Ross: “Uhm, Joey… OMNI-potent.”
Joey: “You are? I’m so sorry.”
As proven in the Friends episode, “The One with George Stephanopoulos (Season 1, Episode 24), there’s a thin line between being omnipotent and “I’m impotent.”
Not quite the exact metaphor for Quenton Jackson staring down Draymond Green in the waning moments of the Warriors’ seventh game of the 2025-26 campaign, but then again pretty close.
That’s the explanation I had for the Dubs’ seeming lack of focus two straight times in losses they should’ve won on the East coast the past few days. It was the same vibe as Ryan Rollins imposing his will on the Golden State Warriors two nights before the loss to Indiana.
At about the 3:18:00 mark (see Timestamp links in Comments), I discuss what I call “basketball impotence”:
And by no means is this throwing Green under the bus. Quite the contrary. Draymond is and has been now and for quite some time, the best defensive player I’ve ever seen in the history of the game. Meanwhile, my co-hosts Dean “of Positivity” Chambers and Bruce Maro elect, respectively, Bill Russell (who, for the record, I’ve not seen any footage of except for highlights) and Dennis Rodman. I shall point to Dray being the best close-out defender of all-time as the basis of my attack on their choices, some other day.
I also think neither Russell nor Rodman, at least not at age 35, make those two stops on Jackson, the dagger pull-up three nor the banker down the right side of the lane to seal the victory for Indiana. Here’s why:
In that moment, a 35-year-old Draymond has a much different perspective on basketball than 22-year-old Draymond. I distinctly recall young Dray yelling out, “Unh-uh!” to guys at the 2012 Summer League trying to post him up, the verbal equivalent of Dikembe Mutombo’s finger wag. Back in 2012, it was a complete denial Day-Day would offer on defense. He had something to prove. On every possession.
2025 Draymond? After four rings? He has bigger fish to fry. Quenton Jackson is a small blip on the radar screen that represents Draymond Green’s legacy. “QJ” is not Jamal Murray, whom Green stopped and then also in the same possession retreated to stop Nikola Jokic, as described here with courtside video clip:
Murray and Jokic are legacy players. QJ is not, at least not yet, but he’s had to compete at his highest level to even the make the squad, let alone be a starter, injuries to the Pacers be damned. I don’t mean to diminish QJ’s accomplishment for him to even have the ball against a former DPOY, to decide an NBA game in late October. That alone is an amazing moment to be in.
It remains to be seen whether or not Quenton Jackson will ultimately end up a household name. So far, the other guys that have bested the Warriors in similar fashion, be it Shaedon Sharpe, Keon Ellis, GG Jackson, Vince Williams, Bub Carrington — the list goes on — remain afterthoughts in NBA lore. [Actually, Andrew Nembhard might be the one exception, but probably not yet, as well as Evan Fournier, but only if you’re a Frenchman!]
Guys past their prime like Dray just aren’t interested in those matchups, especially if it’s still the regular season without any immediate stakes. James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, maybe even tonight with Devin Booker, now those are the names.
Draymond just can’t get up for Quenton Jackson to decide a game. Not the way he can for Jamal and Joker.
Basketball impotence. 🤷🏻♂️
Imposing your will, offensively or defensively, is the same vibe at every level of basketball. Let’s not forget that. Let’s allow for the right brain to take over some times, even for the game that we love. Sometimes, energy is the No. 1 thing you need.
So the mid-30s is around when it becomes hard to “get up” for making a stop on a guy you’ve barely seen. You don’t know his tendencies. Is he going left? Right? Pull-up from 25 feet like he did thirty seconds ago? You know what? I have no idea what this guy’s pet move is. If he’s got a fake, I’m toast. I really have no clue which way this kid is about to go. I might be toast, no matter what. And the kicker: He can sense that.
Sometimes it’s about the right side of the brain. I have no surprise, no qualms with Draymond Green’s defense when QJ hit the banker over him.
Actually, Draymond gave good chase. He executed fundamentals to a T. The photo in the picture for this article above is evidence that it was a good contest. QJ had to jut out his elbow to deflect Dray’s arm. But sometimes it’s not about the technique, it’s about the will.
And this is not all on Dray. It’s also about overall pace leading up to that moment. Of course, there were about a trillion other similarly related issues that culminated in the QJ versus Day-Day key possession. Steve Kerr addressed it on the podium yesterday at practice (see transcript below).
