As you might already know, I suggested after the Christmas Game that getting the ball to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson might be better served with an adjustment to include Jonathan Kuminga.
And then when I realized that the franchise’s ecosystem had total buy-in from top to bottom — and that this way of doing this for the past decade might take some time to humanly steer the cargo ship around in this Bay — I thought maybe Curry would have to take the bull by its horns and just give that shoulder tap to the man (Steve Kerr) who wove the tapestry all these years for Steph:
After the Philadelphia game, and thanks to a line of questioning pursued by The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami (finally!), it looks like Steph and, presumably, Draymond Green had that conversation with Kerr, as Curry recounted on the postgame podium:
This team is different than teams that we’ve had in the past in a long time. And because this team is different, some of the patterns that we’ve been used to and Draymond out for so long, it opened up opportunities to kind of reassess how we’re trying to create shots, how we’re trying to create momentum offensively. And even how teams have gotten a little bit more extreme and try to take me and Klay out of that off-ball stuff and crowd our space and make other guys try to handle, make plays. So you have to lean into that and get a little bit organized. There’s times throughout the year where we do simplify the offense a little bit, to try to get out of a rut or kind of a downswing and we had that conversation a couple of – probably last week. We’ve been playing better offensively and there’s a little bit more organization on that end. Now, you have to marry that with the defensive side. I know we’ve lost the last two games before and won tonight, but our offense has been really solid. We’re getting better. It’s just we gotta keep doing it.
Btw here are the behind-the-scenes highlights of Sixers-Warriors:
Now, the Memphis game exposed the weakness of 100% devotion to “get the ball to Steph or Klay” with their top-blocking (and ironically tonight is the rematch of that and hopefully this go-round, Curry eliminates those “whatever turnovers”), but the brutal loss came at the perfect time and was necessary to evolve the Warriors into “get Kuminga downhill every once in awhile to keep opponents honest.”
The Warriors implemented a scheme where Steph would set the ball-screen, leading to more touches for JK. Also tonight, it should be interesting to see if Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins has Vince Williams, Jr. top-blocking Curry again. The videos and transcripts and game notes from PHI-GSW are below…
0:00 You mentioned to us that you’re definitely playing a little differently. There’s been some adjustment. How do you feel? Maybe the offense has changed a little bit over the last week or so?
JONATHAN KUMINGA POSTGAME PHI-GSW: “I just feel like pretty much everybody engaged as not just getting the ball but everybody just locked in and just trusting every call, making sure we run every call the right way and I feel like that’s just kind of helping us and just more spacing and stuff like that. Just helping us to really thrive on every offense and stuff like that.”
0:55 You’ve mentioned how much Draymond has sort of been in your ear and by your side and Steve also mentioned how much he’s hyping you and Andrew Wiggins up. How would you describe what it’s like when he’s hyping you up?
“It’s always great to have the leader of the team giving you guys that type of confidence. And it’s not like we lost it. It’s just every other day, no matter if we have confidence or not, it’s always there. It was happy for me and Wiggs at the same time to just tell us to keep going no matter what.”
1:26 You had nine more makes in the restricted area today. How much of that is the spacing that you’re talking about? How much of it is just kind of a concerted effort to get to the rim?
“It’s more focusing on getting to the rim every time. and obviously just every other day just working on my touches. Because you could get there, you don’t know what to do. Because at the end of the day there’s going to be a defender. And I was just working on my touches and it’s important to focus in on getting to the rim every time. Because like we always say, we got so many shooters and having those type of shooters help you with the spacing and you don’t need to take a shot because the floor is spread out.”
2:09 Do you feel like you’re getting more freedom to kind of explore a little bit offensively?
“Definitely, for sure. And I’m not taking that for granted because it’s just that it’s a situation that I’m in now where they give me that type of tries to do certain things. And just looking forward to expand even more and that comes with me doing the right things to have my coaches trust me.”
2:48 You got 39 minutes tonight. It’s been pretty regular 30s now. How comfortable are you starting to feel that? You have a role on a nightly basis that is really about 30 minutes plus every night.
“It’s always feel like I have a role. It’s a matter of fact, so just getting better every other day and as much as I get better, as long as they don’t stop trusting me and giving me those type of minutes, I’m not just gonna go out there and just do things that I’m not supposed to do and expect to play 30 minutes. Just go and give all I got and obviously they just see and trust me and just give me those minutes.”
3:29 When you got your technical, it was Draymond coming over to kind of calm you down. Did you register that, ‘I got Draymond over here trying to calm me’?
“it was just a funny way that I got a tech. I kind of just wave it off because I was trying to explain to him, I keep getting fouled every other time and he didn’t want to listen to me. And just seeing Dremond being on my side, that just motivated me more to just keep up the same energy.”
4:02 You’re looking more aggressive per game, showing a lot of confidence especially on fast breaks when you dunk. What areas of your game do you feel like you’re most comfortable with and what areas do you think that you want to improve?
“I’m most confident, like I always say, I’m more of a guy who will attack the rim most of the time and I just want to get more confidence just making those threes when I’m wide open. And I feel like I’m working towards it every other day and at some point they’re all just going to fall in.”
