On our livestream for the Indiana game, we came to the conclusion that against younger, longer, athletic teams just to win one game, the Warriors are just, well, too old, too small, and not as athletic.
During the diminishing of the 12-point lead in the second quarter, Chris Paul got outsized by Aaron Nesmith for an offensive rebound and Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton ran a pick-and-roll that had Paul and Stephen Curry as the help defense on the roll side. Turner dunked it over Curry.
And on defense with the second unit, you saw that Golden State had to settle for a zone with CP3 and Klay Thompson on the floor.
Solid role players like Andrew Nembhardt and TJ McConnell were eager to step up and get themselves ready for the playoff push in an environment such as Chase Center, as head coach Rick Carlisle told media postgame. And so for the modern regular season, there are certain teams like the Pacers that will render the playoff experience of the GSW vets somewhat useless. You can’t really utilize basketball IQ to the fullest unless you’re in a seven-game series where you can take the first blow and make corrections, turn the tide.
Which then kind of begs the question of it there’s players out there that the Warriors can get next season to win some of these regular season games. So what’s been a recurring theme to me has been the defense, usually on the point-of-attack, but also we’re seeing more and more the offensive rebounding for the opponent, the lack of length to reach for the ball — assuming the desire to go get the ball, as I discussed in the previous article, is there.
It was actually in the pregame where Steve Kerr addressed the ongoing defensive issues. In fact, he talked about it for a good four minutes. The whole transcript is way below, but above the final game notes, but here’s an excerpt:
There are some games where we just appear sharper. Maybe we’re just feeling better. Our old guys are a little sharper, a little quicker. But there are games for sure where teams break us down and they get some momentum and then shots start going in. But I haven’t been able to locate anything analytically that is dramatically different other than shots going in versus not going in…
Usually, like one of them to start the third quarter, we should have been chasing the shooter and we tried to shoot the gap and the guy faded. And that’s a player that we always chase. So it’s just a coverage mistake. But those are things we work on every day and try to correct when we do see mistakes. I do think our guys, I think we’re gonna have to find a more consistent level defensively if we want to make the run that I think we’re capable of.
In general, we are a team that protects the basket first; we believe that, if you don’t handle the basket and the paint, then it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re not going to be a good defensive team. So, we generally have been very good at protecting the rim, protecting the paint for a long time. Draymond does a great job patrolling. The way we play, we cover up that paint, and then we have to scramble out. And the ones that bother me are when we don’t recognize personnel. We know we’re going to be flying around and having to close out on shooters. It’s really important to know who you’re closing out to. Sometimes if you’re closing out to a poor shooter, you have to stunt and fall, you gotta get off of that guy. And when we do that, we’re pretty good, but when we don’t recognize who we’re playing against, then that’s where we give up shots to the wrong people.
Steph echoed that on the podium, postgame:
Most nights it’s pretty clear, you’re not going to overwhelm them with execution and that kind of vibe. And we always talk about us in the margins, like if you don’t play hard, if you don’t come with focused effort, you can run around and run crazy, but if you don’t actually execute and do the details, especially defensively, giving them easy looks from three, giving them driving lanes, giving them offensive rebounds, that is where you could give effort, but you’re not focused minimally.
And so I kinda actually disagree with Steve and Steph. I’m just not sure there’s much you can do about length. We’ve beaten the dead horse about the point-of-attack, as Curry talks about “driving lanes”, on this website. Yes, you can want to go get the ball more, but guys like Brandin Podziemski are kind of rare and unfortunately he doesn’t have a seven-foot wingspan — still, he got some key rebounds against Indiana.
A look down the list of vote-getters from last year’s All-Defensive teams shows a couple names like Dejounte Murray and Matisse Thybulle. Now, it’s too early to talk trade scenarios and the trade market hasn’t been determined yet, but those are two names that were tossed around during February’s trade deadline and the point of this exercise is to say that there are guys out there that can solve what’s missing against teams like the Pacers you run across during the regular season. Those are two guys who are paid less (much, much less in the case of CP3) than Wiggs and CP3, so for now, you assume at least a “poor man’s version” of Murray and Thybulle is somewhere out there on the market.
So would a swap-out of CP3 and Wiggins for, say, Murray and Thybulle have yielded a win against Indiana the other night? Just more youth, speed and defense might have done it. Granted, the Warriors can still do some damage as-is if they can just get to a seven-game series, but I think the big lesson learned this season is that you’re gonna need to get younger, longer and more athletic to qualify for the playoff part, where your core base of Hall-of-Fame IQ can get you through a succession of playoff series.
0:00 Hey Steve, Dustin Dopirak, Indy Star. I would like to ask you about a couple of your guys. First one to start with, Trayce. I think when we talked to you in Indiana, he was kind of more on the bench at that point, basically. And he’s certainly been productive lately, getting more minutes. What’s impressed you about what he’s done, just over that stretch?