It’s factual, data-based evidence that tells us what we already know: our guys are getting too old for an NBA regular season that’s trending faster. Teams that are supposed to be doormats are utilizing young, hungry, fast, two-way kids because that’s really their only recourse when they don’t have a franchise player around. And, hey, to win regular season games, which is all these kids know how to do, it works.
Playoff-like atmosphere against teams kind of like us, like the Nuggets and Clippers? We’ll put up a good fight. We may even be favored at this point. But you can’t win playoff games unless you get into the Playoffs first, so this 82-game grind, how can it be navigated?
And let me just interject this thought: Thank you, Adam, for the forthcoming NBA Cup! Our old guys need every little edge they can get.
Looks like, per Kerr, there will be some “DNP-Olds”, a term made famous by J.J. Redick on the podium last season when LeBron James was load-managed. Steve referred to a collaboration between himself and one Wardell Stephen Curry, Draymond, Jimmy Butler, of course, and the requisite Rick Celebrini, plus Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
I had said the other night that, in theory, it’s obvious that Will Richard can’t have DNPs in games like the loss to the Pacers.
I’ve seen enough where if it’s an innocuous regular season, non-nationally televised game — and I almost can’t believe I’m saying this — I’d rather have Will Richard guarding Ryan Rollins or Quenton Jackson than the greatest defender of all-time. It’s just part of the modern NBA and, quite frankly, what makes this version of it — well, at least the regular season — so compelling, kudos to Adam Silver.
Again, completely different situation than any playoff matchup you present me. Winning a game in November is a lot different than winning a game in May.
The hard part for November (through April) is finding out whom to bench, if Richard is to be part of the regular rotation. And so Kerr saying he’s collaborating with the main guys about what seems to be more load management, that is eyebrow-raising. I thoroughly applaud it and I wonder how it will be implemented.
Our LetsGoWarriors audience has clamored for reduced minutes for Steph and Draymond for awhile now, like, 24 minutes per game or something. Eric Guilleminault of NBADraft.net even chimed in with me to suggest that Dray and Steph be held out of the Portland game — and it turned out he was right, if you go by wins and losses only and the fact that the Warriors were run out of Moda Center that night after the Denver win.
Alas, the Portland and Milwaukee and Indiana game film were needed to get Steve to the podium to admit the NBA is zooming past them.
The problem with reducing the minutes target of the main guys, particularly Steph, is it’s hard to spread that across the 48-minute marathon, as we’ve seen recently with Al Horford. It can be argued that that amount of minutes is detrimental, as Horford has looked rusty at times. It’s early in the season with small sample size for him, though, and Horford is technically still a newbie to the franchise and the rhythm of GSW. Part of the rust can be attributable to schemes and fit and habits, as we’ve seen with the myriad of bad screens so far. Looking rusty might not all be because of the staggering of Horford’s minutes.
Besides, so much of the offense and the connected-ness of defense into transition strategies is based on Curry. So that’s another Rubik’s Cube for upcoming seasons. For instance, how do you evolve Steph from full-time starter minutes to spot lightning bolts coming off the bench if the ecosystem is really all about him? Maybe this won’t be an issue until he’s into whatever his new contract is, starting in 2028.
I conclude, for now, that the 32 minutes per game — Steve said that they tried to shave a couple minutes to 30 recently — is still needed.
Establishing the above parameters, who sits when, and who replaces whom?
Maybe we can start simple: pair Steph with Al, because Horford and Curry in the closing unit will be needed against older teams at some point, anyways. That chemistry needs to have more sample size.
When Steph and Al take their DNP-OLD’s together, Will Richard is the obvious “replacement” for Curry and you’ll need more Quinten Post in Horford’s absence.
Anyways, it follows that Draymond sits when Jimmy sits. In that scenario you need more size at the wing: Moses Moody.
You can’t just list starters because it all depends on what team you’re playing against. I’m not saying start Richard all the time. If it’s a big team with traditional centers, you’re gonna want Dray at the 4, not the 5. So in that scenario, you know Will is a key piece in the absence of Steph, even if he’s coming off the bench.
Or maybe you make damn sure Steph is playing if the opponent has traditional bigs? Nothing makes a Warriors fan drool more than a late game pick-and-roll with Ivica Zubac on an island. You see? It’s complex. It requires collaboration.
