Tfw (that feeling when) a teammate pumps you up with the, “He can’t guard you!” hype. Not many better intra-squad feelings in basketball, although I only say that from a men’s rec league perspective. It must be an extra high when the home crowd is also cheering you at the same time, at elite levels like the NBA.
That’s the type of teammate Donte DiVincenzo has become. But before people go off the deep end with the typical, “Bob Myers has to find a way to keep him,” knee-jerk response, understand that comparing thirty salary cap tables across the league, DiVincenzo has been out-performing his contract and if he keeps playing like this, deserves a chance to test the open market as did Gary Payton II and Otto Porter, Jr. last summer. We’ll go in-depth on that after the season is over, I promise you. There’s no need to focus on that right now.
Interview after interview, it’s become clear that Donte has put “hype up your teammate“ high on his list of to-do’s in integrating onto the Golden State Warriors. Check out his playlist for proof: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszalip37vKLVDq2d7s_oHMOq8b_BaZZe&feature=shares
The latest quip on the podium was even at the expense of future Hall-of-Famer Damian Lillard, who was also in foul trouble trying to guard Poole. In one response, DiVincenzo rejustified the big extension Myers did sign JP to at the beginning of the season:
I was telling him when he got the switch (on) Lillard, just go at him and make him work. He is either going to foul you, or he can’t guard you. There are very few people that are our size that can guard you. So when he is getting down hill and not bailing him out, with step backs, I think then unlocks him feeling good, that unlocks him making the right play every single time. There were six or seven possessions where he made the right play every single time when we made that run. That is what we need him to do, but we also need him to be himself. When he is himself, when he is getting to those step-backs, getting to kinda the free-wheel ball handling, that is when he is at his best and we are at our best. It is a balance, always a balance but he is doing an amazing job at it.
Below are the notes, quotes and video from the defeat of the Portland Trail Blazers the other night, all in reverse chronological order per usual. Last night, I went on the YouTube channel to enjoy the debut of Kevin Durant with the Phoenix Suns, observing how plays unfolded and reinforcing to myself how special Steve Kerr’s system designed around the strengths of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green is. I’ll write on that separately later. It’s a good way to remind fans to have gratitude for this team, which is often very hard to do when any fan decides to tap on the bluebird app of negativity. Again, more on that in due time.
DISCLAIMER: These are all just notes for my main workflow of YouTube videos, mostly transcribed by me shortly after the interviews and during my coverage of postgame on our livestreams (!). Sometimes I’ll just use what’s tweeted by beatwriters, as listed. The links to the tweets are not available because sometimes I don’t use the full tweet and just having a ton of tweets on this website imo isn’t aesthetically pleasing and gets away from the main goal: transferring information (not so much entertainment) to the brains of DubNation asap.
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on whether the defensive game plan felt more complex tonight: “For sure. A few different things that we were throwing at them. We had to be locked in on one we were throwing at them, different scenarios, different situations on makes, misses, out of bounds stuff, so I think it was a good a very good test for what we are going to need to do going forward.” (Warriors PR)
• On his confidence level that the defense is turning fg the corner: “That was a big team win. That was a big team effort defensively. I think in the second half we were more disciplined in what we wanted to do. In the first half, also you have to give them credit, they made a lot of shots. I think that we weathered the storm, we stayed together, we were more disciplined in the second half in what we were throwing at Damian (Lillard) and ultimately when we are together like that you see the runs that we make. The crowd gets into it and once that happens, anything can happen.” (Warriors PR)
• On if Jordan Poole’s drives to the lane unlocks his offense: [see quote block above] (Warriors PR)
• On Klay Thompson: “He doesn’t change. I said it last game. He just does not change. You never know if he is having a good game or bad game. That is really important for us because we are going to need him in the biggest moments. He stepped up big time tonight.” (Warriors PR)
• On Kuminga: “Shaedon Sharpe is very athletic but he’s usually most athletic (on the court)… opens up his 1on1… it’s little things… diving… getting to the foul line.”
• On this season for him: “Being available is first and foremost for me… you look at Looney… Mister Reliable… always ready… looking at Loon.”
