“Work-in-progress Warriors” until Draymond gets back

Trying something new here. If you haven’t checked out one of my “ManningCast” livestreams, I will often do on-the-spot analysis of Xs and Os that I see, in the context of the Golden State Warriors’ culture — Example: While everyone on social media is throwing Klay Thompson under the bus, we, like Stephen Curry said on the podium postgame Tuesday, they have innate “faith in Klay” and the topic of benching him never even crossed our minds.

That is to say, if you’re a casual fan ready to complain about anything and everything, please don’t join us. Lol. But if you’re on the other end of the spectrum, tired of all the outrage on Twitter or whatever platform you frequent, give us a try. If I do say so myself, we are a breath of fresh air and how we carry ourselves on each livechat can be directly translated to your daily lives. And by “we” I mean our commenters in the live chat, not to mention my oft-mentioned co-host, Dean “of Positivity” Chambers. Alright, let’s go!…

I take notes while I do play-by-play, often times even clipping the last play before a timeout. It can get quite granular and I tend to lean towards pointing out stuff that hardly anybody else notices. So 95% of the dunks and the splashes, you don’t come yo me for that. That’s on highlight channels on YouTube if you miss those. My idea here is to break up all my game notes by topic, whether that’s team issues or player or what have you. The cool thing is, some of the notes are actually offered by our audience. Most everything has an approximate time of game.

This was initially my strategy for clipping plays and doing Xs and Os videos on the channel, but those are difficult to construct, as you can imagine. I mean, you don’t see a lot of those out there because they’re hard to produce. I once did an experiment and had a buddy of mine who works for GSW Academy clip a list of plays from game film. It took him five hours! Granted, I can still do it now much more efficiently, but it takes a relatively long time. Not to mention the copyright issues with the NBA that people will encounter when doing film study. That’s why my friend Coach Nick is as successful as he is with his renowned BBALLBREAKDOWN channel.

So let us begin with the Phoenix Suns game, in sort of chronological order as to how things unfolded from tipoff and onward, but also regrouped as necessary…

DEFENSE GOT OFF ON WRONG FOOT

The first play being a standard pick-and-roll (aka “P&R” or the lazier “PnR” or the even lazier “PNR” in basketball vernacular) with Kevin Durant leading to an easy bucket at the rim by Jusuf Nurkic ended up being the proverbial “getting off on the wrong foot”, or “the epitome the whole night”. Like, sheesh. But, hey, it was KD and Nurkic is a pretty decent center — btw, his backup Drew Eubanks had a whale of a game, as you’ll note below. Oh well, the Warriors are, indeed, a work-in-progress. Scout’s honor, I had this phrase all written up and, sure enough, Steve Kerr said it on the podium Thursday (transcript will be up, soon).

But then we had Curry not boxing out many-a-time. I often will nitpick his game specifically, just as an example to the casuals who are looking to blame easy victims (read: Klay, as far as Tuesday night was concerned, at least on Twitter and as discovered postgame by our guy Bruce Maro, one of the regulars in our game live chats — fyi my timeline is full of NBA beatwriters so I can’t hear any of the casuals unless I happen upon them in the tweet replies or someone tells me).

See, the casuals never blame Steph even though on Opening Night he made some egregious mistakes on defense, probably more than any other player. But defensive mistakes, plural, were also made by Gary Payton II (😱) and Kevon Looney and even Moses Moody and, well, the list goes on. So every game, there’s plenty of blame to go around. That’s why saying Kerr is a “f—khead” (yes, someone actually tweeted that!) is as casual as casual can get. I mean, go make a pie chart of mistakes every game and see how many slices you end up with. I guarantee you, the Steve slice will probably not be the widest one each game.

So if there’s plenty of blame to go around, why do we need to nitpick every little thing? Yes, I am nitpicking here in these Game Notes series, but I’m also wanting everyone to realize that there isn’t a day that goes by where everything goes perfectly. So, you know, just chill. Know what you did wrong, find confidence in you figuring that out and trying your best, and as Curry says nearly every time on the podium after a loss, “Enjoy the process.”