But, heck, I’ll list starters for when Jimmy and Draymond rest, anyways: Steph, Brandin Podziemski, Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, QP. Moses might play some 4 in the second unit with Al. I mean, that doesn’t sound bad, at all. That’s a starting five that gets my juices flowing. But yeah, it’s complicated. A lot of spreadsheets needed.
I do think one thing you can say in general is that the focal points — from a defensive and rotational perspective — going forward are Will Richard when Steph and Al sit and Moses Moody when Dray and Jimmy sit. Then figure it out from there.
Come to think of it, this is war games. I really don’t think a single article or video essay or podcast could encapsulate the complexity of load managing our main guys alongside the faster pace of the NBA, alongside the NBA schedule which not only has back-to-backs, but also different types of opponents.
But at the end of the day, no matter what the collaboration comes up with, I’m just happy they nipped this “basketball impotence” in the bud.
Reacting and implementing to trends seems to be an improvement of Kerr and his coaching staff and maybe even the whole organization, as well, since last season. I’ll give them a mulligan for not having adequate personnel last year during the stretch towards the 25-26 record after De’Anthony Melton went down.
The stuff below are from Indiana postgame and then practice: Steve, Steph, and Jimmy, plus Mo — who described a lot of the specifics of the defensive problems, perhaps shifting it away from desire to Xs & Os — and QP.
I’ll save the nice little inspirational Q&A in Portuguese (translated by moi) with Gui Santos, postgame Pacers, for later.
00:00 Moses, how would you assess your guys’ defense right now through seven games?
00:07 MOSES MOODY, PRACTICE, DAY BEFORE PHX-GSW: I think we gotta read and react. Different teams, different year, gotta, we figuring some different stuff out, so different rotations, different lineups, matching other teams’ different cadences. So I think it’s just in a point of read and react.
00:29 Steve really emphasized the change in the pace, obviously, of the game right now and how fast teams are playing. What has that transition been like for you guys defensively, too, to learn on the fly these teams that are just running and gunning?
00:41 Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say with my last answer. I know I kind of generally jumbled it up, but different pace. Guys are playing a lot faster on offense and defense, so just adapting to that is where we’re at.
01:01 Defensively, Steve was talking about guarding guard to guard pick and roll actions. What sort of is the process there for a guy like you who’s on the perimeter a lot, point-of-attack defender, in those actions?
01:14 It’s different than when we’re not switching. I don’t want to get too detailed into it, but just it’s a different mentality and a lot of differences from the beginning of the play that you have to adjust to, and some of those are becoming more clear to me. I know that’s vague, but I don’t want to give up my game plan.
01:43 Good job.
01:43 What have you noticed out of this? What have you noticed out of this Phoenix Suns team that stands out to you early in this season?
01:49 Another team that plays fast and aggressive. They got talent in different areas on the floor, yeah, so it’s just that, just another young fast team.
02:04 Moses, when you have a stretch of 10 out of 12 on the road, now eight of the next– and eight of the next 10. what’s the process like as a player, knowing you have such a huge stretch of road games here? Anything different or mentally how you get in the mindset to play a lot of road games right now?
02:28 I think it’s a lot about your routine on the road, being able to get your rest. This last one was pretty tough, going over there, going so far into different time zones and everything. As an NBA player, you gotta get used to that, so I think it is, most of that process is outside of the game and just having a schedule, having a routine.
02:54 It’s early in the season, but is, like, when you lose games that you’re maybe supposed to win, like, how do you as a locker room talk about, like, bouncing back and everything?
03:05 I think it’s a wake up call. Sometimes you get too, you get comfortable. We had some big wins, but then you have that reality check to make sure you stand on your P’s and Q’s. So I think it’s a good thing in a way, especially that happen early on in the year. So we know we not, you’re not too good to lose to anybody. And this is the NBA. Everybody’s a good team, so just having that respect, going onto the floor every night.
03:30 A little bit of a bigger picture, but you guys play an NBA Cup game on Friday. I’m just curious as a player how different these NBA Cup games feel and the motivation to get to Vegas. Obviously, there’s a financial one, but just to play high level basketball early in the season.