4:41 Steph, you guys are clearly going with the Draymond at center, Kuminga, Wiggins unit. What’s different about you guys when those guys are playing like this? Is it a different feel when those three are together?
STEPHEN CURRY: “The biggest thing is, if we can find a way to not fail to get stops, use obviously the speed at those three positions, physicality, athleticism, it makes our offense a little bit easier. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds in the first quarter, but once we settled that, our offense fed off our defense – and you see JK getting run-out layups, you see Wiggs operating in space, me and Draymond getting into pick-and-roll situations – so it’s if we could play bigger than our size then it usually works in our favor. That’s just the challenge on a nightly basis, depending on matchups and who we’re facing, that all five guys are working together defensively.”
5:49 Kuminga’s had stretches and even past seasons where it feels like he’s coming along and then it’s kind of been a stop-start. What do you feel is different about what he’s doing this time around?
“A lot to learn. in general, just clarity on how you can impact the game, defensive intensity and pressure, taking what the offense gets,. the defense gives him on the offensive end, whether it’s attacking, driving lanes, finishing the round. Like I said, there’s just an element of aggressiveness. You know you don’t want him out there second-guessing anything. And for the most part he’s done that really consistently and it’s given him a lot of results, obviously. And he’s out there, 39 minutes, that obviously helps.”
8:52 There was a play with about 230 left where Nick Nurse sends the double at you off of coming. You kind of toss it over to him. He goes, scores. Is that a satisfying kind of moment for you or a situation where it is a guy like Nurse, who I know you have a history, with sending a double and you just kind of get an easy bucket right off that because of what Kuminga is doing in a lot of ways.
“Yeah even without Klay tonight, who’s a spacer out here, you have to be aware of where he is. Just like you said, make the simple play and something good came out of it which was nice. And that is. maybe you know, last year or a couple months ago, it might have been a pump-fake trying to analyze the situation and then by that time, the defense kind of can get reset, like whatever the play is, whatever the look is or the decision he made is the right one. Just be aggressive. So it does help to take advantage … it’s a great opportunity for us to take advantage of advantages like that and give us great momentum.”
7:59 About 70 percent of your games have been clutch games. Tonight was the exception although it was headed in that direction until late in the fourth quarter. What have you guys learned about yourselves when you’re playing all these close tight games that are five points, five minutes or less remaining?
“What did we learn? We gotta be better. We’ve lost too many of those. For various reasons. I think the challenge is to not – I was talking about the last game – is to not get deflated or defeated when you’re in those situations. It’s just losing confidence or whatever because of the past results, like you have to believe that whatever night it is, that’s your night to get over the hump, man. That’s why there’s a lot of frustration at the last game because there’s another opportunity missed. On the road coming up you gotta expect that there’s gonna be four games like that that you have to. Be prepared for it; we’re getting better, but better is only good if you win.”
9:20 Steph, Brandin played in the starting lineup tonight and plays for Klay. Brandin has described himself as a mini-Draymond. What do you think?
“Yeah. Love it. I love it. I love that guy so much.”
What do you think of that description? And also what are your thoughts on him being selected for the Rising Stars game?
“Great honor. Great acknowledgement. Considering where he’s been his last three years from college to now that he tweeted about dreams coming true, whatever it was, a couple months ago. I don’t know about that comparison though. I don’t know. I’ll let that let him and Draymond figure out their similarities and differences but I just love his confidence when he’s out there. He gives us great energy. He gives us in practice and games, like he knows he belongs and you can’t teach that. And then it’s just about him learning lessons. He needs to learn as a guy that’s being trusted to play heavy minutes and continue to get better, so he comes with that attitude every night…”
10:42 Speaking of Draymond, Steve said that Draymond lifts up Andrew. He lifts up Kuminga and Draymond shared what he tells JK each game, which is, ‘Nobody in the world can stop you.’ How much do those kinds of affirmations and encouraging words and behind-the-scenes pep talks matter for these guys coming from Draymond?
“I’m sure they matter a lot. I don’t know how they would explain it. I don’t think JK started about it giving him a little boost of confidence. The cool part is Draymond had those type of guys, Jermaine O’Neal, David West, David Lee, when he was with us, like that’s a vet’s job to be the sounding board, be that gas in the tank for the young guys. And what they do with that energy and that confidence is up to them. So that’s a team atmosphere and I love the fact that they’re open to that motivation knowing that it is coming from Draymond and coming from a lot of different different ways. And like I said it’s up to them to figure out what they wanna do with that.”
12:01 And your three-point shootout at All-Star Weekend. How much fun is this going to be with you and Sabrina?
“It’s going to be awesome. I know it’s something that hasn’t been done before. And the fact that we get to be on that stage and from last summer when they had their All-Star Game and she shocked the world what she did to the conversation around that. And now the challenge, I’m excited of what’s going to happen in Indiana, so I’m excited. I’m coming to win. I know she is too. She said she’s moving back to the NBA line. You could tell how much confidence she has in herself. So everybody obviously tuning in should should love it.”
