I’ll do some coverage of the Gary Payton II failed physical — and what DubNation thinks, whether Bob Myers should keep “GP2” or rescind the trade and bring back James Wiseman — shortly after this post, but we also need to catch up on the notes and quotes from the past two games, which is the purpose of this one.
Interrupted by the trade deadline, which was the previous post, we’ll work our way back to the OKC Thunder home win in the usual reverse chronological order, starting with practice yesterday — where Steve Kerr said, “Our defense was really poor… our shell was compromised constantly” — then the loss at the Portland Trail Blazers. That will set us up for the game-by-game livestream for the LA Lakers game at Chase Center this evening.
There’s also a remnant Ty Jerome interview from practice the day before the OKC game, tacked on at the very bottom. He went to the podium that day along with Kerr and Andrew Wiggins (covered in the previous game-by-game notes/quotes/video post) because of his anticipated increased role in Stephen Curry’s absence due to the lower left leg injury, which Steve gave an update on from yesterday’s practice…
NON-GP2 TOPICS FROM PRACTICE
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.
• Steve Kerr after practice on small-ball now that they’ve added GP2: “We gotta wait and see how everything plays out with our roster. We’ve already changed starting lineups a couple times since Steph went out. I anticipate that could continue based on matchups. We just gotta keep pushing forward with whatever we think is the best way to win that night. So we could play bigger, we could play smaller, so we’ll see. That was a good way of answering your question that you weren’t allowed to ask.”
• On Steph Curry (who is riding a bike in his rehab): “On the bike today… but also staying off his feet. The biking seems to be the choice right now. He’s progressing fine but he’s a ways off.” (95.7 The Game)
• On Andre Iguodala: “It’s up to Andre to make that announcement. However he wants to address that. Next time you have access to him you can ask him. It’s better that way.”
• On if he knows when Steph might get on the court: “No. I’m sorry we all had to come today.”
• On what to improve on after reviewing the film from the loss at Portland: “Defense. Our defense was really poor. Offensively we did plenty to win the game. We took care of it and shot the ball well but our defense was poor. Our shell was compromised constantly which allowed drivers to get into the lane which meant we were having to rotate and fouling way too much.”
• On if perimeter defense has been one of the main problems this season: “Staying in front of our guy has been an issue. There have been times when we’ve been good and connected but we just haven’t been able to sustain it. The fouling is often a result of reaching and just making a poor decision but it’s also often the case of having to cover up for penetration. We’ve got to clean all that up.”
• On giving up Lillard driving right so he doesn’t go left: “Yeah, that’s something that we have done before and we were doing last night, influencing him right, but that doesn’t mean getting blown by to the right. It also means we gotta be in position. We had a lot of clips that we showed to our guys this morning where we were either not in position to help or we kind of overdid our defensive scheme.”
• On the power dynamics of the West: “It was a very interesting trade deadline… already some teams that were really strong to start with. The conference got better.”
• Shaun Powell, NBA.com: “I always ask locker room attendants in every NBA city to reveal who the best players are with their tips and their time. And three names are always mentioned: Steph Curry, Draymond Green … and Russell Westbrook.”
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on the stagnant offense: “they we’re switching and getting into the ball… late in the clock… defensive end, we were there… take away some of the easy ones.”
• On passing up twos for threes: “they’re so athletic at the rim so it’s not necessarily hunting threes… ya just a read thing, go back and watch the film”.
• On the fouling on defense: “We were trying to get the ball out of Dame’s hands… when you take away those easy ones… if you’re making other guys make plays and not let Dame and Ant get cooking like that… Shaedon 4/7… gotta tip your cap sometimes… take away the easy ones and it might be a different result.”
• On the lack of free throws: “the decision-making on drives… watching the film… get into their body… a lot of teams are coming to block shots… those kick-outs are there and we have a lot of guys that can shoot the three… balance… we just gotta go back and fine tune some things. Overall I really do like the chemistry, the mood… trending in the right direction.