And so part of my diatribe of Game 1 of 82 is the meme of the pursed lips guy. This was our defense:

And so our “work-in-progress Warriors” might have some struggles against elite offenses of the NBA, namely Phoenix, the Sacramento Kings coming up quick, and the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a road back-to-back. Fair warning, DubNation!

The other thing to say is, a lot of this goes away by the mere presence of Draymond Green. That’s one of the beauties of studying game film. It makes you appreciate certain guys. And while Michael Jordan made his fair share of All-Defense teams, we do remember him 90% or more for his offense. So I want to say Draymond is to defense what MJ was to offense. And I can’t wait to have him back, because a lot of what I saw in the Suns game film does not happen with him on the court.

And so looking at the notes below, it’s funny when I hear Steve on the postgame podium and maybe even the day after, and he’s pointing out those little tidbits of what the Warriors can do better — and those are the exact “brain farts” that I saw Steph make! Lol.

I want to address the last few notes below that relate to this section that is team defense. First, on the one where GP2 completely lost Devin Booker: well, we were in scramble mode (probably after a Suns offensive rebound?) and GP2 was, as Dray would say, “flying around”. So I can forgive him for losing DBook on a broken play. Then again, you can’t lose DBook on a broken play, especially with under five minutes to go in the 4th (🤷🏻‍♂️).

Cholo Abenes in the comments felt that we weren’t as hungry to get this win as the Suns were. I will take it a step further and say that it doesn’t help when your coach goes on the podium before the game even starts to say we’re definitely not there yet. I mean, that is definitely talk you avoid if this were one of those “must-win” playoff games.

Clearly, it was not. But also, clearly, our guys were playing as if they were trying not to make a mistake. And when a guy like Josh Okogie charges his 6’4” 213-lb frame into the paint to crash the boards, Wardell at 6’3” 190 thinking, “Okay, where should I be right now?” isn’t the right mentally to box a linebacker-ish body out.

You’re effectively removing physicality from your arsenal when you’re telling your team that they have a long ways to go, but try your best tonight and we’ll get there by Week Four. Then again, you want your coach to be honest with you. In this era it’s better to know the truth and be nurtured through all the ups and downs than the old Bobby Knight “tough it out” way.

Before moving on to the next section, which is about Curry, I just think there was a lot of lack of trust out there. The egregious non-box-out of Okogie which led to the and-one wasn’t so much Steph ignoring Okogie crashing as it was giving too much attention to the pick-and-roll happening fifteen feet away and not trusting that Looney or whomever else was involved could handle it. Granted, it was usually Booker in that set, but do you think Steph would do that with Draymond involved in said PNR?

11m33 Q1 give up easy PNR to KD x Nurkic
4m45 Q2 bad team defense, Steph looked bad on Okogie baseline bucket
1:23:45 we actually had these same problems last season, we just didn’t have training camp to work on this
4m12 Q4 GP leaves Booker open
0m18 Q4 we played pretty good defense on Book to Nurkic
3:32:00 Cholo: hopefully after this game, they’d feel hungrier for wins.

STEPH NEEDED DRAY

So remember when Steve said postgame that Okogie was the key factor of the game? Guess who wasn’t boxing him out on more than one occasion? And I might add that he let Okogie’s backup, Grayson Allen, go, twice. Now, the Okogie dagger from the corner, that was on Chris Paul, although I didn’t actually blame CP, and I’ll talk about that in his section.

I know Steph was his glorious self on offense. There was at least one “organized chaos” moment when Jonathan Kuminga tipped an offensive rebound to GOAT for a splash (I trust the hometown scorekeeper recorded that as an offensive rebound and assist for JK).

But 30’s defense was bad. I’m not even talking about the fouls. That fifth one not only was a mindless reach, but also took himself and his gravity out of the game. At least it’s all mental, though.

On a couple of occasions, as I said, it was more about lack of trust of teammates defending the strong-side PNR. And everyone was guilty of helping too much.

As we’re talking about one of the primary ball-handlers, let me also delve into the topic of Draymond on offense. Man, we relied on the pick-and-roll a lot against the Suns. Just check the crickets that is the “Tiki-taka” section below. This game should be one of those “oh by the way, the Warriors looked bad when he was gone” examples when the secret voters of the Hall of Fame convene. I never thought I’d miss Dray this much. Our offense is just beautiful with him running it.

