SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was no great mystery why the Golden State Warriors were imploding. The evidence was all over the large-screen television in front of Sue Phillips. A team celebrated for its relentless ball movement had resorted to a sad, steady diet of one-on-one possessions, and Phillips commiserated with Coach Steve Kerr from afar.
“See how he’s telling them to move?” said Phillips, who was taking the Warriors’ meltdown hard. “I might lose my lunch.”
Phillips, one of the most respected high school coaches in the country, was viewing Game 4 of the N.B.A.’s Western Conference finals from the living room of one of her former players — except that the former player, Leslie Cook, was not there.