STEVE PREGAME IND-GSW : “Trayce is just incredibly mature for a rookie; he’s a little bit like the bigs who came into the league way back when I played, lots of college experience, already grounded in the fundamentals of the game. So, it’s easy to throw stuff at him, sort of NBA stuff, that he hasn’t seen before and expect him to pick up on it because he’s got this great fundamental base. But he’s a great finisher, really good timing on his screens, very rarely picks up illegal screens, lob threat. He and Chris Paul have really developed a great connection, and a rim protector, shot blocker. So we’re thrilled with Trayce. He’s playing great.”
1:26 I also want to ask you about Will Sheehey, a guy that’s been on your staff for a couple of years, used to be an IU guy as well. Just what’s been his value, what do you feel like he’s just brought to your staff over the last few years?
“Will’s been fantastic. He’s in a role right now where he’s really connecting the analytics with the game film. And he works his tail off. He basically breaks down every single play of the game for us, defensively, and he matches our tape with our coverage mistakes with the analytics, and it’s an area where I think we’ve really improved the last few years since we brought Kenny Atkinson on board. Kenny’s very involved on that front on the analytics front, and Will is really helping us kind of figure out what matters and what doesn’t, analytically. But he’s just got a great way about him because he played, he understands the game from a player standpoint, but also from a numbers standpoint. So Will’s got a really bright future.”
2:30 Steve, speaking of the analytics and video study, have you been able to sort of decipher what is the cause behind some of the defensive slippage over the past few weeks that was really high last month, but the past few weeks it’s dropped a little bit?
“It’s not always clear, Monte (Poole). I mean, there are some games where we just appear sharper. Maybe we’re just feeling better. Our old guys are a little sharper, a little quicker. But there are games for sure where teams break us down and they get some momentum and then shots start going in. But I haven’t been able to locate anything analytically that is dramatically different other than shots going in versus not going in. And sometimes that is the case. I watched the Memphis game from the other night, first three minutes of the second half, they missed two open corner threes. We go down and we make two threes. We get a stop and a layup and all of a sudden, eight straight points. They take a timeout. On tape, our defense wasn’t spectacular. They just missed, and so we have to maintain a higher level of intensity and energy and better discipline and all that. But then some night shots go in, too, yeah.”
3:59 I’ve seen the number of — we were talking about this with somebody else the other night — the number of open corner threes that you guys have been giving up lately and wondering if they were results of breakdowns or over-helping?
“Usually, like one of them to start the third quarter, we should have been chasing the shooter and we tried to shoot the gap and the guy faded. And that’s a player that we always chase. So it’s just a coverage mistake. But those are things we work on every day and try to correct when we do see mistakes. I do think our guys, I think we’re gonna have to find a more consistent level defensively if we want to make the run that I think we’re capable of.”
4:51 Just to continue that topic. Are there certain kinds of threes, either personnel-wise or location-wise that you are more fine giving up, than corner threes? Is that what you’re trying to do in any way?
“No, I mean, I think in general, we are a team that protects the basket first; we believe that, if you don’t handle the basket and the paint, then it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re not going to be a good defensive team. So, we generally have been very good at protecting the rim, protecting the paint for a long time. Draymond does a great job patrolling. The way we play, we cover up that paint, and then we have to scramble out. And the ones that bother me are when we don’t recognize personnel. We know we’re going to be flying around and having to close out on shooters. It’s really important to know who you’re closing out to. Sometimes if you’re closing out to a poor shooter, you have to stunt and fall, you gotta get off of that guy. And when we do that, we’re pretty good, but when we don’t recognize who we’re playing against, then that’s where we give up shots to the wrong people.”
6:06 Steve, Podziemski obviously does so many other things, but the last couple games he has barely scored, like no points a couple games ago, one basket the previous game. Do you ever … tell somebody we need some points? He’s playing a guard position, so it doesn’t matter to you?
“I don’t care if he scores or not. He’s in every one of our best lineups. He’s our best plus-minus guy for the year. He’s really good, no matter whether he’s scoring or not. And I know that especially as a rookie, he’ll have ups and downs from a scoring standpoint. And right now he’s in a down period. But he allows other guys to play well, just because of his recognition of what’s happening on the floor, his cuts, his ball movement, his spacing. I’m thrilled with Brandin and as long as he keeps playing as hard as he is, he’ll be out there.”
7:03 In general, how valuable do you think this experience is for the younger players on the team, playing in so many successive games with high stakes, given where you guys are at in the standings?
“Yeah, it’s very valuable for guys like Trayce and JK and BP, Moses. But we want to keep that going. We want to keep that going. We’ve got to get into the playoffs and have them feel what that’s like, because that’s a different level. And we know we’re right there. We have an opportunity, but we’ve got to turn it up and we’ve got to be more consistent here down the stretch.”
What did you think happened in the second quarter? You had a pretty decent lead and then they just seemed to go away pretty quickly. What did you feel happened in the game there?
BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI POSTGAME IND-GSW: “I had some turnovers. They’re obviously number one in the league in scoring. Tyrese (Haliburton) and TJ (McConnell) do a good job of pushing the ball. And I think that kind of affected us, just even off makes they were kind of scoring back at us. And then, obviously we don’t play as fast as them. So, it kind of makes you have to make shots. And if you don’t, and they are pushing it back at you, it becomes tough. And that’s how you get the 8-0 runs.”
