There was a super-shout-out last night on the podium from Draymond Green to Trayce Jackson-Davis, when asked if watching one Wardell Stephen Curry score their final 10 points was special:
…I wanna mention something that I saw today that no one will give a shit about, sorry. Trayce Jackson-Davis did something on the bench today. He didn’t play in the game. There was no seats left on the bench. Quinten Post said, “Trayce, can I get that seat?” And Trayce just got up and a part of me was baffled that he got up for the rookie because the rookie, if there’s no seat, you sit on the floor. He just got up and gave him the seat and I walked over to him, I said, “That’s one of the most selfless things I’ve ever seen a teammate do, because 99% of the time you gonna be like, you gonna go sit on the floor rook, or go find a seat somewhere else,” but he knew he wasn’t part of the rotation and yet the rookie was there playing the same position and he got up and just went. He literally got up and went and stood in the tunnel ’cause there were no seats and so I just wanted to put that out there because that, to me, that’s why you win games, chemistry and selflessness. It’s togetherness and I just thought that was a huge moment and nobody else saw it except us three and so I wanted to share that because I thought that was really big moment for our bench, that you can make him sit on the floor and nothing happens or you can get up and boost confidence in him and he go back out there and hit a three. And I thought that was special.
Subliminal message to Jonathan Kuminga, you might ask? I don’t think so. I think it was just something Draymond felt was eye-opening for him to share. And I don’t think you can blame Kuminga for any emotions he might be going through right now. To ask him to be a saint throughout getting DNPs in two straight must-win games would be emasculating him of the innate competitive desire of any baller on Earth.
That doesn’t mean Steve Kerr’s decision is unjustified — and maybe I’ll have to do a follow up video essay on that because this really does fall under the cliched category of “it is what it is” — but no one player who is as talented as JK and isn’t straight-up responsible for fumbling games away with awful performances should be expected to accept the “my coach doesn’t trust me and I’m okay with that” stance.
Basketball is still the modern-day glorified gladiator sport. It’s okay to want, you know, glory.
More to say later, and we’ll have some time between now and Sunday. I do plan to go live with some guests on Friday evening — Danny Emerman of the SF Standard is confirmed — for a playoff preview on LetsGoWarriors’ YouTube channel. For now, just wanted to copy-and-paste the transcripts from last night’s Play-in victory:
00:00 I mean the goal for weeks has been to, to make a playoff series, obviously get past the winless record in the Play-in, to do so, just how significant is that and just within the arc of the season to make a playoff series?
00:17 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME MEM-GSW: At this point, I don’t know exactly what point in the year it was when we were below .500 and after a 12-3 start, an emotional rollercoaster of the season for us, to be able to climb our way back into relevancy and then trick off a couple opportunities to get it done within the 82, just came down to having one game where we just get a win, however we could, and thankfully it happened and now with some clarity on who we’re playing in the playoff series. Great Houston team that’s had an amazing year for us, just a sense of relief that we have something to look forward to now and I’m excited about the challenge.
01:07 Steph, as one who’s won championships and many playoff series, where did this Play-in victory rank in your career?
01:16 I’ll put it this way, Mike Dunleavy in the locker room had the game ball and after Coach did his thing, Mike interrupted and was like, “I got the game ball here, four championships,” and he threw it to Steve and said, “This is your first Play-in game win.” So that — obviously, you gotta have some fun with it. It’s done well for the league, obviously, keeping some interest and some drama down the stretch of the season and for us to finally get on the other side of it and live to play, hopefully, a solid seven-game series and it’s exciting.
02:00 Jimmy’s called you Batman about four times tonight.
02:03 What?
02:04 Yeah, he’s on interviews on TV, on the podium. He’s calling you Batman and him Robin. Has he done that to you?
02:12 No, that’s why I said, “What?” I hadn’t had heard that one yet.
02:16 38 from him tonight. I know there was some talk maybe in kind of the weeks leading up to this past week about him, does he need to amp up his scoring aggression, did you ever push him to, or did you know it was coming? Did you ever want it to come sooner?
02:34 There’s been a few games here and there sporadically where he has been a little — or he’s been a little bit more aggressive looking for a shot. He’s obviously getting to free throw line and I think it’s obviously the sense of urgency of winning games that matter down the stretch, but I never doubted it that was coming. It’s just he always has a sense of pride on him, playing the right way and whatever the game calls for and I think he kind of understood that he’s been here before. He understands the nerves and the adrenaline and the expectations and none of that rattles him. It’s just, he plays basketball at a high level, so that’s what’s coming out. I don’t think it’s, I mean, it’s predetermined that he’s being aggressive, but it’s just because of the moment and so we definitely needed every one of them and you could tell he is a dog and a winner and loves these type of environments and it brings the best out of him.
03:38 Steph, over here. You’ve played a lot, obviously, with GP over the years. Why do you guys mesh so well together and how instrumental can he be in the playoffs as he was at times in ’22 and as he obviously was tonight beyond just his defense?
03:56 Well, you have to start with his defense ’cause that’s the way he can change a game with his ball pressure, just his knack for the ball. And then offensively, it’s no secret they’re gonna play off of him, force him to knock down shots. He’s not afraid of taking them. He can knock him down. He’s great in the pocket, getting to the basket. He just knows how to play basketball and if he doesn’t have a shot, he’s swinging it and setting great pin-in screens for me, just always in the right spot and he uses his athleticism to his advantage, so if they put bigger guys on him, he takes advantage of it. And he is a savvy veteran that way and he’s always made an impact and me and him have a great chemistry ’cause you gotta give up something.
04:45 Draymond said he is really looking forward to that first film session ahead of this series. What is that first film session like, ahead of a playoff series with Steve?