12:53 Steph, you mentioned earlier about playing bigger than your size of the team tonight. You had Joel Embiid … 8 turnovers. What was the defensive mentality going in? And how do you feel about how it was executed?
“You could play the best defense in the world against that dude and you can have whatever you have, 70, whatever. So like it does require a team effort, requires you giving up something. You know he’s gonna get to his mid-range. He’s gonna draw a crowd, attention. You’re gonna have somebody probably open on the weak side. And everybody has to just fly around and rotate. I know he’s dealing with some knee stuff, but you just gotta continue to send bodies at him and make it as tough as possible. He’s such a great player. You play the best defense in the world and he could still get a bucket. So up until he got hurt, we worked in our favor and we executed our game plan pretty well.”
13:54 Also it looked like the whole building was live tonight when the NFC Championship winners stroll through the night. What’s your Super Bowl prediction?
“Obviously, being here you know it will be a big game. So you love to see the Niners get it done. I do love Mahomes and Kelce, got to play golf with them this summer. I see him in Tahoe every year. So we have a pretty good relationship. In my household it’s just a win-win kind of vibe. But obviously hometown team. How long has it been since they won? (1995.) You’d love to see that.”
14:31 Kerr mentioned that you guys are doing some things differently than you have in the past. Draymond, he said, ‘Listen, if you do the same thing for 10 years, opponents are going to figure some of it out.’ How different are things for you? Is it as simple as maybe a little more isolation, less of the ball movement to get one-on-one situations? And do you think it was about something you had to do?
“This team is different than teams that we’ve had in the past in a long time. And because this team is different, some of the patterns that we’ve been used to and Draymond out for so long, it opened up opportunities to kind of reassess how we’re trying to create shots, how we’re trying to create momentum offensively. And even how teams have gotten a little bit more extreme and try to take me and Klay out of that off-ball stuff and crowd our space and make other guys try to handle, make plays. So you have to lean into that and get a little bit organized. There’s times throughout the year where we do simplify the offense a little bit, to try to get out of a rut or kind of a downswing and we had that conversation a couple of – probably last week. We’ve been playing better offensively and there’s a little bit more organization on that end. Now, you have to marry that with the defensive side. I know we’ve lost the last two games before and won tonight, but our offense has been really solid. We’re getting better. It’s just we gotta keep doing it.”
16:24 As the team is on the road … in the second half of the season … It’s a hard game schedule, the significance of each game intensifies… Could you elaborate on how to make sure you can take enough rest and play and perform well and have the team move forward?
“Five-game trip is gonna be tough. You know our record where it is. We need every single one of them. To get to All-Star Break with momentum and we’ll get our rest. We’ll get our recovery. Everybody hopefully can be available. We’re starting to get some guys back over the next couple weeks but every game is important. And the challenge is rough because we’re four games under .500. And we know we need to make up some ground before things get out of hand.”
0:00 Clearly they’re going with you, Kuminga and Wiggins for big stretches. What’s your role in that? And how do you think that’s working?
DRAYMOND GREEN POSTGAME PHI-GSW: “I think it’s working good. The speed and athleticism out at that unit. A lot of interchangeable parts, defense, great length. I think it’s going well for us. And then the level that both of those guys are playing at, which is what allows it to work. So you got to give those guys a lot of credit. For me, it’s just about being an anchor on the defensive end. When you got JK and Wiggs hawking the ball, it’s important that they feel comfortable with the defense that’s behind them. So it’s on me to make sure I’m talking. And then also making sure that the ball is moving around in that unit. At times we sometimes get a bit stagnant. And so just making sure everybody’s getting involved on the offensive end. Taking advantage of the weapons that we have out there.”
1:09 There was a play with about 2m30 left where they were getting kind of desperate late, but they doubled off coming at Steph at half court, threw it over to JK and he went to the rim. What has he given you in that aspect? Is it just downhill attacking creases and making it so it will be more difficult for teams to do stuff like that?
“The way he’s attacking the basket, I don’t think there’s anyone that can stop him from getting to his spot. So at times I go at him a little bit about, like, ‘You took the three and that’s fine. I don’t mind you taking the three. But can somebody stop you from getting anywhere you want to go?’ And just challenging him. And then also building trust. And so he know that. No matter how it’s going we trust him and we got his back. And when he’s attacking the basket like he is, there’s not many people in this league that can jump with him. See how shocked he was when KJ blocked his shot? There’s not many people that’s doing that. And so when you’re double-teaming Steph and all those things and he’s getting downhill like that, it’s a tough matchup for anybody.”
2:34 Dray, you’re shooting it really well from deep this year, over 40%. I guess going into the year or throughout the year, have you been doing anything different preparation wise with Trav (Travis Walton) or with Jacob (Rubin) with your shooting, or just talk a little bit about how you’ve been shooting this year and why you think you’ve been shooting it so well?