03:42 Yeah, I like it. I like that dynamic a lot, especially last year we got really close. So that kind of makes you want to go do it again, go to Vegas, to go experience it all. I’ve never had that experience. I’ve experienced every other game in the NBA pretty much by now except for that one, the competition and everybody wants to go and win the NBA Cup.
04:11 Just what are you seeing from you guys defensively right now with regards to some of the breakdowns and where can you some improvement come?
04:19 I think we just, a lot, some of it we just gotta get on the same page. We have different terminology, different principles that are changing with the change of the game, so everybody just has to be on the same page and communicate.
04:34 Change with the game, with regards to like pace and stuff like that, and tempo?
04:37 Yeah, so if we’re switching 1 through 5, then it might not have the same principles that if you’re switching a guard to guard screen in a regular situation, if we’re switching all game, like, just small details like that, to where we just gotta get on the same page.
—
04:55 Steve and Moses today were talking about how the pace of the game is a lot faster and how it’s changed, even from last year. Where have you seen that pace affect you guys this season, in terms of just, like, offense and defense?
05:08 QUINTEN POST: For me, individually, I notice it as a 5 man. Offensively, our job has changed throughout the years. As a big, you need to be able to pass, dribble, shoot the ball, but now on the defensive end is more than just rim protection, guarding the pick and roll. If teams play this fast and this chaotic, in a way you have to adapt on the defensive end. So for me, on a personal level, it means guarding inside and on the outside and as a team, it just, it’s a lot more chaos out there and you just have to– and I think the biggest thing for us is whatever we do defensively, we just gotta do it with a hundred percent effort. I think you get in most trouble when, if you are uncertain if you should switch this or if you should stay home. And that’s where you give up a lot of points. But if we just attack every play with a hundred percent intensity, then it’s okay if you make some mistakes because the people in the back are doing the same thing and you kinda help each other out like that.
06:20 To follow on that, you touched on it a little bit, but how important is communication? I think some of the vets talked after last game about the communication maybe wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Do you feel that, and how important is that when you’re playing at that kind of speed?
06:33 Yeah, it makes all the difference, obviously. And like I said earlier, I think if the people in the front court just do everything with a hundred percent decisiveness, then if they make a mistake, then at least it’s clear what the mistake is. So maybe you don’t execute a switch right or somebody gets behind the defense and then the people in the back line, me or Draymond, like, it’s easier for them to see the play and to anticipate and to help each other out. And so you gotta talk. And with that talking, it’s a certain decisiveness, so everybody can adapt to each other. If there’s no talk, now all of a sudden people are, we’re letting people loose. And now it’s hard to help each other because you don’t know what the other guy’s doing. So as long as we execute our defensive schemes with a, like, a hundred percent certainty, now it becomes easier to help each other.
07:27 Even from last year to this year, have you noticed, like, big trends that have changed around the NBA when it comes to pace, when it comes to just how these teams are going about their offenses?
07:36 I would say we’re seven games in, it’s hard to say that. This is, and it differs very much per team. Like, you saw the Clippers game was a very slow paced game and then you play teams like Portland and the Bucks and Indiana, too. They play very fast and I think it’ll differ from night to night, but in general, it changes some of the concepts that you need to apply on defense. Like, you need to run back, you need to load up to the ball, and some of the older concepts aren’t as important anymore, once teams play with that much pace.
08:17 I think Steph after the game in Indiana called it a kind of a look in the mirror type of game. Did it feel like those two losses, a little bit of a wake up call this early in the season and can that be good to have early in the season?
08:29 In a way you could, it might be good for us. I mean, we started on a roll. You lose a tough game in Portland where we feel they played a really good game and our legs weren’t fully under us. And then you win some great games versus Denver and you beat the Lakers and you win a big game first the Clippers, but it is important to see that we’re not an invincible team, even though you have all this star power and Steph and Jimmy can win any game on any given night. But it’s important to see that if we really want to take this thing far, is that we have to clean up and we have to adapt to this pace and play type style.
09:10 As someone who bounces between starting or beginning the game off the bench, has that been a transition or a change in trying to find your rhythm, when it comes to shooting the ball as well?
09:25 I wouldn’t say so. Just, these early games, we’re still, as a team, we’re finding a rhythm. Me, myself, I know that I’m a great shooter and I know that the ball will start falling for me. I’ve had one good shooting night and for the rest I’ve been searching for it, but whatever my role is on a given night, it doesn’t change the way I approach the game and how I approach my shot.