04:57 It is just attention to detail. You really just flip the book on Houston, their patterns and you want to truly understand, hopefully, with them better than they know themselves, kind of vibe, and just be as prepared as possible. It’s fun because you have everybody locked in on what we enjoy about playoff series, is one opponent and it’s the chess match from pre — before the first game and then in between every game, it’s just trying to find the subtle changes or game plan discipline that can help you just win four games. And so it’s been, what, we missed the playoffs last year and the year before that, Sacramento and LA. It reminds you just how much fun the playoffs are and that chess match that goes back and forth and so sitting down that first game is — or sorry, that first film session, gets the juices flowing.
06:07 Steph, kind of building on that, how much has your appreciation grown for making the playoffs now at this point in your career compared to earlier on when you guys began the championship run? How do you look at it differently now through your lens?
06:23 Well, it’s easy to not take it for granted ’cause we weren’t there last year, so from 2013 to ’19, we made obviously the Finals runs and all that, but we were in the playoffs every year, had that two-year stretch where we missed it and then ’22 came around. I think it’s just a reminder that it’s not guaranteed. I don’t care how talented you are, you look around the league there — you could argue more talented teams than we have that are on the outside looking in, so you appreciate the moments. That’s why we’ve been talking this game for the last two months, since the trade deadline how much it — how important it is to play meaningful games. And now we have a series that’s gonna be full of meaningful ones.
07:13 Ime Udoka was pretty clear during the last time they played you that they kind of wanted to physically, I guess, beat the entire team up, but clearly you’re kind of at the head of that game plan. How much of that do you expect in this series? And I guess how much of that noise did you kind of absorb in the aftermath of that Rockets loss?
07:36 I honestly didn’t hear nothing afterwards. I just know we were talking on the court and all that, but they are the No. 2 seed for a reason. They’ve played well all year long. They play a certain physical style of defense and they’re super athletic, so that’s the beauty of the playoffs. You get to take a second and kind of understand what they do well and how we’re gonna try to counter that and how we can try to make them uncomfortable and it’s all eyes on them, so we’re excited for the challenge. I was just telling Draymond, wow, we’ve been in playoff series in Houston for a decade, like, it’s crazy to think about. I know this is a brand new version of the Rockets team, but, yeah, we’re excited for the challenge.
08:29 Steph, as you get older, people look for signs of deterioration or whatever you wanna call it.
08:34 That’s a strong word.
08:36 Yeah, it is. I was trying to think of a softer one, but where are you right now? How do you feel right now? Are you just as good as the old Steph going into the playoffs? Are you beat up? Are you — ?
08:50 Everybody dealing with something at this stage. I don’t feel like I’m slowing down at all. It’s just the maintenance and the buildup game-to-game is a little different than it used to be, but I can still get to that level that you’ve seen night in, night out, so I don’t — you have to accept the fact that we talked about getting as much rest as possible and how important Game 82 was and we didn’t get it done, how important tonight was to have five days to get ready for a playoffs series, so I’m gonna take full advantage of that for sure, just to get refreshed and rejuvenated and try to get as healthy as possible before we start, hopefully, a two-month journey.
09:36 Been more than a decade that Draymond’s been centering lineups for you guys. Obviously, a lineup that you’ve leaned on in making this run, just how would you contextualize the responsibility he wields in that spot and the advantages that it still continues to create for you guys?
09:52 I mean, from the original small-ball “death lineup” thing and just him being able to play bigger than the stature, make his presence felt, be our quarterback on defense, it allows us to play fast on offense. He’s a great playmaker on offense, too, and so it just gives teams fits ’cause he just knows how to make plays and be in the right spot. He loves that challenge and so this team, specifically, probably more than any other team, we have to play that way. We’re gonna — that’s gonna be a huge part of our identity if we’re gonna win in the playoffs and we expect him to keep doing what he is doing ’cause I know he loves making his presence felt and changing the game on the defensive end.
10:46 Steph, Draymond said that a lot of nicknames in the NBA are bogus, but that Playoff Jimmy is a real thing. Would you agree with him and what do you think it’s gonna be like going into the playoffs with Playoff Jimmy, for something you haven’t done before?
11:03 I mean, we’ve all watched it. He was on the Eastern Conference and we were on the West. We never got to play against Playoff Jimmy, but the idea of just, he raises his level based on — or, at the right time, when it’s needed the most and that’s why the trade made so much sense for us, ’cause he has that experience, he has that resume and he proved it. He’s proven it since he’s been here, but in these last two games you can see a different level of intentionality and, especially, just scoring the basketball, ’cause teams are trying to take away some of our pet actions. At the end of the day, you just need somebody that can put the ball in the basket and he knows how to do that, so we have to keep doing all of our parts and Playoff Jimmy will hopefully be a big unlock for us.
12:08 Steph, you talk about wanting to take full advantage of these next four days off. What does that look like for you and how do you balance, rest and recovery against preparing for Houston?
12:19 Preparation is resting for now ’cause we’ve been on a crazy run this last two months where every game has felt like a playoff game and our schedule’s been kind of crazy with road trips and all that, so take a day where you do absolutely nothing, just get away from the game, as far away as I can be with my family. And then the preparation starts on Thursday where we — it’s more the mental part of it, understanding what the roadmap looks like between Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and what I need to do to get my body right, stay sharp on the court, not overdo it and the experience will kind of come into play on making sure you’re as prepared as possible, mentally and physically, to be ready to go. But yeah, tomorrow I didn’t plan on doing nothing that has to do with basketball.
13:14 Jimmy just said that, maybe even before the trade happened, when he was talking maybe to you or to Mike or whoever, that he knew if he came here, this team would be in the playoffs. Did you know that at that moment? When did you know that this move was gonna get you guys in the playoffs?