That being said, Steph — and CP3, as you’ll read — are masters of naming islands after big men (e.g., “Nurkic Island” in the notes below).

11m15 Q1 Steph side step 3 via Loon screen
3m10 Q1 Steph notices Eubanks can’t cover him, finally a layup, subs out 3m07
4m45 Q2 bad team defense, Steph looked bad on Okogie baseline bucket
0m50 Q2 Okogie and-1 vs Steph again (hangs head, Wiggs should’ve made the layup)
11m52 Q3 Steph doesn’t box out Grayson!
11m00 Q3 good PNR Wiggs Steph
8m02 Q3 Steph again loses Grayson
2m25 Q3 Steph victimizes Watanabe with the bonus
10m52 Q4 Steph brain fart 5th foul
0m37 Q4 JK tip to Steph 3!

CP3 IS A DAWG

It’s like when you switch cellphone carriers and realize it comes with little extra bonuses that you can actually use. Not only do you get CP’s pick-and-roll genius (Nurkic and Eubanks Islands) and the entry passes at near-impossible angles, but you also get the dawg defense and the holding of referees accountable.

So every game you’ll get at least one or two instances where Chris dupes the offense into a mistake (e.g., the steal on DBook coming downhill on him, which was elite). I love how intense CP3 is out there and I believe it actually helps improve the officiating. Have you guys seen the viral video of Larry Bird telling the ref not to quit on a game when the Boston Celtics were down 30? Thank you, Bill Walton! 🤗

larry_bird_lovers

A post shared by @larry_bird_lovers

It was also nice to see Andrew Wiggins benefit on multiple CP passes, and that both of them were utilized in designed plays.

As far as that late sequence where Book found Okogie in the corner for the dagger, who with Steph benched, was CP’s cover: Again, that one to me was him not trusting GP2’s defense, as well as Loon’s. That’ll improve with time and virtually goes away with Draymond there. I’m thinking that maybe CP and Steph were able to get away with the over-help during closed scrimmages in training camp. Not gonna happen against the Suns (or the Kings and maybe even the Pelicans).

10m50 Q1 CP entry to Wiggs on base inbound
7m12 Q1 CP3 draws charge on KD in post
10m10 Q2 CP3 bangs his fists together, might’ve meant that he had Eubanks, mismatch
9m55 Q3 Wiggs dunk via CP (good misdirect, credit Steve)
4m00 Q3 CP knows when to blow by Nurkic
6m30 Q4 PHX scores EG to Eubanks dunk, I like CP complaining to ref
3m12 Q4 CP3 bamboozles Book downhill
1m50 Q4 CP3 steals Okogie
1m15 Q4 CP3 shouldn’t have pulled in weakside vs Book, Okogie corner 3

ATOs or INBOUND PLAYS

All of the ATOs (“after timeout” plays) and inbound plays were, true to Kerr form, very productive and executed well. Good to see Klay and Dario Saric combine for at least one of them.

If you want to increase your bball IQ, definitely pay attention to every inbound play after you’re done with commercials during a timeout, as well as the baseline inbound ones.

10m50 Q1 CP entry to Wiggs on base inbound
11m32 Q2 nice base inbound to Dario late cut after pick for Klay
5m50 Q3 Nurkic island vs CP

LOON’s SECOND HALF WAS WAY BETTER

The fact that Looney came out stuck in the mud, then played like the usual Loon we’ve grown accustomed to in the second half, makes me think he might’ve still been suffering from that illness that kept him out last Wednesday’s preseason game. But I could be wrong.

Some people in our comments at halftime were calling for Trayce Jackson-Davis to start for Loon in the second half. Not only were they literally wrong, based on how Kevon played in the second half, but that’s another case of thinking the real-life NBA is anywhere near like an NBA2K video game. In video games, guys play pretty much consistently to their ratings. In real life, it’s not quite that linear, is it?

