Frankly, I’ve been getting tired of the unspoken narrative that last year was some horrific experience akin to rebuilding or something. Steve Kerr talked about a “parade” to the free throw line trying to close out the Grizzlies, and I wait for the postgame interview sessions and to me, it’s like a “parade” of “last year, you guys…” questions. We’re twelve games in now, so when can we “Make That Old”, as one Wardell Stephen Curry used as his shoe brand slogan not too long ago?
So I’m glad someone on the Warriors finally spoke up. Moses Moody said at practice, the day before tonight’s Clippers matchup:
Honestly, we had really good chemistry last year, so I don’t want to discount that. Because the energy CP (Chris Paul) brought into the team, especially in the locker room, off the court, it was a really good group of guys that got along really well last year, as well. This year, I think on the court, things are moving fast, moving fast, the ball is moving fast, we’re running, playing hard, playing fast, so the chemistry shows a lot on the court, as well.
Incidentally, Moody gave away some more secrets of Jerry Stackhouse: “lay in the weeds,” “war over,” and “foot behind,” which confirms my earlier theory this season after the Kings preseason game when we saw Brandin Podziemski trailing De’Aaron Fox around a curl off a screen. Here’s the detail:
he will get in the stance. He’ll show you exactly what he mean, how to do it. He’ll even hop into ones sometimes and be talking out what he’d be preaching. But as well as that, he has these sayings or things to remember when he’s saying it. Like a thing on defense, he say, “Lay in the weeds.” But he’s talking about like a lion or whatever, like in the weeds reacting to go either way. But he’s talking about on defense, but it’s like — that puts the image in your imagery, put the image in your head so you can think of it like that, when in those crucial moments. If you say get — like, “foot behind,” I’m remembering that in the game, I’m not remembering, “Oh, get behind the guy so I can chase over,” and then — no, it’s “foot behind” and then “war over,” like I’m going to war, we finna battle over the top, but just having that imagery makes you remember it in crucial times.
Entire transcript along with Jonathan Kuminga’s perspective on Stack, plus Kerr:
00:00 How you doing today, JK? How was practice?
00:10 JONATHAN KUMINGA: It was good. I’m doing good. Can’t complain. We had a good practice. Went over some stuff. Good energy. Good focus. It was great.
00:20 How do you feel like, this team has established itself so far this year, a 10-2 record?
00:27 I would just say by playing hard. Commitment to everything we’ve been working on and playing hard. Yeah. It’s just that commitment that everybody’s bringing it every night, no matter how you’re not going. It’s not about what you do out there, it’s just about what you give, and I think that’s been the biggest thing for us to be in this place right now.
00:53 Steve said that, well, first of all, last year you guys lost a lot of close games late. Steve said that it’s not happening as much this year. And one of the biggest reasons why is, “We’re better on defense.” And I’m curious, what have you — what do you sense, what are you getting from Coach Stackhouse? I mean, what’s he — what’s working with him been like?
01:14 I mean, he play, he plays. He’s been a player. He knows what he’s talking about and he’s a guy who brings energy every single day in practice. And if you’ve got coaches like that, that bring this type of energy, that’s very true for anybody, no matter who it is, from Steph to the last man. A lot of people love to play for guys like that and listen to guys like that because you know what they’re talking about. And I feel like he’s been teaching. He’s not just talking about how we’re going to play defense, he’s taking his moment. It’s time to teach and I think a lot of people, a lot of guys, all of us, just picking it up quicker. It’s a lot of new stuff that we haven’t seen it, but so far it’s working well and I feel like we’re going to get better as time keep going.
02:08 Draymond was saying that Stack holds everybody accountable, that when you mess up, you know you messed up, that kind of thing. And he’ll explain how you messed up.
02:17 Like I said, he ain’t gonna keep it away from you. Like I said, he gonna start from Steph. He gonna start from Steph to Draymond. If you get on Draymond, you could get on anybody else. And Draymond, he’s one of the best defenders. So if you get on Draymond, definitely, it’s easy and simple to get on everybody else. And I feel like that’s been the biggest thing, explaining to you, going over and over things that we’re messing up, watching films and telling us how we need to work on this stuff and I need lesson. If you have any option or anything to tell him, he listen and we go over. So, yeah.
02:59 Speaking of Draymond, what kind of tone has Draymond set for you guys defensively this this whole season?
03:04 Draymond’s been great. Yeah, it’s been great. He out there moving, doing everything He’s playing defense at the highest level right now, switching, guarding from a smaller guy to a bigger guy, he’s talking. He’s just been involved in defense, a lot. And I think just having him turn those keys on, I mean, and help everybody else to just keep it up. And I think as a leader, that’s pretty much what we need from him every single day. It’s not going to be there every day, but just him having those times to pick us up every day, it means a lot.
03:46 We were talking earlier to Draymond the other day and he was talking about how, in practices, you guys go over certain things and he said it’s been sort of a different vibe in practice this year than last year. Do you feel it’s different in practice even than last year?
