There needs to be a 30-for-30 🤔 (no pun intended) that goes behind-the-scenes with an opposing coaching staff preparing for one Wardell Stephen Curry in the film room.
Memphis head coach Tuomas Iisalo gave us a hint of what that would be like, postgame Warriors-Grizzlies (entire transcripts at the bottom of this post, per usual):
He got a lot of looks and different type of looks, so with a player that caliber who we’ve done actually a tremendous job throughout the season in all of the games, he was able to still find ways to get open. And once he gets into that zone, it’s very difficult to get him. I mean, we’re talking about the best shooter and certainly also the best movement shooter of all-time. And then he was in that zone and after that it becomes extremely hard to stop him and I know our guys were giving everything they had and then you look at, for example, in the second half, there’s no longer scripted situations where that is happening, where you can put two guys maybe on him. But he’s so good at getting rid of the ball, relocating and there’s not a — you can’t relax for even for a half a second because he’ll find some space and then use that space in order to get his shot off. But it’s a, let’s say, sight to behold how he, operates. He’s nonstop and constant in hunting for those opportunities.
Tuesday’s victim was Santi Aldama, who’s lighted up the Dubs before so as a Warriors fan it felt kinda good to see him get momentarily lost for a second — even better with Jimmy Butler recognizing the moment and setting an ad-hoc pick nearby on Ja Morant, who was the only other guy who could Aldama — as Curry found the corner spot for the dagger. It’s one of many in-arena highlights found in my latest behind-the-scenes compilation:
And I think we tend to take Steph’s movement for granted. I’ve talked many times on this site (e.g., here and here) and during our game watch parties about how, especially when you see courtside footage, he manages and controls the rock and points at teammates to go somewhere or pass the ball in some direction. All so that he can work his wizardry and pop free for a shot.
Steve Kerr said as much on the radio yesterday as he alluded to the 60-point triple-double by Nikola Jokic and Steph’s 52 happening on the same day. Fans take Curry for granted.
There’s a memory (still) locked in my brain where a highly respected defender loses track of Wardell for just that one split-second and that guy finds himself chasing, crossed over, nearly stumbling, then of course daggered by The Chef once again.
I could not remember which player that was, so I went to our “DubNation Diaries/Documentaries” playlist and went video-by-video. Was it Toumani Camara, who actually won NBA Defensive Player of the Month for February before Draymond Green did it this month. Someone on the Milwaukee Bucks? Mikal Bridges at MSG? Cam Johnson a couple nights after that in Brooklyn? Maybe it was a home game. Cade Cunningham or Tobias Harris, maybe? Nah, it was definitely someone renowned for defense. Keegan Murray? I mean, at least we can rule out the Atlanta and Miami games, as Curry was out for those.
I really can’t place it. It was a dagger from sort of the top of the arc, a little to the right. It was a scramble play, a relocation, had the guy stumbling, organized chaos, splash!
And I just couldn’t find it, but I found other versions of it in all of those games.
If you want to help me out, here’s the playlist again: DubNation Diaries. I’m thinking maybe it was Mikal, but in the Chase game, which I haven’t perused yet. It’s getting close to pregame for Warriors-Lakers, so I gotta abandon that search… 🤷🏻♂️
Yeah, it seems like “movement shooter” doesn’t get talked about enough en masse, especially after losses, because people are too busy nitpicking about all the other stuff that so far hasn’t made us a Top, let’s say, Four seed — or would the 99% stressed-out population of the world ever be satisfied or outwardly show gratitude? Is being a top-four team in the NBA good enough? Something tells me it’s not. Something tells me it’s an underlying problem. It’s technology enabling a behavior.
But heck, I get it. Sometimes my OG coaching genes come through whenever Steph throws the ball to the other team, for example.
We can do better! Remember how blessed you are to have a basketball franchise built entirely around “movement shooter”. Thank you, Steph. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Joe Lacob. Thank you, Draymond, for the on-court IQ and poetry in motion:
[This is supposed to be an Instagram post link/preview where Dray sets a pick and shovels the ball perfectly to Steph, late during the Grizzlies game, but Travis Walton left me on read — he reposted the post yesterday but it’s been more than 24 hours and it expired for me 🤦🏻♂️]
And thank you, everybody else.
GSW-MEM INTERVIEWS/TRANSCRIPTS
00:00 Steph, when you were here in December, you went 0-for-7. Did that play into tonight? Any motivation?