13:32 You never really know. From my standpoint, you have belief in your — you approach every day with the goal of, especially where we started when the trade happened to get here, knowing how long that road was gonna be, how tough it was gonna be. That first game in Chicago, everything felt pretty natural and there was a smooth transition of what our team looked like post-trade and that was a great feeling. And then we just kind of kept that rolling. I forget what our record was at a certain point when both me and Jimmy, or when Jimmy played and when we had our quote-unquote full team, but winning produces more confidence and more energy and we’ve been riding that wave for the last two months, even when we’ve had some slip-ups, like the San Antonio game, the Houston game. Nobody panicked. We knew we didn’t play our best, but nobody was panicking or feeling like we didn’t have what it takes to — it sounds crazy to be a 7th seed, but that seemed like a long way away, two months ago.
14:39 Kerr said he didn’t wanna say it before, but that you were desperate, this team was desperate to win this, just to get the time off. You knew what the consequences were. Maybe that explains the shootaround was scheduled, not scheduled, and it was scheduled. Was there a focus there that was a little different on this one?
14:58 I mean, yeah, we’ve had a pattern last two or three weeks, kind of that question about what it looks like before Saturday or Sunday when we play like the mental preparation of game plan discipline and me, Draymond, Jimmy, Loon, we’ve all been here, so we kind of understand it, but a lot of guys haven’t and — throw GP in there — a lot of guys haven’t been here and the physical demand is one thing, but the mental capacity to be able to lock into a game plan, trust that you’re prepared and on the same page no matter who you’re out there on the floor with, there’s a sense of urgency around that, so we gave ourselves a good chance to do it in 82, like I said. Didn’t happen. To get this one sealed up and have the five days is big for us and we gotta take full advantage of it.
16:01 Steph, you said that the last few have been intense. How does that kind of impact the series that’s coming up against an aggressive Houston team, knowing that it’s gonna be intense from here on out?
16:13 I mean, just tap into the same energy. We know, again, we know what to expect and you’re excited to embrace that challenge, for sure. Every game, like I said, has felt like a playoff game for a long while now and it’d be nice to, again, catch our breath and again hit reset a little bit, but lean into that competitiveness that we’ve tapped into since February and we should be in good shape.
00:00 Did it — I mean, it sounds like you guys knew that Edey would probably guard you, but did it surprise you that not only was he guarding you, but I mean, he was giving you a lot of room?
00:14 JIMMY BUTLER, POSTGAME MEM-GSW: Nope. We talked about it and it’s always play basketball the right way, shoot the ball when you open, attack, get into the paint, get to the free throw line and pass it to the open guy, so no matter who’s guarding me, I’m always gonna play the exact same way.
00:30 Did you figure that scheme, though, would lead to you getting to the rim a lot and scoring as much as you did?
00:37 Yes and no. I feel like I have the opportunity here to pick my spots incredibly well and they’re always looking to get me the ball in my spots where I can be aggressive and put the ball in a basket or make the right play for the next individual, so we ran a couple sets for me to do that and then Steph did all the other stuff.
00:58 How did you decide early? you took a couple of those threes when they were way off and then you kind of just started going to the rim, regardless. How do you decide when to keep shooting the threes or when to just kind of power through?
01:10 I mean, I can shoot, I just choose not to shoot threes. I’d rather drive into the paint, get me a layup, a middy, or pass the ball to somebody that’s probably a much better shooter than I am. I think, probably you and everybody else, want me to shoot more threes, but I like shooting some layups.
01:31 Jimmy, throughout the season you said that you will take what the defense has given you in terms of shooting and being aggressive offensively. You’ve had 20 attempts in each of the last two games. What have you seen on the floor that has warranted that?
01:45 That we may need me to score a little bit more right now, but it could change, come when we play Sunday, something like that. If I can get 17 assists and we win, that’s great. If I can get 10 steals or two steals and we win, that’s great, but I think me scoring a little bit more has definitely helped us a little bit.
02:07 Jimmy, what personally bothers you, more turnovers or missed free throws?
02:10 Turnovers. I hate turning the ball over. Free throws, mm, but turnovers really irk me.
02:19 What do you think you can take from this game, especially going against somebody like Edey, compared to going against Houston with their defense and someone like an Amen Thompson?
02:28 Not much. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see how I can be effective on the offensive side of the ball, but I really believe I can score with the best of them. I don’t care who I’m lined up against.
02:41 Jimmy, even before you got here, the conversation was get Steph to play meaningful basketball again. He wants to play meaningful basketball and you’ve certainly underlined that ever since you’ve been here. How — is there satisfaction? I don’t — relief might be the wrong word. Obviously, you’ve got games to play, but to get Steph, to get this team back into a meaningful position again, what does that feel like?
03:02 It feels great. I want everybody to be happy, for sure. Steph, he deserves it. What he’s done for, hell, the game of basketball, not only this city and this organization, he’s in it for the long haul. He wants to win. He wants to win every single game, every single possession and I know I wanna win a championship. So he needs his, what, this would be number five for him, so he needs one more.
03:26 Could you sense that from him today?
03:27 Yeah. Every game for me, though, he’s always — it’s like I always say, you’re never really out of any game when you have him on your team and if you have a lead of five, he can easily take your lead to 15 to 17, maybe even 20 all by himself, so I’m glad that he’s on my team.
03:46 Jimmy, you weren’t just guarded — you weren’t just guarded by Zach Edey and Jaren Jackson, all the big guys, you also had to guard them. How much do you enjoy going up against the seven-footers, really big dudes down in the paint?
03:56 Not a lot. Not a lot. Not a lot. That’s Draymond’s job. That’s the Defensive Player of the Year. I’m not the Defensive Player of the Year, so Draymond needs to be able to guard the 5, the 4, the 3, the 2, and the 1. I just need to be able to guard like 2s and 3s.
04:12 Jimmy, over here. You’ve obviously played in the league a long time. Have you ever seen anybody like Gary Payton II? Steve described him as a power forward on offense at 6’2 and a point guard on defense. And what kind of difference did he make tonight and can he make going forward?
