The Golden State Warriors spent the last two days of practice at their usual stomping grounds of Mo Ostin Basketball Center at UCLA. Over the years they have found a preference of staying at hotels in Beverly Hills, a stone’s throw away from Westwood, rather than downtown at the Ritz-Carlton next to Staples — I mean, Crypto.com Arena — where you’re basically isolated because of the traffic.
[FYI: This is a super-long catch-up piece so may take a bit to load in your browser, especially with SubStack’s embedded subscribe button…]
Here are the notes, quotes and videos from practice, plus catching up with the previous three games against the LA Clippers, Washington Wizards and LA Lakers, with whom they are re-matched with tonight, presumably with a healthy LeBron James. I take no offense if you skip the recaps of those three games, as I dubbed the Laker loss at Chase the “GP2 Depression Game” and the fully healthy and deep LA Clippers dismantled the Stephen Curry-less Dubs with Norman Powell stepping up to destroy any hopes of the GSW bench maybe outplaying that of LAC to have a chance.
The Wizards game was a good reminder of how well the Warriors can play together, but also a benchmark in terms of how good they can be without Curry: around a .500 team like the Wiz, maybe slightly better.
We shall see how things go tonight without Steph and Andrew Wiggins, who is attending to a “family matter” (I’m told he spent the All-Star Break in Minneapolis), again. Curry will be re-evaluated on March 1st, next Wednesday, which means he’ll miss at least four more games. And rarely has a player returned the day after a re-evaluation.
There are 24 games remaining starting tonight, with three remaining back-to-backs. At least Klay Thompson is expected to play tomorrow back home against the Houston Rockets, who will be without Jalen Green and Kevin Porter, Jr., but along with three remaining back-to-backs, there will be games every other day and only two instances of two-day breaks, the first of which isn’t until March 29-30. Whew!
Per usual these notes, quotes and videos are in reverse chronological order.
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.
• Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green are out at Golden State. “Small chance” they will play in Portland on Sunday, Stephen Silas said. (Jonathan Feigen)
• Anthony Slater on Patrick Beverley: https://theathletic.com/4239502/2023/02/23/nba-golden-state-warriors-roster/?source=emp_shared_article
the Beverley conversation never even got to the offer stage.
…
Fatoki is the Santa Cruz general manager. Nick U’Ren and Ryan Atkinson are influential voices in the room. Seth Cooper, the Santa Cruz coach, was part of the group that voted on their G League MVP a season ago. They collectively chose Lamb, a player they’d long felt could excel in their system. When he became available in the preseason, they added him.
• Donte DiVincenzo after practice on Kenny Atkinson: “It was big especially for me because he was with Bud (Mike Budenholzer, who coached the Atlanta Hawks where Atkinson was an assistant)… when I got here he was the first person (I talked to)… he can relate to that, so he’s helping me… blend with our terminology.”
• More on Atkinson: “He’s big on the defensive end. We call on him in the film sessions. Calls out things… he’s got that personal side (approachable).”
• On what the Warriors need to improve: “For me it’s more of the flow… if we can get set in our defense, picking up full… turnovers or we can get better shot attempts… messes up our flow… if we can get set we can be a much better team… Getting back to our principles.”
• On what the team has been discussing: “Focusing on our key components… foundation… those guys lost 9 of 11 towards the end of the year… Steph was out… things were sort of similar… weird… get back to what they’ve done for years, get back to the foundation.”
• On how to deal with the absence of Steph and Wiggins: “Our focus is not trying to do too much… if we’re simple… play damned good defense.”
• On the parity of the NBA: “It’s great because it’s not top-heavy… teams at the bottom last year like Sac (Sacramento Kings, where DiVincenzo played last season)… now three (3rd seed)… you got all-stars across the league now spread out… League Pass way more entertaining.”
• On what he needs to do individually: “Just keep doing what I’m doing. Not get ahead of myself… fun… we have a special group of guys… celebrate that and celebrate each others success on and off the court.”
• Steve Kerr after practice on Klay still playing b2b: “the plan would be to play the next two nights… depends on day to day check up… we’ll see how he’s doing after the game tomorrow.”
• On when Steph is ready to come back: “It’s a 24-game season… gonna be without Steph for the foreseeable future… he missed 11 games (last time he went down)… the team patched together a five-game winning streak… held down the fort… without key guys… make sure we’re tightening things up.”
• On how important the next stretch is: “Every game is gonna matter… we’re gonna have to do well… doesn’t mean we can let our foot off the gas… put it together… be healthy… we like our chances.”
• On defensive analytics: “We look at everything… free throw attempts for the opposition… pick and roll… show some of those numbers and see where we can get better.”
• On the All-Star Break helping: “Good chance for everyone to get away… we’re ready to get back at it.”
• Gary Payton II after Warriors practice at UCLA, say before Lakers, on returning to GSW: “It’s nothing like the Warriors organization being in the Bay around my family. Happy to see my family more.
• On what the trade issues were like: “Not really paying attention to it or worried about it.”
• On the injury itself: “It was just longer than expected coming out of surgery, experiencing pain… getting better day by day… pain is getting better, less and less.”
• On eventually fitting back in: “I hope it’s as easy as plugging me back in… getting guys their shots.”
• On how he’s observed the team playing: “The Warriors are the Warriors especially when you’ve got your core… a few things on defense we gotta turn up a little… defense helps control our offense… (get the defense back to) top-five.”
• On the standing ovation by the Chase Center crowd: “DubNation, there’s no other place like it.”
• On choosing Portland as a free agent: “It was a tricky situation this summer… I chose the best fit for me.”
• On what the areas of defense of concern are: “Aggressiveness… don’t worry about refs dictating the game… see what kind of game is being played that night.”
• On what conversations he had about the trade: “Blind-sided. Shocked me just like it shocked everybody else. I was notified ten minutes before the trade deadline.”