09:52 A little bit of a bigger picture, but you guys have an NBA Cup game on Friday. I’m just curious your thoughts on that high level intensity basketball early in the season to get the focus and trying to get to Vegas, which you guys were so close to getting there last year.
10:05 Yeah, excited. I think every game, obviously, should be played at a hundred percent intensity, but seeing the court in a different color is definitely a cool thing. And I personally really like the concept of the NBA Cup. I think it’ll be a good time. I don’t think our approach will change in any way, but I’m excited for it.
00:00 What is, what does practice look like today after that road trip?
00:08 STEVE KERR, PRACTICE, DAY BEFORE PHX-GSW: We had a good practice, no live stuff with the back to back coming, but we should be prepared for tomorrow. We got to go over a lot of detail that had been lacking on the trip, without running the guys into the ground and, yeah, a lot of things to tighten up on. We know that. And so today was a good day for that.
00:32 What are the biggest lessons that you want the team to obviously learn from those two rough losses?
00:37 The pace of the game is off the charts these days. It’s been getting faster and faster year after year, but I even think it’s taken a leap this year, just in terms of style of play. And this is how it works in basketball and technology and science, everything else, right? It’s like the game is constantly changing and so, to me, what I’m seeing is, teams are spreading it out, playing as fast as possible, making it difficult to get to your coverages defensively. The faster the actions, the more difficult it is for the defense to respond and I thought the pace of the Milwaukee and Indiana games exposed some of the things that we were doing defensively and we’ve gotta improve those things to get better.
01:36 How would you assess the defense right now?
01:40 A little bit betwixt in between. I, like I said, I think because of all this pace and the way teams are playing, you have to adapt and you can’t expect to do the exact same things you did even the year before. And every game’s a little different. The Clippers, Lakers, Denver, those felt more like traditional games where you’re in your coverage, you have time to talk through stuff. Portland, Milwaukee, Indiana, Memphis is a much faster game, more random and you’ve got to be very disciplined in a lot of different aspects, otherwise you get exposed.
02:27 To, I guess, to follow on that, how would you describe, like, the battle for controlling pace within a game? What does that look like and how do you win that?
02:37 I think it’s fascinating, what’s happening. I told the team today, just compared to even 10 years ago, five years ago, the game is so different and everybody is playing, not everybody, but most teams are playing with a lot more pace and everybody’s playing with more space. We’ve, it’s one of the reasons we’ve been dying to get a space 5 for the last couple years and having Quinten and Al’s so helpful. You get that space, but the pace of the games now is dictated by different factors. It’s not just pushing the ball. It’s crashing the offensive glass. It’s building walls in transition, closing out to shooters. And the athletes are better, like in every sport. The athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, more skilled, and so defense has gotten more difficult as it pertains to you guys offensively.
03:38 I remember us talking before the season, you wanted to play a little slower, a little bit more deliberate through Jimmy. I guess, what are the keys to controlling the pace offensively for you guys?
03:48 We still wanna play with pace. We still want to throw the ball ahead, but we found the balance at the end of last year, once we got Jimmy, from playing with a little bit more deliberateness and spacing. Once Jimmy got the ball, like, he’s one of the best iso players in the league. He’s gonna iso 10, 12 times a game. The key is we wanna throw the ball ahead and get a layup or get an open three, get the ball moving, and then when Jimmy gets it, now we get to our spots and it’s finding that sweet spot because we don’t want to go away from the split cuts for Steph and the ball movement and the flow that we’ve always played with. So I think part of this early season is finding that balance, between all of those things.
04:43 Steve, Phoenix has dropped four their first five, they’ve won two in a row. What do you see from them presenting a challenge, obviously, a new roster from what they’ve been the last couple years with their personnel?
04:51 I think, Jordan Ott is doing a great job. They’re really well organized. Watching their tape, they’re really teaching a lot of the modern NBA principles of pace and space and cutting off the ball. And they put a lot of pressure on you and you we’re gonna have to be really sharp at both ends to beat them. They, obviously, still have plenty of talent. Devin Booker’s one of the best players in the league and they got guys who can shoot it. And they’ve got high energy young players who are crashing the glass and running the floor, so I think they’re doing a really good job, under the circumstances, of transitioning to a new era without Kevin and Brad Beal. And it’s really impressive watching them.
