The mistakes of the Boston game by the Warriors, as told by Gui Santos after practice Friday, two days before the Denver game — although let’s not forget that the squad is operating without the gravity of one Wardell Stephen Curry:
We just cannot stop moving the ball because when you got Steph, just for him running randomly to somewhere on the court, that’s gonna generate some overreaction on defense. So when you don’t have him, we just gotta create that moving the ball, the ball gotta move quick side to side. And every time that we move the ball side to side, everything, every time something good happens, so we just gotta keep doing that. We cannot hold the ball and just try to play one-on-one and iso. We not a team that do that a lot, so we just gotta keep moving the ball and make sure that everybody had a quick decision when we got the ball.
The defense was also an issue, per Santos:
It’s mostly about shell defense. We could do a better job in that. We know that we gotta contain the ball better. They were driving too easy, kind of like in a straight line, so that makes it harder for the gaps or in the helps to be there. So that was most part of that.
Said Brandin Podziemski:
Just gotta do a better job guarding our man, be more connected in the shell, defensively… It starts defensively, but also then not turn the ball over. We did a pretty good job yesterday, had a lot of assists, low turnovers, but I think it’s just, you gotta find ways to grind out games because it’s not gonna always look the prettiest, especially with Steph out.
But give the Celtics credit. After all, they are executing almost the same formula the Warriors have been trying, except, as I said in the BOS-GSW honest recap (embedded below), they have an All-Star talent that can draw gravity in Jaylen Brown, so it’s a little easier for them.
As described by Podziemski:
They always, for the most part, have five guys out there that can really shoot, so that helps in terms of, like, if you come over to help somebody on the drive, someone’s always gonna be open, but just their initial spacing and their ability to lengthen closeouts more than the normal closeout would be, whether that’s on the wing, starting higher, farther away from the three-point line, things like that, that are subtle. But I think that’s what makes them unique. And they have guys that can shoot from that far, too.
Btw, Podz had a cool label for Kristaps Porzingis: “domino creator”.
Full interviews and transcripts below…
00:00 What did the film session sort of reveal about the game last night?
00:04 GUI SANTOS, PRACTICE, TWO DAYS BEFORE DEN-GSW: It’s mostly about shell defense. We could do a better job in that. We know that we gotta contain the ball better. They were driving too easy, kind of like in a straight line, so that makes it harder for the gaps or in the helps to be there. So that was most part of that.
00:27 You spent a bit of time last night in lineups with Porzingis. What was it like playing with him and how different of a look does he provide?
00:35 When you have a guy with that size on the court, just like on the paint, it’s tough for the other team to finish, so I already felt that we can just kind of like rely on him on defense, especially be in the middle of the paint because he gonna clean up a lot of stuff that we like do wrong. And on offense, he’s just like, can make everything. He can make — he can play on the post, he can make threes. Yesterday in particular, I have a play that was running down to the court and I saw him on the 45. I just screen my man and his man and he had a deep three-point shot, so he can provide a lot of stuff for us, for sure.
01:20 Just in terms of, for you, I guess, what — how valuable was the All-Star Break in terms of getting a little bit of a rest or just being able to recharge? Yesterday, Will Richard talked about how important the All-Star Break was for him.
01:33 So that was needed Break that we’ve been tough sequence of games, but it’s, at the same time, it’s not like, it’s not a vacation. You gotta be still working, you gotta still going to the gym and doing everything, so when you get back you’ll be ready to play, but also when you can do it somewhere different, like, for example, I was in Hawaii seeing my fiancee there, but just for you to be able to do something different for two days and just clear your mind is amazing for you. When you come back here, you have your mind fresh, your body fresh and just know, ready to play again.
02:17 Gui, I don’t know how much you’ve been able to talk to Steph, but if you have, how do you think he’s feeling?
02:23 So it’s tough for us to know exactly how he’s feeling, but every time I see him, just asking how he doing, he’s saying always getting better. I don’t know exactly how long it’s gonna take for him to get back with us, but every time I see him, I’m just asking him how he’s doing. He’s always saying in a positive way that he’s getting better.
02:46 What are the keys to spacing offensively without Steph? What does ideal spacing look like?