• On teaching defense: “He hit it right on… it’s like riding a bike, brushing your teeth… find ways to be more aggressive in an intelligent way.”
• On playing 22 minutes for the Blazers: “lingering pain… just trying to work on… that was one of those games I wanted to play… thug it out.”
• On his rehab: “take it day by day… my body feels like myself then we’ll come up with a decision.”
• On failing the physical: “I kinda knew where my body was.”
• On sitting with Bob Myers and knowing that they’d keep him: “No, it was really that Sunday deadline… still wanted to watch the game so they said I could sit with them.”
• On what his rehab is like: “Pretty normal. Conditioning, strengthening… pretty much the same thing every day until I practice.”
• On why he took Teradol: “Just wanted to be a competitor. No shots, though… the medical stuff wasn’t really that big of a deal… I was a bigger factor on the court was better than not… (I was playing at) 50%… Being a competitor… Gotta do what I do.”
• On how he felt after the surgery last summer: “I know my body… it took longer than usual… it’s still not ready.”
• On what about the defense needs to change: “Energy and effort. Easy.”
• Andre Iguodala just finished multiple sprints at Warriors practice. This was the end of his fifth straight with very little rest in between. (Dalton Johnson)
• Klay Thompson after practice on how his Break went: “Incredible. Mentally, physically, spiritually, just everything I ever dreamt of. It was nice, man, just having some days off to relax. It was really nice.”
• On if he’s seen his upcoming Captain Klay bobblehead with the boat: “Nah but actually I have seen them on the little boat, trophy in tow. It’s a top-five bobblehead, ever.”
• On what he did over the Break: “I played some ball. I did some ocean swims. I played golf. I hung out with my parents, hung out with my nephew. I had a lot of days with Rocco. It was a great break, just everything I needed to rejuvenate.”
• On if the Break helped as a little reset: “Oh yeah. Not only the team, the entire Association. The amount of games we play and the travel, it can feel like a lot of time, so a mental break from performing and traveling is much welcomed.”
• On what he remembers about David Lee: “David Lee? White guy David Lee? Well, David was an All-Star my first couple years. Just him being an All-Star alone was something I aspired to be and just a hard-worker. He was not a lottery pick, I think he was late-first round, developed into a champion, an All-Star. That’s a testament to his work ethic. I remember as a rookie, he was so great to us rooks as far as covering the bills and taking us out and having fun and that’s a great vet for you. I couldn’t ask for a better veteran.”
• Kevon Looney after practice at UCLA on the All-Star Break: “It was good… get away for a little bit… recharged… 24 games… playoff push.”
• On practicing at UCLA: “It’s great to be back on campus. I spend a lot of time here in the summer time… lot of good vibes here… close this regular season out the right way.”
• On if there’s any outreach he does when back at UCLA: “Not too much, I usually save that for the summer time… keep it basketball (for now).”
• On the refreshed team: “Just the energy… you can just tell from the warmups… a lot of smiles… a lot of energy in the fast break drills… come back and re-lock-in.
• On nearly getting Pat Beverley: “I have no idea. I got to play a little bit with Pat here (at the Rico Hines pickup runs).”
• On Draymond no longer being top trash-talker, now second to Beverley: “He hasn’t been talking as much as he usually do… probably playoffs he’ll come back and take it back.”
• On needing a break: “a lot of adversity… body feels tired… just mentally… refocus on what your goal is…”
• Stephen Curry was able to do some non-contact shooting work today after practice at UCLA, per Steve Kerr, getting on the court now that practice is over. Will be the first time since he got hurt. Still no updates on when Curry will return. (CJ Holmes, Madeline Kenney)
• Andrew Wiggins is not with the team currently. Sounds like he won’t play Thursday vs. the Lakers. Wiggins is still tending to a personal matter. (CJ Holmes, Dalton Johnson)
• Steve Kerr after practice on the All-Star Break: “I didn’t watch anything. I was relaxing. But it is strange for us not to be represented… everybody needed the break… refreshed and recharged… really great practice.”
• On some of the higher usage guys getting a break: “It’s one of Jordan’s strengths is just his durability… same with Loon… that takes its toll for sure… I asked him what he did and he said, ‘I just slept.’”
• On Steph Curry: “He was on the training table with Rick and he’s going to get on the court now that practiced is finished. First time on the court… do things lightly.”
• On how it was a great practice: “Energy… trash-talking… everybody’s happy to see each other… it took 45 minutes for us to start practice because it took awhile to get reacquainted… important games coming up… we’re excited about that.”
• On the final 24 games: “We’ve gotta get healthy… we’ll lock in on some things tomorrow in our film sessions… today was more about blowing it out… these guys are used to playing every other night… they really blew it out. Their chests were burning a little bit.”
• On David Lee: “right at the forefront of this current run. He helped make the Warriors relevant again… quite a hall… post-season… new ownership… his All-Star appearance signaled a new era… the way he handled himself in 14-15… professional… stayed ready… spoke a lot about the kind of person he is.”
• Steve Kerr weekly 95.7 The Game radio show on the Warriors having a lot of work to do in their final 24 games: “We’ve put ourselves in this position unfortunately. … We’re right in the thick of everything, but so are a bunch of teams.”
• On Klay Thompson playing both games of a back-to-back: “It’s a good sign that he’s ready for more. I would anticipate he’s gonna play in more back to backs, but obviously everything is fluid.”
• On what led to the end of James Wiseman’s time with the Warriors: “Basically it just came down to his inexperience and where we are organizationally, trying to win a championship.”
• On Gary Payton II’s situation: “We needed immediate help, we needed a boost at the deadline. … Finding out he was gonna be out a while was frustrating.”
• On his technical foul vs. the Clippers: “I did not deserve the one last night. I was shocked. I was not demonstrative, I did not use any bad words.”
