I did a film study aka scouting report on Quinten Post last night. A couple of his rather eye-popping highlights included…
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a drive and-one past Dalen Terry, a Chicago Bulls wing defender,
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a blitz of Josh Giddey which resulted in the ball being knocked out of bounds on Giddey,
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a 1v1 containment and disruptive close-out on Zach LaVine (yes, Zach LaVine!), and
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a few instances of Post moving his feet while rolling to the hoop after setting a screen.
Here are the details with clips, with notes in both the Description and Comments:
And, after an interview on 95.7 The Game — full transcript below, scroll down — now I know how some of those “quick feet” plays are even possible for this seven-footer: he was once a 6’2” shooting guard/small forward at age 15, who then sprouted to 6’9” in the next year. Kinda reminds me of the time I grew from 5’2” to 5’10” in between 9th and 10th grade — sort of but not really, as I went from third-string point guard to backup small forward and defensive specialist 😃 whereas QP leapfrogged a couple spots from the 2-3 to the 5.
Idk, this one little tidbit just makes me all the more confident that Post is gonna be a supremely versatile big. And Kevon Looney already said he thinks Post will have a long NBA career, in this postgame interview:
Granted, tonight’s matchup versus Anthony Davis is the real test, now that the Lakers have some game tape to prepare for the Warriors’ new pick-and-pop dimension.
Also, as one of our regulars, Bruce Maro on our livechat always says, Nikola Vucevic is an orange cone on defense. In fact, we jokingly started a #YouStillWantVooch hashtag and had a lot of fun with the recent Vucevic trade rumors during the Bulls livestream:
And so, yeah, the Quinten Post hype train continues, my third straight article on him. Other things to note:
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Steve Kerr hasn’t talked to him yet about any long-term role in the rotation, yet,
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Quinten finally talked to Rik Smits. My guess is that the podcasters at “Blockparty” (see previous article) hooked him up — if I had access to the Warriors locker room, I’d ask one Wardell Stephen Curry, who idolized Reggie Miller, if he finds this shooter-and-Dutch-center parallel pretty cool,
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QP took a year off from basketball in which his parents got divorced and he was experiencing hip issues perhaps related to his growth spurt, and
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QP wore No. 12 at Boston College and wanted to keep it, but says it “wasn’t available on the Warriors.” 🤔 — also, if you’re thinking maybe Quinten meant the Santa Cruz Warriors didn’t have No. 12 available, think again: Usman Garuba was the last player to wear that number for Santa Cruz and he is no longer with the organization.
LATEST QUINTEN POST INTERVIEW
00:00 Joining us right now, Quinten Post, Golden State Warriors rookie center, coming off a 20-point night last night against the Bulls. Quinten, thank you so much for joining us, man. Appreciate it.
00:11 Yes. Thanks for having me guys.
00:12 Absolutely. So a little birdie just told me that in the last couple of days, you’ve had a conversation with another guy from, the Netherlands named Rik Smits. Is that true?
00:26 Yes. Yes, yes. The day before the Kings game, I talked to Rik for about 15 minutes. Yeah. It was my first time ever to talk to him and, like I said yesterday, he’s a GOAT of Dutch basketball, so that was definitely really cool.
00:43 So is he a guy who, when you were growing up, you knew all about him and knew he played for the Pacers and was a heck of a player?
00:50 Yes. A hundred percent. Like, when he was playing, basketball was pretty big back in the Netherlands. And after he left, it kind of died down a little and hopefully we can spark that flame again.
01:03 Hey Quinten, I found out we were having you on the show and I asked my partner, I go, “Man, is he — what kind of personality does he have? Is he quiet, he like music? And then I found out we got a favorite song because I want to play this. I want you to hear this. This is from your open practice. Go ahead, Evan (Giddings, 95.7 producer who plays audio of Post singing “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey at Warriors Open Practice earlier this preseason). You’re a journey fan and you got vocals, huh?
01:40 Oh man, that really hurts my ears right now. Oh man.
01:44 Journey. Don’t Stop Believing. But speaking on that, you haven’t stopped believing. Just what’s it like right now for you in the last 48 to 72 hours having an impact on the game, catching balls, getting Uber rides from Steph Curry, just how surreal is that, QP?