• On if his dunk was his best: “I thought he was gonna block it… that’s Number One… I think the biggest thing about that is afterwards, everybody was hyping each other up, and I think that’s something that we need moving forward and to keep doing that… celebrate each other… it will go a long way for us… everybody celebrating that and now we’re all locked in… Draymond forces two turnovers… if we can put our energy towards each other and not be me, be we.”
• Klay Thompson postgame recap: “That’s on me. I had some really great looks.”
• On correcting fouling: “play with our hands back… allowed them to get to the free throw line way too much… not using our hands, moving our feet.”
• On playing against GP2: “I love Gary Payton. Great pro, champion. He’s just a great guy.”
• Jordan Poole postgame: “I don’t know that there’s anything that we can do more than what we’re already doing… attack the lanes… either we get the foul calls or we don’t.”
• On the fouling: “A couple earlier in the season that were worse than this… find out ways to just play through it.”
• On playing against GP2: “Exciting being able to play against your brother… good to see him… healthy.”
• On playing against GP2: “We’re gonna talk all the time… really good defender… you get to go against your brother, guys of that caliber , it’s always exciting… a lot of battles in practice… tendencies… definitely question (that I asked him) that I was able to apply tonight.”
• Steve Kerr postgame recap: “We didn’t execute very well… a little bit of a rush… difficult shots or turned it over… the difference in the game was really the fouling… when it’s 31-9 from the foul line that’s a lot to overcome, you gotta win the three-point battle… we got out-boarded.”
• On how to stop the fouling: “Some of them you can’t fix but the ones that are… you can’t reach… when they’re in the bonus.”
• On the fouling: “Loon’s early fouls hurt us… game became a small one, we were kinda swimming upstream… couldn’t really get to our two big lineup with Draymond and Loon… mans the fort for us… game was just a track meet.”
• On Gary Payton II: “did a great job as he always does… knocked down a three early.”
• On Klay: “He’s been obviously in a really good groove. He’s always gonna take a few bad ones… that’s okay. Be great if he could get to the line but it’s not something he’s done historically… in the league over the past six years… the game has slanted to the drive… huge advantage… he gets into the paint and he’ll force the issue and the refs are gonna call it… this is the way the game is being played today… if you’re the aggressor… you’re gonna get calls
• On the extra passes for threes: “I thought we should’ve taken the layups instead constantly searching for the threes… if a layup is there we gotta take it… something we’re gonna be discussing.”
• On the trade deadline: “I haven’t talked to Bob today… you just never know. I know you gotta ask, but it’s not my question to answer, it’s Bob.”
• On Poole: “Playing with a lot of confidence, taking care of the ball.”
0:00 GRATITUDE, then Kerr pregame audio
2:00 my trade deadline report: a Wiseman salary dump would make us worse https://www.letsgowarriors.com/p/trade-deadline-lacob-mandate-of-does
9:30 meanwhile Twitter, like Joker in Dark Knight, wants to see the world burn and might take Bob Myers along with them as they burn it (entertainment, not information)
11:00 REAL GRATITUDE: five-minute thank-you to our audience for being a positive vibes only collective of consciousness
19:00 Russell Westbrook trade: all the ramifications
23:44 TIPOFF!
31:00 Looney missed a knuckleball FT after getting mad at himself for missing an and-one, Draymond tiki-taka pass-back to Klay is a function of chemistry which doesn’t get talked about enough when people complain about the Warriors not making a trade
35:00 zzzap: “Coach Kerr should bring in Wiseman. He owes it to the fans” — NO, the fans owe it to Steve to be higher-IQ fans
49:00 JK didn’t grab the rebound, tapped it out to a Blazer around the 1min00 mark (?)