• Warriors will reconvene in Los Angeles on Tuesday for their first practice after the All-Star break. Dubs play Lakers next Thursday.
• Bob Myers on weekly radio show, on the three ways he evaluates Golden State’s defense: “One, are we competent. Two, our effort. Three, our scheme… That’s simple, that’s every sport, ever.” (95.7 The Game)
• On if Golden State can run the table after heading into the NBA All-Star Break at 29-29: “We’re going to find out… We shouldn’t be talking about the playoffs like that’s pre-ordained.” (95.7 The Game)
• On the championship core: “The special thing about this group is when you’re able to [win it all] this many times, there’s a belief, a confidence, like a boxer, where they haven’t been knocked out yet.” (95.7 The Game)
• On Steph’s rehab: “I’m here at the facility, [Curry] is here rehabbing… Steph is so uniquely disciplined and motivated without anyone telling him. His level of discpline to return, is his own. He wants it. He wants to be back. He will return as soon as possible.” (95.7 The Game)
5:30 • Paul George on the Clippers on defense: “Golden State is a great offensive team.”
6:00 • On dealing with the Warriors’ offense: “We drilled it leading up to the game… eye-opening how much they move, how fast they move… on a string… took us up until the second half… their back screens, their pick-always, constant continuity… it is a legit 24 seconds that you have to guard… made it a little more tough for them… but that first half they definitely imposed their will offensively.”
• Klay Thompson postgame on playing b2b: “I felt great, a little gassed at the beginning… got the wheels moving, I felt really good… just a milestone.”
• On building on this: “Just getting the first one out of the way is a huge accomplishment… excited for what’s ahead.”
• On Draymond and Kerr sounding the alarm on defense: “Well, it hasn’t been great… I can be better… getting back to the defensive form I once was and I know I’ll get there… mindset of just trying to get on a really good win streak.”
• On the collective will: “Above average.”
• On improving the defense: “get back to being a top ten defense… when we get stops and we’re pushing the ball, we’re dangerous.”
• On the West: “stacked but at the end of the day you gotta go through… there’s really no rounds off, there’s no gimmes… we gotta hold the fort down til Steph gets back… this break is gonna be very beneficial… I still like our chances… been through too much together.”
• Jordan Poole postgame on what happened in the third quarter: “A lot of things… just gotta find ways to come out with more energy in the third quarter… put it together… not get as much separation… keep trying to keep trending in the right direction.”
• On the defense: “Something we can work on… communication and chemistry has gotten a little bit better over the last few.”
• On Klay: “Everybody knows how special Klay is… we’d rather him be healthy when we make a run later in the season… guys are always ready to step up.”
• On staying positive: “Steve does a really good job of keeping us engaged, keeping us focused, giving us confidence.”
• On what to look forward to after the break: “We got a lot of guys on this team with a lot of experience… college games… asking questions… we know what it takes to win at the highest level.”
• Jokes as he leaves: “Those we’re some really good answers.”
• Draymond Green postgame on what’s going wrong: “Our defense isn’t very good. That’s kinda been the story all year… comes from within… about will, or want to win… defense isn’t fun… we gotta do it.”
• On improving the defense: “It’s not just gonna come… I don’t think it’s coming. You gotta go get it, but it’s not just coming.”
• On getting the team to play better defense: “I’m always gonna try… but I could be better… not gonna point the finger at anyone… leader… don’t need to look any further.”
• On if having a hangover is why the defense hasn’t been good: “I don’t think it’s a championship hangover… will… you’re a loser if you’re still hungover at that point… the will to defend… trap the box… rotate… one to two steps extra… that’s all will… we don’t have that as a team… collectively have that… you can put Steph a curry and Kevin Durant out there… if no one wants to do the extra work… huge responsible tu that falls on my shoulders and I haven’t got us there… it’s now or never … or you go home in the beginning of April… I wouldn’t be happy with that.”
• On why finding the collective will has been a challenge: “If I had the answer we’d have it, that’s for certain.”
• On if he’s ever been on a team where they’ve struggled on defense: “In 2020. Yeah, we stunk. Other than that, played in the league for Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr… Top Five, Top Ten defense… Tom Izzo definitely required defense… my high school coach… we pressed all game… can’t say that I quite understand it.”
• On what specifically needs to change on defense: “It starts with taking on the challenge yourself… that challenge isn’t just guarding the ball… supposed to be there to help… if he doesn’t trust that he’s gonna get there… you foul… you have to make those rotations over and over again… if I get beat and I know Loon is in the game I’m not fouling… collective… we’ve talked about it a lot but you’ve got to do it… defense is 90% effort.”
• On if the rest of the league has caught up to them: “They said that last year and we won again, so no (chuckles and leaves).”
0:22 JK with the KD spin! (Kevin Durant)
2:02 Kawhi pregame routine
2:37 Kerr pregame on Klay playing b2b
3:54 Warriors intros
5:08 Jordan Poole talks on defense
7:01 Jacquees halftime performance
7:10 Draymond’s first baseline fadeaway ever and he complains about a foul and-one lol 😂
7:43 Lamb vs Powell scrum but Anthony helps up Norman after the play (nice guy!)
9:10 Kelly Rowland
9:47 Dray and Kawhi chat at a free throw
• Steve Kerr postgame recap: “That’s what we’ve been for the year so far… right in the middle of the pack on offense… on defense… we feel like we should be better… good news is there’s a lot ahead of us… come back from the break refreshed.”
• On Klay; “He seemed to be fine during the game.”
• On what the team’s priority will be after the break: “Defense. We’re fine offensively. We’re number one in the league in assists… we’ve done a better job taking care of the ball… that third quarter they scored 44 and that was the game.”
• On what with the defense needs to be improved: “Point of attack… penetrating we’re getting beat middle… too much to cover… foiling… last in the league in free throws (given up).”