02:52 We just cannot stop moving the ball because when you got Steph, just for him running randomly to somewhere on the court, that’s gonna generate some overreaction on defense. So when you don’t have him, we just gotta create that moving the ball, the ball gotta move quick side to side. And every time that we move the ball side to side, everything, every time something good happens, so we just gotta keep doing that. We cannot hold the ball and just try to play one-on-one and iso. We not a team that do that a lot, so we just gotta keep moving the ball and make sure that everybody had a quick decision when we got the ball.
03:30 Steve’s talked in the past about the spacing around Porzingis. He said it’s not identical to what you guys did with Jimmy Butler, but I was wondering what are some of the similarities and differences of spacing around Porzingis versus spacing with Jimmy?
03:45 So, Jimmy is a guy that had the ball in a low post a lot. Yesterday, you could see that Porzingis can do the same thing and Porzingis is also smart. Like, Jimmy is very smart with the ball and Porzingis is like that, so he’s always looking for the right pass and he — when he needs to be aggressive to the basket to score, he’s doing it. So he’s kind of similar, but at the same time it’s not, just like Steve said.
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04:12 What were some of the things that the film revealed from last night’s game?
04:16 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Just gotta do a better job guarding our man, be more connected in the shell, defensively.
04:24 Steve said that Boston is kind of like the gold standard for spacing.
04:30 Mm-hmm.
04:30 Are there any things that you guys can learn from the way that they operate in the half court?
04:36 I mean, I think it helps that they always, for the most part, have five guys out there that can really shoot, so that helps in terms of, like, if you come over to help somebody on the drive, someone’s always gonna be open, but just their initial spacing and their ability to lengthen closeouts more than the normal closeout would be, whether that’s on the wing, starting higher, farther away from the three-point line, things like that, that are subtle. But I think that’s what makes them unique. And they have guys that can shoot from that far, too.
05:07 What was it like playing with Kristaps and what were some of the things that you guys kind of saw from from just playing with him, spacing-wise and offensively?
05:15 Yeah, I think similar to Steph and Jimmy, they commands two people most of the time and if he — if they don’t, then he usually scores, so just another domino creator that we have now. But it was fun. I always enjoyed playing with European players, just IQ, smart, know how to play to a game of basketball.
05:37 BP, you guys have 26 games to go. For you, I mean, what are the things that would determine how high you guys can go or just how well you guys play over the last 26 games?
05:49 I think it starts defensively, but also then not turn the ball over. We did a pretty good job yesterday, had a lot of assists, low turnovers, but I think it’s just, you gotta find ways to grind out games because it’s not gonna always look the prettiest, especially with Steph out.
06:07 And for some guys the All-Star Break is kind of a refresh. Was it for you? I mean, what was your Break like in terms of just getting ready for Part Three of the season, I guess?
06:16 Yeah, I mean, I didn’t really do nothing, just chilled, refreshed my mind. That’s it.
06:25 Where do you feel like your game is at, past month or so?
06:29 I mean, just keep on going. Just keep on plugging along and doing the things I can and hopefully last 26 games or something, good for our team.
06:42 Steve was saying that Draymond is active on the bench talking to guys. How often do you talk to him during games and what are the biggest messages that he imparts?
06:54 Yeah, I try to catch him when he’s not just out of the game, or I try to catch him during halftime just to see his thoughts, what he sees from a perspective more so on the bench than when he’s on the floor. But I think he’s been great as a leader for us, especially helping people that may be a little bit new to how we play, grow and develop. And so he’s been great on both sides of the ball in terms of a leadership perspective.
07:25 Over the next couple of games here, how do you guys sort of adjust to — you had to do it before — just to life without Steph, but what are some of the keys moving forward with that?
07:34 Gotta take care of the ball, convert in transition when we get those opportunities. And defensively, we gotta force turnovers to make offense a little bit easier.
07:49 Steve has been a big proponent of saying that, especially without Steph, every game has to be almost like a fight. You gotta really, really grind it out and play really hard, like you mentioned. Is that sustainable night after night, to play at a high level, playing at — basically playing balls out?
08:06 I mean, it should be. We get paid a lot of money to do this. We play a lot of people, so I mean, it’s our job. That’s why the Warriors signed their contracts, for us to be here, so I think you just gotta give it all you got every night and live with the result.
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