“Obviously I’ve every summer I work, so I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh man, I worked this summer,’ like, we work every summer. I don’t think there’s many people that work harder than me and Travis works. But it started with building the confidence and then just trusting it, catching the ball in rhythm and shooting it. For so many years I stopped shooting in rhythm and then you catch it, you wait, you look, you look, you look and then all of a sudden you shoot. There’s no rhythm to that shot and so I think for me, catching the ball in rhythm, being confident in the shot and then it also helps when your teammates and your coaches are confident in it as well. And for me that was huge. And then I did a lot of meeting with Graig (Chow) on our staff, just about my shooting and in the thought process behind it, because a lot of times it’s very mental, sometimes more mental than physical and so I did a lot of work on the mental aspect of it as well and just trusting my shot and knowing that I forget the shot. Make the right play. And I think for me that was great for me to look at it through a different lens. It’s been working for me.”
4:09 Draymond, the guys were really excited anticipating your return because you’re the floor general. So in your mind — and I know you can’t fix things overnight — what do you see that’s improved since you’ve been back and what still needs work moving forward?
“We can be better at not turning the ball over. I thought we had some careless turnovers tonight especially early on in the game. Being more consistent on the defensive end; I think we’re starting to fly around on that side of the ball. But being more consistent rebounding the ball better. We got off to a terrible start rebounding. I’m not sure what it was, what was the final — dang, we actually ended up out-rebounding them. But I think they had seven offensive rebounds in the first six minutes of the game. And so cleaning that up and then making sure that we’re organized on the offensive end. That’s what I try to bring to this team. Just making sure the right guys are getting the ball in the right spots. A lot of that obviously falls on Steph, who has the ball, but when I do have the ball, just trying to direct traffic, get guys in the right spots and situations, actions that I know would be successful for us. It’s been fun. I think it’s starting to come together for us now. So you just gotta put some wins, string some wins together.”
5:27 Dray, you guys have gotten the most we’ve ever seen out of Andrew Wiggins leading with a championship. And then he just had a rough patch where he kind of looked like a player we’d never seen before. What do you think of how he’s kind of climbing his way back and regaining his form? And what has been your advice to him while he’s trying to find his way back?
“My advice to him is, ‘You’re damn good at basketball. People are going to talk. I’m going to say this. They’re going to say that. But you’re very good at this game and trust in that, know that you have our trust so it’s not that the lack of trust; isn’t coming from inside this locker room.’ So who cares what anybody else thinks? What we need is an aggressive Andrew Wiggins, looking to get downhill, raising up to shoot the ball with confidence. And he’s been doing that. There was never a doubt for me on what level he can play at. We know what he’s capable of. And it’s just about getting back to that. I know what it’s like to struggle with confidence. All of a sudden you hit a rough patch and confidence starts to wane. I know what that feels like. And so you just try to be for him what you’d hope somebody would be for you when you’re struggling with your confidence. And that’s what I try to do, always bring that positive reinforcement. It’s not just me. Jacob Rubin is in his ear all day, every day, and just trying to pull a lot of him. What we know is there. And then Wiggins has taken the onus on himself to be more aggressive, to put the work in and the results are showing for him. So we we just need to make sure they keep playing with that same aggression.”
7:23 Draymond, typically in the past you playing at the center has always been one of the top lineups. But Steve has always tried to kind of limit your minutes at the five. It seems like right now you guys are leaning into that a lot. Do you feel comfortable with the remainder of the season, being able to play more minutes at the five, because people do talk a lot about you guys being an older team?
“Yeah. I’m comfortable. I’ve always felt comfortable playing the five. Not every night do I have to battle with Joel (Embiid) or Anthony Davis, a Joker (Nikola Jokic). So there’s obviously those guys that present a different challenge than most you see around this league. But we kind of don’t have the space to … we’re 20-24 after tonight so not a role in what you think is the best lineup. And right now that lineup has been working for us. So we have to ask players, make sure we continue doing the things that’s making that line of success.”
8:22 What’s been your approach to mentoring and hyping up or mentoring Kuminga as he sort of … struggled with his role and now getting more minutes getting more of a role? How have you been in his ear and helping him?
“You want to know what I tell him? ‘There is nobody in the world that can stop you.’ And then he believe it. And he go and show that there’s no one in the world that can stop him. I think trying to show him different things. One thing when opportunity presents itself, but yet also not over-talking to him not making him think about everything; all players don’t need to think about everything. That’s not everyone’s role to think about everything. I think for me, I try to show him different things that I know or that I pick up on that he can possibly pick up on and that will make a difference for him. But I’m not going to sit here and act like, ‘Man, JK is playing great. It’s all on me,’ like, he put the work in. He’s that talented. He’s that good. And so as one of the leaders on this team you just want to continue to breathe life into him, continue to make sure that he know he has the utmost trust from us. And one thing we talked about is to your point of us getting older, we had older guys ride our legs for years and because we were younger we were able to handle that. So now it’s his turn and he’s going to carry us some now, and I think that’s that’s the maturation process, right? That’s why you draft a young guy like that with a 7th pick, because the role is reversed and you’re starting to see that he’s starting to carry us more than we’re carrying him, and that’s what you hope to see. David Lee set me up for success and then I was able to carry him some, like he carried me early in my career. That’s the maturation process and that’s what you hope to see. And he’s handling it with grace and very well.”
10:42 Draymond, following up on you being the floor general and running the five, tonight you held the monster Joel Embiid to 5-for-18 shooting from the field and also eight turnovers. What was the defensive strategy against him tonight and how satisfied are you with it?