• On if this game can be attributed to the back-to-back: “For whatever reason… we’ve been pretty good at home… made the trade for Gary was to shore up our perimeter defense… get healthy… a lot of guys who are staring to play well… Klay… Wiggs… Donte… a lot to build on but we’ve gotta do it.”
• On Kuminga: “Powerful athlete, good size… still got lots to learn because he’s so young and inexperienced… got a really bright future as a defensive player.”
• On having hope after the break: “we’ve lost so many games that we felt like we should’ve won. We know that we’re right there. Tonight I thought the Clippers just outplayed us… we’ve lost a number of close games, just things we’ve gotta clean up… bench is playing a lot better… Loon is just a rock every single night. Draymond is playing well… get Steph back… Gary… reinforcements.
• On Poole’s defense; “when he’s locked in he can be very good… lose a little focus from time to time… when he’s taking on the challenge… strong, athletic, he can do the job.”
• On next step with focus: “Focusing? We watch tape… last night was a good example, our whole the first half, we weren’t into the ball… Washington was getting anywhere they wanted to go… he’s gonna be guarding the ball quite a bit… picked it up second half… his defense is always gonna be crucial.”
6:00 8min55 Q1 Klay travel (again), starting to become “chalk it up”
11:15 Wiggins having personal reasons: could be anything, I checked his wife’s IG for more info and male adolescents on social media thumb-typing their hate for life crucified me for it lol
13:15 early sub for Kuminga and Lamb! 5min53
16:00 4min03 Kawhi jumper over Dray good, they chat about it
18:15 3min32 JK then JaMychal Green consecutive touch fouls
21:30 WE WILL GO LIVE TOMORROW FOR WISEMAN’S GAME!!! (new video on channel)
24:30 1min28 Lamb catch-and-shoot good! We need a nickname for that
25:45 1min35 Ty Jerome argues take foul, stop arguing! Execute!
28:00 0min25 Bones Hyland no take foul on JK?
32:15 hot take: you don’t really need a replay on the take foul, that’s the point of the take foul, it’s a momentum-buster and those should be easy see real-time
33:45 11min33 Q2 Eric Gordon hand-on-hand foul on Lamb, can you imagine if Steph got called for every one of those?
35:00 10min23 Lamb missed 3 late shot clock: if only he had a fly-by move (should get one if he stays a Warrior and hangs out with the Splash Brothers more)
38:30 9min21 JK fouls Paul George on a 3, gotta have discipline (no difference between a bad close-out and a reach-in)
42:45 Vitor: “It’s Valen-Ty’s Day” (credit: Warriors IG)
45:30 DVDv: “VaLambTy’s Day”
47:15 6min46 JK with a beautiful pump fake reminiscent of the guy he faked out: Kawhi (and PG)
49:30 5min19 JK hanging his head (again) after a nice 3 by Kawhi — Lillard would never hang his head, be stoic, you don’t want to let that energy seep into your head, the NBA is dog-eat-dog that you don’t want to give off any energy about being defeated
1:02:15 end of half play: Norman Powell long 2, but that’s textbook POA D by Donte, please show that to Jordan Poole
1:12:15 J: “Cannot wait to see GP2 and Donte on the floor together”
1:14:30 Gary Payton II will be evaluated around March 13th and so you could make a guess that he would be back before the playoffs which will start in mid-April (but we don’t know)
1:16:30 Jake: “Lamb is lowkey one of our best defenders” (and I love his instincts), this is why I think Bob Myers should convert his contract eventually and then give him a deal similar to Juan Toscano Anderson’s, which was non-guaranteed, something like that — doing so sooner than later will get us a discount on Lamb
1:20:00 10min 55 Kerr’s flashing fingers play is JP down the lane
1:25:15 Bruce Maro: “When was the last time Draymond made a fade-away like that?” to start Q3
1:27:00 so far Klay in Q3: 1-for-3 on chucks
1:36:30 seems like Klay is on minutes restriction: 18.5 mins thru Q3 so far with 3min00 to go
1:38:00 we confirm that after Klay’s last 3 he did “3” symbol and didn’t do the middle finger
1:51:00 PBJ not playing, you can see the pecking order as Moody has the next spot
2:02:00 7min00 PG backcourt vs JK, was PG this good when he was 20?
2:12:00 4min30 Klay tiki-taka should’ve done it earlier
2:16:00 PG at age 20 was in 2010-11
2:23:00 Klay: 28 mins in a b2b (something to note for the future)
2:31:00 POSITIVITY DIATRIBE AFTER ANOTHER LOSS
2:42:00 KERR PODIUM AUDIO
3:33:00 JP’s podium: Mo Speights was also very different off the podium
3:42:30 TY LUE PODIUM VIDEO
KAWHI VIDEO
4:00:00 PAUL GEORGE POSTGAME VIDEO
4:06:30 pretty awesome to hear PG praise the Warriors’ movement and it gives us, the fans, the confidence that we’ll figure it out — all coming from the opposition who are the ones that have to watch the game film and prepare. So yeah, when Steph gets back, it’s gonna be a ride. More people should watch what our opponents are saying!
• Steve Kerr to reporters in LA on Andrew Wiggins being out tonight: “He’s fine. Just personal reasons.” Wiggins will be back after the All-Star break. Donte DiVincenzo will start for him tonight against the Clippers. (Dalton Johnson)
• On Klay playing tonight: over the last month, head trainer Rick Celbirini told him Klay Thompson had been trending toward being able to playing in both ends of back-to-backs. Tonight happens to be that night. He said it does help that this is the last game before a 9-day break. (Kendra Andrews)
3:39 • Wes Unseld, Jr. postgame on the turnovers: “They amped up the level of physicality… caused some turnovers… You can’t give anything easy to this team. They’re gonna make shots as it is.”
