In news that probably won't surprise a lot of people, CSN Bay Area is reporting that Golden State Warriors head coach Keith Smart will not be retained for the 2011-2012 NBA season. The reports indicate the Warriors will not pick up Smart's option '11-'12 option following a 36-46 season filled with inconsistency. Although Smart does have some supporters, when ownership officially changed hands, his days seemed relatively numbered barring a strong '10-'11 campaign.
Over the course of the year, even when the Warriors were showing some level of improvement, complaints rang out about his mismanagement of the roster. Considering the new Lacob/Guber ownership is supposedly trying to break from the past Warriors malaise, it is not surprising that they'll look to a different head coach, potentially trying to make a big splash with their next hire.
It remains to be seen in which direction Lacob and Co. will go in looking for a new hire. They could go with a high profile assistant coach, they could dip into the college ranks, and of course they could go for a more high profile former head coach. Given the new ownership in place, it should make for an interesting ride in the coming weeks as the team plays this out.
We'll be here with plenty of updates as the Warriors make this key decision. For now, the folks at Golden State of Mind have already begun the discussion, which should only pick up steam.