Great Bob Myers tribute yesterday (it’s all over social media and on the broadcasts, icymi), not to mention effusive praise from Draymond Green on the podium postgame, which brings to mind his 2017 championship parade speech when he blared, “Can we give Bob some f—king credit?”
Ironically, that was in the context of LeBron James, who is now a close friend of Green’s, and the debate involving those Miami Heat “super-teams” in comparison to Kevin Durant joining the Warriors as a free agent in the summer of 2016.
But back to the basics of merely giving somebody credit, can we give Steve Kerr some freakin’ credit? He’s got the Warriors in a rotation of ten players and they just displayed some elite chemistry with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody essentially taking spots on the depth chart previously held by Kevon Looney and Dario Saric.
People who have not coached basketball tend to underestimate the human effort involved in taking guys out of their usual places in the lineup.
Three personal anecdotes come to mind: 1) my own experience as a third-string point guard in ninth grade, improving to become a starting small forward by my senior year of high school, 2) an amateur Asian-American tournament where I benched a future professional shooting guard of the Philippines Basketball Association, and 3) my bringing nine “All-Star” players to a tournament that we won, only to relegate the ninth player to garbage time, even though we won the championship.
I’m not going to delve into these examples too much, although I have done so on our livestreams, but from my high school experience, I can understand how hard it is was for Klay Thompson to accept coming off the bench. My coach in my senior year of high school started me at small forward from the first preseason game. By then I was 5’10” with an “okay” jumper, a heady one-on-one defender, and I ran all the plays correctly, particularly The Flex. Ironically, I had been this coach’s third-string point guard when I was only 5’2” three years prior. Then after two years where subsequent coaches departed for higher-paying administrative jobs in the district, that same coach came back for my senior year.
One game in the preseason, he didn’t start me. It was a surprise, a shock. I had come so far to finally have that prestigious starting spot after being buried on his bench as the 15th man three years ago. I was fuming after that game where I didn’t start, but didn’t act out. Next day, I confronted him after Biology class and told him there was no way I wasn’t starting, no way I didn’t deserve to. You know what? He agreed. But he said the reason why he brought me off the bench was he felt I could be a spark off the bench. Anyways, I never came off the bench again after that meeting. I’d like to think I was even more stubborn than we’ve learned how Klay is, after all these years. I was Klay, and then some.
So when Steve somehow got Klay to accept his role a few weeks ago, wow. I didn’t think it was possible this season, because I knew the high school senior in me would not have allowed it.
The other two of my personal anecdotes involve talent and numbers.
The PBA player was Josh Urbiztondo. Can you imagine, I actually benched him after we flew to a New York Asian tourney and lost the first pool play game? I mean, we all knew he was headed to become a pro in the PI. He even showed up at the most scrimmages prior to the trip. It was so hard to bench him because he was exactly what my high school coach had thought I was: a spark plug (although I thought I was really nothing of the sort for my old HS team).
Urbiztondo eventually earned the nickname “fireball” from his fans in the Philippines — here’s his Wiki and my write-up on him for Golden State Of Mind. And yet he could shoot you out of a game, too, unfortunately. Of course, Josh hated me for the hit on his ego — I think it was halftime of the second pool play game — but we started winning steadily and eventually we won the championship, maybe like four games later. He got over it, became super-rich and famous in the PBA, and now we reminisce over that win.
Finally, the time I brought nine guys to a rec league tournament. The championship win in that one was a perfect display of flow, much like how the Warriors beat the Bucks last night. And yet, my ninth player came up to me, in a respectful way, after barely playing him except for garbage minutes in our convincing blowout title win and he said he felt he or I wasted his time. One of those “I’d rather rule in hell than serve in heaven” type of scenarios. Super-nice guy and actually an awesome player, just newer to the team and younger, therefore the lowest on the pecking order. He never played for me again after that.
Yeah, the people who love to tweet probably couldn’t handle that in real life.
My “ninth all-star” would later become the best player on the best team in one of my San Francisco amateur leagues; one time his team committed zero turnovers for a win. It was a beautiful display of team basketball. That may have been the only time I’ve ever seen a team commit zero turnovers at any level of basketball.
The tournament team I put Ninth All-Star on was a collection of the best players from the league that I ran back in the day (Dream League). So I tried not to bring more than eight guys to any tournament after that, and I tried to look for role players sort of happy just to be on the team for those sixth, seventh and eighth spots — very hard to do, as any decent baller wants to feel like he had an impact — but I still managed to mess that up a few times.
I’ll stop it there because I usually go deep on these stories on our livestreams. But if you’ve ever coached and had to deal with egos on any basketball squad, you know what I’m talking about.
The people who throw Kerr under the bus for not getting to this rotation sooner this year, I think they would crack and run home and not even show up for the next game if they had a talented baller seething at the bit, giving them the evil eye and cursing them out. Hell yeah, Urbiztondo — arguably the best player I’ve ever coached — chewed me out in front of that whole New York gym. None of these thumb-typists on Twitter would ever be able to survive that lol.