Steve had mentioned that he felt you guys got out-competed for a little bit of a stretch there. Did you feel that as well? And where did that come from?
“Yeah, I think so. I feel like we kind of caved in a little bit; things obviously didn’t go our way necessarily like from a shooting standpoint collectively. But I just feel like we’ve got to do a better job of controlling the things we can, which I think we didn’t do that tonight.”
Brandin, seemed like you guys got a little either kind of out of sorts a little bit too. It looked like you guys were rushing a lot of your shots and your passes?
“Yeah, when we don’t have anything in transition and we kind of just fall into action, I feel like when we are organized and our spacing’s right, like it was last game against Memphis, we’re able to play better collectively and individually, our percentages are up. I think tonight, like you said, a little bit more rushed, like our spacing was bad and that’s how you get 111 points only.”
Now you’re two games ahead of Houston, which is winning like crazy. Do you see them? Do you feel now, ‘Okay, now we’ve just got to protect 10.’ Is that too low a bar in your mind?
“Yeah, I think it’s too low. I mean, going into every game, you just want to win that game, regardless. You can’t control other people’s outcomes, but you can control your own. And we’re still chasing that 7-8, trying to get to 6. I mean, I think we got 14 games left, 13. So we’re just going to try to win as many as we can and wherever the chips fall, they fall. And we’ll play whoever.”
You had 13 points tonight. Obviously, the ball was going in. Previous few games, you hadn’t scored much. I asked Kerr before the game, he goes, “I don’t want Brandin to change anything. He’s doing just fine.” In your mind, are you thinking you can score a little bit more? Was tonight more of what you feel like you should be doing, can be doing?
“Yes. But I think what’s being asked of me is kind of just shoot when you’re open, late shot clock, make a play. Tonight I was open, they left me open and I shot the ball, but I may get eight shots tonight and I may get zero next game, just kind of how the game falls. And like I said, controlling things I can control.”
Haliburton hits a three to close the second and third, in like three-second possessions. How killer are those six points?
“It definitely hurts going into halftime and starting the fourth quarter. He’s a good player. Good players make tough shots, but those, like you said, they’re kind of demoralizing and coming in, he’s in a big shooting slump and now he goes 4-for-8 against us. I feel like that’s kind of been a theme for other teams. They’re struggling and then somebody gets hot against us. So, just trying to figure that out and win some games.”
Speaking of winning some games though, you guys have gone 1-2 in each of your last two home stands. I mean, how frustrating is that when you know what you guys need to do and you’re not able to execute?
“Yeah, it’s really frustrating, especially in front of the home fans that do so much for us. It’s kind of the opposite of last year. We’re better on the road than at home and last year was the opposite. But I don’t know, it’s tough. It’s tough to see the fans’ faces after we lose.”
Looking forward to being on the road, given that you guys have been better on the road this year?
“For sure. I feel like when we’re on the road, we get to spend a lot of time with each other, ‘cause it’s just us. So we get to do a lot of things collectively. Obviously when people are at home, we all have families and stuff like that. So, yeah, we’re looking forward to it; I think it’s five games on the road. again, from high-quality teams. So, just looking to win as much as we can on the road.”
The game like this shakes you a little bit … things are still okay?
STEPHEN CURRY POSTGAME IND-GSW: “Nah, it sucks. Before you go on a long road trip, an opportunity to protect your home court, we talked about that so many times and we didn’t do it. Played decent in the first half, they went on the run to end the second quarter. Took control of the game and then we were kind of chasing from there. They made every timely play. I think the second half I got a little rushed in certain situations when we were down, trying to force the action a little bit. I think because of the lack of energy or just connecting the game, those kinds of possessions just feed right into their hands. And they’re a fast-paced team, you know that coming in, and you can’t give them that much momentum and life. Especially, they’re capable of scoring at a high level, so a tough one for sure, but there are plenty of games left to right the ship. It’s just a matter of can we do it?”
You guys got out-competed there for a while. Does that bother you, that at this point in the season, we all know how important this game is and we all know how you guys are playing at home this season, that you can’t get out-competed by a team like that?
“I mean, the NBA, like, every game takes a different life of its own, so for us to win, I think most nights it’s pretty clear, you’re not going to overwhelm them with execution and that kind of vibe. And we always talk about us in the margins, like if you don’t, If you don’t play hard, if you don’t come with focused effort, you can run around and run crazy, but if you don’t actually execute and do the details, especially defensively, giving them easy looks from three, giving them driving lanes, giving them offensive rebounds, that is where you could give effort, but you’re not focused minimally. So that’s disappointing, in terms of the effort that we had tonight.”
You guys, you kept them in check in the fourth quarter, got it down to seven in the last couple minutes. The margin for error was probably pretty slim, but what did you make of the late game execution?
“There’s a couple, like I said, a couple shots. I got blocked shooting threes. We had a couple turnovers, a couple empty possessions, and then at that point, you’re counting possessions and they get one layup or one three or one second-chance point, changes the whole narrative of trying to come back. So, we lost it in the second, pretty much halfway through the third, where like Tim said, they out-hustled us, out-competed us, disappointing night all the way around.”
