OAKLAND–The Warriors need Jordan Bell to learn.
But they also need Bell on the floor.
For a team with as many stars to lean on as Golden State, and a roster with as many versatile big men as the Warriors have, head coach Steve Kerr still knows that Bell fills a hole his squad can’t leave vacant. The Warriors need a play-making big off the bench, and even as a rookie, Bell is emerging as the option with the most potential to change the game.
Though Kerr has been reluctant to play Bell during the first month and a half of the regular season, when the Oregon product has found his way on the floor, he’s produced a slew of memorable highlights and changed games with his ability to protect the rim. During Golden State’s 110-106 loss to Sacramento on Monday, Bell played just six minutes but he finished the game with four points, five rebounds and one chasedown block during a sequence that forced the Kings to burn a timeout.
When Bell didn’t reenter the game in the fourth quarter, it came as a mild surprise, but it also foreshadowed some of the Warriors’ late-game struggles. Golden State wound up giving away a late lead, and losing a game that even without Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, it still should have won.
After the loss, Kerr explained his rationale for sticking with Draymond Green as the lone true big man down the stretch, but admitted that the Warriors have to start finding ways to make Bell a more consistent factor in the team’s rotation.
“Thought about it but I think Draymond was going well and about mid fourth quarter, I thought about getting him out for a couple of minutes but I thought just with his experience and the fact that he had the night off the other night, I didn’t mind extending Draymond a little bit,” Kerr said. “But yeah, I think we need to find Jordan a few more minutes here and there where we can. He obviously brings a lot to the team. He needs to learn more, but he’s doing some good things while he’s out there.”
Bell is still incredibly raw, and prone to biting wildly on pump fakes as opponents bait him into easy fouls, but Monday night provided Golden State with another example of how his pros outweigh his cons. With JaVale McGee struggling to maintain consistency off the bench, David West unable to play extended minutes and Kevon Looney still battling through his own personal ups and downs, Bell brings Golden State a bench presence who adds value against smaller, more athletic teams.
After Monday’s loss, Green said that when Bell was on the floor in the second quarter, he and reserve guard Shaun Livingston chatted with one another about the play-making ability Bell brings to the table. Though Green said he’s not in a position to judge whether Bell should earn more minutes, he did hint that the rookie is making a case to see the floor more often.
“That’s not really my job to say, yeah, it’s time for Jordan to get more minutes,” Green said. “That ain’t on me. What I will say is when he’s out there, he makes things happen. Shaun and I was talking on the bench, like he just gets out there and he makes plays. It’s not necessarily that he’s making the play, a great pass or whatever it is, although he made some great passes tonight, he just makes things happen. Usually that gets rewarded with more playing time, we’ll see, I’m not sure where it goes. I know he definitely does great things when he’s out there.”