04:31 He’s gonna be a reason that we win a couple games in the playoffs, but what I love most about GP is he makes sure everybody’s calm. He lets everybody know, “Yo, we gonna be just fine. We just gotta get a stop. We gotta get a bucket. We gotta execute.” He’ll take and make some big shots for sure, get a big time dunk and get the crowd into the game and then guard whoever you ask him to guard, but more than anything, he’s poised, he’s calm, and it’s like he’s been in this league 15, 16 years.
05:01 Jimmy, it’s no secret what these next few days mean for you guys, to get some time off. What does the next four days look like for you until Sunday?
05:11 Rest and recovery. A lot of free throws, a lot of free throws, a lot of dominoes and coffee, a lot of dominoes, coffee and free throws.
05:21 Jimmy, you had a, obviously, a lot of drama this season, this team. The Warriors didn’t think they would be in the playoffs. You didn’t know if you’d be in the playoffs. Now that you — you didn’t?
05:34 I did.
05:35 You knew?
05:36 Yeah.
05:36 Well, just now that it’s happened, just what’s the moment like for you? Is it different than other experiences with different teams?
05:44 For sure, but whenever I talk to Steph and Dray and Steve and Mike, before I even got here, I was telling them I can help now. I don’t know what manner that I can help, but we’re gonna make the playoffs. I feel like I can give any team — for sure this one — a chance to win. And they believe it. I believe it. And that’s all that you can ask for. Now, we just gotta go out there, execute, play our tails off, and win some more basketball games.
06:18 To follow on Draymond for a second, what you said, obviously, he’s been centering lineups here for a really long time. What are some of the nuances that you’ve noticed since playing with him in some of those small lineups that make him so effective at the center spot?
06:30 That he be knowing everything on both sides of the ball, but specifically on defense, he’ll switch a matchup quick so he can get the switch and get back to the person he’s supposed to be guarding. He’s calling out plays, you know what I mean? Depending upon where somebody is on the floor, helps me a ton, but not only does he help me, he helps everybody. He’s always in the right position. He’s always probably out of position a lot of times because we’re not doing our job and he’s trying to cover up for everybody and I don’t care what anybody said, that if that’s not the Defensive Player of the Year for you, I don’t know what to tell you what is.
07:06 Jimmy, you had a stretch in the first quarter where, four straight possessions, well, you had a three-point play, a three-point shot yourself and then hit Quinten for a three and assisted on Gary’s dunk. Then also in the third, midway through, you had a steal and a dunk that when they were on a bit of a roll. Do you sense when you can sort of alter momentum in a game or when you do something or have a sequence like that, where it really changes things?
07:37 I really don’t be paying attention to it on the offensive side of the ball. I think it’s deflating whenever I hit a three ’cause everybody think that I can’t shoot. Love it. Keep backing off. On the defensive side of the ball, I probably get in trouble more often than not ’cause I’m a gambling man and I’m going to go for the steal 10 out of 10 times, so I know if I get it, I’m gonna get a layup or I get to get somebody else a layup or open three. I don’t feel the shift or anything like that, but it feels good to score.
08:08 That loss to the Rockets recently was probably one of your guys’ collective worst games in this stretch. What do you kind of remember from that game, what did, didn’t work?
08:19 Turnovers. Yeah, we turned the ball over a lot. Can’t win whenever they get so many more possessions than we do. We take care of the ball, I think we’ll be in a good spot.
08:28 What about their, I guess, team construction is difficult to score against?
08:35 I think if we worry about us, we’ll be just fine.
08:38 Jimmy, you were — you let out a few screams after scoring, getting fouled, and I think at one point you kind of like shouted some stuff out, looking like maybe — ?
08:45 You want me to tell you what I said?
08:47 Yes.
08:47 Nah, they gonna fine me.
08:50 Well, what were you feeling, I guess, in those moments?
08:53 It’s winning time. Out of anything else, my squad needed me to help win, do whatever it took, and we did that as a collective unit. I did a little bit. Steph did the majority of it. Draymond guarded everybody and everybody else hit some big shots, made some big plays. The team really has a chance and we gonna run with that.
09:16 I was gonna say, as someone who’s used to making long runs in the playoffs and you guys have had to make this run just to get to the playoffs, how do you feel about this group and what this is, what you guys are capable of doing?
09:27 Shit, I mean, hell, I think any team has a chance when I’m on the team, but I know that every team has a chance if Steph’s on the team, so I get to play Robin, that’s my Batman, and I don’t know who else is — we got all the villains over there, Two-Face and Joker and Riddler, everybody else in the Western Conference, but we got a lot of games to win.
10:00 Great. Thank you.
10:00 Peace!
10:01 Thank you.
00:00 Draymond, just getting to this point now, you’ve been talking about get to the playoffs, get in the playoffs. This was a Play-in game, but is it a sense of relief? And we’d heard so much about Steph wanna play meaningful games, what’s the sense that you got, this team now is in the playoffs?
00:25 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME MEM-GSW: I wouldn’t necessarily say a sense of relief. Our goal is to get to the playoffs so we can make something special happen. It’s not necessarily just to get there and the job’s done. We know what it takes to win at a high level, so that’s the focus, but yeah, the goal is to get to the playoffs and win, so it’s good to be here.
00:50 Draymond, what’s the immediate mindset shift to going to Houston now? What is it gonna take after your guys’ previous loss against the Rockets?
00:59 We just gotta take care of the ball. We take care of the ball, allows us to get our defense set, make them play in the half court, but it starts with our offense gotta help our defense.
01:13 You’ve seen what he’s done in the past. I just asked Gary about it. What does the nickname Playoff Jimmy mean to you, though?