We’ve seen Kuminga have all these really strong games, and now he goes 4-for-17 against this team. What do you tell him? What do you tell him as he’s going? Do you like that he kept putting shots up, even in a tough shooting night?
“We tell him, we tell Wiggs, like, we need them to be aggressive. It gives us a whole different dynamic. When they are running in transition, when they’re putting pressure on the rim, taking shots when they’re open, you’re going to have tough shooting nights. That happens to everybody. It happened to me tonight. So you don’t really necessarily focus on that. It’s just the same way I diagnose my game, like shot selection and a couple possessions that you could probably get a better one, feeds right into their hands. So, good learning lessons. How well we all played and he, especially last game to this game, now you have to respond. That’s the job.”
What do you feel like the collective inconsistency has been rooted in this season?
“Once again, I wish I knew because then we could be able to get ahead of it. But every game is a little something different. So it’s not a great position to be in. Especially when every game matters and every game counts and there needs to be a sense of urgency in how we finish this last stretch of games. I wish I knew, though.”
Steph, you mentioned this already a little bit… Looked like you had control of the game when you’re up 60-48. And as you mentioned, they took control of the game, towards that second, middle of that second quarter, probably capped off by that Haliburton three, right before halftime.
“Honestly, I was trying to think, like that four- or five-minute stretch, I can’t recall how they scored, like what the patterns were. I have to go, like, literally watch the film to see. It was just a total momentum shift. And you could see, like, the life came out of us a little bit in that dagger three. Big Mo, as my college coach used to call it, going into halftime. There’s a carryover effect to that, too. So, like, they had all the confidence in the world going into the locker room. We were reeling a little bit and we didn’t respond in the second half. So, we got outscored by 15 in the third quarter, so that probably didn’t help.”
And a quick follow-up, can you guys also say that when you look at the homestands, the last two homestands, you guys went 1-2. I mean, even just getting that one extra win could have made a big difference for you guys if you go 2-1 in those homestands.
“For sure, that’s the math of it, but I mean, that’s going to sting because you know you missed huge opportunities to build true momentum and kind of settle yourself in the standings a little bit. It just presents more issues of how we need to bounce back and whether we’re going to be playing for something in a couple of weeks or not, because nothing’s guaranteed and I think we have enough pride to bounce back, and I think we want it bad enough. And gotta go show it.”
Steph, a couple of questions for you. You’ve been through this, what Kuminga is going through. How difficult is it when the other team kind of recognizes you as one of the top scorers and now they seem to take you away, like, it feels like they had a plan for what to do with Kuminga. Do you feel like that’s where he is in his career?
“It’s a natural evolution as you climb the ladder in the league. Yeah, become a guy that’s not just on the scouting report now, but probably the second person they talk about, when they’re going through personnel and you have more film on you, more your tendencies. So they’re going to game plan. And that’s the challenge of continuing to be efficient and effective night after night. He’s more than capable. We’ve seen plenty of young guys. JP (Jordan Poole) had to go through it a couple of years ago. You gotta embrace the challenge of it and the IQ of seeing what they’re doing, how they’re adjusting and having counters for it and not second-guessing yourself. He’s more than capable of it. He might have a nice night tonight and that’s fine because that’s the growth and the learning experience, but he’s shown enough over the course of this last, like, two-thirds of the season that he’s that dude and … game after game in terms of him being ready to play.”
Do you think it impacts you, or how does it impact you that there isn’t a consistent place to go when they’re taking you off the ball, you’re not going. Is it any different than if you had, like, somebody next to you as an automatic 30, or that it could be this guy that night. Does that impact you at all, that it’s kind of based on how you guys are playing and who you got it going?
“That’s the challenge of this team, because we’ve had inconsistencies on that front. And like, I’m never going to shy away from my responsibility when it comes to playing well every night. I didn’t play well tonight. Didn’t play a smart enough basketball game that could counter some of that pressure and try to make it easy on the guys around me. But our challenge for this team is to understand how we play offense and how we create shots. Everybody be aggressive and ready. It’s hard because you don’t know if you’re going to get in the starting lineup, you don’t know if you’re going to get eight shots or 15 shots or hell, 20, every once in a while. But being ready, being aggressive, not playing on your heels. For us, that’s when we’re at our best. We haven’t always done it, so that’s why we have been inconsistent. That’s why our record is what it is, but the top end of how we play and when it’s clicking, it’s still a potent offense. You just gotta go for it, there’s gotta be a solid chemistry between everybody and when it’s not, it looks like it did tonight.”
Steph, the way they amped up their physicality and that’s their third quarter … maybe kind of getting in your guys’ heads a little bit and it seemed like there was a domino effect with the turnovers and the missed shots there. I guess they controlled the momentum going in the halftime and coming out in the second half.
“Sometimes you feel like you’re lost. It’s weird. Like, you lost the game because you beat yourself for the day, out-hustle, out-execute you. And it was more of that tonight. So, still feels the same in terms of the outcome and how we feel leaving the building. But they played a great game in that stretch that really changed the entire momentum. We never responded.”
