Despite his team's surprise preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr seemed happy about the state of their preparations for the upcoming season.
Unlike the previous years, the Warriors will not be holding a pre-season tour in China this summer. The fact that his team will be getting ready for the grueling season ahead in home soil has delighted the former Coach of the Year Winner.
“This is the way you’re supposed to enter a season,” Kerr said, via Mikael McKenzie of the Sunday Express.
“You have a solid couple of weeks of conditioning and not too much travel. You really get to put things in piece by piece and get better day by day and not worry about international travel and time zones. This is a much more natural way to prepare for the year.”
Kerr is making a lot of sense here. Having to make a promotional tour halfway across the globe definitely takes a toll on the players as well as the coaching staff. Couple this with a thirteen-hour flight back to the U.S. and what you get is an exhausted group that has yet to even play a single regular season contest.
Kerr may have also taken a veiled shot at the association by pointing out the disadvantages of being required to make an overseas tour so close to opening night. However, given how effective these tours are in promoting the league internationally, it would not be surprising if the NBA discounts the champion head coach's opinion here.
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