1:01:30 what we’re learning about JK: doesn’t go after the ball on rebounds and attaches his energy to plays of the past too much
SOMEWHERE IN THIS TIMEFRAME: WE DO NOT “NEED A BIG MAN” — 5min19 Q2 it’s our rotational defense that allowed Eubanks to get the putback dunk
1:16:00 Steve has complete trust in Draymond for challenging the call
1:24:00 JP three at the buzzer, GP2 good close-out, I’m glad they didn’t call an and-one, but I like how JP is utilizing tricks to maybe draw the whistle (flare out the arms and legs after a three)
1:34:00 we analyze the buzzer-beater to see if GP2 fouled JP
1:37:00 analyzing John Stockton’s career: 82 games per season a lot! 10.5 assists per game 1:39:00 8min41 Dray turnover then foul on Loon, wish the young refs just let the turnover happen, fast break the other way, Loon’s 4th foul instead
1:55:45 3min04 Q3 Dame Lillard fouled by JK but great playoff D by JK, wish Steph Curry was playing tonight to benefit from the ticky-tack calls tonight
1:57:00 2min15 Q3 Klay is looking better than he ever has after that strong layup
2:01:30 TRL says “Klay omg like last game”, me: I could argue today’s game is better in terms of the variety of scoring
2:08:45 10min02 2nd straight foul on Ty Jerome that was a charge attempt, this one WAS a foul on Klay and the previous one, Ty WAS moving, but teams should be able to retain their challenge should they win the first one
2:12:00 Cholo/DVDV: “Let’s go NuKlayar”
2:32:45 0min33 still proud of the defense there, it’s championship DNA
2:41:30 Main correctable item: remind JP that with Steph out, if he goes too ball-hoggy, he’s liable to change the momentum of the game (like tonight)
2:53:00 “when healthy we can’t beat BKN” — that’s been the Foundational Six problem all season long
KERR AND JP PODIUM AUDIO
3:21:30 news that Kevin Durant got traded to the Suns!!! MARCH 13TH!!!
3:24:00 ANNOUNCEMENT: Dean “of Positivity” Chambers is going to go live with me on Thursday 2/9 for trade deadline talk
3:25:45 I don’t feel bad for Joe Tsai who has been running the Nets like a Chinese household, but I do feel bad for Mikal Bridges who has been probably the most consistent Phoenix Sun all season long
3:36:30 I’m actually happy for KD and a five-minute diatribe on why
3:43:30 I don’t want Warriors fans to be all terribly upset about the KD trade because I believe it was more enabled by the stupidity of Joe Tsai (overall) rather than the genius, say, of the Suns — excellent example: when Chris Cohan sided with Don Nelson in a coach-player impasse and traded Chris Webber to the Washington Bullets
3:56:00 Duke Talks: “we need to make a trade immediately” — I disagree because 1) Steph is out, 2) Portland had enough or more talent tonight than we did, 3) the fouling and bad timing of turnovers are correctable — I think the correctable items outweigh the impact of what a new player can bring and that’s also a very short list of potential players
4:06:00 why this season and Wiseman’s lack of playing time (I show you how the dominoes fell) is all the fault of Steph, Dray and the Foundational Six
4:09:00 to give the Foundational Six a break, please be reminded that this league is 25 teams deep
4:11:00 we do NOT owe it to Wiseman to play him mins
4:27:30 we analyze trading for Mikal Bridges
4:36:30 it took Donte 3-4 months to feel comfortable and so it’s gonna take at least that long for any new guy (NBA IRL not NBA2K)
4:43:00 for ppl that are demanding Bob make a trade, they are living in lack. We at LGW live in abundance
[NO GSW-POR PREGAME VIDEO]
• Steve Kerr pregame announces that Looney will start, which sends Kuminga back to the bench: “Just not committed to anything in stone right now.”
• On GP2: “we know what he’s capable of on both ends… can step out and make a three… we will always be thankful for Gary.”
• Assistant Chris DeMarco on-court pregame radio interview with Tim Roye: “going back about ten games I think we’ve finally found an identity… defensively we gotta keep getting better… pretty good when we play 5-on-5 bbasketball.”
• On what the Warriors need to do in Steph’s absence: “JP being more poised and Wiggs being more aggressive… got a chance to play without their star. We’ve done it…”
• On the Blazers: “(Jerami) Grant shooting threes “better than he ever has… Hart… a lot of grit out there.”
Really hard to speed him… when he catches some heat it’s really hard to guard him… limit his opportunities early.”
• On if it’s hard for the young guys during trade deadline: “Yeah I think so especially this day and age… Twitter… stuff comes out before you even hear about it… weird time.”