And that’s why Steve deserves some freaking credit, man. (I’m trying to expunge negative words out of my vocabulary, not just the F word but also ones we let slip past our consciousness like “stup-d” or “idio-” or “d-mb”. For example, people aren’t any of these words when they throw Steve under the bus, they’re just unaware of the stressful beta brain wave state that their bodies have become addicted to.)
Check my response to a complainer on the YouTube channel, which went something like this:
We talked about this on our livestream tonight. You should join us! We predicted that naysayers would say what you said. Was it Kerr’s fault Klay would start so slowly? Was it Kerr’s fault Andrew Wiggins didn’t have time to rehab his rib in the off-season? Was it Kerr’s fault Draymond got suspended multiple times? Was it Kerr’s fault the Warriors had the toughest strength of schedule for the overwhelming majority of the remainder of 2023? Was it Kerr or Looney’s fault that the vaunted 2022 and 2023 starting five flailed and Loon had no lineup to support as the fifth guy? Was it Kerr’s fault that Dejan Milojevic passed away and Dario Saric stepped up to take care of Deki’s family, that Saric wasn’t fitting back in all that great after that? Was it Kerr’s fault that Saric’s running mate Chris Paul broke his hand? Was it Kerr’s fault that the NBA got younger, talented, and more skilled for the 82-game regular season? Basketball is just a process and, like, Stephen Curry has said a million times, especially on the podium after losses, “You’ve gotta learn to fall in love with the process.” But hey, it’s not your fault that you carry negative energy. I mean, it’s your responsibility, but it’s not your fault. Just like it’s not society’s fault that they are addicted to projecting their complaints about life and not seeing the beauty of gratitude, by easily thumb-typing anything and placing blame or throwing someone under the bus without a single additional thought — literally enabled by technological inventions. They know not what they’ve done, what they’ve become. But we can all do better. Come join our livestreams if you would like to become aware of how to end that addiction! Come and see how contagious and gratifying it is to have appreciation.
Hear from Steve himself, below in the videos and transcriptions. Also there’s Trayce and Jonathan Kuminga on the rotations, and Draymond on Bob in the videos and transcripts below. I’m still behind on a couple things but with the back-to-back game just a couple hours away, I’ll have to once again push those topics back…
0:00 You said we’d see what the rotation looks like. Clearly you made some changes, getting Trayce in there obviously worked. What was the thinking and what did you see from him in this?
STEVE KERR POSTGAME MIL-GSW: “Well, we’re going to need Loon in the playoffs. There’s going to be matchups where we need him. I know I can trust him. But we got to get Trayce more minutes to get him ready for the playoffs because, He needs reps. He needs more time. You can see what he did tonight. He has an ability to finish and to block shots that gives us a different look. And also we decided to ramp up his minutes and slide Moses kind of into a bigger role as well. And those guys were both fantastic tonight, I thought.”
0:55 On Trayce again, he came in and after he came in, obviously the entire energy changed, but how much of it was just the things he was doing and the energy he brought into the paint because Giannis was attacking the rim like crazy for a while there?
“Well, Trayce is, he’s so bouncy and he’s got long arms. He can really protect the rim and get off the floor quickly. And so again, it just gives us a different look. Giannis is so hard to guard. So it was, it was good to kind of just change it up on Giannis after, Draymond guarded him for a little bit, Loon as well, and then, a little change of pace with Trayce with his athleticism and rim protection. So it takes a village to guard that guy and we needed everybody for sure.”
1:47 You went 11 deep, is that something you feel like you’re comfortable continuing to do, considering how deep this rotation is, or are you thinking you’re going to have to kind of pare it back a little bit?
“Yeah, it’ll more than likely be 10. It’s hard to play 11. I know we’ve been playing 11, but if we’re going to ramp Trayce’s minutes up, then, it’s more likely going to be 10 and we’ll just try to mix and match. But we feel like we found some combinations. We’re three quarters of the way through, with the season. So we’ve got a pretty big sample size of the different combinations out there. And so we’re in a good spot now where we’re able to put together the starting group, which has done a great job here the last month or so. And a second group now that we’re fully healthy with, a lot of really talented players and you saw that tonight, the bench was terrific.”
2:48 Kind of following up on that, how impactful can that bench be? like you said, it’s the first time you’ve had everybody in a long time. These last 21 games, how, how important can that be as you jostle for position?
“Yeah, it’s really huge because we’ve got a very different look off the bench than our starting group. And we come in with Chris and Klay. It’s a Hall of Fame backcourt off the bench. That’s pretty good luxury. And then, adding Trayce to that mix gives Chris a lob threat. And Moses spaces the floor. BP’s another playmaker with that group that started the second and the fourth.
And so we liked that lineup quite a bit and they really came through for us, 37 assists tonight.”
3:32 What would you say keyed the ball and player movement?