“Just try to make a tough one with any guy like Joel Embiid. You just wanna try to make his catches tough. You wanna try to make the shots that he’s getting tough. And saying that, you can make them tough as you want and he can go for 70. So you just try to contest every shot knowing that he’s the MVP for a reason. He’s great for a reason. You’re going to make him take some tough shots and he’s going to make them. But you live with those results if you know that you put your best foot forward. Those same shots that he missed tonight, he could very much so make them next week. And we know that. You don’t lock a player like Joel Embiid down. You try to make it tough and he either make it or he miss it. And you live with those results. One thing we did a good job of is not fouling, putting him on the free throw line. He’s an animal and very tough to guard. So if you put him on the free throw line and allow him to get a rhythm, you have no chance. And so I thought we did a good job of defending him without fouling. But like I said, it’s a total team effort. There’s never going to be one guy that’s going to shut Joel down. And more times than not, there won’t be a team that’ll be able to shut him down.”
12:12 Steve mentioned that you guys are doing some things differently, didn’t say very specifically … Is there some sense that things had to change a little bit? You guys have been doing it pretty much the same way for a lot of years and obviously one at a time. But has there been a little shift in how necessary was that?
“When teams are chasing you for ten years, at some point they’re going to figure it out and make it tough. It’s starting to get tough. Steve has always been one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever seen at making adjustments, whether that’s in series, whether that’s in game, whether that’s in season or an overall season. He’s one of the greatest at identifying what needs to happen and making those adjustments. And credit to the guys in the locker room for buying into what those adjustments are. As you can see, as the season has gone on, some roles have changed and yet everyone’s buying into that. And so I don’t think it’s necessarily just like, ‘Oh we want to go iso here,’ but also understand that you got to take some of what the defense give you. And then when you start to take what the defense give you, what you ultimately want to get to, then opens up more. So I think that’s what we’re trying to do.”
0:00 Steve when did you know that Klay was going to be out and how did that obviously it affected the rotations did you have to do a drastic change to what you were planning?
STEVE KERR POSTGAME PHI-GSW: “Not a drastic change; I found out about an hour before the game Yodes (Drew Yoder) texted me and Klay wasn’t feeling well. So pretty easy choice to put Brandin in with that group and then obviously that bumped up Lester and he got some minutes and Cory Joseph played behind BP. And so everybody stepped up and did a good job.”
0:35 You got 47 combined from Wiggins and Kuminga. How different does this team, the dynamic of this team, feel now that those two pretty clearly can play together?
“Yeah yeah. I mean Draymond really changed things with his return because he connects those guys at both ends of the floor, just with his communication defensively and then the way he helps get us organized offensively. So, great to see Wiggs and JK both playing so well and playing well together and it’s fun. You can see the team is shifting a little bit with the look, how we’re playing and who were playing. And that’s a night – I know Philly was short-handed – but I thought it was a really good defensive effort from our guys.”
1:24I was gonna ask about that. How did you feel overall about your defense?
“Yeah a lot of a lot of second efforts. some deflections, some loose balls. JK dove on a loose ball fourth quarter that led to a lay up and a time out. I thought that was a key play. I thought Wiggs was everywhere. Raymond (Ridder) put the box score from the Laker game the other night up here. So I don’t know exactly what happened tonight. Did we win? Okay thanks. Brett Winkler would have had the right one. I don’t know if you can see this, but there’s a boxscore up here but that’s I just got to live with the guy that’s here.”
2:03 With Andrew in particular on the offensive end of the floor, what’s clicked for him the last couple of games or what are you liking about the looks he’s getting?
“I think Wiggs has been better for about a month. We saw it with his defense, with his movement, but I think what’s happening now the last few games has – oh thank you, Raymond, better late than never – I just think Wiggs’ defense has been good, like I said, for a month or so but offensively with the lineup change there’s a little more space, the way we’re playing. And we’re able to play a little bit faster and you can see he’s getting downhill and getting to the rim. He’s doing some things that are very comfortable for him. So he’s really starting to get into a good groove.”
2:47 You said you’re doing some different things, just generally. Is it maybe a little more isolation? Certainly Kuminga had the ball up top and dribbling. These are things you’re folding into. What are the changes?
“Well, it’s more where people are on the floor. We’re playing more with one big and spreading the floor. So if JK is playing the four, that’s different than if it’s Loon and Draymond together. So we’re getting more spacing and more ability to attack from different spots on the floor and just trying to keep it really simple offensively and the guys are doing a good job kind of playing off of Steph.”
3:32 How much freedom does he have to dribble it three, four – you’re not a huge dribble guy, I know – I mean, how much freedom are you giving him? ‘Okay you got your guy, so go ahead and feel your way to the basket’?
“Yeah I mean we’re we’re giving him lots of minutes and with the minutes comes production and mistakes and we’re just trying to help him understand that if he can continue to produce by sprinting the floor and getting those buckets in the paint, that we’re willing to live with some of the defensive mistakes and stuff that he’s going to get better and better with. I think he’s really been much better defensively in terms of game plan discipline with more minutes. And so JK’s playing well, playing hard and it’s really fun to see him starting to grow.”