00:10 STEPH CURRY: I would be — honest, I had — I actually forgot that fact. I was just kind of more focused on how big this game was for us. The intentionality that we came out with in the first quarter was just a great game plan to understand how they guard us. I think I thought about their style. They try to junk up the game on defense, top-locks and trying to send me into the paint and traffic and all that. We had a counter for that to start the game, but other than that, it was just trying to win a big game and embracing the moment.
00:43 How’d you hit on this trip, golfed a couple times?
00:46 I know Steve’s talking, but when I golf, good things happen. You just fill the cup up. Everybody has their thing and, for me, yeah, have a beach, being outside, is always nice.
00:55 How rejuvenated do you feel from maybe the week off, maybe the golf, whatever?
01:00 Body feels good. It is been a good trend, I think. I hadn’t played an intense game like that in a while since, obviously, before the injury and still wearing the pad back there and trying to protect myself, but other than that, feeling a good rhythm. The week off definitely helped in that sense where the tank is pretty full and you want to try to maintain that for as long as we can down the stretch.
01:32 How much do you feel the pad or not?
01:34 I’m used to it from three years ago, yeah. So it was different then. This was — I know what to expect.
01:40 How long do you think you’re gonna have to wear it?
01:44 I’m not sure, but probably the rest of the regular season, at least.
01:47 Hey, Steph, you were just, one three-pointer away from tying your career high of 13 threes and now you hit 12 of them. Did you know before the game that you was going to have one of these type of nights, where you just gonna go off, be in the zone like this?
02:00 Nah, my whole career, I’ve never really thought that way. You have confidence, you prepare yourself, but it’s never a results-based thing. It’s just understanding the work you put in. I did shoot it well this morning at shootaround, so you kind of feel good and have confidence, but you never think it’s gonna be a 50 night. But the first quarter was just rhythm and decisiveness and the byproduct of good preparation for this game and then the rest kind of, you just flow off of that.
02:34 You kind of mentioned it earlier, but what specifically were they doing trying to stop you defensively and what’s the best way and the way that you exploited that?
02:43 The main point, they just tried to take the ball outta your hands. Last time we were here, my shot attempts were way down just ’cause they were top-locking pretty much at 94 feet and just trying to keep the ball outta your hands and then you’re not able to get a rhythm and they have, obviously, Wells who took the assignment on their game plan last game and this game. They got Jaren Jackson, Defensive Player of the Year behind. They got Zach Edey, seven-foot-plus. They got size everywhere, so they try to just funnel you into traffic and I think tonight we were just trying to get the ball in your hands as much as possible and then let chaos kind of flow from there and usually good things happen.
03:26 What dynamic does Jimmy give fourth quarters for you guys?
03:30 Fourth quarters, first quarter, second quarter, every quarter he has a presence about him. He’s so under — like, always under control, making the right play, taking advantage of advantages when he gets in the paint, getting to the line, finishing at the rim. He hit at a three in the first quarter that got us going, so he always makes the right play and when I’m off the off the court, he’s lifting the level of guys around him who are out there. He’s a gamer.
04:02 How significant is 28-of-28 from the free throw line in the game of this magnitude, especially considering where you guys are at collectively at the line earlier this season?
04:11 Yeah, it’s weird. We had the — I think I was, I don’t know if I am still, leading the league in free throw percentage and we were dead last as a team and that’s just kind of an anomaly ’cause we had a rough patch, but every point matters in a game like tonight, especially when you’re getting easy points and able to set your defense and making them pay for aggressive, physical defense, so Jimmy, 12-for-12, me, 8-for-8, Draymond knocked his down. It could be the difference in tight games like that. You gotta take advantage of those free points.
04:46 Speaking of defense, Ja’s gonna get his, right? 36 tonight. That’s what he does, but do you guys go into a game plan and just trying to basically limit the other guys from really having a good night?
05:00 I mean, a little bit, yeah. There’s superstars in the league like Ja, who doesn’t matter how much good defense you play, he knocked down five threes, you kind of have to live with that ’cause he can get into the paint whenever he wants. I think on the whole, we did a really good job of keeping them off the free throw line, making them make tough shots, flying around the guys shooting threes ’cause they have a good spacing on the floor, draymond and Jimmy doing a great job on Jaren Jackson even though he had some moments. But yeah, you want to run them off the three-point line as best you can because that’s when they’re flowing, the ball’s flying around, they’re tough and then you just gotta take the challenge one-on-one. Even if they make a tough bucket, you just shake the hand, fly back on offense and just keep doing it over and over.
05:49 You had 11 threes in the mid-third. did you at all think, I mean, especially in a tight game, that that could be a night you could reach Klay?