“Just unselfish play. I really didn’t see any bad shots tonight. It was just, let’s go play basketball, move the ball, throw it. So the first guy was open and put a lot of pressure on the defense that way. So, we had the one bad stretch in the third when they really buckled down defensively and went on the run to start the quarter. But all in all, I thought it was a great offensive performance. It was really keyed by simple decision-making and passing.”
4:15 Steve, as a former bench guy, you know that you don’t want the coach to forget about you. Now you got all these guys that want to play. Do you ever see that, the guy’s wanting to sit closer to you down on the bench, or kind of catch your eye?
“Nobody wants to sit closer to me on the bench, I can promise you that. But no, I’m really so impressed with this group, and I have been all year. I’ve talked about it, the chemistry, the commitment to each other, the professionalism, guys staying with it when it’s not their turn. Loon has set a tone for us for years, regarding unselfishness and commitment to the team. And so he’s crucial for that. And Chris Paul at the beginning of this season, coming off the bench for the first time ever, that was a pretty good indicator to the rest of the group that Chris was going to do whatever it takes to win. So, I really like this team. I like the makeup of the roster. We’ve got a really good group of vets who are mentoring the young guys. And it’s a good balance of players. And they really like each other. And they’re starting to click. It’s fun.”
5:28 Not only Looney getting his minutes cut, but Saric looks like out of the rotation at least tonight. You’ve said you want to get him going. You’ve defended him. How hard is it for you to take those two guys essentially out of the rotation?
“It’s hard. It’s always hard to take anybody out of the rotation, but particularly when you’re taking a guy out, like Loon, that you guys all know. Loon has been kind of one of my all-time favorites, just because of the way he handles himself every single day. And Dario’s a total pro. In the last month he’s really struggled. Up until that point he was having a great year and I’m always going to give guys extended chances to get going again. But we have to do what’s best for the team. And we got other guys who are playing well and playing better right now. So, you just have to make that decision as a coach, but I always believe things come back around and we’ll need Dario. We’ll need Loon. And those guys are pros. They’ll be ready when they’re needed again. And coming ahead.”
6:42 The assignment on Giannis a couple times at least did not look like (Trayce Jackson-Davis) got overpowered at all. Looked like he played him pretty well. Is it a bit of a gulp when you give him that assignment, at any point in the game? And how did you think he did in this?
“No, he did a great job. We started him on, Brook Lopez and started Draymond on Giannis, but there was some switching and he ended up on Giannis several times and did a really good job. He had three blocked shots tonight, so he had some help-side defense. And I loved the early force, cutting to the rim, getting there in transition. That’s what JK does for us; it’s so important because it’s a different kind of a different dynamic for our team.”
7:28 Trayce, Coach said that a lot of the minutes you’re getting are because he’s getting you prepped and ready for the playoffs. One, just being a rookie, knowing that, what your coach’s state of mind is, what does that mean to you? And then also, how are you using this time to prepare yourself for the playoffs?
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: “Obviously in the playoffs, it’s a different beast. We got a lot of vets on the team and so we’re going to rely, me and BP are going to rely, on them a lot, but just coming in here, getting this game experience against great teams, being able to go out and perform, just play as hard as you can. That’s the biggest thing for me. So I’m just going to continue to play hard.”
8:03 Hey Trayce, 20-point halftime lead, cut to six when you come in there — or coming into the game midway through the third quarter. Then you get those two blocks on Giannis, have the lob. Could you feel the momentum shift in the arena?
“Absolutely. The first thing was Klay getting me going with that first basket. And then, the help side D with Giannis was great. And then whoever just stepping over, making plays, timing. But he’s a great player. He’s a load to guard. But props to our defense. We tried to contain him.”
8:36 What was that matchup like for you? How unique is he of a matchup that you’ve ever faced?
“Yeah, I’ve never faced anyone like him before, having length like that, as fast as he is, explosive; the person that I’ve watched guard him in the past that’s done a pretty successful job is Blake Griffin, just sitting back and kind of allowing him to come to you, and then watching that spin move that he likes to do, but obviously just timing it at the rim. I got the best of him with that.”
9:07 Did you watch that Blake film recently?
“Yeah, I watched it a few times. My agents are actually friends with him, really good friends with him, so they talk about it a lot, especially when we’re getting ready to play them.”
9:18 Trayce, this is the first time in more than three months you’ve had sort of the full arsenal, right? Everybody healthy and no suspensions, all that. How do you sort of view what this second unit, this bench group can be? Tonight seems like it showed a snapshot. But now you have 21 games left and that bench, I would imagine, could make a big difference.
“Absolutely. Coach says we’re 14, 15 deep. And so obviously everyone can’t play, but at the same time, we do a great job and we have a lot of professionals on the team and whenever someone’s name is called, we make the most of that opportunity. And so, just being able to have a bench like that at the beginning of the year, we’re just going out there and when the starting unit struggles a little bit, trying to give them a push and lift them up.”
10:05 Hi, Trayce. Do you learn something from each possession in a situation when you’re facing a star like that? And just maybe take something that worked a moment ago or say, ‘Okay, that didn’t work, that possession. Okay, I’m going to try this, this time.’ And how much do you do that, over the course of your minutes?
