It’s too crazy these days pregame with too many things on my plate before I go on the live chat, so I’ll just leave it short and sweet: Steve Kerr and Monty Williams pregame before Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors (video above clickable, Williams halfway down the post):
STEVE
• What are you looking for in these games? “Still looking for defense…can we be the team we were…Energy, continuity…watching the earlier Phoenix games…we look like a different team defensively…we watched it for the first forty, fifty games of the year…”
• Andre said it was fundamentals: “…it’s all tied together…five guys playing with great energy and alertness, covering up for each other…could be a bunch of turnovers on offense that lead to a bunch of fouling, fast break points…”
•Steph’s defense: “…Draymond…the engine…we had a lot of guys playing at a high level…”
• Kuminga starting? “I’m not going to reveal…”
• Phoenix: “Phenomenal. The continuity that they had…once they added Chris…”
• Poole presence in the locker room: “…gained a lot of confidence…leadership role particularly with his young teammates…the young leading the young…”
• What is watching film of old Phoenix games like, like you mentioned? “You pretty much nailed what happened…”
• Pointing out what’s wrong, repeated: “Point it out again. Maybe get kicked out of a game…I can make excuses but the don’t really matter…nobody cares…at the end of the year you’re either playing well or you’re not…there’s no asterisk…” 🚨
• Draymond called himself out: “I think it’s great. He’s holding himself accountable. There’s a standard we all need to reach…he’s never had a mid-season injury…. He’s a rhythm player…depends on conditioning…force…he’s usually not great the first few days of training camp…when he got hurt he was having an all star season…eight weeks off especially with a back injury…extra gear that he needs to be able to rotate…elevate…he’s not there yet…confident that as that happens the team’s performance will come with it.”
• Mind moving at a different speed for Draymond: “…he said it the other night, he’s not used to not being a factor…individual impact on winning…hard to quantify…unique…his force, his will, his desire…”
• Celebrini on Steph? “They work every day…it’s a matter of playing time and games…I have great faith he’s gonna find it here. He just needs the reps.”
• Steph: “He’s found a lot of stuff with Rick, not sound a lot of basketball stuff yet. He’s doing his rehab…the treadmill in the pool, a lot of stuff in the weight room, but not on court stuff…trending in a good direction.”
• Playoff seedings: “…I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about…a byproduct of how we’re playing. Or while focus is what can we do t mo play better and see how it shakes out.”
MONTY VIDEO HERE
MONTY
• No. 1: “…celebrate…(but) basketball can become boring when it’s just about one thing…”
• Cam Johnson: “…not playing.”
• Cam impatient to come back? “I try not to hit guys with too many things…(too much to) pressure to get back on the floor…”
• No Steph but still have others: “…respecting who they are…but playing to our standards…when you watch the film, same ball movement, same shot making…you’ve taken away a generational talent…but the way they play is still the same…”
• Chris Paul: “He’s been good…ability to manage games…still has to develop the capacity and conditioning…(in practice) doing stuff that no one will ever know about…”
• Details? “Nah that’s stuff is all in house (but he’sa hard worker)…”
• Talk to Chris: “…I do that with a few of our guys on the way home…”
• Question on Shamet: “…wants to do well but he also wants to please everybody…(people telling him) bro go hoop…that’s the guy I saw in Philly…”
• Chris Paul unique passer: “…Stockton had the same guy…Mark, Jason and Chris probably did it the same way…not to take away from John Stockton…What is it like to be Jacques Cousteau…my lady five years in the league were one year deals…I got no idea…”
• Any CP plays that stick out? “…when somebody makes a play, he’ll look over at me…with the same joy…”
• CP having confidence in Monty play calls: “…how do you put that into words?…”
•Jordan Poole: “Right there with all the top scorers in the league. Case and point…body movement…he’s learning how to play like Steph…Last year they didn’t play as quickly…corporate knowledge…give him different looks…physical…”
👍👍💛💙