Steph, I’m curious even beyond tonight, as scoring around the league is down in the second half of the season. The officiating is a big part of that. You have one free throw tonight. I think your numbers in particular, you’ve always not necessarily gotten the calls and gotten to the line. And I think you’ve had a downtick in the second half of the year. What are you seeing on that front these past couple of months? And do you feel that kind of real difference in the way the whistle is going?
“You definitely felt a difference on the whole and that’s on both sides of the ball. The LA game was kind of the one that was our history of free throw disparity when you play them, and it was a different tone for sure. I’ve never really gotten calls and I don’t ever go into the game really worrying about that. From my recollection, it’s probably been maybe three or four over the last two weeks, where you, like, expect a call to be a certain way, just off of the patterns of the league and what used to be called, and you’re kind of shaking your head when you don’t get it. At the end of the day, as long as — I guess I always say — as long as it’s consistent on both sides, like, we’ll adjust to this… attack on one side … or they swallow whistles on the other side, so I think for the most part it’s been pretty consistent where you just can adjust to it, but probably asking the wrong guy when it comes to what that really looks like from a night-to-night standpoint.”
Maybe if you made a name for yourself, you’d get a few calls?
“Yeah, I’m still working on that.”
Are you getting any updated explanations from the refs on, ‘Hey, Steph, this is a point of emphasis and here’s why this is not a foul anymore,’ because they were kind of given a reshaping of some of the rules?
“Only thing that I get in situations, there’s one tonight that I thought was a clear foul, like, they have to kind of be the judge on when the release of a jump shot and when you can complete the release and if there’s contact. Maybe a couple of years ago, if there was any contact on it, whether it was when you had the ball in your hands or just after, they would call it; they’ve moved off of that a good amount. And now it’s kind of — I think there’s been a couple on the extreme end of clear contact that changes and alters a shot. But other than that, there hasn’t been much conversation or like a warning of, ‘Hey, we’re going to do XYZ and it’s going to feel different.’ It’s just you adapt to the tone of the game and they’ve been really consistent with it since the All-Star Break, for sure.”
I think you had a 12-point lead there in the second quarter, and then everything just seemed to change there. What do you think happened to change this game?
STEVE KERR POSTGAME IND-GSW: “Well, I thought Indiana was great, so I’ll give them credit. I thought their point guard play was fantastic between Haliburton and TJ McConnell; they just pushed the ball down our throats and got out in transition. And I thought they were the more physical team as well. And when we had that lead, they made the push at the end of the second and then also at the beginning of the third and it just didn’t feel like we were getting to the loose balls. And they were out-competing us there for a little bit and then we lost our poise a little. We started turning it over. We were really good in the first half, I think only three or four turnovers and then probably 10 or so in the second. So I thought their physicality and their speed just kind of took us out of our rhythm a little bit.”
What kind of factor did their size and length play with Myles Turner?
“Yeah, Turner was great at the rim. He blocked some shots. Haliburton blocked several shots, jump shots. I think he got Steph’s threes a couple of times. Turner had five. So the shot blocking was definitely a factor.”
Do you think the Haliburton three to close the half that you gave up impacted the third quarter?
“I mean, I don’t think we lost our spirit or anything because of it, but the guy hit two basically buzzer-beater shots, one at the end of the second, one at the end of the third and they were both incredible shots. So, I didn’t think it affected us coming out of the break, but it gave them momentum, for sure. Because in the last few minutes we went from up 12 to only up one. So that push definitely helped them at the end of the second.”
Kuminga has been extremely efficient the last month and a half or so, but I think 4-of-17 tonight, what did you see?
“I just thought JK got into a little bit of a rush and they had Siakam on him, a lot of length at the rim, so he wasn’t able to get some of the easy hoops he’s been getting; great learning experience for him. He’s had such a good run and teams are going to start putting their best guys on them. They’re going to show him different looks. So JK has been fantastic and love what he’s done and this is all part of his growth. So he’ll watch the tape, he’ll feel this one and he’ll see where he can get better and he’ll continue to grow.”
You’ve been very consistent saying you think there’s a good run in this team. You could see a 10-0 run. I know you’re never going to say there’s no chance, but it’s getting pretty late. Do you have to start recalibrating what you’re thinking about this team?
“No, there’s nothing I need to recalibrate. I think we know who our team is. We just have to stay with it. We were disappointed obviously in this homestand. We were hoping to get all three and we only got one and that’s put us in a tough spot. So, just got to keep plugging away.”
Steve, you guys only had six home games this month and to lose four of them, how hard is that to take, given the stakes and the point of the season you’re in?
“Well, we’re a better team on the road this year for whatever reason. So, I mean, I don’t think it matters where we play. We haven’t been able to control our home court. So maybe we’ll go out on the road and find some momentum.”
Steve, you have a lot of guys with the green light to shoot the three. Your team attempted 48 three-pointers tonight, only made 14 of them. What do you think about those three-point attempts?