4:27 Steve, looking at where Wiggins has gotten to, how uncanny was his performance? At the lowest point, like we’ve seen him win a championship, but he just looked like a different player looking back on it. How did you process that?
“Yeah I think it was – it felt like a perfect storm in a lot of ways. We had multiple guys struggling at the same time and It wasn’t just individual struggle. If you have multiple guys, it affects the team’s rhythm and we just couldn’t get much going early in the season. And it just feels like he’s in a good rhythm now and he’s been doing this for a long time. And he’s had a lot of ups and downs in his career, but he’s always been a big time scorer. And so it’s fun to see him rounding into form because he took a lot of flack early on and went through a rough patch there. Wiggs is kind of everybody’s favorite guy in the locker room. He’s such an incredible human being and just a kind soul and everyone roots for him and it was tough watching him struggle early in the season. But it’s a great group and they support each other. And I think one of the ways Draymond is really helping is he lifts Wiggs up and he lifts JK up. He’s kind of their hype man, like he makes them feel good about things. And it’s hard to do that when you’re not playing. It’s much easier to do it when you’re actually on the floor. So Draymond’s presence is changing things in a lot of ways.”
6:06 Steve what does Dario do so well when he comes in to playmake to create opportunities? He had seven of your 32 assists. And Trayce also gave you some really key minutes and some of those put backs that you were talking about.
“Dario generates a lot of offense for us because of his post-up ability. And that fourth quarter we went to him three or four times on the block and he generated switches and then they had to react and he made beautiful passes. And so Dario is one of our best shot creators. And I thought he was great tonight. He didn’t make a basket but, like you said, seven assists and generated a lot of offense for us.”
6:47 You were just talking about how Draymond influences JK and he credits a lot of his growth and improvement to Draymond. Do you think that mentorship is obviously great for Jonathan, but for the younger guys, do you see that and think it can be good for some of the second younger guys?
“One of the things I love about Dray is he respects the process of becoming an NBA vet and what it takes. And he talks a lot about how Jermaine O’Neal, Carl Landry, those guys really helped him when he first came in to the league. He’s trying to pay it forward and he wants these guys, these young guys to succeed and have the same kind of success that he’s had. But he knows it requires veteran leadership and mentorship and he’s been great with that this year.”
7:50 There was a specific play late where Nurse doubled Steph with about two and a half minutes to go. He kicked it over to Kuminga and it was just kind of right to the rim because they doubled off Kuminga. Is that really where you see his impact especially offensively for you where a lot of teams do that and maybe you didn’t have the downhill where he’s really giving you a lot.
“For sure, for sure. JK is giving us a lot of easy baskets and the difference now, from the beginning of the season till now, is dramatic in terms of his awareness of spacing and how to get those angles to get those hoops. And so the more minutes he plays the better he’s getting and there’s no question the transition hoops, the buckets in the paint where there’s a loose ball or whatever, somebody drops it to him, we don’t get a lot of those. So his ability to generate those easy points is huge.”
8:54 Coach, tonight Kuminga and Wiggins both had three steals each. This is the first time the Warriors have done that with two players since last year with Curry and Poole. You played with Jordan and Pippen. What’s it like having two guys who can strangle a defense? What’s the impact on the team’s morale?
“I mean that’s a huge part of NBA basketball is having wings who can generate some havoc, create some turnovers. You get out in transition and helps your offense. So it’s been fun to watch the last week or two, watching Kuminga and Wiggins together and feeding off each other and playing well, whereas early in the year they struggled together. Thanks, you guys.”
8:00 (maybe?) joined 30 seconds after tipoff oops
10:25 Beverley hits 2nd FT
10m22 Q1 Dray bad 2nd pf, Steph mad at himself for getting outhustled by PatBev
10m10 Q1 Looney steal
10m02 Q1 Steph BLOB tov
9m29 Q1 JK 94ft
9m00 Q1 Wiggs base vs Oubre aka KO
8m40 Q1 JK help was inside circle Tobias vs BP inside, JK then shoots a J miss
8m00 Q1 Loon so slow and old, loses ball on pass from Wiggs, def3 on BP
7m05 Q1 JK open 3 miss vs Embiid
6m20 Q1 BP doesn’t box out KO
5m51 Q1 Steph bad TD tov, Embiid 3 in return
22:00 we are on pace for 5-6 tov in Q1, also 4 pf, same old turnovers and fouls
24:30 Steph and Dray have been the worst so far (our two best players)
5m32 Q1 ATO Dario to Wiggs dunk, Steph gravity
5m05 Q1 Steph stays in the corner for some unknown reason, Dario kills clock in confusion, BP tov
4m49 Q1 bad tov again Steph
3m15 Q1 Steph left 3 clank
2m28 Q1 Dario bad entry to Loon (6th tov)
2m06 Q1 JK left attack too late, stolen (7th tov)
0m27 Q1 good help TJD on Springer
0m10 Q1 JK went Kawhi mode before the foul, without Steph Klay Dray
0m04 Q1 Steph checks in, doubled, bad shot at buzz
35:00 Embiid went to locker room, he didn’t even want to be on injury report vs Jokic which got the Sixers in trouble
36:30 Turnovers and Fouls in the Warriors handbook of errors has Steph and Dray pics next to it
11m19 Q2 JK blows a layup TD pass Dray and TJD blows putback, PHI score
10m16 Q2 Dray brick
10m02 Q2 JK forgets to box out
9m34 Q2 JK dunk via Dray
8m43 Q2 CoJo bad tov
7m30 Q2 House holding Steph no call, Les miss 3
7m17 Q2 Dray fake DHO and1, took a quarter and half to get Wbball action
6m38 Q2 TJD misses layup on roll from Steph
6m22 Q2 Steph tov again, Bev 3 corner
5m30 Q2 BP good patience alley to TJD
51:45 does TJD get any hate for the missed layups? I doubt it. It’s classic bully-ism or not on Twitter (see below)
52:45 What’s up with Steph sometimes when he starts games?