• On box-and-1 vs man on Lillard: “You don’t wanna pick him up too high… he just blows eight by you… and now the big is on his heels… first and foremost is the pickup points… we cleaned up in the second half when we blitzed… where that big was, the angle… so he couldn’t turn that corner… we wanted the other guys to beat us
• On the game plan going in vs Lillard: “I said damn it’s gonna be a long night (after he scored 71)… we weathered the storm.”
• On if Lillard talked to him: “He just plays, that’s what I respect about him.”
• On Draymond: “you don’t even look at the Stateline… his communication… he really gathered everybody together… just weathering the storm… see if Thybulle and Reddish… can beat us the whole game… he doesn’t overreact.
• On his good 3PP: “Don’t say it!… just getting my work in. You look at two of the best shooters of all-time… following their suit… having fun… not putting too much pressure on the misses.”
• On George Clinton and BHM: “I personally do not… but I’m gonna educate myself on that as soon as I get out of here.”
• Draymond Green postgame recap: “That team scored 41 points in the first quarter… use our defense to fuel our offense… we were patient… get stops and not play against a set defense every time, totally different team.”
• On Donte saying not to overreact: “You over-react and you get out of character… you can come back from down 30, you’re gonna have enough possessions… Matisse Thybulle he goes 5-for-6 from three… totally different than if Dame is 5-for-6… stick to the game plan… I’m in the position to say that because I know this coaching staff… they put specific game plans together, it works… year after year… make this guy score and not let this guy… Coach said before the game… this is more like a playoff game… Houston Rockets hit all the threes… stay the course.”
• On the chemistry and energy: “very easy to pout and feel sorry for yourself… I said to the guys on the bench against the Clippers, nobody’s gonna fee sorry for us… Donte, a JaMychal to come here… no season is smooth sailing… come out on the other side of it motivated/stronger… we got two more games on this homestand, we need to close the deal. I don’t wanna overreact.”
• On the history of Q3: “can the team withstand adversity? Quite frankly, this team has not throughout the season… we haven’t responded well… that’s growth… you respond the right way… it’s game 62 so it’s about time you start turning that corner… you’re no longer a rookie… second year… not given that same leash… the growth individually and collectively.”
• On having more playoff game plans: “You’re preparing yourself for the playoffs… go series to series and switch coverages… first half we were trying to figure it out… come out of All-Star Break… time to start locking in, playoff focus… I do expect to see a little more of that.”
• On Donte: “Mainstay/stabilizer/X-factor… incredible wing defender… great to see.”
• On having confidence this will be a good defensive team: “We know we’re capable… you have to create chemistry on the defensive end (just like offense)… we have guys that know how.”
• On the combination of JK and Lamb: “size and length… oh those guys are too small… when you have length it’s important… covers up not being seven feet, not being 6-10… two guys that are 3-4s… Kuminga working in the pocket.”
• On BHM and favorite George Clinton song: “I don’t celebrate Black History Month… I’m gonna have to go back to my Rolodex… this is actually the first time you’ve seen me in a Black History Month t-shirt… at some point can we get rid of it? Why we gotta keep taking the shortest month to celebrate our history?… not get rid of Black History like they’re trying to do… teach… and then again, and then again (monthly).”
• Klay Thompson postgame in-studio on looking tired: “Festus, you never lied.”
• Postgame recap: “once we locked in… he’s been on such a heater… don’t wanna jinx the man but he’s been shooting the heck out of the ball (Poole).”
• On the second half adjustments: “we played a little rushed in the first half… they switched everything… attacking the rim… another incredible dunk by him (JK)… opens up the three ball so much… funny how the basketball gods reward you like that.”
• On talking more: “It’s been fun, it’s been a challenge… I’m not the most vocal leader… I can’t believe I smoked that layup, why are you guys showing all my bad ones? (As NBC shows highlights)… I knew Dame had four fouls… come set a screen here, come flash there.”
• On Festus on his shimmy: “You’ve never been able to shoot from the perimeter.”
• On Looney: “Kevon has been incredible. What a Warrior he is… came to us as a 19 year old… he learned from Festus and Zaza how to get us open… came to UCLA out of high school as a wing… incredibly proud of him.”
• On momentum building: “I feel it, yeah. We all feel it… golden opportunity for us to increase our seeding… when we’re healthy no one wants to see us in the postseason I promise you that… special privileged position to be in (as a championship contender each year).”
