Golden State Warriors back-up center JaVale McGee is slowly becoming a major contributing factor for the Golden States Warriors in recent games. The Golden State Warriors has won 11 straight games and a big part of that is JaVale McGee.
In the last 9 games that JaVale McGee has played for the Golden State Warriors, he has been averaging just 5.3 points on 74.1% shooting on the field, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in just eight minutes of floor time per game. Those are pretty decent numbers considering his limited playing time.
But the major factor that's been making an impact for the Golden State Warriors this season cannot be seen on stats alone. JaVale McGee's height and length has been the major factor. A 7-footer with a wingspan of a 7-foot-8 player and has springs in his legs, JaVale McGee can easily open up the floor.
As Golden State Warriors head coach has put it, vertical spacing. "It just adds so much," Steve Kerr said.
JaVale McGee, 28, is also incredibly agile for a 7-footer. He can easily run from court to court, easily outrunning opposing big men.
To get a good look at how JaVale McGee has been impacting a game whenever he enters the floor, take for example the Golden State Warriors game against the Minnesota Timberwolves last Saturday night. In that game, which the Golden State Warriors won 115-102, JaVale McGee was inserted back into the game by Steve Kerr in the 3rd quarter.
The Warriors were up by nine when JaVale McGee entered. Within a minute after entering the game, JaVale McGee had an alley-oop dunk and a block. By the time JaVale McGee was done with his stint in the 3rd period, the Golden States Warriors are up by 17 points. That's a plus-8 compared to Anderson Varejao's minus-7 when he entered the game.
To put it in a larger perspective, JaVale McGee has outscored opponents by 49 points in the 72 minutes JaVale McGee has played during the Golden State Warriors 11 game winning streak. That's a continuing trend that Steve Kerr doesn't mind having.
"Every time we've called on him, he's done a nice job," Steve Kerr said. "He's probably earning more consistent minutes."