• Ty Jerome postgame in-studio on what’s made him so proud so far: “Probably our record… Everytime I open my phone it’s on our season is over… Steph’s the best player in the world… to be able to as a group hold the fort down especially for him who carries the load.”
• On Klay: “Find him… I called two quick plays for him, he made two more threes… quick swing and Klay has a guy on him, just shoot over him… it’s tough to beat us.”
• On the bench: “Guys are getting more comfortable… five guys off the bench who haven’t played together at all… Jordan Poole and JK (but he’s young)… we knew over time that guys would get more comfortable.”
• On watching 2015 Klay vs now: “I was just telling someone today… when Steph had 50-something in the Garden… I was in 8th grade or maybe early 9th grade… New York… I was sitting in a bowling alley… 8 years old… Davidson.”
0:00 • Steve Kerr postgame on Ryan Rollins’ surgery, decided to do it now than later to have him ready for Summer League.
2:01 • Mark Daigneault postgame on Klay’s hot night: “Some of the early ones were on me… betting on our guards pursuing him… if you bring the big up there you open up a can of worms… that’s why they’re a good team. They present dilemmas… if you bring your big up now you’re in rotation against a good passing team.”
4:54 • On not having Lu Dort: “They we’re missing a player tonight (Steph Curry) and it didn’t seem to bother them.”
5:00 • On the offensive struggles: “It’s a defense that’s experienced… against a team like that you have to get great shots… the combination of their shot-making and our offense not getting the quality looks… when you play a defense that has a plan… they played like a desperate team tonight.”
• Klay Thompson postgame presser on firing up Q1: “what get even better was the 43 team assist… only 6 turnovers… starting lineup had most of those… ball was humming… huge beneficiary of when the ball is moving… what the naysayers say that’s fine… we’re not gonna quit just because our way player is out.”
• On how he played tonight: “Hunting shots… maybe two bad shots tonight.”
• On if he thinks he should be an All-Star this year: “Tbh no. If our record was better, yes. Being two games above .500… I will be an All-a star when it’s all said and done… I will show up when it matters most.”
• On Poole: “(whistles) It was awesome… I was a recipient of a lot of those (assists)… developing into a future All-Star… incredible talent that we are so lucky to have.”
• On the ovation when he sat down: “I appreciate DubNation for that applause. Definitely made me feel good inside so thank you fans.”
• On being like water on Bruce Lee night: “It’s also a great book written by Shannon Lee… helped me so much when I wasn’t playing basketball… apply her and her fathers teachings to my work… flow, be effortless, be quick but not in a hurry… ultimate belief in yourself.”
• On coming up short on tying the 3PM record of 14: “I know I’ll have another shot at it one day.”
• On how it will be with Steph out: “I might get a few more field goal attempts but I gotta be myself… not gonna go out there and play hero ball… it’s a Strength in Numbers game.”
• On if he blacked out with 13-14 threes: “Thank you. Sorry what was your question? Every pregame when I’m doing my little warmup I flip a kettle bell to see if it lands upright and tonight it did. So I knew it was going to be a good one… been five years I’m doing that.”
• On playing in Portland on his birthday: “I just can’t wait. I grew up going to games with my dad… Vince Carter… meeting Allen Iverson… young age of 33… fell in love with the game growing up in Portland.”
• On when he decides to make a paper airplanes: “Right now.”
• On his record with the kettle bell flip: “It’s very bad news bears-esque.”
• On Whitley Sandretto of 95.7 The Game not being back since she got pelted by Klay’s paper airplane: “Sorry (throws airplane aggressively at Raymond Ridder).”
• Jordan Poole postgame recap: “Really efficient game for us tonight… we were able to get in a rhythm.”
• On if he’s actively thinking to facilitate: “Not necessarily… play my game and be aggressive… with Steph being out I see different coverages… more help, a lot of rotations are coming earlier… back door cut or guys just knocking down shots.”
• On his favorite assist of the night: “Hmm, that’s a great question. Probably the offensive rebound… Loon missed the first one, JMike missed the other one… nah (not the one to Klay).”