4:45 • On the turning point of the game: “second quarter… once that team sees the ball go in… ten of those are coming from the bench… Jordan’s gonna shoot his, Klay’s gonna shoot his… kinda snowballs.”
6:15 • On guarding Klay: “He’s gonna create a lot of separation… they do a terrific job of screening for him.”
• Klay Thompson postgame on Wiggins: “he just energized everybody… real happy with his aggressiveness… I love that he led the team in field goal attempts. That gets us all excited.”
• On Wiggins: “He’s a champion so (he knows and we don’t need to remind him).”
• On if he’s playing in tomorrow’s game (second night of a b2b): “Yes, I’m so excited… Staples, I spent so much time there.”
• On the GP2 trade and Wiseman: “It was really hard. I’m so happy Gary’s back… me and Wise spent so much time together… only ones here for a month and a half with Rick Celebrini… it hurts, I know, it was probably not fun for him to hear that news… DubNation is really grateful for him.”
• On the two timeline plan: “I’m not sure. My mind is just on staying present and playing the Clippers tomorrow… locked in on enjoying this run.”
• On how difficult it was for Wiseman: “So hard.”
• On Donte: “that ball spins off his fingertips… our bench won us the game tonight.”
• On going to the rim: “we just take what the defense gives us. It’s been working for ten years.”
• On his dunk: “That felt great.”
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on JaMychal: “It’s huge for both of them… Wiggs has been battling injury then sick… JaMychal, same thing… the thing with Wiggs was he wasn’t just trying to score in the post… JaMychal… feeling confident in himself.”
• On being 41% from three: “Don’t jinx me… you get open looks, you gotta take them.”
• On the injury, the shooting dip last season: “I was looking at it, I was aware of it. Til you told me I wasn’t aware of what I’m shooting… I’m gonna have games 1-for-5… never get too high, never get too low… let the chips fall where they may… same shot. I was actually talking to Coach about it… hand placement… once I got his input on that… now it’s just repetition.”
• On Klay’s dunk: “It wasn’t better than mine (chuckles).”
• Ty Jerome postgame on Wiggins and JaMychal and the bench: “I gotta start with JaMychal. His wrist his hurting him, some games he hasn’t played… it’s not easy… he always brings the toughness factor for us… Wiggs played like an All-Star tonight. That’s who he is and that’s who we need him to be.”
• On the bench clicking lately: “Everyone is just playing harder… they were like 20 for their first 28. Draymond kinda lit into us at a timeout… be better. When we get stops, we’re tough to guard in the open court.”
• On feeling at home here: “For sure… I’ve only been here for six months… from the day I got here they empowered me… Coach Kerr, he lets me shoot my floater, he fully lets me be myself… the contract that I have, not everybody… gets that freedom.”
• On the bench: “Especially with Steph out we have to play a little bit of a different way… (Jordan Poole) has to have turnovers because he gets downhill so much… I can’t… assists are really just guys around me hitting shots… they weren’t spectacular passes… limiting those (turnovers) is huge (for the second unit).”
• On his role: “We’re starting to figure out everyone’s game… Donte and JK, they’re gonna be a little bit more wild… I have to be the person that’s calm.”
• Steve Kerr postgame on Wiggins: “Definitely his best game since he’s been back… aggressiveness. He was attacking the rim all night… midrange… key buckets when we were starting to fade.”
• On JaMychal Green: “The bench was great. Donte and JaMychal both played really well… I thought Moses changed the game… energy was great… Donte hit some big shots and did his usual job on defense… everytime (Jerome) comes in he settles the game down… consummate backup point.”
• On the bench has turned the corner: “You’re talking about Donte, JaMychal and Ty all being new to the team… terminology… we’ve pared down the rotation… we have a better sense… combinations… they’ve just gotten more confident.”
• On attacking the rim: “Wiggs… his return was really tough for him because he was really sick two different times. He had never missed more than 15 games in the middle of the season before… this was more just a result of the last few weeks… confidence… conditioning… what we did better tonight as a staff is we went more often to him.”
• On Draymond getting his 15th technical: “He’s never been suspended. He’s always stopped one shy so I have faith.”
• On the back-to-back: “This isn’t a bad one. LA is a quick trip. There not that strange… when it’s tough is when it’s crossing a time zone, flying to Denver or something like that.”
• On if Klay will play tomorrow: “Hope so. We’ve talked about it. We’ll see.”
• On JaMychal’s wrist: “He said he hurt it. Idk how severely and our training staff will check him out.”
• On Porzingis coverage: “We switched a lot too with him because he’s such a good shooter… stay out on him… we kept him to three 3pt attempts… we’re not always gonna have two bigs… we’re very conformance with those guys (Klay, Wiggs) guarding 4s.”
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on-court on his threes: “If I’m open I’m always ready to shoot… if they’re gonna leave me open.”
• On the bench 24-27 2nd quarter and chemistry: “We heard all the talk in the beginning of the year. We had to get together… when we can hold it down… they can do their thing and blow it open.”
• On the slow start: “They weren’t feeling us early in the game.”
• On Wiggins: “The more involved Wiggs is, the better we are… when he can be free.”
0:00 Steph Curry will be on podium for injury update at 645p PDT so we’ll cover that asap
11:00 Steph’s audio from podium
19:00 on optimism
25:00 no more “we need a big man” talk please! Dean Agan: “We don’t need slow big men.”