Old age (34%)
Always been that way (31%)
Just an anomaly, you never know (21%)
Something else (write it in!) (12%)
Poll complete: 47 votes
53:30 Bruce confirms TJD is getting hate on Xitter
4m30 Q2 JK good tap out, BP miss 3, charge vs JK?
3m41 Q2 BP another miss catch 3 early
3m21 Q2 BP good D, then goes left baseline vs Tobias
2m05 Q2 Steph early 3 no good (anxious)
1m46 Q2 Wiggs misses a layup, that’s at least 4-5 today
1m26 Q2 good pressure by Dario and JK but KO dunk, Steph let him by but wanted help from JK
1m08 Q2 Brothers with the superstar call for Steph that he never gets (actually late call, bopped in head by Embiid)
0m35 Q2 JK flies!
1:04:45 JK is cooking but he still had those bad defense brain farts, but that’s how it is with Kerr System, you earn the minutes the hard way then you can make mistakes
1:11:30 Sean Grice comes on: praises BP, comfort is the enemy of progress, we now see some warts
1:12:45 on having another ballhandler
1:14:00 on Klay not getting traded and Wiggs no market per Siegel
1:17:00 on Warriors Basketball havoc in Q4 and OT, esp Reaves
1:19:00 on the refs and offensive fouls not being called
10m50 Q3 Wiggs good screen Steph missed 3
10m13 Q3 BP brings defender to JK who didn’t decide early enough
1:26:30 on Steph KO landing spot challenge
9m04 Q3 BP doubles Embiid, Wiggs swats Bev, Dray misses another layup
8m40 Q3 JK good D on Tobias but no help
8m16 Q3 BP another blown layup (6 or 7?)
7m56 Q3 BP pass to Steph, watches him, traveling Steph (bad call)
7m00 Q3 Wiggs steals oreb from KO
6m51 Q3 BP nice pick for Steph 3 via Dray
6m20 Q3 classic Warriors Basketball fb Dray pick for Steph 3
5m48 Q3 BP 3rd tov on crazy passes
5m31 Q3 Steph sets pick for Wiggs lob dunk
5m06 Q3 BP waited too long to set pick
4m55 Q3 Dario to Steph curl push shot
4m35 Q3 BP takes charge on Embiid
4m11 Q3 Dario gets it, extra pass to heat-check Steph no good
4m01 Q3 Wiggs unnec foul vs Korkmaz, bonus FTs
1:40:45 BP now with 20 charges taken, 2nd in NBA, tied with THJ, Brunson has 23
3m38 Q3 Les 3 via Dario (5th assist)
2m49 Q3 Dray and Dario play hot potato, good push by Dray initially, Dario fouled
2m44 Q3 CoJo Les JK Dario TJD (up by 14)
2m06 Q3 ugly 2nd unit possession
1m50 Q3 bad 1v1 D by Les
HERE
1m26 Q3 Tobias easy layup
1m14 Q3 Korkmaz deflection, Euroleague complaint, Brothers complains back lol
1m02 Q3 JK swatted by Springer (no fake?)
0m42 Q3 Nurse not respecting this squad at all
0m33 Q3 and1 for KMJ, worst five ever, Kerr’s fault
0m12 Q3 JK 1v1 good
0m06 Q3 JK draws bad screen on KMJ good pressure
0m04 Q3 JK downhill, TJD dunk putback at 0.6
1:55:00 Steve Kerr usually stays with the rotation script unless losing the game is in jeopardy, so even though the 2nd unit was a minus-9 at one point, we were still plus-5 overall therefore don’t go off script, because of Celebrini and minutes targets for the main guys
11m24 Q4 Dario 7th assist to Wiggs 3
10m40 Q4 Dario 8th assist to Wiggs down lane layup scoop lefty
10m00 Q4 Korkmaz 3 via help on BP who didn’t want the help
9m43 Q4 Dario jump ball vs Tobias, more bad O but just need to get to 8min mark for Steph
9m31 Q4 Wiggs 6/6 FT!