04:03 It’s a great vibe. Everybody’s connected. I think everybody like each other here. And as you can see on the court, whatever happened in practice, that’s what we apply on the court. And that’s why we’ve been winning, even those close games, because everybody’s well-connected. Everybody’s locked in and is buying, to everything. and it’s just a great group of guys, even the guys that, we had this year. They fit, they fit everything. They fit perfect and like I said, they’re all a great group of guys. And we all get along pretty well.
04:42 There was a lot made before the season started about, are you a 3, are you a 4? Has anything about your role and how you’ve played this year changed your opinion about what position you feel most comfortable with?
04:58 How many positions have you seen me play this year? 3 and 4?
05:02 No. Everything.
05:03 Everything?
05:05 Yeah, so, it don’t matter. I could bump with the 5, I could be anywhere. And it don’t matter, like I said at the end of the day, I was gifted to be in this position, to be who I am, somebody who could try and play every position. So it don’t matter. And we don’t really have any really position on our team. Sometimes I’m driven to play the 1 or the 5, so — and I’m capable of playing those positions. And I’ve been playing it. If you really follow games, I’ve been in every situation. Everything. It don’t matter. As long as I’m going out there and performing (inaudible), helping our team win. That’s all that matters. And our coaches allow me to just be a player out there. So that’s all that matters.
05:54 Swiss Army knife says it all. Is that it? Cool. All right. We’ll have Kerr.
06:00 I just got here.
06:03 Steve, have you learned anything more on Melton?
06:10 STEVE KERR: No, no, nothing more. Yeah, he’ll come on the trip with us. And he’s getting evaluated, and we’ll hopefully have more in the next few days.
06:26 He is going on the trip?
06:28 He’s going to go on the trip. Yeah.
06:30 How about Lindy?
06:31 And he should be good to go. He’s questionable for tomorrow, but he practiced today and told me he felt felt good. So we’re hopeful.
06:39 I know you like to look at the season in quarters, sort of 20-game increments there, but after 12, what are you seeing? And what are you attributing to the fact that you guys are 10-2 when — I know you guys were confident you could be good — but outside people are like, “Eh, how good can they be after last year?”
06:55 Well, we’re playing both ends. We’re Top Five, I think, in both offense and defense and we’re playing a lot of people and everybody we play is coming in and playing with great energy. And that’s, I mean, as a coach, that’s kind of the Holy Grail. And so I attribute our hot start to the depth of our roster, but also the character of our guys and their awareness that they’re all gonna have to sacrifice some minutes, points, shots for the good of the team and they’ve all done that. And every day is fun. We just had a great practice. Energy is super-high and guys are really engaged, so it’s been a fun start for us.
07:39 How much has that been, I guess, an effect of bringing Terry (Stotts) and Jerry (Stackhouse) in and sort of a different — a little bit of a different vibe coming in the room?
07:48 Both Terry and Jerry have been wonderful fits. Sometimes you need new blood on the roster. Sometimes you need it on the coaching staff. You need different voices. You need different experiences. And I couldn’t be happier with those two guys, what they mean to me, what they mean to our team. And it’s not — it goes way beyond X’s and O’s and what coverages we’re in, what plays we run. It’s just the culture, the fit into the culture and adding to it and the vibe and the friendship and collaboration. They’re both just wonderful coaches, but also I look forward to seeing them and working with them every day.
08:32 JK was saying earlier when he was in, that he said Jerry doesn’t just tell you, he said he also shows you and teaches sometimes. Does that make a difference to guys even in the NBA?
08:43 For sure, and it’s especially effective when the guy who’s showing you actually had to do it. And jerry is a man of conviction. He’s got a very strong presence, which is important. And like I said this early in the season or before the season, we’ve missed having a former player on the staff the last couple of years. So not only did he fill that void, but he did it coming from a place where he’s been a head coach. And so he’s got a lot of coaching background to go with that playing experience and the guys have great respect for him.
09:23 Draymond’s foul got upgraded to a flagrant yesterday. Did you, is — that a surprise or was there a conversation?
09:29 No, I thought — I agreed with it. He grabbed him and definitely a take foul, like they called. But I had no problem with it being upgraded to a Flagrant One. I mean, it’s not a basketball play. It was more than a take foul. You reach, guy’s dribbling by you, you reach and you grab them. This was holding a guy and tripping him in transition. I agreed with the Flagrant One.
09:59 Just in general, how would you assess, I mean, with how great he’s been defending this year, the energy and whatnot, how would you assess kind of the balance he’s towed between bringing that energy and physicality, and then kind of staying away from the technicals and stuff?
10:11 He’s been one of the keys to everything that’s happened to this point, leading the defense, his energy in practice. His leadership is demanding execution in practice and games. He’s — Draymond has been the very best version of himself and that’s gonna continue. I can see it in his eyes. He wants to have a great year. He wants us to have a great season. He is totally committed and he’s been brilliant.
10:43 That was — at the end of the game, that was about as emotional as I’ve seen you animated. Now that you’ve had a couple of days to think about it, could you share what was going on there and what were you upset at?