• On his approach with Steph out: “No different honestly… guys were able to make shots… limited our tilirnovers… good cadence.”
• Draymond Green on the easy win: “We needed it.”
• On Poole: “That’s the best game I’ve ever seen him play… three of them (4 turnovers were within the flow of the offense)… he was incredible on that side of the ball (closing gaps)… and then he looked for his shot… beautiful.”
• On Klay’s last month: “it’s coming together for him… allowing the game to come to him. Looking real bouncy and spry.”
• On not having Steph: “Much greater responsibility… keep a pulse of the entire game… with Steph you don’t have to be as ‘on’… play off Steph. Teams are so afraid of him that they’ll just make mistakes worried about him… Steve always calls it organized chaos when he’s out there… hard to have those lulls… he can just bail you out… stay up on the game and make sure we don’t have any lulls… importance of each and every possession because you’re trying to make up for 50 points between what he creates… no one guy is gonna make that up.”
• Steve Kerr postgame recap on cruising: “The most fun I’ve had watching our team play this year… fun to see some of the guys who don’t play much get out there… feel good night.”
• On Jordan Poole: “magnificent… so under control… first half…without scoring much at all… running the show… started scoring in the second half when that presented itself.”
• On relaxing when Klay started getting hot: “we feed off Klay… we’re down early and giving up a lot of points… OKC came out and hit us in the mouth… Klay just kept us in it early… allowed us to kinda find our groove.”
• On Klay hitting shots wherever: “It’s just fun. That’s when the crowd really gets into it. You can just feel the game changing… crowd starts to anticipate every possession… they (opponents) have to pay more attention to him.”
• On how tough it was to sub the guys out: “These days a 20-point lead can go like that (snaps fingers)… you don’t mess around… we’re also looking at combinations… gonna be without Steph… be ready for Portland… combinations and different rotations.”
• On a dominant win without Steph: “This was a confidence-booster… play without him but to see the performance of the team… amazing individual performances that we got… feel-good game for a lot of people… fuels everybody.”
• On starting Kuminga: “a little more spacing. Without Steph it’s tougher to play two bigs together with Draymond and Loon… Steph’s the guy… negates spacing… Klay too.”
• On JaMychal Green: “I didn’t do a great job with him early in the season… now our rotation is much more settled… our bench play in general has just gotten much better… guys like Donte and Ty Jerome, JK.”
• Klay Thompson on-court postgame on wanting to stay in the game: “I was campaigning for it but we got a quick turnaround Wednesday and I don’t think the basketball gods like it…”
• On the ball movement: “For guys like us, Mully, we can’t jump over people like Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins… when you’re taking great ones consistently those heat-checks will go in… we don’t have the Human Torch to save us.”
• On Jordan Poole: “JP is growing into such a complete guard… hitting a jump shot off a screen, attacking the rim… great vision… his ball skills are out of this world… we go as he goes… blossoming into an All-Star and DubNation should be so grateful.”
• On his birthday coming up in Portland: “Woah woah woah did Festus just call me old?… I’m so excited playing in front of my family… got to see Mike and Scottie when I was really little… where I was raised… fell in love with the game.”
0:00 GRATITUDE
4:00 Mark Daigneault’s OKC head coach pregame on the Warriors system and Shai system
5:00 Latest videos: Ty Jerome from practice yesterday and Zaza wielding a knife while dancing at his own birthday with CeeLo Green
6:15 Jonathan Kuminga gets the start! Small-ball vs small-ball OKC
24:00 Klay’s had a couple of miscues today but at least he’s hitting the jumper
26:00 5min53 Jordan Poole to Kevon Looney easy bucket but
26:45 5min30 Q1 Donte layup, Daigneault timeout milliseconds after the ball went thru the hoop
27:00 Daigneault was hired from within at OKC, actually a branch of Rick Pitino coaching tree
33:00 analyzing JP’s horrific POA defense esp small-ball vs small-ball
39:30 KM Johnson: “Lock in, Jordan” — That’s the thing, we’ve seen JP lock-in, he can do it, like against Boston in the Finals (after G2). We are observing how difficult it is for young players to step up in their area of weakness in critical games.