9m05 Q4 JK fakes 3, could’ve been a blow by without that, then spins, loses it, fouls
8m31 Q4 timeout to get Steph back in
8m18 Q4 BP fakes out Tobias wow
7m45 Q4 challenge on Oubre push of Wiggs — It’s Tony Brothers, so we win the challenge, but normally this is a coin flip, sad to say, Adam!
6m59 Q4 JK 3 at buzz via Wiggs via Steph
6m49 Q4 bad call on JK vs House, gets a tech
6m31 Q4 JK 94ft via Steph
6m20 Q4 Dray bad lead pass after steal by JK
5m56 Q4 Dray draws oreb foul on Embiid, when people say we need a big man, you show them this tape
5m31 Q4 Harris Island Steph left side double step back
5m21 Q4 Bev fouls JK on fb, Steph jumps up and down, Bev hugs JK, smiles
5m08 Q4 should’ve challenged the House vs Dray foul
4m53 Q4 BP miss layup
4m48 Q4 KO goes by BP and Wiggs, Dray hangs head
4m17 Q4 JK great hustle, steals Embiid but lands on his knee — I don’t like knee injury replays, I’ve never seen the Shaun Livingston injury
3m51 Q4 Korkmaz dupes JK just like BP earlier
3m27 Q4 JK settles for 3 over Tobias
3m00 Q4 double Dray leads to BP layup (finally!)
2m30 Q4 BP looks to help Dray, why? Korkmaz 3
2m17 Q4 JK past Tobias wanted an and1
2m13 Q4 Dray charge vs Tobias
1m58 Q4 Dray bad pass to Steph
1m54 Q4 KMJ fouled by JK looked clean — KMJ misses FT, bball gods have to work extra hard because of Adam’s refs
1m28 Q4 another foul vs KO downhill by Wiggs — not bad, nobody has 4 fouls tonight
0m36 Q4 BP to JK thanks to cut by Steph gravity
2:28:45 we closed the Sixers but probably won’t get a credit for a clutch game — NBA definition = within 5 with 5 mins left
2:32:00 DRAYMOND ON-COURT POSTGAME AUDIO: “one thing about Wiggs… you don’t have to rah rah him (just tell him what you want)
2:38:30 Bruce on what Steph said on TNT: he talked about ripping the jersey as a sign of frustration and wanting to win. Thanked Vince Carter for pointers in Toronto
2:41:00 DEAN JOINS US: JK was great
2:42:30 probably don’t trade Wiggs now, less pressure to do
2:45:45 we take a poll on what Draymond’s “real” record is with GSW as we are 20-24
2:48:30 average height has gone up where tallest player has gone down
2:52:00 trade Looney? Heck no! (No one we can get back at same value and he’s built for the playoffs)
2:56:00 on not trading for anybody, not even Bruce Brown, for Wiggs
3:03:00 STEVE POSTGAME AUDIO
3:06:45 GSW might’ve only had 6 tov after halftime (16 tov vs PHI 16 tov)
3:09:30 Steph on the 49ers in the tunnel postgame
3:11:45 JK POSTGAME AUDIO
3:16:15 @Dean Agan So the Lakers must also have an identity problem as well (like we used to before this new starting lineup and Draymond coming back), but it SHOULD be the identity that beat us in OT2
3:17:30 WIGGS RADIO POSTGAME AUDIO
3:18:30 GP2 interrupts Wiggs: “That’s how you play!”
3:20:00 STEPH TNT POSTGAME AUDIO
3:25:30 JOE LACOB JERSEYS WITH NINERS
3:27:00 DRAYMOND POSTGAME AUDIO
3:32:30 Dean says Steph should shoot it even farther when Sabrina said she’ll shoot from the NBA line
3:32:45 is Draymond not missing to left or right because of being more in a seated launch?
3:38:00 Arbel: Slater said Jonathan Kuminga’s minute totals the last six games: 30, 29, 29, 30, 43, 39. “I’m not going to go out there and do things I’m not supposed to do and expect to get 30 minutes”
3:38:30 Dean: Steph had an EFG% of 95%
3:41:30 on if Sabrina had deleted her tweet
3:42:15 STEPH POSTGAME AUDIO
3:50:45 Dean says NBA fouls have gone up in post ups and wonders if JK has been a beneficiary
3:54:15 on JK’s tech
4:05:15 ENTIRE STEVE POSTGAME VIDEO for 9mins
4:15:45 Dean on Wiggins “kind soul”, is that why he’s attacked so much by the media?
4:34:45 the We Believe team got bounced exactly at the same point as GSW last season! (on Kerr believing in the team more than the average person, or fan at Oracle 2007)
4:40:30 ENTIRE JK POSTGAME VIDEO
4:50:00 ENTIRE DRAY POSTGAME VIDEO
5:10:45 Dray referenced GSW mental coach Graig Chow
5:11:30 LeBron tweet was a sand timer
5:16:15 ENTIRE STEPH POSTGAME VIDEO
5:35:00 TRAYCE POSTGAME AUDIO
5:39:00 on Sabrina and then how special it was to be on a team and layup lines, in basketball there’s the pregame
KERR PREGAME on Sabrina Ionescu v Steph Curry 3pt contest: “modern day Battle of the Sexes”; Moody; Draymond
👍👍💛💙