30:00 more on the old basketball parlance of “run it back” (keep champ teams the same)
31:00 NBA now 26 teams deep, 20 teams make playoffs, more than NFL
35:00 we can adjust through the Draft next year or free agency to find the next Richaun Holmes
38:45 Draymond got a tech from the youngest ref Jason Goldenberg, which is exactly what I predicted before the game
44:00 looking at Daniel Gafford’s big salary extension ($12m)
55:00 again, it’s been on the Foundational Six since the beginning and right now, our team just doesn’t have Steph
1:04:00 7min04 Kuminga charge, I suspect more teams are getting his scouting report
3min32 Steve Kerr tech: “f-in BS!” same as Poole earlier
1:31:00 Dean: “Loon might be the best value in the NBA right now” — you can’t have it all, we’re already hitting a home run with Looney, why do expect us to have the next Nic Claxton?
1:35:45 I stand corrected, there are 24 pretty good teams in the NBA
1:38:00 wanting Pat Bev is like Jordan Poole making a turnover, gotta deal with the young takes and turnovers
1:39:00 the constructive way to “hot take” the Mike Brown situation: we learned that the emotional energy on the bench is something that’s hard to find in the NBA, so maybe next season it’s something to address
1:40:15 SAC has the DPOG chain: 1) that’s energy, 2) would that work in the Warriors locker room? It’s kinda like Jim Harbaugh’s “Who’s got it better than us?” chant started to get old for the 49ers
1:41:30 we have had a history of improving certain things: after the 2020 season, we really ramped up the player development coaching staff. Maybe it wasn’t enough and we need to hire a Mike Brown type.
1:46:00 10min30 Klay early transition 3s: “License to Kill”
1:49:00 8min52 challenge review for Draymond’s 4th foul: good challenge? Yes, but only becuase it keeps Dray’s energy in the right direction. You just have to go all-in with Dray sometimes, that’s just part of the package just like the turnovers from Steph and JP. There should be an additional camera for the challenges a l a the NBA
1:54:00 7min10 Q3 can your buyout guy hit that J-Mike three?
1:57:00 5min30 the squad that we have in a nutshell: Klay rushed shot, JP turnover
2:07:15 HOT TAKE: “Can your buyout guy ___? (something J-Mike just did)
2:16:00 bad end to Q3 with Klay foul, JP missed FT, Ty Jerome bad turnover, but that’s what we’ve been doing all season, we let up (habit that needs to break)
2:34:45 5min15 J-Mike’s right wrist appears to be hurting after the oreb attempt
2:37:15 posted the official community poll to see the numbers for going live for Wiseman tomorrow at 430p PST (7p is GSW-LAC)
3:00:00 Wiseman will actually play on Wed 2/15 at 430pm PST and WE WILL GO LIVE (77% APPROVED)
DONTE POSTGAME ON-COURT AUDIO
3:05:00 KERR POSTGAME AUDIO
3:10:00 we have full control over the Lamb and Jerome contracts (50 games max as two-ways)
3:13:00 Kerith looking at Nerlens Noel buyout candidate: is he gonna know where to find Klay and Steph at the right times? Is he ok with more zero minutes? If I’m Noel, why would I buyout my contract that pays $9m to go play very few minutes with the Warriors. Now, if J-Mike is listed as injured tomorrow, that may change things.
3:15:00 Klay might play tomorrow per Slater
4:29:30 if we convert Lamb this season, we will get him at a discount with a non-guaranteed part probably for next season because two-ways will be looking for that security
4:33:00 if Iguodala is injured by the time the playoffs start, maybe you consider waiving him
5:08:30 if I had to make a wild prediction, I’m predicting we get the 6th seed and SAC is the 3rd seed! A look at the upcoming schedule: NINE-game winning streak, why not?! LAC LAL HOU MIN POR LAC NOP LAL OKC then MEM
• Wizards say Kyle Kuzma (ankle) is out tonight Vs Warriors. (Marc Spears)
• Andrew Wiggins is available for the Warriors tonight vs Wizards. Had been questionable with an ankle sprain. (Anthony Slater)
• Clippers have no injuries on the injury report for tomorrow vs Golden State. (Ohm Youngmisuk)
• Steve Kerr pregame WAS on the end of the James Wiseman era: “Everybody here loved James… I think between the injuries and the inexperience, coming to a team like ours that’s fighting and playing for championships and a group that’s been together a long time, it was hard for me to give James the runway he needed… I was all in on (drafting) James when we did. I was part of the group, loved the ability, loved everything that we saw.” (CJ Holmes, Anthony Slater)
• On what Gary Payton II is able to do right now: “Rehab. It’s all rehab. He isn’t on the court. There’s a reason it’ll be a month until we reassess things.” Kerr also adds that they didn’t know they were going to win the championship soon after. (Anthony Slater, Tim Kawakami)
• On the buyout market: overblown in recent years. “Usually it’s hard to find someone who’s going to make a big impact.” (95.7 The Game)
• On how the Gary Payton II trade went down: “Strange.” (Dalton Johnson)
• On GP2: “Gary is an easy fit. We just watched him win the championship. He knows our guys. He plays extremely well with Steph and Draymond.” (95.7 The Game)
8:30 • Anthony Davis postgame: “We defended… we’ve been a very terrible third-quarter team and this is one of the better third-quarter teams in the league… guys locked in on Klay and J.Poole.”
12:15 • Darvin Ham postgame recap: “energy, effort and urgency against a very very great ball club in Golden State. Championship pedigree through and through, make you play the full shot clock, defend the full shot clock… active, energetic defense.”
13:20 • On Austin Reaves shutting down Klay in the fourth: “you saw it, he has that mindset, he’s crafty… blow up DHOs, picking up pick-and-rolls, closing the gap on the ball and getting under real quick on pick-and-roll defense… scrapper… defensively he has a high IQ… energy.”
14:20 • On Davis’ two blocked shots on Klay and Donte: “He’s working himself back into shape… Golden State, from Draymond to Wiggs, JaMychal, Looney, all those guys are extremely smart defenders. Even the smalls, they’ll dart in there… unorthodox yet effective defensively… he’s a guy that’s a two-way player… you saw that with those late blocks.”