“I thought in the second half we got rushed on some of them. I thought the first half we had really good ball movement. I think we had 15 assists and three turnovers. It was a really clean first half. And then when they made their push to start the third quarter, I think we started to get into a rush. And instead of trusting each other, I thought we started launching some tough shots.”
You changed up Steph’s rotation a little bit. You took him out a little bit earlier in the first and the third, and you played him all the fourth. Maybe that was game-related, but were you looking at a different thing with Steph? Was it the pressure their point guards were putting on him, maybe, a little bit?
“He looked tired to me, mid-third quarter, and we were in a bad position in a bad way. When I took him out at about the five-and-a-half-minute mark, I just wanted to get a different group out to try to find some traction in the game and because he sat for those five-and-a-half minutes, and then we were down 12, I think, going into the fourth, or 11, whatever it was, I felt like it was necessary to start him. So, it’s not anything I’m doing differently. It’s just, the game called for it.”
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I guess I’ll ask you just to get it out of the way. The technicals, and the one at the end, what led to that? Did it seem like they were looking for a technical? What happened there?
CHRIS PAUL POSTGAME IND-GSW: “Oh, man. Oh, Tony (Brothers). He’s talking to me. I talk back. I called him a TikTok’er. Yeah, I got a tech. That was the last one. The first one I just said, ‘TikTok’er,’ he gave me a tech.”
Was there a second one?
“I just said, that’s too much power. You know what I mean? He gave me another. TikTok’er, meaning the judge, the jury and all that.”
What do you think led to the loss?
“You gotta tip your hat off to them. They played hard. They out-scrapped us. They made shots. We had a lead going into halftime and they just came out and we never sort of responded.”
Jonathan Kuminga has had long stretches of really efficient games. How did you see him work through some frustration of a 4-for-17 night?
“I didn’t know he was 4-for-17. It’s the league, man. It’s 82 games. As much as we all want to be great every night, it’s hard. It’s hard, especially when you playing as well as he is. He’s starting to be on people’s scouting reports. You know what I mean? But if he’s struggling or whatnot, it’s up to other guys to lift him up. That’s why we’re a team.”
Little struggles at home here this season. You’re about to embark on pretty much like a two-week road trip besides that one quick home game back here. But just how important is this road stretch over the next two weeks?
“It’s really important for us, for the rest of the season, we play every other day or back-to-back, so, ain’t nobody gonna feel sorry for us. We gotta play, we gotta get our rest, and with the depth of our team, we’re gonna have to lean on each other.”
The question was, coming in this season, you were the new guy, they had a lot established. Do you feel at this point, there’s been so much change even within the season, but do you feel like you have a real feel for your role for your place on this team and where this team is and how you fit into it?
“Somewhat, but I mean, we still figuring it out. It’s been such an up-and-down season. We’ll have a great game where we got everything going and defending and making shots and then we’ll have a game like tonight. So I think all of us are just trying to find some type of consistency, trying to figure this thing out.”
The other night, Steph said that figuring out that consistency is now way more important than seeding, like 10 doesn’t matter, we have to figure it out. Do you kind of agree that at this point it’s just about finding a level of consistency that could carry you forward if you guys do make the playoffs?
“Yeah, playing a number of years, sometimes you can have a great year, have a high seed, but just know that you’re not sort of playing right, going into the playoffs. I think for us, we gotta figure out how to play right. We got to compete and we got to win. Every game now, we basically fighting for a chance at the playoffs.”
And just following up on that, in your experience is 12, 13 games, is that enough time to figure it out to where you guys want to?
“Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. You don’t have a choice. You know what I mean? So everything been a little bit different about this year, but we got a chance. So that’s what you want.”
TONY BROTHERS INTERVIEW ON TIKTOK: “I don’t even really care too much for basketball in the sense of I’m not a fan like, just watching it, when I ended up refereeing in the NBA or because I wanted to be a judge. Oh, no way. And I applied to two schools, William Mary and UVA and they both said no. My mom made a call over to Old Dominion and someone that she knew, about a week before school started. And they admitted me there. And after I graduated, I ended up working for a consulting firm. That same mom called someone she knew and got me a job at the consulting firm, where I met a lady that refereed basketball. She told me how to get started and here I am. So the whole desire to be judge, I didn’t know what type of judge I was going to be, but now I’m the judge, the jury, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, everybody. It kind of came full circle.”
1:00 KERR PREGAME AUDIO NOW ON
8:45 refs tonight: Tony Brothers (crew chief, No. 25, 30th season), Nick Buchert (14th, No. 3), Derek Richardson (27th, No. 63); replay: Sean Corbin, Michael Smith, Matt Boland
11:00 one of the keys to every game from now on is, is Kuminga engaged on defense?, my article on the website (see link above), long rebounds mathematically
16:00 tipoff!