“The biggest thing for me is just watching tape, watching film, learning guys’ tendencies. We knew that with Giannis, it was, he likes to drive left, spin back right. And then when he drives right, he’s trying to get to the hole. And so, obviously, he’s a great player, and it’s easier said than done, but just trying to contain him because at the end of the day, he’s still going to get his. But making it tough for him is the main goal.”
10:52 Kind of a follow up to the bench question, how much of a security blanket in that unit is CP? It seemed like things were getting a little crazy in the third and Kerr immediately calls for him. And anytime things come unraveled a bit, it seems like he steadies the ship.
“No, absolutely; obviously that’s what having the Hall of Fame veteran point guard coming off the bench, probably top five point guard ever. He’s just, he’s a wizard with the ball. And he knows what to do. He knows when a team’s going on the run, he’s been through it a few times. And so just being able to rely on him to steady the ship is huge.”
11:37 What’d you think of Trayce’s performance out there? Do you think — it seemed like he kind of turned around a little bit of the emotion, his blocked shots, running the floor, finishing, that kind of thing.
JONATHAN KUMINGA: “It was absolutely great today. Did everything that the others want out of him. Like I said, he scored, he rebound, he blocked shot. He just impact the game, and he help us win.”
12:10 Jonathan, obviously guarding Giannis takes a team effort, but you drew that assignment quite frequently. How do you think you and the team executed the game plan against Giannis tonight?
“He’s a hell of a player, and not just one person is able to stop him, so it’s just team effort, defensive effort, and just being locked in on every little detail.”
12:48 What’d you think of the way the ball moved for you guys offensively tonight?
“It was great. Everybody touched the ball. Everybody play their part. And that’s all that matters. That’s all it takes for a team to win. It’s the ball movement. ‘Cause the ball move faster than people. So, just everybody being involved. It made a difference.”
13:19 Jonathan, the team had 13 blocked shots. You had three. What was the key in defending the boards against a team like Milwaukee with such size with Lopez and Giannis?
“I was just locked in on defense, especially starting on Brook Lopez. It’s not an easy job, playing against a dude like him; obviously I was just locked in, and as you see, we don’t have anybody starting out there taller than 6’9 or 6’8, so definitely just me being out there, I feel like I’m wanting to be a guy, and I gotta do all the small jobs, like blocking shot, rebounding, even if I didn’t have too many rebounds, but just being physical in there with those guys kinda make our life easier.”
0:00 Obviously some rotation tweaks going on. How do you feel that all worked? Kind of maybe tighten up with the rotation, kind of get that first and second unit, put together, how did you think that all worked out?
DRAYMOND GREEN POSTGAME MIL-GSW: “I think it’s worked well, found a couple of things in our second unit that’s working, Trayce with CP is dynamite, and throughout CP’s career, one thing you know that works is him with a lob throw, him with a dynamic roller to the rim. It opens up the defense and him and Trayce has found a connection and they’re playing really, really well. And Moses working his way back into the lineups, been playing extremely well. And so it’s, I think we’re finding something there with that lineup for sure.”
0:57 Draymond, you guys had probably one of the best defensive nights in a long time, if not this season. Will you assess this to everyone just being cohesive on the floor from the first unit to the second unit?
“Yeah. It started with Jacob Rubin coming in with a defensive game plan, the intensity that he brought to our film session and our walkthrough earlier, attention to detail, was a very detailed game plan for us. And then guys did a great job of executing it, trying to fire in when we needed to fire, rebound into basketball. We ended up with what, 16 turnovers, but we did a good job of taking care of the ball for the most part and not letting them get out and run in transition and we’ve always said if we can make teams play against us in the half court, it changes everything. It gives a whole different look to our team and our defense.”
1:52 Hey Draymond, just how significant was Trayce’s stint there in the third quarter after the 20-point lead was cut to six?
“It was huge. I told him, thank you. He saved me because I was awful in the third quarter, missing layups, turning the ball over, and Steve got me out of there, got Trayce in and he was blocking shots, he was rebounding, he was dunking the ball, good finishes, and he just brought the life back to us, they were starting to make that run, and when you’re playing against a great team, they’re always gonna make a run, and you try to get yourself out of it, and I just couldn’t get it going there in the third quarter, and Trayce came in and saved me for sure because I was awful, but saved the day for us. Gotta build the lead back up. I think they cut it to six and he was able to make a lot of plays on both ends of the floor to get us back in a position to take control of this game again.”
2:43 He blocked Giannis three times. How difficult is what he did defensively against Giannis?
“It’s very difficult. You don’t see Giannis get blocked often. Giannis is one of the best players in this league for a reason. There’s not many people that can block him at the rim and a couple of them was just straight up. It wasn’t like it was him coming weak side or anything like that. It’s just straight up, him trying to drive him and him blocking the shot. And it says a lot about his skill, but also to not back down from that challenge. So many people back down from that challenge and I get it, I said he’s great, he plays with a lot of force… he’s going to make contact with you every time he drive the basketball and you can be soft and be moved or you can step up to the challenge and Trayce did that.”