05:59 The first two shots I took in the fourth quarter were a reflection of that, yeah. I thought about it and first tough shot in the transition and went iso left wing, missed both of those and then I kind of came to reality on let’s get good possessions, if I do it or whatever, but that was the ultimate heat checks, even though I just got back in the game.
06:20 You passed Jerry West tonight, all-time scoring list. What’s that mean?
06:24 I got a little emotional about that. It’s special, obviously, in his memory and what he meant to our organization, to the league, to the world of basketball, to our organization when he worked here and my relationship with Johnnie (West, Jerry’s son). And I got to talk to him after the game just to share a moment on what it meant for me, my family, the entire West family, so that is special, just understanding what his career was. And that’s the logo, so, very special. I’ll keep that ball and put it in a good place.
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07:01 Given where you guys are in the standings, fighting for a playoff positioning, just how tough was it to take another tough one, home stand here, three in a row?
07:15 JA MORANT: I mean, obviously you don’t wanna lose on your home floor. Last two felt a way, but yeah, we gotta protect home court and go out and get wins. Just flip the script and take a different mentality on the road.
07:31 Do you think there was stuff from today that you could build on?
07:34 Yeah, the main guy on the scout shouldn’t have 52 points.
07:38 Ja, what will it take for you guys to get back in the (inaudible)?
07:47 Pretty much what I said, is locking in to the game plan, knowing your personnel, being disciplined. You have the greatest shooter in the world. He shouldn’t even attempt that much threes.
00:00 Talk about Steph.
00:02 DRAYMOND GREEN: Man, incredible. Wow. Just what a performance. He’s locked in though. He had a great shootaround this morning. He was locked in. You can always see the look in his eyes when he’s focused. He wanted this one bad and he played like it. It was beautiful to see. We needed it, for sure.
00:18 Is this the best performance ever we’ve seen?
00:19 Hell no. No chance. I’ve played with him for 13 years. I can’t quite call the best one off the top of my head, but that ain’t it.
00:30 How much do you think he needed that week off?
00:36 I think it was definitely helpful. Never feels good when you’re forced to take that week off, but in saying that, I think to get a week off at this point in the season for him is great. You allow your body to rest. Other nicks and knacks that could be hurting is healing while he is kind of letting the contusion heal, so I think it was great for him. Man, he looks very extremely rejuvenated, so it’s good for us.
01:06 What did you like about that fourth, I mean, tied after three quarters, you guys closed, and fourth, what did you like about the way you finished?
01:10 We knew it would be a tough game. This team’s been reeling a bit, but they’re a confident team. They’re a proud team and they continued to fight, but I thought we got the stops we needed to get in the fourth quarter and we continued to move the ball, sometimes too much. A couple times we passed up a few shots, but I thought we continued to move the ball. We stuck with the game plan, took care of the ball, which was huge. We had, I think, five turnovers in the first half, six, five or six in the second half, which was beautiful.
01:40 Jimmy baits Jaren Jackson into the sixth (personal foul), next play steal with Ja. I mean, how important is what he’s doing in those kind of key moments?
01:50 It’s huge for Jimmy to do that. I’m disappointed in Jaren. As you know, I got a lot of love for him. That’s my Spartan dog. He’s too good to still be getting in foul trouble. A couple of them fouls he picked up, he can stay away from those and it’s time for him to take that next step in that department because it was huge for us, for him when they got out the game, but I’m happy he did. But I am a Jaren fan. I’m always rooting for him and to see him still getting some of those fouls that he’s picking up, he can’t do that. His team needs him out there and so it’s a huge play by Jimmy, huge couple plays by Jimmy, which was great, but Jaren gotta figure that out. He’s gotten too much better offensively and too hard to stop to be taking himself out the game on the defensive side of the ball. That was a little disappointing from the big brother in me, for him. That was a little disappointing, but I was happy he was outta there.
02:54 How do you, I mean, are you actually thinking about that during the game?
02:57 Of course. You like, “Oh, he got five fouls.” You see him pick up that second one, you’re like, all right. So you’re definitely aware of the situation, for sure. What you mean, am I balancing — ?
03:07 Yeah. I mean, are you sitting there, fist-pumping? Yes, he’s out of the game, but also —
03:11 Oh yeah, of course. I’m happy as hell, every foul he picked up. I was happy during the game, but like I said, there’s a part of me thinking you can’t do that. Like when he picked up the fifth one, I literally walked the Bane on the bench and said, “Bane, that’s crazy. Like, that’s ridiculous.” And so, yeah, he can’t, Jaren can’t do that, man. Jaren’s too good of a player to still be doing that so, like I said, I was happy as the fouls were happening during the game, but now that it’s over, he can’t continue to do that. He’s too good of a player to be taking himself outta games like that.