01:18 Yeah, he different. He’s different. You can just see a whole different intensity level and focus and we’ve — I’m a basketball fan. So I’ve watched it on TV for years. To see it up close and personal, it’s a real thing. Sometimes you get in the NBA and these guys come get these nicknames and you’re like, “Man, stop it.” there’s some other nicknames out there. They not real. That one’s real. And I’m happy he on our side.
01:54 Draymond, last game you said that everybody needed to step up, which obviously they did, and you’ve been completely vocal and people obviously look to you for leadership. So did you have any type of talks with anybody on the team to say how important this game was?
02:09 You have a couple sidebar conversations with guys that you see fit with. I think it’s more so pouring confidence in more than anything. We have an interesting balance. We have a lot of experience and then kind of none at all. And so I think most importantly is reassuring our young guys that it’s the same game. The moment gets bigger, the game don’t change. And a lot of them has never been in this position before, so just really make sure you’re reinstalling that confidence in them.
02:49 Hey Draymond, how do you balance rest and recovery over these next four days with preparing for Houston and the next?
02:56 We’re pretty veteran team. You kind of know what it takes to get your body ready to go. The positive is you don’t have to have your body ready to go to Sunday. And I trust that everybody will know what it is that they need and be professionals and get it done.
03:15 Draymond, you just said you’re a fan. Is this team, are you guys a team that people like to watch? Is this America’s team? It seems like you put on a show.
03:27 Steph Curry play here. It’s the greatest show on hardwood over the last 10 years, so yeah, I think so. I know I like watching Steph play, so. And I’m kind of a basketball up here, so I know the rest of the world. I really appreciate it. But yeah, I think there’s no surprise Steph Curry’s been the best show in basketball for the last 10 years, and that hasn’t slowed down a bit at all. I think the numbers will probably back that up. I don’t necessarily know what the numbers are, but I’m pretty sure the numbers probably back it up, but granted — but he’s not just a one-man show. There’s more to it. There’s you, there’s —
04:08 Well, we have a Jimmy now. Jimmy’s different. Playoff Jimmy, we just spoke about him, but we also have a coach that make the game beautiful. The system that he’s implemented here over the last 10 years was unlike one we had ever seen before in this league. It was kind of a mixture of some greats that he played for, watched for years and his own twist. And so I think it’s definitely not just one person, but we’re not gonna fool ourselves and act like it’s the same without that one person either, you know? He’s a driving force to it, for sure.
04:51 When you guys talk about Playoff Jimmy, people think about offense a lot, but did you see an extra intensity or extra level on defense from him tonight and just — ?
04:59 I seen it the last few nights or where he’s just turned it up completely on both sides of the ball. I’m going to give him some crap about missing six free throws, but he’s just — I don’t know, man. I think what’s great is that everyone else is adjusting to it because he’s way more aggressive to score. He hadn’t yelled at anybody all since he’d been here. He’s yelling at guys. Now. It’s a totally different person, but I think the way guys are adjusting to it is beautiful, so we gotta make sure we keep doing that, but it’s a completely different person.
05:41 Draymond, you said last Sunday that the team needed to play with more grit. Would tonight’s play be your definition of that?
05:49 We got loose balls tonight, still a few we can come up with that we’re gonna nitpick and definitely gonna nitpick, so there’s still a few that we could come up with, but have to get loose balls in these games. They just change the momentum, changes the game, so I think we did play with more physicality tonight. It showed quite a bit. They had 20 turnovers. You don’t cause 20 turnovers not with no physicality.
06:19 I mean, down the stretch there, did get a little tight and you needed some scoring and you had fouled out and Steph scored the final 10 points. And then not a shocking thing, you’ve seen it before, but was that special to see, one more time, just at the end?
06:36 It was even more special for me to see because when I shot that three in the corner, he very nicely told me that it wasn’t time for me to shoot. He came over to me, he said, “Hey, man, we gotta get into a certain action that we call and we like to run.” I was like, all right, no problem. That was a very nice way of telling me don’t shoot right now. No problem. I got him the ball. The next play hit the three. Jimmy got him the ball, the following play hit the three or vice-versa, it was one of — one way or the other, maybe Jimmy, then me, but whatever, but it was great. But I wanna mention something that I saw today that no one will give a shit about, sorry. Trayce Jackson-Davis did something on the bench today. He didn’t play in the game. There was no seats left on the bench. Quinten Post said, Trayce, can I get that seat? And Trayce just got up and a part of me was baffled that he got up for the rookie because the rookie, if there’s no seat, you sit on the floor. He just got up and gave him the seat and I walked over to him, I said, “That’s one of the most selfless things I’ve ever seen a teammate do, because 99% of the time you gonna be like, you gonna go sit on the floor rook, or go find a seat somewhere else,” but he knew he wasn’t part of the rotation and yet the rookie was there playing the same position and he got up and just went. He literally got up and went and stood in the tunnel ’cause there were no seats and so I just wanted to put that out there because that to me, that’s why you win games, chemistry and selflessness. It’s togetherness and I just thought that was a huge moment and nobody else saw it except us three and so I wanted to share that because I thought that was really big moment for our bench, that you can make him sit on the floor and nothing happens or you can get up and boost confidence in him and he go back out there and hit a three. And I thought that was special.
08:44 Draymond, for you guys to get a five-second violation like that, I mean, what can that do? Five seconds left. They can’t even get the ball inbounds. I mean, does that give guys — you weren’t on the floor, but gives guys confidence that, “Hey, we can pull off any kind of stop.”
09:04 Yeah, I thought that was a huge play. Guys right there, you don’t want to get detached from guys and allow them to tee up a three in that situation, so you gotta stay attached and thought everybody did a great job taking their guy away. I was a little shocked that Santi was taking the ball out, but we’ll take it, which was good for us, so it worked.