47:00 I don’t think we’re going on any 10-0 runs tonight so it should be close
49:00 suddenly only down one 6min06 Q2, indicates how fast this NBA game is
59:15 good job by Cheryl Flores to check with the other ref on the baseline out-of-bounds
1:08:00 Mary Allen defending JP, I love it! She probably can’t believe our channel doesn’t throw him under the bus
1:11:30 ANNOUNCEMENT: DEAN CHAMBERS IS GOING TO ALL-STAR WEEKEND
1:23:00 John Goble didn’t give Draymond a tech on that “all-ball”, smiled, then later 8min38 Q3 did a no-call on what could’ve been a charge on JK
1:29:00 JP should’ve gotten a flagrant for the tap in the back on the Jalen Williams steal fast break, it’s happened to me in rec tournament
1:36:00 4min11 Q3 JP 10 assists to 1 turnover, I’d be happy with 6:2
1:43:00 1min00 Q3 Donte bad foul on Shai, at podium last postgame DiVincenzo said he needs to work on that, so that’s good
1:46:00 JaMychal Green last 6 games incl tonight from three: 8-for-15!!!
1:48:00 11min00 JMike can move the ball better than a traditional 5: Jerome to JMike back to Jerome to initiate the play
1:50:00 10min10 Q4 JMike asks to come out after Giddey gets to the line
1:52:30 using Game 6 in Boston as a benchmark, Cholo Abenes: “Thanks Otto Porter for last season, it’s J-Mike’s turn” and even then we only need J-Mike a little bit because of the ascension of JK
2:01:00 Donte meanwhile 30 for his last 79 on threes (since going 5/11 vs ORL)
2:04:15 Wiseman comes in, it’s been the Foundational Six’s fault for not winning games and getting him minutes
2:09:45 Twitter completely has the read on the Wiseman situation wrong. He’s not playing not because he doesn’t execute, not because he doesn’t have talent, but because we are in must-win mode like we were in Game 6!
2:39:30 James Warner: “The Warriors haven’t traded anyone because they know how good these players are”
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS (AUDIO)
3:42:00 does Wiseman get more minutes? It depends on the matchups. Portland’s Nurkic is injured but they do have Drew Eubanks (John Butler, Jr. as backup at 7’0″) and so he might very well play in Portland. Also Steve Kerr has said he will go back to the big lineup, whereby OKC always plays small so it was a little different tonight.
3:44:15 will Jerome and Lamb be on the roster? We don’t have to decide that until, let’s say, Lamb has played 50 games and Bob Myers deems him necessary to play more than 50 games. Then you would consider converting him on the day of the 51st game. They will slow-play this because we have full control over two-way contracts.
4:10:00 Ryan Rollins = Homeless Man’s Russell Westbrook (i.e., a level below Poor Man’s and Welfare Man’s)
4:19:00 DAIGNEAULT POSTGAME VIDEO: listening to the opponents talk about the Warriors is always just such a learning experience!
4:23:00 Dallas Mavericks have a higher ceiling now with Kyrie, but maybe the fact that he’s not a spot-up 3 shooter per se and them losing two of those types of guys with Dinwiddie and DFS, maybe that actually makes it easier to guard them? But none of us can really predict it, so we’ll see.
• Steve Kerr pregame OKC on the mood of the team playing without Stephen Curry: “Yeah, for sure, guys are excited to play tonight, and as I said the other night, we’ve already been through a stretch without Steph and handled it pretty well. So we’re confident we can do that again.” (Mark Haynes)
• On Jordan Poole’s role without Steph Curry: “We don’t need anything special. We just need him to be solid and play his game. He’s obviously gonna play more minutes and he’ll be at PG more often, so he’s got to run the team and get us into our sets. Just be solid, that’s enough.” (Kerith Burke, KNBR)
• On Ty Jerome: “Ty will be on the ball quite a bit. He’s really good at running a team. … He’s more of a traditional point guard.” (95.7 The Game)
• On Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: “He’s really, really strong, and he’s got great size for a point guard so he gets anywhere he wants. He’s got a great handle on the ball and he’s got a unique game. He loves some mid-range. He gets into the paint with a variety of moves, and then seems to just shrug off defenders, and really calmly just take(s) his shots when he wants to. Really tough to handle.”