03:45 How important was this for y’all, not only past them in the standings, but to now have basically a two-game lead because of the season series?
03:53 Huge. And Steve talked about it before the game that, “Hey, this gives us two games up on them if we go take care of business and we wanna put ourselves in position to stay outta the Play-in tournament.” So tonight was a huge step in that direction.
04:07 You guys and the Lakers both look different, different teams since the last time you played. What are you looking forward to about Thursday?
04:12 Just the challenge every time we play them. Whenever you get the opportunity to play against Bron, there’s always a battle amongst us. It’s been years. Now you add Luka to that fold, it’s different. Dorian Finney-Smith’s different. They’re playing great basketball. Austin Reaves is different. It’s not the same Austin Reaves we faced before, so playing really good basketball is always a challenge, but we go in and play our brand of basketball, play our game. I like our chances.
04:37 Draymond, you mentioned when you got here, you’re talking win a championship, ten toes down?
04:43 Always stand on what I say, brother. I don’t backtrack. That ain’t me. Gotta prove me wrong. I ain’t backtracking from nothing. Gotta prove me wrong.
04:54 What have you found out about Jimmy, getting to know him?
04:59 Incredible teammate. Incredible teammate. Always trying to figure things out. Always trying to simplify things for everyone else. IQ off the charts. Incredible, very fun to play with. Make the game really easy for everybody.
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05:16 What did that stretch run down the stretch feel like for you guys, to come out on top?
05:21 MOSES MOODY: Win the quarter, win the game, that’s what we were saying on the bench going into it and just knowing we gotta just focus. They coming off of back-to-back, so running them and getting — they can only play so much, so they gonna get tired, whatever that may be, controlling what we can, executing down the stretch. That’s what we did.
05:40 Feel like a playoff game tonight?
05:41 It did. Yeah, it did. They had that energy, had that atmosphere. And that’s my thing too, when we coming down the stretch, you gotta look around the standings and seeing what other guys doing, hoping guys losing and this and that, but I mean, you can control your destiny when you beat those teams and that’s what we did tonight, so I was proud of what we had put together.
05:59 What’s it like to just watch Steph on a night like tonight?
06:02 You gotta remember to play the game when you’re sitting there watching him do stuff like that. Just coming off those screens, finding any inch of space, pulling it, knocking it down, I mean, that’s a special performance from a special player.
06:16 You mentioned it feeling like a playoff game. Are you feeling the stakes right now and how big a swing every game is?
06:24 I feel like my mindset is win games. All the pressure of it and all the other stuff, you can make yourself feel a whatever way because of whatever. If you win games then things gonna turn out how you want to, so that’s my mindset and then I’m gonna just keep it that way.
06:42 You guys went 28-of-28 from the line. Jimmy went 12-of-12. How large a factor was that?
06:51 28 points large. I didn’t know that until now, but I mean, that’s amazing stat that we had ’cause those free throws can determine a game. When you not making them, that’s when you really feel them, but yeah, it obviously was a big part of it.
07:07 Part of that was he fouled Jaren Jackson, late on that pump fake. How big was that play?
07:11 Oh yeah. Yeah, that was a big one. He got that mid-range shot that you gotta pay attention to, baited him into it. He wanted to go get the block, so it was big time.
07:24 49-43 on the glass for you guys tonight. I mean, how gratifying is that to out-rebounded a team as big as the Grizzlies?
07:30 Yeah, that was the emphasis going into the game, knowing we was — they were gonna have more size out there on the floor. So cracking back guards, coming back to rebound, hitting those big guys, yeah, that was the game plan.
07:41 Hey Moses, tonight’s kind of like a homecoming, you being from Little Rock, but is there any added pressure to kind of like go out there and perform, knowing that you kind of close to the crib, in a way?
07:53 Yeah, in a way it’s some pressure with it, but I mean, really, it’s just being able to play, perform in front of my people. They watch me on TV all the time, all the way out in California, but I got a lot of people here today, had to get a lot of tickets for all my people, so just being able to talk to them, have them come see me play in person because I’ve been gone for a while. I went to Montverde in high school, so I’ve been away from home, playing for a long time, so whenever they get to come experience it, it’s a lot of fun, but yeah, I gotta show out when I’m around the home crowd. So that’s the — I guess there is a little added pressure there.
08:26 Got a lot of free tickets.
08:27 Oh yeah. Double-R (Raymond Ridder). Shout out to him. He the man.
00:00 How would you describe Steph’s performance tonight given the stakes?