• I thought I had moments last year… Dallas… close-out game in the Finals… conditioning is where it needs to be… that’s a milestone in and of itself… blessed to feel great again.”
• On being the worst babysitter but Mullin saying he would be ok with it: “Oh thank you. I’m not changing any diapers… I’m an uncle.”
• Jordan Poole postgame on if he’s surprised being the fifth seed after tonight: “most competitive league in the world… come down to the wire with a lot of teams… get some key wins.”
• On how the knee feels: “Straight.”
• On the postgame recap: “They had a really electric first quarter… we just stuck to the game plan… stay locked in for the fourth.”
• On the Kuminga dunk: “He’s starting to come into his own… being around older guys… being in the organization that he’s in it’s tough to get minutes sometimes… catch our cadence, catch our rhythm… gonna need him to keep playing this way.”
• On chemistry and energy: “we’re not gonna stop fighting… playing the best basketball at the right time… keep the momentum… positive energy.”
• On Black History Month: “we had a shirt here last year Beyond 28 that meant so much to me… fight for justice… legend in the house (George Clinton), obviously we got a big win.”
• Portland head coach Chauncey Billups postgame recap: “We knew that they were gonna make runs throughout the game… talked to them at halftime… third quarters, this is what they do… box-and-1… passed around… we just didn’t do that… we lost trust in the pass.”
• On losing trust: “all situations… they’re forcing the ball out of Dame’s hands… you got numbers… only for a small amount of time… make the right and shoot the right shot. In this building you can’t… can’t turn it over and can’t take bad shots… almost similar to the last time we played here.”
• On the Warriors’ paint points: “switching a lot of Klay’s pin-downs… they started attacking Dame. Dame was in foul trouble… gotta change our defense… gotta protect him… similar to what we wanted to do and what we did do in the first half.”
• Steve Kerr postgame recap: “The intensity picked up in the second half… they were amazing in the first half (Blazers)… did a much better job of executing in the second half (Warriors).”
• On executing the game plan against Dame: “That was the plan from the beginning, let’s try to take him out… I didn’t think we fouled him… driving to the rim and drew two fouls… sixteen free throws last time we played him… you just make a decision… make somebody else hit a shot instead of him.”
• On Draymond: “especially with the game plan… executing the stuff we were doing… a zone on the back side of the play… have to have somebody like Draymond or Loon or both of them… that’s why I left the starters out there for as long as we did in the third.”
• On defense complexity: “I tell the players in our walkthrough that this is a great game for us because this is kinda what the playoffs are all about… they hit four or five threes right away it’s easy to say this isn’t gonna work… you have to remember the forest for the trees… 48 minutes… the team feels it and goes through that process because we got a lot of young guys.”
• On tangible shifts: “we’re coming together… chemistry, some energy that’s forming… keeping our heads above water… grit and toughness.”
• On Kuminga: “Asked him to guard Lillard… a couple of beautiful cuts, that’s what we’re trying to get him to focus on… JP over the top… layup and a foul… big play… dive… pulling the defense in… he’s learning every single day.”
• On Poole: “his aggressiveness was really important for us. Early in the game it was all jumpers for us.”
I don’t think it was the scheme as much as it was the energy… that’s what we saw in the second half… group coming together and gutting out some wins.
• hit some huge buckets… been doing that for us all year… so happy for him… last year… injured… traded… perfect spot for him and perfect for us.”
• On the JK-Lamb combo: “Lamb is a 0.5 (‘point-five’) player… dribbles, passes or shoots immediately… it’s instinctive for him… they both fit in a switching type… both really strong… stand up to different players… you’re gonna have to guard in space.
• On calling the timeout late second half: “We messed up a couple coverages… our staff did a good just at halftime… cut down the game plan… everybody executed. It was fun.”
• On the defense: “You don’t win in the playoffs unless you’re really good defensively.”
• Draymond Green on-court postgame: “we finished the half strong… momentum… executed… Jordan Poole… Donte… Loon… started on the defensive end… 40 points in the second half, 41 in the first quarter.”
• On the box-and-1 on Lillard: “Kenny (Atkinson) did a great job with the calls tonight… tried to not give Dame a steady diet… walkthrough before the game we talked about it.”