• Kevon Looney postgame recap on difficulty scoring last 6 minutes: “They did a good job of taking away some of our flow and actions. They did a lot of top-blocking and we didn’t make a lot of shots down the stretch… credit it to them… we didn’t get enough of a rhythm the whole game.”
• Draymond Green postgame on the sense of frustration: “You’re .500 if you’re not a .500-level team you’re frustrated but no one’s gonna feel sorry for us… dig yourself out.”
• On GP2: “idk much, I think you probably know more than me.”
• On what needs to change in closing out games: “Uh, well, I think number one it starts defensively… tie game and I think they went up 8… get it to Rui and hit a couple shots… when you’re down guys you have to get 50-50 balls.”
• On the free throw disparity: “We just have to take on these challenges and, you know, guard… I’d love to come up here and say it’s the officiating but shit we gotta play some defense.”
• On the vibe of the team: “Our morale is great. (Jacob) Rubin showed me some clips of what I was doing this year… my duty to make sure the team morale is great, regardless of where it could be.”
• On the urgency level: “I respect what Coach is saying… we’re all on the roster and you gotta play with the guys you got… go out there and figure it out… no one cares if we feel down about the situation… go out there and find a way to win.”
• On how Poole walks the line of technicals: “I don’t want him to walk the line… it’s a battle you can’t win… but every man is gonna speak for themselves… the one he got tonight was ‘eh’.”
0:00 • On advice for Jordan Poole on refs/technicals: “Yeah, don’t talk to them… you don’t wanna get in that battle… once you get too deep in, take it from me, you can’t get out… go the other way, that’s my advice.”
• On the All-Star Break: “you get more energy. You come back, you should be rejuvenated after a week off of playing but the Break isn’t gonna magically fix anything.”
• On the clips from Jacob Rubin: “I was trying to learn to run again. So I had a corvio around my waist with Rick (Celebrini) pulling it and me just taking one step after the next, learning to run again. That’s what I was doing a year ago… I feel absolutely amazing (today)… now I just gotta figure out this team… but I’m in a position to do that… I’m probably feeling more grateful than most just because someone gave me great perspective.”
• Steve Kerr postgame recap: “Sending everything to Davis in the paint… couldn’t find that spurt or momentum… swimming upstream even though neither team had much of a lead… never found our groove.”
• On the frustration level: “Our guys are frustrated. We’ve had so many close losses… we couldn’t close out these last two games and we had just haven’t been able to string together enough wins to create a little momentum and some separation in the standings… need a break but they’re frustrated that we could close out these last two games… gotta just keep fighting for each other.” (Madeline Kenney)
• On Jordan Poole: “bouncing back kinda from a slow start… within the same game and found something… almost able to break through.”
• On getting more shots inside: “Davis did a really good job… paint was packed… we’re not a driving team… the stats are what they are in terms of free throws and paint points… Steph’s probably our best guy… gotta make a bunch of threes if you’re gonna get outscored at the line.”
• On GP2 sitting with Bob Myers: (no answer)
• With ABC postgame recap; “Guys are frustrated for sure… this is how it goes, this is all part of the NBA.”
• On what he can say: “I can give them next week off… the All-Star Break will help… I share my own experiences… this is the reality of where we are… injuries… not being able to close out games.”
• On Poole: “I liked the way he bounced back… the tech… shift his focus back to finding a way to impact the game… still a young player… Steph’s the master at that… perfect example for JP… turn a bad game into a good one.”
• On Ty Jerome: “gets us organized, never turns the ball over… he’s a vet.”
0:00 how’s everybody feeling about Gary Payton II? New info from Chris Haynes: GP2’s agent Aaron Goodwin tells him that GP never took Toradol
3:00 Kerr pregame on Lamb, Looney starting tonight
15:00 kudos to D’Lo for getting the move to Lala Land, LA always the best for NBA lifestyle
19:00 9min45 Q1 Draymond backpack then takes charge on Anthony Davis, before that a great no-look pass to Jordan Poole, first play that we ran: nice wrinkle of tiki-taka where Looney set the pick on the pass reception by Klay (ball passed by Dray)
21:45 8min41 JP bad foul on D’Lo reach in
22:00 8min40 new wrinkle as Klay and JP do opposite cuts
24:00 6min47 bad transition, nobody guarded Troy Brown
29:00 6min00 two straight turnovers on Jonathan Kuminga
30:30 4min35 JK jumper
31:00 4min28 JP defensive stop/block
31:30 4min24 first sub: Donte and JaMychal for Wiggins and Dray
33:00 3min11 Donte turned shoulder on screen, bad screen
36:00 it’s ridiculous that we have 5 turnovers (in less than 10 mins)
39:15 also the bad quick shots (Klay has to set a better example)
40:45 0min48 JK elbows Reaves, young guy doing young things
43:45 0min45 JK almost forgets to cover Wenyen Gabriel on the inbound
45:00 HOT TAKE: worst lead we’ve ever had, my eyes are bleeding
48:00 yelling at young players in my experience doesn’t work
49:45 12min00 Q2 Wiggs gets beaten backdoor and LA blows a layup for an airball
51:00 10min49 Wiggs blows a layup despite a nice baseline inbound by JP
53:00 9min04 JP saves the stolen ball but doesn’t see Donte wide open
57:00 strawhats100: “the blase nature of these turnovers is getting maddening”
57:45 I think GP2 is just using “8” as a sideways “00”
59:45 7min05 Donte had to cover two guys, triple for Rui
1:02:00 5min35 Donte nice backdoor delivery
1:05:00 talk about being sleepy: we lost 3 inspirational guys (Juan, GP2, Mike Brown), we need to hire Krazy George
1:08:00 3min50 Wiggs back-rim 3, then bad screen, this harkens back to early play where he didn’t get back on D vs Brown
1:09:30 2min30 JK doesn’t run the floor, Looney throws the ball away post entry to Dray
1:11:30 1min03 D’Lo loses the ball and JK stares at it
1:14:00 0min47 Dray FF1, can we get out of this game with zero injuries (HOT TAKE!)