3:34 Draymond, how much of a carryover was Sunday’s loss into how well you guys played tonight?
“I think we totally forgot about Sunday when we were in Boston. We had a great flight home, fun flight home after a good 3-1 road trip. You never wanna let losses stack up, especially the point of the season where we’re at, but I don’t remember one person today saying anything about Boston game on Sunday. As I said in my interview the other day, you take that one, you flush it, and you move on. And I think we did a great job of that. We didn’t watch film on Boston. We didn’t do any of that. We just kept it pushing. It was great for us.”
4:20 How was it to have Bob (Myers) back in the building tonight?
“Oh man, that was, it was great. Bob is, when you talk about this, this franchise and this dynasty that’s been built, and so oftentimes it’s the players that are mentioned. It’s Steph, it’s Klay, it’s myself, it’s Loon, it’s — so oftentimes you get the players, players get the credit. But the work that Bob did, and by the way, it’s not putting the teams together, for a basketball savant like Bob, that’s the easy part. It was the work that he did on the relationships. Every single day, being in here, building relationships from top to bottom. From the best player to the worst. From Joe Lacob, Peter Guber, Kirk Lacob. Steve Kerr, Raymond Ridder, from, like, on to a community, like, from top to bottom, the relationships, the work that he did on relationships every day, was one of my biggest takeaways in working with Bob. That’s the same guy who, when I was suspended for Game 5, didn’t come to the game. He came and sat with me, and watched the game, and such a special, special soul, and we’ve all been able to learn from him, and to see him be celebrated tonight the way he should have, you talk about jerseys getting retired and all of those … his name will be up there in the rafters, with what he brought to this organization when no one believed that this organization could be anything, was a Bay Area native who came back after spending 20 years in LA. To take the franchise that he watched growing up. That he would go sit in the 200 seats with his dad just to watch a game. It was him that had a vision and a belief that I can go back there and lead a charge. In taking a franchise to the promised land. The laughing stock of the NBA. When he came back here. And there’s your goal in life, should always be to leave whatever it is that you’re leaving behind in a better place than it was when you got it. And he far exceeded that. He left it in the best place it could possibly be… it is a true, true statement and the character of the man that he is, because it’s not easy what he was able to do. He had to manage me often, while doing all this other stuff, and when it went right, he was right there, like less there when it went right, though. He spent less time with you when it went right. Spent far more time with me when it was going wrong. And most people are the opposite. Most people want to be there when it’s good, be there when the flowers are being thrown, be there when it’s, ‘Draymond, you’re great, you’re defensive player of the year.’ That’s when most people are there. But when no one wants you around, when everybody’s saying, ‘Oh, that guy shouldn’t be here anymore. When everybody’s saying, ‘He’s the cause of the demise of this franchise,’ and all these things, that’s when he’s right there. And I couldn’t have asked for a special person to spend my first 11 years with, because if it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure where I’d be, where my career would have gone. The things that I’ve learned from him about being a father, being a husband, being a great person. Like, I’m not sure I’m sitting here talking to you today, without that man.”
8:45 Kind of silly to ask another question here, but your minutes haven’t been real high recently, and it looks like nobody’s really had, except for Steph. The way this roster is and the way this rotation is set up, do you think the way it’s going to be 26, 28 minutes and everyone, other guys get 14, 16 and that’s good with everybody?
“That’s the way it’s been, and I don’t really foresee that changing… usually when you get close to the playoffs, sometimes those things change. But that is the strength of this team, is that we got so many different guys that can come in and affect the game in a positive way. And as a coach of this team, you want to lean into that, especially our schedule hasn’t been easy. It’s been a very tough, tough schedule, and I think Steve is doing an incredible job of not only monitoring minutes, but finding the right combinations to make those minutes as powerful as they can be. You see, look up Trayce. He played 18 minutes, but the combinations that he was out there with was great combinations which allowed him to have 15-and-7. Now granted, he put the work in. I’m not saying everybody else did, but he had 15 (points), 7 rebounds, plus-20 from the floor in 15 minutes — in 18 minutes. And so, it’s on us as players that when you’re out there, you give everything you got. Don’t take plays off because you’re not playing a bunch of minutes anyway… like I can’t take plays off playing only 25 minutes, and there’s no reason to take plays off. And so, I think that’s one of the beautiful things about this is like, everybody, when you’re out there on the court, you should be flying around and jumping off the wall, because you’re not playing a million minutes. So, give everything you got when you’re out there.”
0:00 refs tonight: James Capers (crew chief, #19, 29th season), Gediminas Petraitis (#50, 9th), JT Orr (#72, 13th); replay: David Guthrie, Curtis Blair, Jonathon Sterling — as you can see from the years of experience, the NBA is ramping up their staffs for the last few months, it seems to me, ofc that could change tomorrow, we’ll see, but this is a way more experienced staff than usual, so maybe it is just that it’s the matchup plus it being a national TV game
3:45 Giannis starts, but Middleton out (don’t tell the team that!)