09:33 Draymond, what’s Jimmy been yelling about?
09:36 Everything. Guys take a bad shot, guys don’t get loose balls, he go a couple possessions without touching the ball, he’s going crazy right now, like, “Yo, I have to get the ball and I have to touch the ball.” And so it’s been interesting to watch the shift as someone who’s been in a million playoff series, very interesting to watch the shift. I’m enjoying it.
10:04 You guys seem to know that they were gonna put Edey on him to start the game.
10:09 Teams been trying stuff like that and they always try funky things against us and so it was kind of expected because they just always do stuff like that when they play against us and so I didn’t think they put Jaren on him because they’d be worried about Jaren getting in foul trouble, but I knew that they want to put size on him. You can’t put Ja on him, can’t put Bane on him, can’t put Scotty on him. I mean, we thought there was — I didn’t think they would make a substitution to match somebody over Jimmy, so the obvious person left is Zach and Jimmy played well.
11:03 You kind of hinted at it in your last answer about him turning up the scoring aggression. Had you been wanting him to do it more? Was any part of you kind of, where is it, where is it or — ?
11:19 I definitely have been wanting him to do it more, but I wasn’t worried at all or going to press for it because I am in Year 13. I think Jimmy’s in Year 14. He has a way about him and you learn not to mess with guy’s process. I think we all have our process. I have my process and you just learn not to mess with a guy’s process. He goes about things a certain way. I think that’s the beauty of this place. Nobody’s gonna be like, “Yo, you need to do more of this” or this — nah, we gonna, like, that’s what you do. That’s what you do. It’s on us to figure everything else out and so, no, I don’t think — I mean, only Buddy said something, but it’s Buddy. Buddy don’t know no better, so all of us was just like he’ll be more aggressive when it’s time to be aggressive. And I think that’s two games in a row he shot 20 shots, right? It’s impressive.
12:25 What did you — what’d you see from Ja Morant, especially after he came back in the third or fourth quarter, after he kind of hurt himself. Any difference for you or — ?
12:32 The dog that always is Ja. I think he may struggle to play in the game Friday. He came back tonight off straight adrenaline, but that’s who he is. That’s why this franchise has been in the position that they’ve been in over the last few years and you’re kind of like, “Man, they may make a run because Ja is special.” He’s one of the more special players in this league and has the heart of a lion and so I wasn’t surprised at all. That’s who he’s been, that’s who he gonna be. His saying is, I’m gonna run up to chimney and he lived by that and I respect it ’cause he never not run up the chimney.
13:21 Steve said tomorrow is one of his favorite days of the year, just in terms of he and the coaches get together and scout for a series. What is your preparation process like mentally, physically, scouting ahead of a series tomorrow?
13:33 Get away from it for me, which is why I tell y’all I don’t want to coach, but I was just telling the guys downstairs, the only thing I was thinking about earlier today was like, man, I just want the opportunity to go through that first film session that we go through to start every series. It’s like no other and I’ve been looking forward to that. It’s just a different level of preparation that you just — it’s impossible to get in the NBA, there’s just way too many games, but you get to that playoff series and the level of preparation is so different, so I’m looking forward to — not tomorrow — but the following day. He can have tomorrow, but that preparation, getting ready for a team that you gotta see possibly seven times in a row is, it’s so fun. It’s like no other.
14:27 Kuminga’s had some good games against Houston this year. He is obviously taken two DNPs, the last two. How have you seen him handle that and and how much do you still expect him to possibly contribute?
14:38 He’ll contribute. He’s great. He’s getting his work in. That’s all you can do in that situation is get your work in and he’ll be meaningful for us in that series. I have zero doubt about that. I think the challenge for him is to stay mentally engaged as is for anyone in that situation, but I have zero doubt in my mind that he’s gonna help us in this series. He will 1000%.
00:00 Maybe not as high level as Sunday, but was this more like a gutsy game for your guys, kind of just one they just had to just grind it out at there at the end?
00:07 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME MEM-GSW: Yeah, it’s a playoff game even though it disappears into the ether, as we all know. There’s no record of it, but it’s a playoff game and I tried to downplay it a little bit before the game, but we desperately needed to win this game and get four days. Our guys have been basically playing knockout games for about three weeks and one high-level game after another and so to get this one took 83 games, but we’re right where we want to be, which is back in the playoffs and we’ve got a chance. But maybe most importantly we get the time to rest and prepare ’cause these guys need that desperately right now.
00:55 Were you surprised how much they were kind of sagging off Jimmy?
00:59 No. I mean, they started Zach Edey on Jimmy and we kind of anticipated that and I understand the philosophy, but Jimmy is so good and so crafty that, even if you’re not up on him, even if you give him 10 feet of space, he knows how to draw fouls and, what’d he get, 18? 18 shots from the foul line. That’s just who Jimmy is. That’s, I mean, he controls games. That’s why he is who he is. He’s able to, in these big moments, these big games, he just settles you down constantly.
01:36 Could you sense that he knew early if they were gonna — if that was the scheme they were gonna use, he was gonna need to kind of — ?
01:41 If that was, I’m sorry?
01:42 If that was the scheme they were gonna use, that he would need to kind of dominate and score?
01:46 Yeah, I mean, we talked about it at shootaround this morning. We anticipated that matchup and he just told me, “I don’t care who guards me. Just gimme space, gimme the ball, I’ll make something happen.” And that’s the beauty of Jimmy. I mean, you guys can see it. We have morphed into a different team. We’ve got the movement and the flow of Steph, but we’ve also become, for half the game, a great iso team. We’ve never been an iso team here and there’s great advantage to that, to be able to get to the line, to be able to generate offense without having to fly around and set a million screens, so Jimmy has completely changed everything for us since he’s been here and tonight was a great example of that.
