The end of Steve Kerr’s interview with 95.7 The Game yesterday morning is a good complement to all the “let’s not be disillusioned, we’re not OKC or San Antonio” talk that dominated the OKC-GSW postgame podium, which referenced his 53-minute Zoom call recently on the Tom Tolbert Show:
Below is the excerpted transcript from the 95.7 interview, which basically gives us the forest for the trees from Kerr’s perspective, which also echoes Mike Dunleavy, Jr. saying the team is probably best served to improve from within, as he spoke on NBC Sports Bay Area pregame ORL-GSW.
Beyond the paywall is a video version of the interview…
00:00 And Coach, you’re doing a great job with these rotations, I feel like, especially separating — not to say that they can’t play with each other — Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, but Jimmy really leading that second unit over the last couple of weeks, you subbing out Jimmy early, obviously Draymond and Steph have that great chemistry together and now obviously they’re gonna close games together. They’re gonna start games together, they’re gonna start the halves together, but Jimmy really leading that second unit, leading to some opportunities for Gui Santos, De’Anthony Melton, what led you to that kind of tweak within your lineup here?
00:31 We — before this current rotation, over the last seven games, we had a lot of absences, a lot of injuries. We just couldn’t quite find groups that clicked. We ultimately decided we wanted to bring Steph back into the top of the second quarter, so we changed his rotation pattern. And ultimately that we want to keep either Steph or Jimmy on the floor at all times. And Jimmy seems to be at his best when he’s got four guys with him who he can command and lead. Draymond is 100% at its best with Steph, so it just makes sense to keep Dray and Steph together and then have Jimmy on the floor at all times when those guys are off.
01:27 Steve Kerr joining us here on 95.7 The Game and, Coach, with that I know last year Butler was airdropped in and you guys found very quickly success, especially of those last 31 games into the playoffs, but I’m curious, having a full off season, a buildup training camp, what have you learned about Jimmy Butler, not just the player, but also the person and is it any different from the guy who was there last year, but having a chance to build that relationship? What have you learned now this year about Jimmy Butler?
02:04 I don’t know that I’ve learned anything more than I knew last year. After we had him for a couple months, it was obvious how good he was, how brilliant he is, just from a basketball IQ standpoint and a worldly experience that, Jimmy has. You feel his intelligence right away when you speak with him and I think the biggest difference between this year and last year was a 30-game sprint. He had not been playing for Miami and we get him and it’s basically 30, 35 games or so and then right into the playoffs. That’s much easier for a veteran player, to just play 30 games. The 82 is very difficult for everybody to navigate, but I think especially for veteran players who are playoff performers, so I think just the length of the season this year for Jimmy, for Dray, for Steph, it definitely takes its toll. I think we’re gonna be at our best down the stretch when those guys can sense the finish line and getting geared for the playoffs, but yeah, the full 82 is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure and not for the older guys either.