Also, how do program an illness that you might need a half to burn away or get your legs underneath? TJD is still a rookie at the end of the day. No, we’re not throwing him into a nationally televised game against an elite team with grizzled vet centers like Nurkic and Eubanks. Btw while I’m on the topic, same with Brandin Podziemski. Unless there’s an injury or somebody in front of them is truly playing awful. It’s just not the right time for them, yet. As Kerr said on the podium recently, the NBA has a way of naturally presenting opportunities — unfortunately many times it’s due to injuries, that’s just the nature of the beast.

And while Loon’s PNR defense in the first half wasn’t great — he hedged on Book way too hard on one of them — his second half was brilliant. Twice he disrupted KD attacks with help. Even the last PNR with Book and Nurkic, he was in the right spot and gave enough space to GP2 to recover, and didn’t bite hard on Book like he did earlier.

Speaking of Loon, let’s go back to Dray for a minute. Remember how on the podium he called out Kevon? See my previous transcript of Draymond and others, if you missed that. If I may grossly speculate once again, I think it was because Dray knew we would struggle on defense against the Suns. So he’s relying on Loon in his absence, if we’re to win this game, which was gonna be difficult anyways. So Dray over-corrected for his absence and called out Kevon, but in a caring way. Turns out, Dray was right and Loon was awesome in the second half and I’m assuming he was talking loud as he was helping on KD while maintaining safe distances with Nurkic.

8m46 Q1 Klay to Loon dunk perfectly executed
8m27 Q1 Nurkic fouled by Loon, Dray would’ve pulled the chair
7m08 Q1 Wiggs/Loon horrible backcourt inbound
58:30 Draymond said Looney has to be more vocal:
1:24:45 JTA propped up Looney in his tweet
https://twitter.com/juanonjuan10/status/1716894358841307375
— shown to Shawn Alexander saying “put TJD in the game”
7m35 Q3 great D by Loon on the KD downhill attack
7m20 Q3 good D again vs KD by Loon
6m17 Q3 Loon has come alive with oreb, pass to JK, good cut
5m55 Q4 good read to double KD by Loon, Eubanks brick
5m20 Q4 ATO tiki taka Klay to Loon and-1 (JK in for Wiggs at some point)
0m18 Q4 we played pretty good defense on Book to Nurkic
9m38 Q1 Loon great D on PNR

DEVIN DID BOOKER THINGS

Let’s face it, it’s tough to beat any team with offensive threats like Book and KD. All you can really do is tip your cap to that last assist to Okogie in the corner. But lo and behold, it came at a cost. Booker was ruled out before tipoff vs the LA Lakers Thursday night. And it was listed as his foot, not his toe.

8m59 Q1 Book post fade Kobe and-1

TIKI-TAKA WAS BARELY THERE

We’re the only Warriors journalist who harps on this, even though both Klay and Loon made a big deal of it on NBC Sports Bay Area last season after the loss in Phoenix and the subsequent win at the Houston Rockets. Not a lot of tiki-taka this night, but Klay was in on each of them. Tiki-taka goes full tilt only when Draymond is on the floor, because his fake dribble-handoff can be employed to stagger defenses and initiate “tic-tac-toe” results (which are essentially tiki-taka plays).

8m46 Q1 Klay to Loon dunk perfectly executed
5m20 Q4 ATO tiki taka Klay to Loon and-1 (JK in for Wiggs at some point)

KLAY’s GAME FILM DEFIES CASUALS

And so I could not possibly see the game as such a horrible one for Klay as did the casuals. You run tiki-taka, you’re good. It’s quite simply that for Klay, as I reported last year in that “four rings” loss at Phoenix (unfortunately I can’t find that video on the first pass search).

One particular play on Tuesday was kinda weird. CP got Klay the ball on the deep right wing by the hashmark in front of Steve and the Warriors’ bench, with only about five seconds left on the shotclock. If I were compiling the whole game film, I’d check how we wasted the previous 14+ seconds leading up to that, but nevertheless, Klay was left to make a few jabs, then just launch from the same spot.

As far as superficial “rushed shots” go, there was also a “reload three” after he’d made a previous one — it might’ve even been after his curl jumper snapped an 11-0 run by the Suns. On that one he turned to the bench and said, “My bad.” We’ve seen him do that a few times during the early preseason, especially in the first one.