10:00 tipoff! Draymond smacks the tip out of bounds, he keeps smacking it hard
NOTE: everywhere I say “Wes Matthews”, I meant “Malik Beasley” lol
12m00 Q1 Dame Giannis P&R
11m26 Q1 Kuminga settles for 3 on the reload — the margins: play perfect throughout pls!!!
11m13 Q1 Giannis dunk putback, BP fell asleep, Draymond clapped hands in frustration
10m53 Q1 Steph inverted screen JK smash
10m39 Q1 Giannis left open 3 a la Jaylen, JK downhill quick
10m23 Q1 Giannis left open, makes it this time 3
9m57 Q1 BP kick out Wiggs at 06
9m39 Q1 good D, Jae Crowder misses 3
9m15 Q1 Podziemski bank 3 elite
9m00 Q1 BP steal then alley to JK
8m37 Q1 Dray push past Jae fell down
8m03 Q1 BP left side via Dray semi-pick in paint
7m37 Q1 JK midrange no good
7m07 Q1 Steph great entry pass by Dray vs holding anyways by Wes Matthews
6m41 Q1 BP outlet not handled by Steph laziness tov, Dray fouls Giannis on clean block looks like, tech called by Petraitis — this ref is not ready, culturally or anything, he took that personally, really no reason to call a tech (Steph’s fault), did ref tell Dray that he hit him in stomach — tov given to BP
6m01 Q1 BP block on Dame then dreb too
5m51 Q1 Wes hits Steph no call
5m33 Q1 good D Looney vs Giannis but Dame 3, timeout Doc Rivers, way to stay with it despite the non-call on Lillard, Steph golf celly
4m33 Q1 GP good close out Dame 2
4m28 Q1 Steph bad tov, mad at himself
4m09 Q1 GP slip, CP assist, screen was Steph
3m49 Q1 Dame past Klay easily
3m44 Q1 Steph bad 3 blocked
3m04 Q1 Loon dunk via Klay
2m59 Q1 Loon good close on Brook 3
2m13 Q1 Loon midrange J late clock at 02
1m50 Q1 CP deflect steal of Pat Bev
1m44 Q1 GP touch pass to Steph, missed, GP celebrating too early
1m30 Q1 CP great physicality vs Jrue, Klay splash ast Steph
1m03 Q1 Steph leaves man too easy Portis down lane, Kerr mad
0m52 Q1 CP to GP again
0m44 Q1 Stephs fouls Portis, who slaps him on the butt as Steph shakes head
0m35 Q1 CP 2for1 3 good!
0m02 Q1 TJD blows layup says my bad
34:15 up 8 after Q1 even though I can name a number of mistakes, Kerr went 11 deep and Steph played 11 mins
11m50 Q2 JK 3-ball, Jrue let him shoot
11m10 Q2 CP laser pass past Danilo Gallinari to TJD layup
10m45 Q2 CP steal then to BP to CP to JK again 3 toilet bowl
10m18 Q2 Giannis spin move like a 6’11 JK (foul on JK)
10m00 Q2 JK decisive take fade J vs Gallo
9m37 Q2 CP bad D help Portis says my bad
8m58 Q2 BP too much help off Portis
8m43 Q2 CP TTBTTOT, then TJD fouls Pat Bev but it’s a Steph-like foul, JK talks to TJD about something
8m13 Q2 JK nice push shot miss but TJD putback over Giannis
7m19 Q2 Mo doesn’t help Portis drive, stays on Wes perimeter
6m57 Q2 Portis 3, JK let him shoot — JK could be more engaged, despite the strategy
48:00 analyzing the last play as Nicole expresses frustration for letting people shoot esp in this era of 3-ball NBA: JK could be more engaged, despite the strategy
6m25 Q2 Steph subs back in, this is a new rotation
6m16 Q2 Klay fly by 3 vs Connaughton
5m58 Q2 JT Orr good no call Giannis charge to Dray
5m40 Q2 Mo doesn’t have a lefty on the runner
5m21 Q2 Dray Steph P&R no call Petraitis
4m25 Q2 Mo helps on Giannis, Portis too far out
3m57 Q2 Klay vs Brook in post!
3m33 Q2 zone good close Dray (no sag vs zone)
58:30 As I said we’re in zone right now so the whole team is in “sag” mode, but zone is used to disrupt their rhythm. But yeah if they hit another one, then go back to man. And sometimes it’s just not good to go zone too long so you might see a switch to man here
2m42 Q2 Klay 3 ATO GP screen curl
2m24 Q2 Steph tD pass to JK to Klay dunk!
STOPPED HERE
2m07 Q2 Klay steal!