• On if he’s looking for more players to shoot more in the absence of Steph: “Yeah, I never ask anybody to shoot more or less. I think we ask guys to be aggressive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean shooting; it just means attacking. I think those shots will naturally kind of be distributed around the group.”
• On Wiggins: “He’s really important. Wiggs has been so consistent since he’s been here and he’s become such an important part of what we do at both ends of the floor. The first half of the season, before he was out, he was terrific. I think he’s trending in that direction. He’s looked much better physically in the last three or four games and he’s been more aggressive. The shots haven’t really been falling, but I think they will fall, given his track record and his history.”
• On who will run the second unit offense: “Well, it could be Draymond (Green), but Ty Jerome will play when Jordan doesn’t. So Ty will be on the ball quite a bit. He’s really good at running a team and getting us into sets and that doesn’t mean he has to create the shots, but he can get us organized. He’s a more traditional point guard so he’ll get us into sets and we’ll be able to execute with him out there, but the game definitely changes without Steph and Jordan trading off in that role.”
• Another amazing space Chase Center dedicated today is the “Simu Liu Sensory Room,” with carpeted walls, available to guests feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated who need a quiet spot. Dear to the heart of Marvel actor Simu Liu. Also for nursing mothers. “It’s perfect,” Liu says. (Janie McCauley)
• Mark Daigneault pregame on Warriors system, not having a system built on Shai
• On playing the Warriors last week: “We got to be ready for the pace of the game from the jump. That caught us off guard last game, not that we weren’t ready, but I thought they obviously threw the first punch in that game. A lot of it was just how fast they were playing. We’ve got to be ready for that from the jump, and then there’s some execution things, especially on the defensive end of the floor and offensively how we attack that we feel like if we get in the game we can give them a little bit more resistance than we gave them last time, despite the fact that we played pretty well for three quarters.”
• On the Warriors without Steph: “They have a system and they play to their system with great discipline, and so the style really doesn’t change for them when he’s not in the game, or when any of their players aren’t in the game, and that includes when they miss games. But when those guys are on the bench and different units are on the floor they look the same. So the principles are the same and the adjustments for us are the same, but obviously the potency that they bring when he’s doing that is different, just his shooting gravity, and how much expertise inside their system he has at this point, and how much chemistry he has with other guys. They are definitely a different team without him but not stylistically.”
• Ty Jerome after practice on processing Steph’s injury: “feel for him… second time he’ll miss extended time… one person isn’t gonna make up for it… especially on the defensive end.”
• On being the backup point and stepping up: “I don’t think it changed that much… he’s had some back-to-backs… my role has kinda been up and down all year… constantly changing… more on the ball a little bit… keep playing the right way.”
• On his main focus: “like I said, just play the right way… look for throw-aheads.”
• On stepping up: “Not easy to win any game in this league… (it’s not like) Luka’s out so they’re gonna stink… there’s no bad teams… a style we haven’t seen all year… the game got really ugly… but we won… move on.”
• On Poole getting more minutes: “A lot more minutes and a lot more opportunity… a lot more free… super-explosive… can’t handcuff a player like that.”
• On expectations as a two-way: “certain guys go down… step up and play a lot more… took advantage of earlier opportunities.”
• On being even-keeled: “Probably all the adversity I’ve been through… senior year I had double hip surgery… first-round pick then next year I was traded… mutually agreed to get waived… ton of adversity in a short amount of time.”
• On a vet who helped him stay ready: “I’ve been around a lot of high-level players in my four years… Tyler Johnson, Devin Booker and Ricky Rubio… Shai… work ethic… the guys I’ve been around this year… how confident he is (Booker)… you wanna be the same person every day.”
• On his brother who is a freshman: “He just had shoulder injury himself… for him it’s a good example… run your own race… he works his butt off… I definitely try to teach him the float game. You need that as an unathletic guard… we’ve both got toughness.”
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