02:01 Yeah, I mean, I think it just kind of it’s more so all the work that went into it before the last 48 hours, really. I mean, I think for the last three weeks, I don’t think I’ve had an off day even once, just because of my travel in between the G League and the NBA every day that’s not a game. It’s either travel or practice. So, yeah, it’s been hard-working last few weeks. And glad to finally get my chance up here and glad that it turned out well.
02:38 Quinten Post joining us on 95. 7 The Game. He’s a Warriors rookie center out of Boston College, had 20 last night against the Bulls and I know you’ve had a couple big nights down in Santa Cruz. And now you have 20 last night. Obviously, one’s the NBA and one’s the G League, but were the quality of shots the same? I mean, could you tell the difference in level of play or did it seem kind of the same when you were playing last night against the Bulls?
03:08 I mean, I think that’s kind of how you try to approach it, right? Like, at first it was great for me to have some success in the G League. Also, we started winning in the G League, which boost the morale and then coming up with the Warriors, I’d never played with Steph before. So that first game with the Kings you’re trying to figure it out. You watch the film back and then yesterday, I thought I was getting some great looks and it’s easy to play with him, right? Because he just creates so much space, so much attention. So it’s different, but I’ll say that the G League just prepared me for these last two nights.
03:47 Quinten, you got Warrior fans and DubNation excited and, as you know, there’s been a lot of talk, a lot of Warrior fans, we haven’t been able to experience a big man and now we got a Stretch 5 that can shoot. And I don’t want to bring the party down, but can you walk us through your thought process and mindset right now with, you got two guys out in Draymond (Green) and (Jonathan) Kuminga, and you’ve taken the bull by the horns, how do you compartmentalize it, maybe if minutes will get cut in half or whatnot? How do you just enjoy this ride and stay on the floor, or do you even give that any thought?
04:20 No, like, I think what I’ve always done is I just take it day by day, right? I’m focused on what’s ahead of me, which is the Lakers tomorrow. And whatever happens when people start to come back will happen and I’m okay with whatever.
04:38 Quinten, has Steve Kerr told you anything, like, obviously you can shoot the ball from the perimeter, but has he told you, “Look, if you can do this or something else, you’re gonna be able to stay on the floor”? So what’s the part of your game that you gotta work the most on, that’s gonna keep you on the floor?
05:01 Probably my motor and everything on the defensive end and going back to the G League, just being able to play 30 minutes a night there, getting the reps in, it’s just a lot different playing defense on this level than it is playing in college. But I just had to get used to it and I feel like I’m making big strides and that’s kind of also what the talks have been over the last couple of months with the Warriors and with Santa Cruz, like, just a point of emphasis. And I’ve kind of, yeah, taking it upon myself to reach out to a bunch of people to watch a lot of film on the defensive end of the ball.
05:45 Quinten, I gotta ask you this, man, ’cause I just keep it real. So tomorrow, you guys play the Lakers and you play a great big in regard to Anthony Davis. And we know this, you’re gonna be a part of the game. You’re gonna be out there, a nationally televised game. What’s tonight like for you? Like, if I were you, I’d be nervous. Can you sleep? Walk us through how you’re looking at tomorrow’s game on national TV against the Lakers?
06:11 I don’t know. I’ll just try to get a good night of sleep and wake up, have a good breakfast, go through my warmup, and just play the game, nothing extra. I think just try to stay aggressive and try to get a win.
06:29 Quinten, and we’re joined by Quinten Post, Golden State Warriors rookie center out of Boston College, had 20 points last night against the Chicago Bulls and has played in each of the past three games. And it looks like you got a shot to kind of stay in the rotation. Has Steve Kerr talked to you about, “Look, this is kind of your time and if you can come through, you might be able to carve a rotation spot out.” Has he been communicative to you about that?
07:02 The only thing Steve has told me, Coach Kerr has told me, is just to be ready for these last couple games and nothing else really about the future. So that’s just what I’m gonna do. I’m just gonna be ready for tomorrow and then we’ll just see what happens after.
07:23 Hey Quinten, tell me about training camp, because Draymond Green is on record as saying you like to talk and you like to bang in training camp and he liked that. Where do you get that confidence from?
