Here’s the postgame transcripts from the Golden State Warriors’ win at the Houston Rockets last night. Hopefully more coming soon (game notes and the digest that is long overdue)…
0:00 STEVE KERR postgame Houston on Chris Paul agreeing to come off the bench: “It’s massive. It’s massive the way Chris has embraced everything here in the first month since he’s been with us. As you know, tonight was the first game of his entire career he didn’t start. And when I talked to him this morning about it, he just, like, nodded his head. He said, ‘Let’s go get ‘em,’ like, not even a big deal. So I think it’s similar to Andre (Iguodala) all those years ago, I guess, 2014. When a vet, a great player, all-star, shows that kind of sacrifice it just sets the tone for the whole team. And so the vibe is great on our team and Chris is one of the main reasons for that.”
0:54 on how Draymond Green played: “…rusty in the first half, but typically at his best with the game on the line and a huge tip out for an offensive rebound. I thought that was a really big play in the game and helped get Steph open on one of those threes, and then defended and we made a bunch of stops in a row down the stretch and Draymond was right in the middle of it. Also it didn’t surprise me because that’s who he is, but it’s gonna take him a little time to shake the rust off.”
1:32 on if Kevon Looney has always had the skill set of catching on the short roll: “Yeah, he hasn’t always had that. He’s had to work for that. But over the last few years, he’s gotten really good in that short roll, catching and either finishing or moving it to the weak side. He never turns it over. He’s always under control. His feet are always underneath him and he’s got good hands. Loon played guard and wing in high school and so his skill is actually greater than people give him credit for, because he’s not out there launching threes, but he knows how to play.”
2:21 on having Draymond starting immediately instead of bringing him along off the bench: “Well, yeah, I mean, you never really want to, especially when you when you miss training camp — you don’t want to go out and play 35 minutes the first night. And so this was about right, 20, 21 minutes. Obviously (he) was rusty early, but really came on in the second half. So this is kind of how we envisioned it. Wrap him up a little bit, go from there.
3:05 on if 20-21 minutes is the target range for Draymond right now: “I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m gonna talk to Rick tonight. And we’ll see where he stands.”
3:10 on what happens when all six main guys are available: “You know, it’s so early in the season that we’ll see how it plays out. Things could change but I love the look of tonight, in terms of the starting group was the best five-man unit in the league last year. So we have a big piece of data to tell us — and our own eyes — to tell us that that group knows how to play together. Look at the boxscore, the bench. Every guy was a plus. Chris is a plus-22. He’s so good (at) making everybody else better. So whether he’s with the starters or with the bench, he’s going to impact the game. So we’ll start that way tomorrow too. And then we’ve got to get a feel. I mean, in five games if things aren’t going well? we could make a change or even before that.”
4:19 on Klay Thompson getting off a little bit. “Yeah, Klay looked relaxed. I thought his shot attempts were much cleaner tonight. He was forcing some shots in the first couple of games and tonight he just let the game come to him and he looked really fluid out there.”
4:39 on CP3 with the second unit: “Smart players with skill can gel with any team, any unit, so not surprising at all. Chris is a brilliant Hall-of-Fame basketball player, so we’re lucky to have him and he makes everybody better no matter what lineup he’s in.
5:06 KLAY THOMPSON on playing both games in this back-to-back: “It’s just great to be able to help on a daily basis. It’s what you really want as an NBA player, is to be available as much as you can.”
5:24 on the effort to play more back-to-back games as compared to last year: “There you go, bringing up last year again… I mean, we tried last year, it just didn’t work out in our favor. And I think what a great training camp and continuity we built is paying off huge dividends early. So for us it’s just about giving the fans a great show and playing that brand of ball we’re capable of and, I mean, it’s pretty special when we’re able to play in front of so many fans on the road. It’s awesome. I mean, you heard it there in the arena tonight. We have a huge contingent of Warriors fans and that doesn’t go overlooked.”
6:27 on CP3 coming off the bench being akin to Iguodala in 2014-15: “I think that’s a great sign because we were champions that season. So hopefully, the same result happens but Andre is one of the best Warriors of all-time. And Chris is one of the greatest point guards of all-time and to be as selfless as he is to break that streak, it’s just awesome and he’s been such a joy to play with. And I know he’s enhanced my game and he will continue to, throughout the season.”
6:58 responding to no more questions: “Aw, that’s easy. (As he’s about to throw paper airplane:) Heads up back there, my guy.”