05:42 Little bit of a bigger picture, but you got an NBA Cup game on Friday. I’m just curious what you think of the Cup and obviously the importance of you guys wanna be there, you wanna get to Vegas, just an early season focus with these big games in November with regards to–?
05:55 Yeah, I mean, I haven’t given it any thought to this point because we have two games before then, but we’ll be excited. I think the Cup, Cup games are fun. Players really wanna win. I really wanna win, but it, there is a different vibe in those games with the court, just knowing there’s a little bit of money at stake for the player, a lot of money at stake for the players and just a little different feel to those games. And it’s obviously only Year Three, but I think it’s taking shape and I think people are enjoying it.
06:32 Defensively, we’ve heard some players talk about some struggles with guard to guard actions. Is there anything distinct about guard to guard picks versus other ones that might give you guys some issues?
06:44 Yeah, it’s a league-wide trend. OKC’s been running a lot of guard to guard for the last couple years and we have more and more shooting now. And so these guard to guard screens often aren’t screens at all. They’re just fake screens and slips and people are slipping to the three point line and catching and shooting. And so it’s not traditional pick and roll coverage. And it’s not even the same guard to guard pick and roll coverage from five years ago because of the shooting and the pace and the speed. There’s a lot of technique to guarding pick and roll. Some of that technique you can’t even get to because teams are playing so fast. And so these are all things we have to take into account as a coaching staff and as a team. And there’s a reason people are running it. It’s hard to guard and so we worked on a lot of that today.
07:40 Steve, Draymond’s on off numbers are pretty obvious right now. No surprise. You guys are better with Draymond on the floor than off of it, but defensively, how do you continue to pick up the slack when he is off the floor where you don’t need to overwork him and overexert him throughout a season too?
07:55 Yeah, again, the game is connected. The pace and space of the modern game requires discipline on our offensive rebounding, on our transition defense, how those things connect. Way too many gaps in the defense in the first seven games, allowing penetration. The principles of the game have not changed. You want to keep, you wanna stay in front of your man, you want to avoid penetration. If you can stay between your man and the ball, all those principles are exactly the same, but the game is being played so differently with the pace and the space and the three point shot, that that’s become a much more difficult proposition. And so Draymond is the best in the world at covering for his teammates, creating deception for the offensive player, just, which makes him hesitate for a second. He’s amazing with that stuff. So when he is not out there, we better be rock solid with our discipline and the principles that we have to follow in order to make teams have to work.
09:06 With the game being faster, like, this season, how does that sort of affect how deep you go into your rotations in the minutes that are put on, like, the veteran players?
09:14 Yeah, we have to address that. We did today. I sat down with Mike and Rick Celebrini, Dray, Steph, and Jimmy, the three main guys who are gonna play heavy minutes and, yeah, this was, I mentioned it the other night, seven games in 12 days, five cities. Like, not an easy schedule and I think it showed the last two games. We looked a half step slow in a lot of ways. We’re constantly collaborating with the players on this stuff. I’m collaborating with our performance team. They have all the data, showing how fatigued these guys are, how fast they run their recovery time, all of that stuff and so what that means is we have to navigate not only just back to backs, but three games, four nights, the rules that the NBA gives us, in terms of which games guys can rest, which games they can’t. And that’s something we are really having to dive into, now that the season is going and it’s rolling. It’s not easy, but we’ll do it collaboratively.
10:30 What were some of the conclusions of that conversation?
10:35 Not every back to back is the same. This week, it’s more of, it’s almost like a home back to back since we’re just driving to Sacramento and no airplane involved, no time change. I think last week’s trip, Indiana, Milwaukee was actually harder than a back to back, despite having a day in between because of the travel. And because we were coming off so many games. So the schedule isn’t gonna always be black and white in terms of when to sit a guy, when to rest a guy. Same thing with each guy’s condition, physically. Sometimes they’re banged up, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes if you have three in four nights and the third game is coming after a day off, that bothers players more than the back to back because it’s three in four nights, especially the older guys. So these are all things we have to consider.
11:31 On that note, has there been a decision about which game Al’s gonna play?
11:33 No decision, yeah. Actually there is, but I’m not telling.