02:33 Tonight in the non-Steph minutes, you talked about flying around and getting offense going. You saw your role players getting so many 50-50 balls and getting you guys extra opportunities. When you think about trying to incorporate them, what was the message to those guys, moses Moody, Quinten Post, all the guys coming off the bench, to incorporate themselves into the game? What was important for them to do?
02:53 We talked about it at shootaround this morning. The whole point of the game was to win the battles, just to win every loose ball, every rebound. This is a big strong team, great rebounding team and you saw, it happened a few times ’cause they got 16 offensive boards. Edey had seven, himself. When they get an offensive board and they’re kicking it out to Jaren Jackson or Desmond Bane, I mean, it’s a wide-open three and so the focus was really on scrapping and getting to every loose ball. I thought the guys really fought hard. Gui only played what, six minutes, but three rebounds. He was flying around out there. Every possession matters and I thought our guys played that way.
03:38 Against a big team like Houston that you’re about to play, how valuable is it, Jimmy’s skillset to be able to guard guys who are 6′ 10, 6′ 11, 7-foot?
03:46 Yeah, I mean, he’s the ultimate two-way player. He is just so physically strong and laterally quick and he anticipates things. He reads things, so Jimmy’s a great defensive player. He and Draymond, behind the play, allow us to play smaller without giving up too much.
04:06 You obviously are compelled to put Gary in because of his defense to shadow Ja, but he obviously contributed a lot offensively.
04:13 Mm-hmm.
04:13 What about this matchup, and some of his baskets seemed like just smart cuts? And to go along with that, Quinten obviously was a factor off the bench, just the impact those two made?
04:24 Gary helped us win a championship. We don’t win that championship in ’22 without Gary, so he’s a big-time player, playoff performer, two-way player, understands how to play with Steph, probably as well as anybody on our team and he’s basically a power forward word on offense and a point guard on defense. Very unique player, but hugely effective over and over again for us in these big games, so Gary was great and then I thought Quinten’s three threes in the first half were crucial for us, just the way Memphis guards us. They’ve always hounded Steph and sagged off of our big guys and so the ability to put Quinten out there, space the floor, have him knock down threes, that opened up the game for us.
05:16 Coach, your Harvard shirt. I’m wondering if, I’m curious to know if that has anything to do with what’s going on politically right now, or if you just happened to reach for that.
05:25 Oh, something going on. Tommy Amaker’s a friend of mine, Harvard coach, and he sent me the shirt Actually, we practiced there in Boston in November. He gave me the shirt and felt like a great day to wear it. I believe in academic freedom. I think it’s crucial for all of our institutions to be able to handle their own business the way they want to and they should not be shaken down and told what to teach, what to say, by our government. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but it’s kind of par for the course right now, so yes, this is me supporting Harvard. Way to go. Way to stand up to the bullying. Thank you.
06:11 Steve. Steve?
06:11 Oh yeah, go ahead.
06:12 Yeah, please. That five-second violation real quick.
06:14 Yeah.
06:15 You were right up close. Not too far from that. How’d you guys pull that off? I mean — ?
06:20 The guys did a great job of pre-switching everything and we knew they needed a three, so we stayed outside the three-point line and I thought we were able to just take away the play that they were trying to run, just with the switching and the guys did a great job of it and that, that led to the five second call.
06:42 Thank you.
06:44 Steve, you mentioned the importance of these next few days to — over here on —
06:48 Oh, sorry.
06:49 No, you’re good. How do you just, how do you balance the rest and recovery against preparing for the next series? And what do these next four days look like for you?
06:57 This is what we do. I mean, this is so fun. It’s the best time of the year. This is, Year 11, my favorite. Maybe my favorite day of the season is tomorrow. We come in as a staff. We look at Houston tape. We start to put together our game plan. The players are resting. We got a couple of days before we’ll see the players again. We get to go to work and try to beat a great team in a seven-game series. There’s nothing better and so I can’t wait.
07:35 Steve, you have played with and coached some of the most clutch postseason performers in the history of the game. What do they share and what does Jimmy share with them from what you’re seeing in your one postseason time with him so far?
07:52 Fearlessness, I think, is the main thing. I mean, I told Steph after the game, what makes him who he is, is even on a night where he’s not really going, he’s struggling to make shots and he makes the two biggest shots of the game. That doesn’t just come from skill. That comes from fortitude and fearlessness and incredible self-belief. Jimmy possesses the same thing. Draymond, too, in a different way, not so much in an offensive way, but just in a winning way and that’s why I believe in our team so much. We’ve got several guys on this team, Loon included, who’s been here for a long time. They’ve won titles and that guy’s taken his teams to the Finals a couple times. We got winners in this locker room and it’s time for Jimmy to talk. We’ll talk to you later.
00:00 GARY PAYTON II, POSTGAME MEM-GSW: Oh my goodness.
00:09 Hey Gary, you’ve got four days off coming up. How big is it?
00:12 Oh, it’s great. First of all, it’s great. Oh my goodness. We’re gonna need all four of those days, get everybody back to full health, lock in, go over the game plan. It’s gonna be a good productive four days, for sure.
00:25 Do you have any plans personally for how to use the four days?
00:28 No, not really. Just get my body right, probably go on a couple walks and watch some film.
00:36 Gary. what about the matchup with Memphis and their defense allowed — seemed like you found a couple, found seams, a couple cuts and to go along with that, how much in this setting, in the playoff setting, Steve was talking about how much of a factor you were in ’22, how much do you relish this big game sort of setting?
00:55 Aw no, this is time. We lead up all year to get to this moment and I’m more of a playoff guy, I think Steve would say, so when it’s that time of year, lock in and get it right and try to be as efficient I can. I know how they gonna play me and who they gonna put on me, so just try to, like you said, create seams and get to the openings.
01:23 Gary, obviously today was a Play-in game, big performance from Jimmy. What does the Playoff Jimmy nickname mean to you?