11m47 Q1 Wiggs vs AN 1v1 via Steph screen
10m52 Q1 JK got the ball dreb
10m43 Q1 Wiggs to Dray cut
10m18 Q1 Dray short J over Myles
10m01 Q1 Dray TD Steph
9m14 Q1 JK bad D vs Siakam 94ft — things you didn’t see in OG bball
9m19 Q1 JK miss 3 2v5
9m27 Q1 BP 1v1 Ty
8m15 Q1 Dray bad lead pass to Steph
7m50 Q1 organized chaos JK to Steph corner 3
7m25 Q1 JK oreb! but missed putback
6m48 Q1 Wiggs shouldn’t have kicked to Steph, so much space in front of Wiggs, Nesmith corner 3 on break, timeout Kerr, Wiggs talks to ref
25:30 analyzing the last play: Steph doesn’t need to double, needs to recognize Wiggs staying in front
6m26 Q1 Steph cut around Klay good
5m47 Q1 Nesmith too easy by Klay oh well
5m05 Q1 Dray bad pass saved by JK, but later bad layup
4m40 Q1 Steph fools Nembhardt for 3
4m23 Q1 subs: TJD for Dray, CP for Wiggs (i.e., Steph gets a little overlap with Klay and Dray)
4m08 Q1 JK bad pass
3m51 Q1 TJD block on good play by Carlisle leads to 3 corner by BP assist CP (see below)
33:00 analyzing the last play: we were in 3-2 zone
2m39 Q1 CP physicality on D vs Toppin — GP2 also looks like injured right shoulder again
1m50 Q1 Ty 2x 3s (no timeout which I disagree with)
1m36 Q1 Wiggs 2 over Jalen breaks drought
0m36 Q1 TJD block again
0m29 Q1 Klay HOF 3 in the corner
42:45 analyzing when GP2 got injured
11m45 Q2 Klay step back 2 over Sheppard
10m59 Q2 BP 3/4 on 3s
10m22 Q2 Klay another inside step back 2
10m00 Q2 Klay 3 via Dray via TJD wow center assist on the break (shimmy, Steph looking at him)
9m33 Q2 box and 1 vs McDermott Klay? Wow, they get a dunk
8m35 Q2 BP oreb! Dray to Klay 3
7m47 Q2 TJ another tov, worst game I’ve ever seen him play (rattled by CP3?)
7m36 Q2 Klay nice pass to Dray blocked by Myles
7m19 Q2 JK good D vs Myles jump hook, Klay airball 3, says my bad at next foul
7m06 Q2 JK POA foul on Siakam, Dray talks to him (don’t foul 2x in a row? or maybe switch)
6m56 Q2 switch this time on Siakam to Dray, JK reb, Dray misses layup yikes
6m29 Q2 TJD great inside footwork vs Siakam
6m10 Q2 Mo great POA vs Siakam
6m02 Q2 Steve lobbies for FTs for JK with Derek Richardson yay! JK 2/2
5m57 Q2 CP3 loses Nesmith baseline, TJD helps block, challenge on the call (Richardson makeup call), Kenny Atkinson argues with CP about the play)
58:00 analyzing the last play: TJD help is amazing
5m19 Q2 JK Kawhi-like moves vs Siakam — UNSUNG PLAY
4m35 Q2 CP base J, now 3/7
3m39 Q2 good close Mo
3m12 Q2 Siakam inside jump hook, words with CP
2m00 Q2 BP bad tov, JK stands there, BP walks back, Steph 1v1 scores
1m20 Q2 BP good oreb dive
1m08 Q2 Dray block help
0m58 Q2 JK a little out of control drive vs Hali, challenged
0m35 Q2 JK good D on Siakam (5 reb!)
0m05 Q2 JK gets the ball to Steph too late, Hali buzzer beater
1:11:00 PODZIEMSKI HALFTIME AUDIO
1:14:00 analyzing the last play
1:17:00 JOHN DICKINSON JOINS US!!! and also says that was the worst play of the night, JK is 1/8 on jumpers, you have to score, Dean Chambers asks about spacing (but Siakam and Myles are good), checking on GP2
11m35 Q3 Steph hero 3 after Hali inverted screen play
10m58 Q3 JK settles for 3
10m40 Q3 Dray good D vs Myles, argues with ref
9m36 Q3 JK blocked by Myles
9m27 Q3 Siakam 2nd putback in a row, Wiggs needs to have more force
9m12 Q3 Myles 4th blk vs Steph sheesh, Hali pushes, Myles another trip to FT line
8m49 Q3 went back to Steph Dray P&R, Wiggs miss miss make putback
8m02 Q3 BP upset about sub
7m45 Q3 Dray good D on Myles, Steph got fouled?