00:00 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME GSW-IND: I think, I don’t know, specifically. They had a couple big threes and got them over the hump. We missed a couple, but throughout the course of the game, this was one of those, you just look in the mirror, the parts of the game where we just, I made it too hard on all of us with not getting organized, bad possessions or lack of energy. And you give a team like that life, their record a little misconceiving because they’ve been in a bunch of games and they have enough talent where you saw they can make shots down the stretch. Just one of those rough games. We gotta play better throughout the meat of the game so that you give yourself that breathing room where a couple shots here and there don’t determine that.
00:51 Steve was saying that the focus hasn’t been very good, obviously the last couple years. When you have that issue early in a season, what can you do to get everybody back on track?
01:04 Just be professional. Understand what you need to do to get your body, your mind ready to bring your best self. Again, that’s where us as vets, look at myself, you gotta be able to demonstrate that execution even if you don’t have it physically at your, 10 out of 10, that you’re able to control a game on both ends with your brain. And that’s what I was talking about, first part of, for the meat of the game where you just make the game hard for no reason. Answer the call, watching film, understanding how the league is going with different lineups out there and how fast and pace teams are trying to play and make the necessary adjustments.
01:53 What part of your own personal game tonight frustrates you?
01:59 The beginning of the third quarter, I think, just didn’t really get anything out of that run of, whatever, six minutes I was out there. And again, when you’re in that position, you have a bunch of empty minutes, you give a team life in the NBA, there’s a lot of talent all over the league and you don’t want to turn it into a shot here, shot there type of game, especially on the road. So that first six minutes, the group that came in finished the third, started the fourth, they were dominant. And then that kind of fed into the last six minutes, so I gotta be better, just being more decisive, more aggressive, not to shoot, but to play make and get everybody organized.
02:45 Steph, there was many kids waiting for you before the game. I’m 20. I grew up watching you play, too. How would, what does it mean to be a role player for many generations?
02:58 I’m blessed, man. I get to play this game at a high level. I’ve been doing it for a long time. And to your point, just this stage, this platform, the ability to continue to have fun doing what I love to do and how that, what that means to other people is still very surreal, for sure.
03:12 What hasn’t traveled on the road for you guys in the last three games program?
03:21 Probably just a sustained run of good defensive possessions where you’re flying around, talking, everybody on a string offensively. We’ve been okay. We’ve been working on our spacing, transition, and we get the ball in certain guys’ hands and I think we did a little bit better job of that tonight, but just connecting the game. We struggled for big stretches to create separation and that hurt us both games,
03:58 The defense, is that a fatigue thing when you’re on the road or is that just something that can be fixed?
04:05 It will be fixed for sure.
04:08 When you say you were making the game too hard for no reason, what do you mean by that? Where does that show up on the court?
04:15 Dumb turnovers. There are a couple possessions where, like the one there was two turnovers in the third quarter when I came off, got caught in the air, traveled, I had no options. I could have kept dribbling, got off of it, and then you see a split but timing’s off and turn it over and they get a fast break layup. It’s those type of momentum plays that you see it, they call time out, everybody’s doing great, crazy. We do that to other teams and when I give them possessions like that, it just changes the momentum. You have to work so hard to get, either back in or create a lead. I know I can do a lot better than that.
05:00 One of seven games in, but one of the points Steve was making post game, the West, it can be two games at the end of the season separate eight and three (seeds), and these are the type of games y’all can’t give away. I guess, what’s your frustration level despite where we are in the calendar about that aspect of it?
05:20 That’s obviously true. We’ve experienced it over the course of the last couple years, but I think more so it’s the frustration of not being able to capture that momentum that we had and sustain the start that we had. I know we can get it back, like, long way to go, but start, whatever, 4-2, everybody’s been talking about how tough the schedule is and all this and that, but these two games that we really should have and wanted to have to show for our start, but hopefully lights a fire in all of us to get back on the horse and figure out how we can win a very difficult stretch throughout, a very difficult stretch coming up and show that we’re a very capable team.
06:10 You played the Olympic in Paris. I’m French. What did you enjoy for the most about that experience? Did you learn any French word except Nuit-nuit?
06:21 Just great memories of a great team and something me and my family will remember forever.
06:27 Great. Thank you.
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06:27 …the last six minutes, where and why?
06:31 STEVE KERR: Everything, went wrong. We didn’t execute on offense. We didn’t execute on defense. We fouled, we turned it over. We didn’t deserve it. They played great.