01:30 Jimmy Buckets. Give him the ball. Go where he tells you to go and sit and wait until Jimmy needs help, where he’s gonna score or get fouled, so it’s great to see. Talked to him a lot while I’m in the game, see what he likes, see what he doesn’t like, see who he wants to bring in or whoever he wants to match up for, so just to watch him and then feed off what he does is great.
01:53 What have you seen as far as the way he’s able to assess what the game’s calling for? It seems like he’s aggressive when he needs to be, passes when he needs to be. How do you see his mind working in real time?
02:04 Yeah, give him the ball, watch. He’s gonna direct, just like 23 (Draymond) does and they’ll put you in the right spot and just go make plays.
02:13 Alright, you’re off the hot seat.
02:14 Oh, that’s great. Draymond.
—
02:20 Tuomas, with five seconds left, you had the five-second violation. Can you just take us through what happened there? Were you trying to get the ball to Desmond Bane as he was kind of flaring to the corner? Just what was your insight on what happened?
02:34 TUOMAS IISALO: Yeah, Desmond was the first option on that. There was a small window for that. I think Jimmy Butler made a small defensive error. Looney was on top of it, did a good job right there. There’s a small window, but it’s difficult because you can see Butler hesitating for a second there and that was the window to throw the pass. We didn’t and after this, they were in perfect position to take out the second options out of that.
03:00 How did you guys get back into the game in the second half?
03:04 I mean, I would like to say sheer will, but it’s much more than that. Guys were really competing. We had a very good halftime talk with the guys where it’s — basically the basic idea was that we have more to give, we have more to give and we gotta do it. And it starts with everybody out there on the floor and we gave them the lead. We felt like we gave them the lead and then we worked ourselves back into the game unfortunately it’s been the story that we can’t — we play a hell of a game and then are unable to close it.
03:44 After losing another game in a way that’s gonna hurt and then having to come back on Friday, I guess, do you — is that gonna be hard to pick yourself up off the mat for something like that?
03:58 Of course. Of course it’s hard, otherwise everybody would be doing it, but it’s our job and I’ve always thought in these situations, learned this as a younger player, that there’s nothing we can do to change this result anymore, so all we can do is try to learn from this and then apply it to the game two days from now. That’s all we can do.
04:23 Coach, right here. A couple interesting aspects to your defense in this game. One, you put, Zach Edey guarding Jimmy Butler quite a bit. The other one, you just put Scotty Pippen, Jr. on Steph, no switching, nothing like that. Can you take me through the reasoning behind those decisions, how you thought those went?
04:38 Yeah, so the matchups in the starting unit, for example, with Jaren and Zach, we decided to cross-match for a couple of reasons there. First one being that they also matched up this way and we felt like it was better for our transition defense to be able to maintain those matchups. Other one, Butler has not been a very effective three-point shooter. This season he had four pull up threes before this season, made, and we wanted to also keep Jaren out of foul trouble, which Butler does excellently and to have Zach patrol the paint and wall off all the drives while still maintaining pass pressure on Draymond Green’s playmaking, which was something that picked us off and really caused us issues because he’s much more of a passing hub than Butler in this situation, where he’s more of a cutter. So that was the main reasoning. We went back and forth as always and also changed it up during the game, but I thought our reasoning and motives behind it were very solid.
05:45 What were the conversations like with Ja after he turned his ankle and what was it like, just seeing him trying to gut through it in the fourth quarter?
05:52 No, there was no conversation. It was a monologue. He told me that he’s good to go.
05:57 And what was it like just seeing him trying to play through it in the fourth quarter?
06:00 I mean, seeing him in that situation was, to me, I’m of that generation that still remembers Isiah Thomas hopping around on one ankle. It wasn’t quite that, but hopefully is not as severe. I have no information on that, but it was inspiring and I think it also lifted the guys up that to see that your leader is putting it all on the line there.
06:28 What did you make of the way Zach played overall in the game?
06:32 I have to see the film, but generally, when I look at it, somehow he always ends up in the plus. He’s very important for us. He solidifies the defensive rebound and that, we’ve spoken about this several times, that his impact is also not always the most obvious one. It’s the opponent tends to offensive rebound much better when he’s off the floor and offensively, we got ourselves a lot of extra shot opportunities through his seven offensive rebounds today. And I think the situations where he still has room to grow, those are things that will come through age, recognizing — or rather handling than recognizing — double-teams, for example, and the quickness of the decision-making. But he’s on a really positive trajectory also on that.
07:27 And how important was Desmond’s shot-making in the second half, especially with Ja hurting?
07:32 I mean, Desmond’s shot-making is always important and then he’s somebody I really like. I watched that situation, the last situation, we really wanted to get the ball in his hands, knowing that they’re gonna gonna try to switch those, pre-switch the matchups before the ball gets inbounded, but he’s a very, very good offensive player and when he starts making shots like that, we are very difficult to stop. And that was a big part why we made our run.
08:05 When you lose a game where you might have had a chance to get a game-tying shot up, how much does that eat at you as a coach? Or is that something that you just have to put away quickly?
08:19 Yeah, it always eats. There are other things that eat you up more. I think those, in this day and age, they’re — like, it’s easy to pinpoint those situations that, okay, here, this happened. But I mean, the game is 200 possessions, 100 going the other way, 100 — there’s a lot of stuff on the margins that you can do better and I’ve always believed that you need to be really good at the things that happen the most often, you know? And late game X’s and O’s, they’re important. They are very magnified, especially in the NBA environment, but it’s not the situation that happens most often. But it’s very glaring when it does happen, so you have to find a balance also as a coach, like, how much time do you invest in things that might make you look bad, but are not maybe moving the needle in the big picture, you know? So those are things that come with this. It’s part of the zeitgeist.
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