1m52 Q2 Klay to GP inside on Steph reload oreb
1m30 Q2 Dray good close on Portis, JK touchdown
0m57 Q2 Steph goat layup weaving
0m51 Q2 Portis bad screen vs GP
11m04 Q3 Wiggs too late on pass doubled in corner
10m32 Q3 Dray draws charge on Giannis Petraitis calls foul again
10m09 Q3 Steph open missed corner 3, BP good pass
10m00 Q3 JK swats Lopez oreb, Steph splash in trans via Wiggs
9m34 Q3 Dame 3, BP fell asleep on the rotation
1:28:30 analyzing the last play: are we ready to do reverse analytics
9m05 Q3 Petraitis no call for Dray attack Brook forearm
8m01 Q3 JK messed up cut with Steph
7m53 Q3 JK bad dribble vs Giannis — JK complains to ref again, it’s his fault that should be his humility
7m31 Q3 weak pass by Dray tov, GP fouls Dame
7m01 Q3 Klay loses Jae who smashes into BP
6m43 Q3 Steph too open to miss this 2, GP screen
6m10 Q3 Drayup!
5m48 Q3 Dray bad pass again
1:37:00 @IHaveNoEnemies (BloomerVibes): gotta take it serious if you have a big lead — They’ve had this bad habit of letdowns for a decade
5m16 Q3 ATO: Klay to TJD
4m56 Q3 CP steals Portis inside
4m42 Q3 CP bad lob to TJD but GP causes jumpball
4m37 Q3 GP tips it to Klay who nearly loses it to Portis
4m27 Q3 good screen by TJD to free Steph vs Beasley to switch to Portis fouled
4m12 Q3 TJD blocks Giannis 2x then gets scoop alley-oop from Steph
3m43 Q3 Dame to Giannis on fake 2nd pick
3m34 Q3 CP perfect lob to TJD (Portis 4th pf but stays)
3m21 Q3 JK good physicality vs Giannis stepped on baseline
3m01 Q3 JK great help on Beasley vs Mo
2m31 Q3 TJD blocks Giannis again, then P&R CP dunk!
1m49 Q3 JK good disrupt on Portis jump hook
1m33 Q3 JK Kawhi-like decisive dribble pop
1m00 Q3 JK knocks Connaughton over, then complains — just give the ball to ref and run back on D, kid, although I can’t expect a 21-year-old to suddenly mature
0m38 Q3 TJD loses Portis for a second which is enough for a corner 3
0m35 Q3 CP 2-for-1 missed 3 (again) — when’s the last time he hit a 2for1?
0m03 Q3 Mo gets caught in circle, Connaughton misses 3 at buzzer, Klay fist pump
1:54:30 Bloomer: I think TJD looked like Big Fundamentals with that skyscraper — TJD and Duncan’s upper torsos do not move much lol
12m00 Q4 Mo steal and finish of Dame
11m26 Q4 Dray blocks Dame on the help, then runs floor and gets top of break catch layup and1, timeout Doc — I like it when we face older coaches who are afraid of GSW momentum
10m42 Q4 Dame passes up 1v1 Dray
10m37 Q4 JK decisive fade on Portis double but miss
10m31 Q4 JK good block on Dame’s 3
10m09 Q4 Dray to JK on slip cut
9m43 Q4 BP 3 on shovel pass inbound
9m26 Q4 Dray silly 4th pf on close of MB
2:07:45 on Wiggs only having 14 mins played, wonder if that’s a long-term or depending on matchups? Hopefully will Slater will ask in the postgame
8m16 Q4 Dray misses push shot, anything that’s finesse is like yikes for him
7m38 Q4 TJD slam putback
7m15 Q4 Dray no call on disrupt of Giannis
6m52 Q4 Dray 3 via Mo attack on Dame and Lopez double
6m25 Q4 Dray corner 3 (BP got in the way of Steph)
5m51 Q4 Dray bad pass inside to TJD zig zag
5m41 Q4 TJD good D on Giannis tov
5m28 Q4 Steph dagger 3
4m50 Q4 Steph another dagger 3 same wavelength TJD GP double pick
2:22:45 TJD POSTGAME ON-COURT AUDIO
2:26:30 Fernando Garcia: 13 BLOCKS AGAINST A TEAM THAT HAS GIANNIS
2:31:00 Podziemski trainer/dad interviews: @laura C. Tinajero 1)
, 2) +dad
2:32:30 Bruce offers up some statue suggestions (Dray flexing), @Dean Chambers thinks Steph’s should be a shimmy with the ball going through the hoop — You want the Steph statue to span the length of Thrive City?
2:34:00 night-night might require multiple Steph statues
2:34:30 GP2 POSTGAME AUDIO
2:36:45 we held Bucks scoreless for final 5m01, 32-9 total Q4 score
2:38:00 DEAN JOINS US: Bismack collapse
2:43:45 Dean says if you play like this we can accept the result
2:46:15 @gamer I’d like to see TJD be a starter — I would say that could be realistic (TJD as the starting 5) for next season or with some quirk in the playoffs. You never know and it’s always matchups in the playoffs. But we’re going with Dray at the 5 for regular season wins.