07:35 I don’t know. I’ve always been a vocal guy. I played five years in college, so I’ve kind of made that transition from being a freshman in college to becoming kind of a leader on my team that last year. And I think, especially playing the center position, you have to be a vocal guy. You have to talk on the court. You can’t be scared of a little physicality, so that’s just, it comes with experience, for sure.
08:01 Let me ask you this, Quinten, after a game like last night. Do you feel like you’re more a part of the team?
08:09 Maybe a little bit. I mean it just feels good to, like, I play meaningful basketball, I play winning basketball, but I never felt like I wasn’t a part of the team. Being on a two-way is a crazy experience, being up and down, but no, it just makes me feel closer to the guys. Nothing much more than that.
08:35 Hey Quinten, let me ask you about going from your hometown Amsterdam to Mississippi State. Was there any like culture shock in that?
08:45 Man, I had never eaten no fried pickles, that’s for sure. But besides that, I loved my time at Mississippi State and it’s been a wild ride so far and this is year six in the US, so I’m just really happy to be here.
09:04 Has anybody given you grief because you’re so old at 24? Most of the guys coming into the league are 20, so I gotta believe the five years of college got you ready to maybe play sooner than a lot of younger guys who didn’t have that experience?
09:22 Yeah, maybe. I mean, I don’t really look at my age. I think I was kind of a late bloomer also in college. I didn’t play too much at 19, 20. It was kind of my junior year when I started having a real role when I transferred to Boston College. So, a lot of respect to these guys at 18, 19 years old that are trying to figure it out in the league. I mean, it’s hard at 24, I’ll say that, but I think of my age as something positive, I guess, you know?
09:53 Yeah. Hey QP, is it true that in your teen years, you kind of stepped away from basketball a bit?
10:00 Correct. I quit playing basketball for one year. A lot of stuff going on at home and I think it helped me because it really made me realize how much the game means to me and how much it, I don’t know, the grip on life it gave me and I made the decision myself to get back into the game. Yeah, I’ve been in love with it ever since.
10:30 I’ve always been interested, when a guy’s seven feet tall, I’m always kind of interested in when did you hit your growth spurt?
10:39 For me, it was pretty late. I grew up playing shooting guard, small forward, and I was really, really skinny. I can still probably add some muscle, but back then I was also skinny, so I didn’t even play the big position. I grew up playing small forward, shooting, driving, dribbling. And I hit my growth spurt kind of in the year that I left the sport. Also a part of the reason was that my hips were just killing me, right? I was in pain playing which also made it less fun. And then after I came back I probably went from, I think at 15, I was 6’2. And then at 16, when I came back, I was 6’9. That’s really when I hit my spurt.
11:27 QP, I’m the dude on the show that cares about the miscellaneous stuff, right? I want to ask you, one, why do you wear 21? And then what do the guys refer to you in the locker room, because you got so many on social media, QP3, QP this or that. And I like all of them, but let me ask him what he prefers and what they call you.
11:47 Everybody just kind of calls me Q or QP, Quinten, I don’t really mind too much. And my number, I think, my first number growing up, I always was number 12. That’s kind of the number that was assigned to me. Number 12 wasn’t available for the Warriors, so I just turned it around and good friend of mine, my teammate in college, Devin McLaughlin, he wore 21, so good to represent him, too.
12:14 I love to ask professional athletes this, especially basketball players. QP, who was your guy growing up? Who did you pattern your game after?
12:25 Dirk Nowitzki. Obviously, I looked up to Rik Smits, but I never thought that I would be 7’4 and he was kind of before my time, but I started playing basketball in 2011, which is also when Dirk won that ‘chip, right? So I just kind of grew up and I saw this tall, lanky shooting big from Europe, so yeah, that’s kind of how I wanted to play, so. The shot, I definitely worked on it a lot because I saw a guy like that dominate the league, shooting well.
12:56 Hey, Quinten, are you sick of Raymond Ridder yet? Ha ha!
13:00 Ha ha! Nah, Raymond’s a great guy.
13:03 Yeah, he’s alright. The more you get to work with him, the more mediocre he’ll become, but he’s alright. Hey dude, thank you so much. You’re the man, man. You have been the talk of our show today and a lot of Warrior fans are really excited about what you bring to the table and keep it up young man.
13:21 Yes. Thank you guys for having me.
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