1:16:30 HOT TAKE: this is like watching the JV game before the varsity game
1:17:00 1) it’s tough not having things we take for granted: energy from certain bench guys, 2) the GOAT
1:19:15 worst-dollar-value game of the season, the girl they interviewed was important because she was sitting next to LeBron
1:24:30 on halftime Dray pep-talk: he should just talk about anything and start his next podcast by interviewing GP2 to just get any interest in this game from his teammates, esp since Dray can’t yell (or punch) anybody
1:26:30 HOT TAKE: WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KEEP GP2, IN FACT GO PHONE ADAM SILVER NOW TO SAY YES SO THAT GP2 CAN GO BE ON OUR BENCH
1:33:00 11min16 Q3 good tiki-taka to start
1:33:45 10min30 maybe the block by Wiggs on Schroder will wake him up
1:35:30 9min00 Dray throws the ball away on baseline inbound when Loon wide open slip
1:37:00 8min20 JP reach-in leads to Schroder FTs, that’s the risk you take when you reach-in
1:39:30 ASTROPHEL: “I know what it is with Wiggs, he’s not wearing taped up Kobes”
1:40:45 strawhats: “JP falls into these nasty spells where he gets overwhelmingly seduced by the 3ball”
1:45:15 6min10 JP bad defense on Reaves in corner
1:48:00 5min24 pretty good hang time by Klay on the miss, leads to a J-Mike dunk
2:05:30 kenser: “GP2 trade fallout probably has them” in a funk, Ed Farnsworth: “GP2 issue means the calvary is not coming. That has to deflate the team”
2:17:00 GP2 reported at the game with Bob Myers: “GPII was the baddie we needed all along”
2:21:00 6min58 Q4 Schroder alley-oop to AD, Klay told Loon not to help
2:21:45 6min40 Klay looked spry on the missed push-shot
2:23:00 6min08 great block by Loon on the AD drive
2:26:00 4min30 JP attacking when they should be running the offense (missed layup)
2:47:00 “This is the story whole season long” — not really, though, but yeah (not one thing, domino effect)
2:58:15 Dean Agan: “if it’s crunch time, available guys with experience drops”
STEVE KERR POSTGAME
3:12:15 JABS: “Kerr has forgotten more basketball than we’ll ever know”
3:15:00 I’m calling this the GP2 Depression Game and moving on
DRAYMOND POSTGAME
3:33:00 would be quite a storybook ending to have GP join us in the WCS and make a run
• The Pistons have James Wiseman listed as Questionable (trade pending) for tomorrow’s game in Toronto. (James Edwards)
• It seems Anthony Lamb will finally make his Santa Cruz debut today as a two-way player. Lamb has played in 42 games with GSW, 8 games away from his 50 game max as a two-way player. He is averaging 7.2p/3.3r in 19 min this season and he last played w/ GSW 2/1/23 against MIN. (Zena Keita)
• Steve Kerr pregame: No updates on the Gary Payton II situation, per Warriors. (CJ Holmes)
• On the trade deadline: “The players are always on edge around the trade deadline, so once the deadline passed, the rest of the guys on the team were able to just take in the news. Obviously, this whole thing has been strange. It is what it is. There is not a whole lot to do or say, so we are just waiting it out and seeing how it plays out.” (Warriors PR)
• On D’Angelo Russell’s shooting opening the game up for LeBron: “D’Lo is a great shooter and a great passer, so put the ball in his hands and he’s a threat to score or find somebody else. Guys with that kind of skill have always succeeded playing next to LeBron. Of course, most people have succeeded playing next to him, but I think in general you get that kind of floor spacing and passing ability and it bodes well.” (Warriors PR)
• On how long Anthony Lamb will stay with Santa Cruz: “Not sure. We are working with the game restrictions that comes with our two,Two-Way guys. We are creeping up on the total. With Steph (Stephen Curry) out, we are using those games on Ty (Jerome) and we are going to hang on to Lamb’s games for later on, if possible, but there’s also, it’s a little varying depending on how you use the games. You can combine them, some of it depends on do you have 14 or 15 guys on your roster and if you have 15, you get more games, so we are kind of waiting to see how it all plays out. In the meantime, we need Ty’s minutes more than we need Lamb’s minutes, so we’ll go with Ty.” (Warriors PR)
• On the starting lineup tonight and moving forward: “We’ll start Loon (Kevon Looney) tonight. We always reserve the right to change our minds of course, so we’ll see. I mean the season has bounced all over the place. We need to, I think, go with this lineup tonight and see what happens tonight and move on to the next game. We don’t look too far ahead at this point.” (Warriors PR)
• On the break for Draymond and Looney: “I feel great about the break. All of our players need this time off… close strong… put ourselves in a good position.”
• On integrating Kevin Durant: “Yeah, it wasn’t that hard. I’m not gonna expand on that any further.”(NBCSBA)
• Gary Payton II has a locker between Ty Jerome and Moses Moody. No. 8 Jersey hanging in locker. (Madeline Kenney)
• Source: GPII will undergo further testing. He’s expected to get an another X-ray this evening. (Jason Dumas)
• I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has [Tuesday night vs. the Thunder]… It gets to points where it just gets unbearable and he plays through it… The way it’s explained to me is that might be something that lingers all season long, but it reached the dire point. (Chris Haynes, This League blog)
• LeBron James (left ankle) is questionable and Anthony Davis (right foot) is probable tonight against the Warriors. (Dalton Johnson)
• LeBron James has been downgraded to out at Golden State tonight due to left ankle soreness. (Mike Trudell)
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