That he did not launch that aforementioned super-late-shotclock, hashmark-deep three on the catch from CP, tells me that he’s made a conscious effort lately not to be the heat-check version of himself like he was in the first preseason game.

But on both the hashmark catch and the reload sequences, I wouldn’t have minded it. Be you, Klay, but yeah to a point. I think heat-checks on reloads, as well as catches with five seconds left on the clock, are fair game.

The errant pass that went to the courtside seats, which looked bad — so bad that casuals might have, idk, called for his benching? 😂 — wasn’t actually his fault. Now, I often don’t like Klay’s demeanor when he gets frustrated, but yeah, on that one he was clearly frustrated with GP2, but justifiably so.

I showed the clip on the livestream: that was GP2’s fault. Klay gets pinned by two defenders on the right side, the middle of the paint is wide open, but GP2 doesn’t see it. It’s a Brock Purdy-ish incomplete pass to where his receiver should be, but the receiver isn’t there. I can’t blame Klay for that turnover. GP2 had the brain fart there.

And yeah, Klay had that miscommunication with JK on the one PNR you may have seen on Twitter, where Klay points to where JK needs to go but doesn’t go, and that was actually JK’s fault as there was no chance of Klay being able to cover the ground that only JK could cover. But to the casual observer, that play looks like Klay got beat when it’s actually a team thing. Watch for the Kings to hunt Kuminga, assuming their scouting report saw that.

Overall, Klay had a bad shooting night but you know that only means he’ll go off sooner than later. The tiki-takas and inbounds plays he was involved with were nice. This game film is a big “L” for people like the guy who began his complaining about Klay, suggesting he come off the bench, with “I love Klay, but…”

I mean, there should be handbook on how not to be a fake fan. How do you say you love a guy then throw him under the bus within a span of four words? I’ll say for the millionth time: social media commenting has become the opposite of humanity and it’s sad. Don’t be a victim! Donyoybeven realize the Zombie Apocalypse happening on there?

Instead, stay being human by joining us on the livestreams where you can chat real-time and we’ll deal with your mental on the spot. You’ll stay a 3-D consciousness with us, rather than a 2-D thumb-typing “Debbie Downer” 280 characters at a time. You’ll have a safe place to watch the Warriors with joy and gratitude and then carry that back to daily life situations. After all, Steph is the living example of that, isn’t he? I’ll be the one to remind you.

8m46 Q1 Klay to Loon dunk perfectly executed
0m08 Q1 play develops too late, maybe Klay should’ve just launched on the catch from the hashmark
11m32 Q2 nice base inbound to Dario late cut after pick for Klay
2m57 Q2 baseline oob to Klay curl
5m18 Q3 JK x Klay miscomm on PNR EG
8m30 Q4 Killa curl stops 0-11 bleeding
7m51 Q4 I actually disagree with Klay saying my bad on a reload 3
7m30 Q4 Klay bad tov but nobody cut (Wiggs?, Klay body language with GP2)

STAKES NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR WIGGS

When you throw an inbound from the backcourt to a center who is approaching halfcourt, you know you’re not locked in. You have got to wait for your 5 to cross halfcourt. We learned that in middle school. And that’s really it for Wiggs. But hey, he missed three months last season. Technically, this is rust.

But he did have some good plays on stuff designed by Steve and developed chemistry with CP. Alas, when he finally got going, indecision got in the way and he took too long to post up Eric Gordon, then after losing the ball, jogged back on defense. With about five minutes to go, Steve yanked him for JK, the hungrier kid.

As Kerr said on the podium, Wiggs will figure it out and we shouldn’t be worried. It’s very likely he has that breakout game as soon as against the Kings, who really can’t defend him. I mean, Harrison Barnes is solid, but if Wiggs puts it in his mind that HB can’t guard him, so look out for “Maple Jordan” to make an appearance — obviously the basketball gods might be seeing this and HB could very well have a better game than Wiggs, so we’ll see.

