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Two-Way Player Jerome, How Lamb Demonstrates The Importance Of Trust Originally Appeared On NBC Sports Bayarea
A Hall of Famer with multiple MVP awards and World Championships once told me that the key to effective teamwork in sports is trust. Without trust, other important factors such as talent, skill, and intelligence are minimized.
“This is all the foundation we need to build to win,” he said. “Trust removes doubt. Clubhouses and locker rooms don’t succeed when guys are suspicious of each other.”
This brings in the Warriors, especially Ty Jerome and Anthony Lam. Despite being designated two-way players at the bottom of the roster hierarchy, they’re currently more important than James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody in the recent lottery.
Jerome and Ram are less talented, but more important to the team’s chances of winning. Players and coaches trust them to do things, many of which are clever and winning.
The absence of Stephen Curry has inflated Jerome’s worth. Since Curry sat out with a shoulder injury, he’s averaged 21.6 minutes in five games.
The absence of Andrew Wiggins inflates the value of Lamb. Since Wiggins sat out with a groin injury, he’s averaged 18.5 minutes in his 10 games.
Jerome and Lamb’s influence was evident on Sunday, when the pair emerged from their patchwork benches to play a key role in their 123-109 win over the heavily favored Memphis Grizzlies.
Draymond Green said in an ESPN radio post-game interview, “This guy standing next to me, Ty Jerome, came off the bench and spent a lot of time.
Coach Steve Kerr cited Lamb’s work in shooting 3-for-3 over the arc in the first six minutes of the second quarter as a “key stretch.” Another “key stretch” for him, according to Kerr, was when Jerome scored eight points in his 74-second span late in the third quarter.
“Our lead is back in double digits. I think they’ve cut it down to four or so,” Kerr said.
In fact, Golden State’s lead was 3 down when Jerome briefly nukes. By the end of the quarter, the Warriors were 15 behind him. The Grizzlies closed by 13 points in the fourth quarter.
game over.
Jerome played 22 minutes and scored a season-high 14 points on 6/9 shooting, including 2/4 from deep. He also had four rebounds, one assist, and one steal, earning a team-high plus-23 in plus/minus ratings.
“He’s been in the league for a few years and when he comes out he calms us down,” Kerr said. “He doesn’t turn it inside out. He makes great decisions and is a good shooter. So plus 23 for Ty in 22 minutes? Pretty impressive.”
Lamb managed to go minus 5 in 17 minutes, but scored a total of 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a 3-of-4 over the arc. He had 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 block.
“We know Steph and Wiggs aren’t there,” Lamb told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerris Burke. Moses, Ty, JK, Wise and many others attended. Everyone who came off the bench was ready to play.”
Neither Jerome nor Lam are perfect players, but they both benefit from four years in college and NBA experience with multiple teams. Jerome is 25 and Lam is 25 next month. Wiseman is the oldest of his three to win the lottery, he is 21 years old. Kuminga and Moody each turned 20 this year.
“They know how to play basketball,” a Warriors insider said of Jerome and Lamb. “Others still figure it out.”
Jerome and Lamb know how to better complement the veterans of the team. Both tend to be where they are needed when they are needed, whether offensive or defensive. Neither are prone to obvious errors or cheap fouls. They were the stars in their roles, for the most part.
That’s all we ask of Jerome and Ram. Jerome has admitted to straddling the line between being intentional and smashing into overdrive.
“I’m trying to find a balance in doing that, but the easiest bucket we can find is in transition, so it doesn’t break the flow,” he said. “Especially when you have someone like JK who can be out on the open floor and is a special athlete, I don’t want to be the one who runs backwards and holds people back.”
RELATED: JTA claims it’s ‘not the soul’ of the NBA and can defend Steph in the zone
In an ideal world, Moody, the 14th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, would be lined up to fill the backup guard minutes. And Kuminga, the seventh pick in that draft, would fill in some of the minutes that went to Wiggins.
Instead, the Warriors are looking first to Jerome and Lamb, two basketball vagabonds battling to stay in the NBA.
Trust the confidence factor that the late MLB Hall of Famer Joe Morgan emphasized in a long parking lot conversation 22 years ago.
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