was Jackson the right choice or was it their only option?

Warrior fans were ecstatic when Joe Lacob and Peter Guber hired NBA legend Jerry West to be an executive consultant.

There was hope. There was legitimacy.

Then, they hired their first head coach.

It is well documented Mark Jackson has zero coaching experience and has only been part of basketball the past few years by being a color analyst for ESPN.

But when the Warriors made the move for West, many thought this is the Warriors' chance to get somebody big as the next head coach.

Jerry Sloan said "no."

Jeff Van Gundy told Lacob he'd rather stay home.

Whatever happened to Brian Shaw?

So after a slough of negative responses or unimpressive candidates, the Warriors were left with Jackson.

I'm not saying Jackson will not make a good head coach. He very well could be.

But when you bring in someone like West, with more experience than everybody in Oracle Arena combined, and the you hire someone with zero experience for the job he was hired for, an eyebrow has to be raised.

Do the owners deserve the benefit of the doubt? Not really.

Their first hire was a good one, a very good one.

This one, we'll have to wait and see but, first guess? Jackson, at best, plays out his three-year contract and walks.

When you have a young team with developing superstars, my first inclination is to get somebody with experience.

If Jackson hires some top notch assistants to be on the bench with him, then there might be more reason to believe.

That said, the person I feel the worst for is Keith Smart.

In his first year as a head coach, he took the win total from 26 to 36 and, in the latter part of the season, got the Warriors to play some defense.

Bottom line is Jackson was a bigger name than Smart. It got, at least for a time, the national media talking about the Warriors.

But, nobody was going to win more than that with the roster as it is.

Jackson can only be as good as the roster he coaches. The Warriors still lack depth and a tough inside presence which need to be addressed in the offseason.

The former All-Star point guard is highly respected, a great communicator, which all coaches should be, and will be taking on the task of taking a team with one playoff appearance in 17 years back to the promise land.

Good luck.