10m50 Q1 CP entry to Wiggs on base inbound
7m08 Q1 Wiggs/Loon horrible backcourt inbound
0m50 Q2 Okogie and-1 vs Steph again (hangs head, Wiggs should’ve made the layup)
11m00 Q3 good PNR Wiggs Steph
9m55 Q3 Wiggs dunk via CP (good misdirect, credit Steve)
5m30 Q4 Wiggs slow to post up EG, loses it, then doesn’t get back on D

LESS BRAIN FARTS FOR KUMINGA

With all the skill and athleticism JK has, it just comes down to minimizing the brain farts which will then lead to great decision-making. And he continued this the moment he took the floor, boxing out bigger guys like Nurkic, staying in front of KD and Book, actually drawing a grab of the jersey from Devin that Josh Tiven somehow deemed “immaterial” — since when is nylon not a material? — and participating in a Baby-Faced Assassin chaotic three, as I mentioned.

Sure, the brain farts were there, but they weren’t egregious and didn’t lead to live ball turnovers. Two charges in a row did bring GP2 over for a talk, the miscommunication with Klay will be ironed out in film session and drilled on the practice court, and JK’s less likely to underestimate slow white centers who are actually good defenders from here on out (I mean, it happens in basketball, it just does 🤷🏻‍♂️).

I’m still treasuring that beasting of KD —listed at 240 lbs on Wikipedia — on that free throw putback, though. There’s no way JK can be at 225 lbs, right? No way.

6m58 Q1 JK boxs out Nurkic
4m08 Q1 JK great D on KD leads to downhill bucket vs Eubanks
3m51 Q1 JK too eager vs Eubanks, 2nd pf
2m00 Q1 Dario another oreb, but JK charge (3rd foul), GP came over to give him a talk
7m03 Q3 good D JK vs Book
6m17 Q3 Loon has come alive with oreb, pass to JK, good cut
5m18 Q3 JK x Klay miscomm on PNR EG
5m02 Q3 JK oreb on the FT putback
1m53 Q3 JK blocked by Eubanks, looked surprised
11m22 Q4 JK good leaving hands off, but KD scores
10m35 Q4 JK blocks KD fadeaway
4m41 Q4 Tiven: “immaterial” — that’s a heckuva lot of material made out of nylon
0m37 Q4 JK tip to Steph 3!

MOODY: GREAT MINUTES, BAD SECONDS

Moody’s role has always been the toughest, having to produce in spot minutes and now effectively the backup shooting guard — those clamoring for Klay to come off the bench do realize that the natural replacement would be Moody, right? I mean, starting Moody against the Western Conference’s elite shooting guards is not really the right strategy.

Anyhoo, the plays Moody made were off the charts, just read them below. Then with 33 seconds left in the third, he let Okogie fly by him, a point-of-attack (POA) issue that was prevalent all last season, then he turned the ball over the next possession.

So he fell out of the rotation for the fourth quarter in crunch time with the game hanging in the balance. Overall, he had a good game and if he does this all year, we’ll win a ton of games because of him.

3m25 Q1 Moody blocks EG downhill
2m48 Q1 Moody steal and attack Book (this game is in the margins, good that EG missed)
8m15 Q2 Mo 3 in transition given space
7m05 Q2 Mo deflection
5m32 Q2 Mo steal again
0m33 Q3 Mo bad POA vs Okogie
Postgame: on why Moody didn’t play down the stretch: Moody lost a guy on POA, then committed a tov, so…

DARIO ON DISPLAY

Did Saric really show a crossover in his bag? That bucket to end the third quarter was jaw-dropping, relatively speaking. Last time I was that surprised by someone’s handles was when Jordan Poole went crazy (the double-spin, I think it was?).

And then the defense. For Mike Dunleavy, Jr. and with, apparently, the help of CP3 (see CP’s previous transcript on this website) to get Dario signed on a minimum? Wow. We’re not gonna be able to afford him next year, if the trends go the way they usually go, such as with Otto Porter or Donte DiVicenzo or, heck, GP2. So enjoy Dario while he’s still a Warrior; it’s a long season.