10:56 No, I’m not going to go into the officiating. Sometimes — I lose my mind sometimes and I’m overly competitive. And I’m not proud when I go overboard and I probably went overboard, but I just didn’t like the way the game unfolded in the second half. But I’ll leave it at that.
11:21 Moses, how are you doing? How was practice today? How do you feel like this team — how would you describe this team’s start to the year, 10-2 record?
11:32 MOSES MOODY: It’s been good, the energy that we felt in training camp, going into it in Hawaii, the camaraderie we built there. And then just a lot of the things we talked about. We’ve been executing really well and we’ve had the outcome that we were expecting — we would have expected.
11:46 A lot of guys are saying that this year, the chemistry is so much better than it was last year. And I guess you kind of just mentioned that, but how much does that make a difference in terms of just day-to-day stuff and just coming into the building?
12:02 Honestly, we had really good chemistry last year, so I don’t want to discount that. Because the energy CP (Chris Paul) brought into the team, especially in the locker room, off the court, it was a really good group of guys that got along really well last year, as well. This year, I think on the court, things are moving fast, moving fast, the ball is moving fast, we’re running, playing hard, playing fast, so the chemistry shows a lot on the court, as well. Yeah.
12:26 So when you look, I mean, you watch you guys play and you want to move fast, I know they want to, you want to have pace and everything, but it looks like the ball is moving even more than it did last year.
12:35 Yeah, yeah, that’s something the coaches have been preaching. And then we are able to see the outcome and see how that benefits the team and how that — it’s one thing if your coaches are telling you to do something and it’s like — but if you can actually see the benefit that comes from what your coaches are telling you to do and it inspires you a little differently.
12:58 Jonathan was saying that when Stack talks to you guys, he said, “He not only teaches, he shows us,” and so how much does that make a difference?
13:05 Yeah, that’s cool. ‘Cause principles that he talked about, he will get in the stance. He’ll show you exactly what he mean, how to do it. He’ll even hop into ones sometimes and be talking out what he’d be preaching. But as well as that, he has these sayings or things to remember when he’s saying it. Like a thing on defense, he say, “Lay in the weeds.” But he’s talking about like a lion or whatever, like in the weeds reacting to go either way. But he’s talking about on defense, but it’s like — that puts the image in your imagery, put the image in your head so you can think of it like that, when in those crucial moments. If you say get — like, “foot behind,” I’m remembering that in the game, I’m not remembering, “Oh, get behind the guy so I can chase over,” and then — no, it’s “foot behind” and then “war over,” like I’m going to war, we finna battle over the top, but just having that imagery makes you remember it in crucial times.
13:53 You guys lost a lot of close games last year, but this year, I mean, Steve said maybe it’s one of the reasons why you guys had some success, more success, is that mostly it’s the defense. He said, “We play better defense and down the stretch now and getting more stops.” How important has that been?
14:08 Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s been really big for us. ‘Cause like you said, that’s not — nobody talks about that. Like we — like the last season didn’t turn out how we wanted it to, but we lost a lot of close games. We lost so many close games. We could have probably been out of the Play-in Tournament if we won half the ones we would — were guaranteed supposed to win, but we — but I think that’s a skill, winning close games and figuring out whatever it takes, no matter how ugly it is. Just coming out with the win is a skill and a talent. And I think we’ve done a good job of that this year.
14:38 Speaking of ugly games, the other night, did you even watch the film of that game?
14:44 Yeah, we just got done. We watched it. And then I watched it afterhand. The In-Season Tournament is always kind of funny when you’re dealing with the point spread and everything. You want to get as many points as possible, but you want to — but you also, yeah, and then the other team is still fighting when they would usually be not fighting. And it’s just something to get used to. Just watching the game, it looked like, I mean, it looked almost at times like football out there. It was like a lot of physicality. Yeah. And when I say point spread, I want to make sure y’all know I’m talking about the In-Season Tournament, the point differential rule.
15:15 What does “foot behind” mean with Stack?
15:19 It’s just not getting back cut, forcing the defender one way.
15:27 And what are some of his other terms? You mentioned the “laying in the weeds” and “war over.”
15:32 Yeah, I can’t let everything out. I don’t know who listening. I can’t let everybody in the playbook because you can say it on the sideline. They don’t know what he talking about.
15:43 Moses, what’s jumped out to you about playing with Kyle so far about what he brings his skill set?
15:48 Yeah, Kyle is really smart. And the way that he play the game, he’s thoughtful. He’s very — he moves with intent. Everybody talked about the slow motion thing and all of that. But it’s for a reason, like he can move faster than he moves, but he’s just so thoughtful and knowing what he’s doing, why he’s doing it. So that can — he slows the game down, literally. James Banks.
16:09 Yeah, yeah.
16:09 (Raymond Ridder:) I told him those three three-pointers he made in Boston, he started shooting them on Wednesday and he finished on Thursday.
16:17 Ha ha ha ha ha. Cool.
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