2:47:45 BP POSTGAME AUDIO
2:51:00 other unsung plays: Kerr timeout early, JK early dunk
2:52:15 ENTIRE STEVE POSTGAME AUDIO
3:00:30 ENTIRE TJD POSTGAME PODIUM AUDIO
3:06:15 @Jimbo a lot earlier this year than in the past. First time ever was really 2020 during pandemic when we won 5-6 straight to make play-in (Mulder and JTA in 8-man rotation!). This year feels like we’re starting that 21 games to go. I think we need to 14-7 the rest of the way to reach No. 6 (12 games over .500 overall)
3:10:00 I think the 10 do not include Looney or Saric, tbh. Now that TJD has been “promoted” and the need to get Mo some minutes. Also, I’ve said (last week) that it’s very hard to mothball a guy like Saric, but with 21 games to go, last week seems an eternity away. And kind of the evolution of Kerr, if we’re being real about it. Takes guts to just bench vets like this. Season of facing music.
3:11:15 True, but feels like today with second half performance, we’ve broken through some bad habits. (?)
3:16:00 on Looney, being the kryptonite to Sabonis and not overloading him regular season minutes, need him in the playoffs, giving experience to TJD
3:18:00 POSTGAME JK AUDIO
3:21:45 TJD POSTGAME AUDIO — ended by saying something “of that nature” again: Trayce “of Jackson-Davis nature”
3:24:15 @Cholo Abenes players weren’t hitting their stride (aside from old starting five not working and Dray suspended) — good point, it does take older guys longer and sometimes, probably Klay too come to think of it, just not young enough to time their peaking right. And we didn’t even talk about Wiggins which Slater did an article on earlier this season (rehab from broken rib).
3:26:00 Starman: I’ve rarely seen someone defend Giannis. TJD is special
3:27:30 On the suspensions in Utah (on Chicago): Thing is, we kinda WANT teams to be at full strength, just because we want our team to be playing championship-contending ball.
3:29:00 @Shivansh: Jordan “it’s huge” Poole, Andrew “ummm” Wiggins, now we have Trayce “of that Nature” Jackson-Davis! — also Gary “you know” Payton II and Draymond “the reality is” Green, Steph “in terms of” Curry
3:30:15 on JK’s strength, Dean Agan: “I watched him hold his own against Zion” — grown man strength! Magic Johnson strength. We debate if Magic Johnson is taller than JK.
3:34:30 Dean: remember we have CP running 2nd unit
3:35:30 Dean: Paul Pierce went on Dray’s podcast
3:36:00 @Bruce Maro GSW needs to think of Bulls tomorrow as MJ Pippen Rodman — Lol 90s Bulls. Should Steve dress up in his old No. 25?
3:38:00 ENTIRE DRAYMOND POSTGAME AUDIO: “so many people back down from that challenge” (Giannis vs TJD)
3:43:00 DRAYMOND’S EXCELLENT RESPONSE ON THE PODIUM ON BOB MYERS: “most people are the opposite” on Bob being there the most in bad times, when no one wanted him around, “he’s the cause of the demise of this franchise”
3:57:00 Dray credited a lot of the Warriors organization, but I remind the audience that it’s still a cut-throat business and Dean adds that relationships are key (BP criticized NBA PR!)
4:06:15 Draymond saying, “I was awful” just goes to show that every now and then we are susceptible to a guy being “awful” — that’s the good part about distribution of minutes (we don’t think it was “awful” and he did that to praise TJD)
4:08:45 @Sandaux Beats Incredible factoid! Although BOS scored 82 at halftime. — Close enough: 78 points!
4:10:30 Still pissed at McDaniels for the Klay jersey grab, need to defend his honor next matchup at MIN (played them 3x) — or should we thank him? Dray is playing better without having the pressure of being the heel
4:11:45 Dean: this was an unsung game (Dray’s two 3s late should’ve been on the list), last 10 games: 61% from three
4:15:30 GP2 1000 points
4:17:00 Steph is 12th in all-time playoff points
4:19:00 OBBYTURM: “Klay played smart and didn’t force shots” — per-36 Klay: 2.6 1.44 assist-to-tov, Beal: 5.0 1.79 assist-to-tov, Klay: 2.1 apg since Feb, Jaylen: 4.25 apg since Feb — but great ability by Klay for entry passes to Trayce, now celebrating Klay bench demeanor after two months ago we were mad at him being mad
4:22:00 on Draymond and him having a Detail analysis show like Kobe
4:31:15 JK had 3 blocks!
4:32:00 Moody +22
4:34:00 how we strung out Dame’s big shots, making Giannis do different things, can claim 8th possibly if we beat Bulls tomorrow
4:43:45 SAS has two picks in lottery (protected to TOR on 1-6), UTA should not be tanking considering they don’t have a lottery pick
4:55:00 I make people guess where Hazel and Dray spent Dray’s birthday and their anniversary
4:59:00 on who lives in Del Mar: Kerr, Klay lives near Santa Clarita
5:00:00 we go on multiple tangents about music and stuff lol
👍👍💛💙