7:03 GARY PAYTON II on Draymond returning: “His presence, his intelligence is what he brings on the court, getting him back in and getting him back his rhythm, getting his timing and stuff right, him just being Draymond. He had a few turnovers but it’s okay, who cares, he’s gonna figure it out, he’s gonna clean it up and I know he’s gonna be great tomorrow, for sure.”
7:24 on now he’s been feeling: “Feeling good. Got the cobwebs off for the first two games, so (I’m) starting to feel good, get back to my corner and working above the break, so they fell for me tonight.”
7:36 in response to no more questions: “That’s great (although there was one last question).”
7:41 on Kerr’s plan is to have all the vets available on both sides of a back-to-back: “It’s good. We’re 10-, 11-deep so we’re gonna have guys on the bench and we got our depth, so he can really put in anybody and take over for the next man where he left off, so to have everybody is just another strength for us.”
8:13 DRAYMOND GREEN on his first game back: “Like, the game was moving way too fast for me. I didn’t really have my legs under me. First half, I was tired as hell. In the second half, I felt a lot better. I felt like the game started to slow down. I started to feel better, started to make a couple of reads, settle into the game. I had some awful turnovers in the first half. I think the second half I felt a lot better.”
8:47 on his late assist to Steph helping him get back: “I never try to make too much of one or two plays, but I haven’t played a basketball game in six months. So, feels good to make a couple plays, especially every time I was in the game in the first half we killed the lead. So it felt good to redeem myself a little bit out there in the fourth quarter.”
9:15 on Chris coming off the bench: “It means a lot. Chris Paul is a Hall-of-Fame player, will be in the Hall, first-ballot Hall of Fame, and one of the greatest point guards to ever play this game. For him to be willing to take a bench role on this team, it sets the tone. It sends a message when you’ve got a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer now go to the bench with no complaints, and then lead that unit and then come up with his plus-22 today, or something like that. That says a lot and so I think those are the types of things that you feed off of and you try to build off of. If a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer can come off the bench. There’s probably only two other people that can argue that — and that’s Steph and Klay — that you can even put in that category. So everybody else gotta fall in line as well. I think that’s important, especially with us coming off the year that we had last year, you understand the things that it takes to win. One very important one is the camaraderie and the togetherness of the group and things like that, that builds up.”
10:47 on CP bridging the first and second units: “It’s huge. For him to take our bench unit and go plus-22, they were much better unit this game, make no mistake about it, and in large part due to me killing our first unit, but they were the much better unit this game and Chris is right at the forefront of all of that. And I think that will be an advantage that we’ll have. When you’re talking (about) replacing Steph Curry with Chris Paul, I mean, it doesn’t get much better than that when you talk about taking your starting point guard out. And then the next point guard is Chris Paul? Like, that’s incredible. And I think we’ll have that advantage all year. So that’s something that’ll be huge for our team.”
11:44 CHRIS PAUL on coming off the bench for the first time in his career: “I mean, Klay told me 1,366 straight games, something like that. It’s definitely different. But at the end of the day it’s basketball. For me, the warm-up is different. A lot of it was but once you get out there and play in the game, now it’s hoopin’. And it’s cool to be on a team like this where, I mean, you’re just free-flowing. You know what I mean? Everybody playing and sharing the ball.”
12:17 on the warming up process coming off the bench: “I don’t know. It’s something that’s new, you know what I mean? But it’s whatever I’ve got to do to help our team win. If that means not finishing some games or whatnot, if you get a chance to play long enough in this career, there’s things that’s gonna change. There’s things that’s gonna be different. And, you know, I’m here.”
12:48 on if coming off the bench offers a different perspective on the game: “Yeah, I don’t know. Y’all don’t realize, this is new. You know what I mean? You’re asking me about the first game in 19 years and we won, you know what I mean? So I think the units, all the stuff, you get a chance to see the game or whatnot, but I mean, it could have been a shit-show tonight. It could have been the best thing, but the only way you figure it out is you keep seeing what it look like.”
13:24 on if he liked coming off the bench: “Did I like it? I mean, who likes new things, you know what I’m saying? It ain’t about a matter of liking it or whatnot. It’s new. You know what I mean? So, I don’t know, it’s crazy. You know what I’m saying? I don’t hate it. I don’t — you know what I’m saying? It ain’t a matter of liking it. I like the fact that we won. That was the most important thing.”
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