• On holding up the fort without Steph and Wiggs: “Right time to be happening, get a good run… get those guys back soon.”
• Behind-the-scenes highlights: Billups on seeing GP2 again, Steph and GP2 making fun of JP arguing with the ref, Klay after the Thrive City studio interview taking a selfie with fans.
9:00 9min31 Q1 wonder what Matisse Thybulle’s corner 3 stats are
12:30 7min32 Jonathan Kuminga checks in for Kevon Looney
16:45 6min40 JK doubled Dame Lillard but he still hit a 3
20:30 5min33 Klay Thompson playing zone, JK or Jordan Poole not in the right spot
21:45 4min54 JK nice POA attack but we will miss layups by JK and Klay
23:30 4min03 Ty Jerome calls shaky hand play but ends up Klay shooting a 3 late
24:00 29-18 Lillard on fire 3min10 JK misses, throws his body into Dame expecting a call, I used to do that as a young player, too
33:15 at least good player development reps for JP in the Steph Curry role, basically
36:00 11min33 Q2 nice ball movement Donte to Dray to JP
38:15 9min54 Lamb draws a box out foul on Drew Eubanks
39:00 9min40 Jerami Grant out of bounds on the Donte airball, credit Lamb for the hustle
42:15 good thing with Draymond’s wrist is that it’s not the shooting hand, makes FT 7min53
44:30 Klay bad post-up on Dame 7min00
49:00 6min22 JK did not post up Dame properly, Donte turnover leads to a reach-in on Grant
51:00 5min40 JK not the best at rotation, Klay points but JK is late to Eubanks
54:45 4min15 Klay bad turnover, tough for a complementary player
1:03:00 1min09 good baseline inbound JP to Donte
1:06:15 analyzing Dame’s gravity from early in the game
1:14:45 how can we defend Dame? 1) he can’t be making 3s, 2) Donte can stay in front, 3) we could try a box-and-1, Lillard is a Top-100 player, so without Wiggs or Steph to execute defensive game plan. An 11-year vet against a squad of five that has a 2nd-year and 4th-year player? Tough odds. It almost hurts us that Anfernee Simons (4th year, will make mistakes) is out because then now you got Dame usage rate the whole game, 4) wear him out, 5) maybe stick Dray on him
1:22:45 10min09 Q3 good job by JP getting downhill in transition
1:24:00 9min34 Donte loses Dame POA
1:25:30 8min21 box-and-1 works! (daimond-and-1)
1:26:15 7min43 turnover JP to Klay, Klay trying to stay positive
1:27:00 7min02 Loon finishing is gorgeous
1:32:30 6min30 Dame box-and-1 turnover, JP attacks Dame which is good to wear him down
1:33:30 5min44 Dray looks a tad bit off but that’s to be expected
1:34:00 5min30 JP 3 even though Donte and Klay went to the same spot to make it not open for Dray
1:34:45 5min08 forgot to mention one way to beat Dame is to attack Dame, I’m sure that was in the game plan for JP to execute, so is JP gonna get some freakin’ credit? 4th year guy taking a future HoFer to the rack
1:38:45 Dame guards Lamb with four fouls and we call a pick and roll to get Klay on Dame
1:40:00 JK with the steal of Dame but he needs to set the screen for Klay better
1:42:00 2min39 JK smash, credit Lamb for clearing the oreb for Jerome
1:42:30 2min09 good below-the-rim fundamental move by Klay
1:43:00 1min45 credit Lamb for the great screen for Klay
1:44:45 0min33 Kerr asks to challenge the high-five, they don’t
1:46:00 0min23 tiki-taka Jerome to Dray
1:53:45 4 fouls on Dray he can handle, apparently 10min50 Q4 (should’ve been a charge)
1:54:30 10min20 box-and-1 working again, good close out by JK
1:55:45 after Shaedon Sharpe smash (understandable), 9min24 Lamb jump ball among 3 Blazers
1:57:00 Dray got Mousa Dagher ref to nod on something (after the post-up turnover) 8min56
1:58:00 Steven King: “Epic box-and-1”, I think we stay with it unless they score 2x in a row not named Lillard
2:00:00 8min22 will Lamb get credit for the steal
2:00:45 7min53 great seal by Dray, great delivery by Donte, great cut by Lamb