2m00 Q1 Dario another oreb, but JK charge (3rd foul), GP came over to give him a talk
11m32 Q2 nice base inbound to Dario late cut after pick for Klay
9m15 Q2 Eubanks protects rim vs Saric again
2m10 Q2 side inbound and-1 to Okogie wow (Saric should’ve helped)
2m05 Q3 Dario block on EG
0m42 Q3 Dario crossover!!!
0m10 Q3 Dario another block

GP2 CAN STILL CHANGE A GAME ON D

I’ve already spoken on GP2 a lot, above. Despite screwing up on that DBook reload and a couple of brain farts, I don’t even think the casuals doubt that this guy will eventually play mistake-free basketball like you’d expect from a game-changers.

Bruce Bowen of the old San Antonio Spurs comes to mind, in terms of perfect role-playing. GP2 should go down in NBA history as better than Bruce Bowen and for those who don’t know, that is one helluva compliment — but I can totally envision that.

2m00 Q1 Dario another oreb, but JK charge (3rd foul), GP came over to give him a talk
10m20 Q2 GP2 missed dunk vs Eubanks, another missed layup technically (good protect)
7m18 Q3 Okogie again, this time oreb vs GP2
5m35 Q3 GP2 says have my glove smothers DBook, frustration foul
7m30 Q4 Klay bad tov but nobody cut (Wiggs?, Klay body language with GP2)
4m12 Q4 GP leaves Booker open
0m18 Q4 we played pretty good defense on Book to Nurkic

EUBANKS HAD HIMSELF A GAME

I’ll just leave it at this: if Drew Eubanks doesn’t have the performance he had, we probably would’ve won. I actually lost all the game notes on him due to a Substack copy-and-paste mishap, but they’re already sprinkled all over the place on here. On to the next thing…

MISSED LAYUPS IN FIRST HALF

Sigh. Approximately 34% (probably slightly better than that, see estimate below) on field goal attempts AT THE RIM? 🤦🏻‍♂️ ‘Nuff said; that being said, it’s actually shocking we only lost by four. Saric commented on this at Thursday practice, so check that out when it gets published.

Halftime commentary: if we had only made 3 more layups it’d be a 9-point game (18/58 fg, 6/23 3s, therefore 12/35 on 2s) or 34% on layups!!!

STARTERS AS A WHOLE

Sigh, again. Oh well, this is all irrelevant once Dray comes back on Sunday or Monday. And Wiggs will play better and Loon will have a better first half against Domantas Sabonis because there’s more innate urgency against Domas (a seven-game series will train your brain to lock in on this guy than versus Nurkic; that’s no knock on Nurkic, it’s just how it is).

Halftime commentary: Wiggs -27, Steph -24, Loon -21, shouldn’t the naysayers be saying to bench these guys? Or play better?
Postgame commentary: Dean Agan: our starters were -28 in this game while our bench is +8

OKOGIE THE LINEBACKER

I just have to include Josh Okogie’s postgame here, especially since it didn’t even reach 1,000 views 😩

He talked about holding Steph to “human-like numbers”, which is an excellent way to put it. Okogie is a force out there and the NBA better be ready. He and Eubanks tie for players of the game, in my book (pun intended), even though Book was, well, Book.

4m45 Q2 bad team defense, Steph looked bad on Okogie baseline bucket
0m50 Q2 Okogie and-1 vs Steph again (hangs head, Wiggs should’ve made the layup)
2m10 Q2 side inbound and-1 to Okogie wow (Saric should’ve helped)
7m18 Q3 Okogie again, this time oreb vs GP2
0m33 Q3 Mo bad POA vs Okogie

DPOYMOND

I’ll be very concerned about the Warriors’ work-in-progress defense, but at the same time more forgiving, until Dray comes back. And when he does, we should see a palpable improvement. I’m already cool with heading into Houston 0-2. As Steve said on the podium after practice Thursday, it’s really about improvement right now rather than results. Box out, Steph! ✊😁

WHAT’S NEXT

I have the transcript (and video on YouTube) of Steve and Dario from practice already done, but I also haven’t done a news digest in several days. Maybe I’ll lump them together because the viewership numbers for the last two transcripts weren’t that great, although the titles for those were boring.

👍👍💛💙