06:39 Steph on 8-of-23, five turnovers. What’d you see from him?
06:44 It just, it wasn’t Steph’s night. He just, it wasn’t himself and tough night.
06:50 Steve, what’s the biggest message you wanted to get across to them after the game? There was no message. Yeah, not now’s not the time to say anything to the team. We gotta pack up and fly home and regroup.
07:04 Do you feel like lost, like, significant momentum that seemed to be building?
07:11 We know the West is loaded and feels like we just gave away two games that, if we are locked in and focused, playing the way we know we can play, we should have won them. We gotta pick up those games somewhere along the way, but at the end of the season, the last three years, it’s the same thing. It’s one or one or two games and we have to find a way to be sharper and to be better. And there’s gonna be some tough nights. There’s always tough nights during the season. This should not have been one of ‘em. We had the day off yesterday. We didn’t shoot around this morning. We had plenty of rest, but the execution down the stretch was awful. And it’s a shame because our young guys played their ass off to get us the 11 point lead. Gui, Moses, BP, those guys were fantastic and they just, they completely flipped the game when I put ‘em in and they did their job and we just couldn’t close.
08:15 What did you like from Gui?
08:16 Nice offensive boards, cutting. Knocks down a three. This is why Gui is so important to us on nights like tonight where we have no energy. Everybody looks tired. He comes out and he changes the game. And that’s exactly what he did tonight. Moses did that, too, tonight, did a really good job, came in and with that group and BP as well, they really flipped the game and it’s a shame we couldn’t close it for them.
08:44 Where are you seeing the breakdowns defensively behind?
08:49 I didn’t like the fouling. We had several fouls that were unnecessary fouls just reaching, I thought, for the most part our switching was pretty good, but they got 11 offensive boards. They got some second chance points, 15 of ‘em, and then 28 free throws, too many.
09:10 So you mentioned the focus, and that’s an issue early in the year. What can you do to get everybody on the same page where they need to be?
09:23 We have tomorrow off. We’ll have a practice Monday, which is great. We can work on some things Monday and then we have another back to back. And so the schedule doesn’t let up and so I understand, seven games in 12 nights to start the year. Not easy, but nothing’s easy in the NBA, everybody’s got their tough schedules. You have to find a way to execute when you are not at your best and we did not do that tonight.
09:56 Ryan Rollins had a big game in Milwaukee. Quenton Jackson, another smaller guard, had a big night thing. Was there any commonalities or anything similar when it came to defensive breakdown –?
10:06 No, I didn’t think the games were that similar. I think our defense was a lot better tonight than it was the other night. Our switching was way better. We were talking more. We were more demonstrative. This came down to not executing down the stretch, turning it over, fouling when we didn’t need to foul. And then taking some tough shots where we could do a better job of executing. I can do a better job of getting us into something to get a cleaner look. Thank you.
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10:33 What would you [inaudible this road trip?
10:36 JIMMY BUTLER: Oh, we lost two games. Think that speaks for itself.
10:42 What went wrong tonight?
10:47 I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but I figure fouled entirely too much, myself included. And I would like to think that that was the basis of it. Turnovers and had way too many fouls.
11:03 What would you, how would you assess your defense these last two games as a team?
11:06 Not good. Maybe we was like a second late. The communication was a little bit off. Not good as a whole, not good enough to win.
11:19 It’s only seven games in, but it seemed like you guys were pretty intent on coming out strong, 4-1. How frustrating is it to lose the momentum?
11:29 We haven’t lost any momentum. We just haven’t been playing our best version of basketball. It’s easy to get back to that, taking care of the ball and not foul, rebounding and making shots. That’s easy. Like I said, it’s only seven games. Everybody’s still on this bus and we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, together.
11:49 Jimmy, Steve was saying the focus wasn’t where he would like it, at least the last couple games. How do you guys get that back on the track, specifically?
12:01 I don’t know. I think we, everybody just gotta do what they’re supposed to be doing. We gotta get back to playing our roles, taking care of the ball [inaudible. We guard as a team, we score as a team. Everybody gotta be on the same page. I think we’ve gotten away from that a little bit. It’s not a bad thing. Not a bad thing. But we gotta get back to all five playing defense, all five playing offense.
12:34 Great.
12:34 Appreciate it, Jimmy. Thank you.
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