2:03:00 on still needing a big man or Nerlens Noel: Aren’t we proving right now that we don’t need Noel? How long would it take for Noel to get comfortable playing with HoFers, let alone Kerr read-and-react (and set good screens, tiki-taka)? Noel wouldn’t even be in the game rn (Looney isn’t). @Kwaku Barnie So it’s Lamb or big insurance policy. I’ll take Lamb because we go small anyways, make their big (Eubanks or whoever) run with us, always done it w Dray
2:07:00 5min40 Lamb spin on Eubanks epitomizes why we don’t need a big, plus Looney just came in so Noel wouldn’t be playing now anyways (unless Loon got hurt)
2:09:00 4min23 Klay calms down JK on the call
2:10:00 3min50 Klay calls off Lamb screen to take Eubanks which he converts
2:12:00 3min23 Billups waves white flag (Dame 35 mins)
2:14:15 2min08 Lamb to JK smash tiki-taka another reason to keep Lamb
2:47:15 Noel knows better than casuals that he’s not needed on GSW LOL, so he’s gonna go make vet min with probably 5 mpg behind Looney
2:49:00 can we keep both Lamb and Jerome? The way I look at it, is if Andre Iguodala is not 100%, then you waive him on the last day of the season assuming he’s out for the playoffs, then that creates a spot for Jerome. So instead of coming from a position of lack, come at it from a position of abundance. It’s a win-win. If Andre is healthy, I’d rather have 100% healthy Andre for the playoffs than Jerome. If Andre is not healthy then I’d rather have Jerome healthy for the playoffs.
2:50:45 remember: J-Mike proved his ceiling in the Wizards game. It’s either gonna be 4 mins and screwed up a couple things or he plays well and ends up with 9 mins. And I’d trust him more than I would trust a green Nerlens Noel. We don’t have time to develop or integrate Noel in 20 games. IRL not 2K!
2:53:00 Rollins has a cheap three-year contract so it makes it hard to waive that and carry that as dead-weight on the salary cap table. That’s why Charlotte signed Bryce McGowens to a four-year deal.
2:57:15 Steph tweets a pic of JK dunking and Kevin Hart, but idk what it means
3:02:45 Noel in training camp, maybe, but not with 20 games to go. It took 62 games to get here with Lamb
3:45:00 lesson on salary cap table, why we can’t give the money we saved by trading James Wiseman to someone else
3:57:00 staring at the salary cap table, I have deduced that if Joe Lacob, Bob Myers, Kerr, Steph, Klay and Dray meet up to discuss long-term cap table strategy, Gary Payton II (GP2) probably should be in that meeting as well
WENT THROUGH ALL POSTGAME VIDEOS
5:37:00 Kendra Andrews asked Draymond about the history of the third quarter because Chauncey Billups brought it up in his postgame presser
• Steve Kerr at pregame Blazers says he expects Draymond Green to play tonight. Draymond went through walkthrough and still has to do his warmups. (Dalton Johnson)
• On if Draymond would start if he’s good to go: “If he’s playing, he’s starting.”
• Steph Curry has upped his workload in recent days, according to Kerr. Curry is “able to do more” lately and an update will come via Warriors PR expected at some point this week. (Madeline Kenney, Kerith Burke)
• On the recent bench play; “They’ve helped keep us afloat… JaMychal too.”
• On the POA defense lately: “It’s hit or miss, tbh… moments where we’re allowing penetration too easily, too many gaps in the shell… picking up fouls.”
• On Klay lately: “Not just the scoring, it’s the leadership… talking… giving them encouragement… steadier emotionally than he was earlier when he was pressing.”
• On stopping Lillard: “He can score from anywhere… drawing more fouls… gamesmanship is at an all-time high… create the contact… ever gotta be really really smart, we can’t let him dictate the action… can’t let him get to the FT line (16x like last matchup)… lucky enough to coach him (USA)… lead… poise… one of the top very few guys in the league in terms of star/leader.”
• Andrew Wiggins is still away from the Warriors. The team is respecting a family matter. Still no update on when Andrew Wiggins will return: “Nothing to report.” Once Wiggins is back, the Warriors will decide if he’s able to play right away or needs time to ramp up his conditioning. (Dalton Johnson, CJ Holmes)
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