7m15 Q3 JK steal and 94ft dunk past Hali
7m07 Q3 Nesmith 3 on ATO, Klay exasperated
6m43 Q3 Steph corner 3 relocate via JK
6m20 Q3 JK blows a dunk — turning point? 82-79 at this point — 7-0 RUN UNTIL 4m55
5m52 Q3 Steph blocked by Hali, GP2 can’t finish
5m21 Q3 JK attack stripped
5m00 Q3 Steph TTBTTOT
5kcharlimit
4m24 Q3 Mo miss open 3 2x, Hali and1
3m58 Q3 cut by Mo saves day, assist BP
3m38 Q3 BP great D in post vs Siakam
3m10 Q3 Mo spins on Siakam no call, scores
2m35 Q3 Klay vs TJ challenge — slow-mo will always make it seem like he’s seet
1:50:15 Slater says Dray went to the locker room
2m14 Q3 2-1-2 zone! Dray is subbed in
1m56 Q3 Klay tough 3 vs Aaron
1m32 Q3 CP3 bad tov to Hali, TJ oreb vs CP
0m58 Q3 BP bad tov as Dray wide open underneath
0m05 Q3 Hali amazing 3 at 0.2 over Wiggs even though defensive squad subbed in (GP2 Wiggs JK for CP Klay BP)
1:54:15 Hali is doing Steph things
11m55 Q4 good ATO Dray to Steph at the rim (urgency with Steph starting Q4)
11m35 Q4 CP can’t stay in front of TJ
11m23 Q4 Steph mishandles handoff sheesh, TJ 94ft and1
10m50 Q4 TJD putback amazing vs Dray
10m22 Q4 CP ticky-tack foul on Nesmith
9m52 Q4 Sheppard didn’t read GSW zone, didn’t catch TJ’s pass, timeout Carlisle up 11 — TURNING POINT
8m57 Q4 Steph airball after losing the ball
8m38 Q4 Klay misses again after good pick from CP
8m00 Q4 Steph hero 3 catch curl
7m48 Q4 Steph tells Buchert that he was touched on the chest
7m39 Q4 Klay knocks out ball vs zone
7m25 Q4 JK indecisive, tov
6m52 Q4 JK bad pass again
2:11:30 I blame Steph’s colorway
6m42 Q4 Steph great drop pass to Dray
6m28 Q4 BP good deflect
6m05 Q4 BP oreb, misses Steph relocate
5m22 Q4 BP amazing finish vs Hali
5m00 Q4 Steph blocked on 3 by Hali again
4m29 Q4 JK misses first window, darts through second —
4m04 Q4 Dray bad body language after long Siakam finish
3m42 Q4 Myles incredible block on JK alley oop
3m18 Q4 Dray great block on Myles, leads to Steph no look assist to Wiggs, base J timout
2:19:45 analyzing the play at 5m51 missed Steph in corner
2m57 Q4 Nesmith open 3 miss vs zone with TJD
2m37 Q4 Klay stripped, yells at Brothers
2m23 Q4 JK 1v1 brick
1m50 Q4 JK another miss, Kenny picks him up on the fade
1m24 Q4 TJD oreb to Steph, another tip-in and1
2:24:45 I mean, the whole “we suck at home” narrative. We just have a team that isn’t built for the regular season. THAT is the issue. It’s not home-away, whatever.
1m05 Q4 Klay old age cross court tov
then CP3 old age airball
0m07 Steve and Rick Carlisle agree that Brothers should just let the tech on CP go to end the game
2:32:30 Our roster cannot compete as well in the regular season as-is. It is a tough lesson for dunleavy to learn, but oh well. We are a decelerating object, rest of NBA accelerating, so the difference becomes big
2:33:30 caveat: Draymond was not 100% or a DNP for 30 games where GSW went 12-18, therefore, is the “true” standings of GSW 24-15? The thing to balance that back with is Draymond is getting older, so maybe the “true” standings is really closer to 36-33 or 24-15
2:45:45 ENTIRE STEVE POSTGAME AUDIO
2:49:45 at 5m52 Q2 up 12, challenge on TJD’s block, then my notes don’t reveal anything egregious until near end of Q2 with BP’s bad tov which Steph cured anyways (up 3 only)
2:55:30 on Wiggins: If Wiggs plays worse than what we can envision Rui doing for us, then that’s a problem. So tonight was that
2:57:00 @Uday Kiran: this is not a champ team — Dude, playoffs are different than regular season. You will see. But the problem is to enter playoffs you have to win games in this speedy lengthy young regular season. So use those words.
3:05:30 ENTIRE CP3 PODIUM AUDIO: “I called him a TikTok’er”
3:16:15 CP3 POSTED THIS ON HIS IG RE CALLING TONY BROTHERS A TIKTOK’ER: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLjrVmph/ “judge jury and prosecutor”
3:25:30 Tony Brothers is doomed — imagine the courtside hecklers, we should do a live at the next Brothers game, network execs should have the courtside mic’ed up
3:28:15 ENTIRE BP POSTGAME AUDIO
3:40:15 there’s a difference between playing 1 regular season game vs a playoff series
3:41:45 ENTIRE STEPH POSTGAME AUDIO
3:54:00 Steph on the fouls on the shot being changed from before
3:56:00 our roster is simply not constructed to beat some of these regular season teams, we were built to beat the Lakers
4:12:15 @L3vel up thats it guys its been a heck of a long run but our time is over the young teams are taking over — Yeah but let’s say we get one solid wing and win a title with Steph JK (the wing) Klay Dray, I mean, wouldn’t that count as a dynasty chip?
4:37:00 enjoy it, more parity than the NFL
4:41:30 usually with 14 tov, Steph’s the one with 4+ (only 1), guys can play better like JK BP so we’ll see
👍👍💛💙