00:09 STEVE KERR: I mean, the guy’s 37 years old. It’s incredible, 52 points with people draped all over him all game long. The conditioning, the skill, the audacity, the belief. It’s, just incredible to watch Steph at work. I mean, I can’t believe he’s still still doing this at this age, but he’s put the work in and he’s still got it.
00:37 How much do you think that week off he just had maybe boosted him a little bit?
00:41 I think it helped and I think two rounds of golf on this road trip helped. Yeah, I’m only half-joking. But he — yeah, the week off, was helpful for him. I think he looks recharged, rejuvenated and he just — I think last time he was here, he didn’t make a field goal. I guarantee you that was on his mind. We lost by 50 or something and we know how they like to guard him. They’ve done a great job on him. They’ve done a great job on us the first three games of the year. We averaged, I think, 19 turnovers against them and tonight, only 11. And I feel like there was a really concerted effort to execute and get organized and stay poised. And for the most part, I loved the way we played, throughout. We had a couple of bad spells, but it was really a solid effort. It’s an amazing game. I mean, both teams played at a really high level. They made 18 threes. Ja was unstoppable. So, great game and we were fortunate to come out on top, but we made big plays down the stretch to make it happen.
01:56 Did it feel like a playoff game?
01:57 I did. It felt like one and, obviously, the implications were huge. Now they’ve gotta beat us by two games here over the last seven to catch us, so that’s helpful for us and we’re, obviously, fighting it out with Minnesota, with the Clippers. And you never know what happens with anybody, so you gotta handle your own business.
02:23 You mentioned the last time you were here, how long ago does that feel? How long ago does that feel?
02:28 Completely different team. Jimmy saved our season. The trade saved our season. Everybody knows that, but you watch what he did tonight, 12-for-12 from the line, steph goes off the floor, we’re running everything through him. Just a big-time defender, big-time two-way player. And, Jimmy has made the rest of the pieces fit, Moses, BP, Gui, Quinten. It’s just — the roster makes sense. We’ve got guys who are competitive and tough and smart and they’re, as Steph talked about, he wanted to play meaningful basketball again and he’s getting to do that. We’re all getting to do that and it’s a lot of fun.
03:15 Jimmy fouled out Jaren on that pump. I think you mentioned it, 12-of-12 at the line and then he had a strip on Ja, on that pass. Just those two plays in particular, how big were they?
03:25 Playoff Jimmy. Yeah, it’s a real thing. I mean, he’s a big-time, big-game performer at both ends. So much of that comes down to your IQ, basketball IQ. Obviously, he’s got a lot of gifts, incredibly strong and really fluid athlete, but to me it’s his brain that puts him over the top and I thought that the pump fake with Jaren was kind of the play of the game to me.
03:58 28-for-28 from the free throw line, that was a weakness at one point this season. How significant is that to, for you to see your team shoot like that at the line in a game of this magnitude?
04:07 Yeah, I mean, to get to the line and to knock ’em down, it’s such a big deal. It’s free points, but you’re also getting your defense set up, so every time jimmy gets to the line, we’re setting our defense up in half court and calming the game down. And that’s, obviously, a huge boost to our team.
04:28 Coach, one more game to go on the road trip. Just how, knowing how important this game was, the standings and everything, the energy of the others — we know what Steph is going to do, we know what Jimmy’s going to do — but Draymond gave great effort, Podziemski gave great effort, as well. Just talk about the energy from those guys and you guys win the second chance points and fast break points tonight.
04:47 Yeah, I mean, we talked about it before the game. This game was about winning the battles. By that, I mean, can we get more possessions than they did? We got 15 offensive boards to their eight. They turned it over five more times than we did. I felt like with the size disadvantage that we had going against Edey, it was imperative that we dig out the loose balls and the long rebounds and swarm him when he caught the ball in the paint. And so I thought our guys really executed the game plan beautifully and, obviously, we had to make 22 threes to win the game ’cause they made 18 and it was a really high-level, high-skill game and, as I said, we’re happy to come out on top.
05:37 Steve, you’ve seen Steph do a lot of things over the years. There’s the point towards the end of the first half that even you turned around and couldn’t believe a shot. What was going through your mind at that point?
05:49 He’s still doing it. I’ve been watching this for 11 years and actually longer, before I became coach, I was enjoying watching him play, but to coach him, you get a real sense of just the magnitude of his talent, his character, his work ethic, his passion for the game, passion for the work that he puts in. Guy’s amazing to watch and we’re lucky to have him.
06:17 I know you mentioned Jimmy’s pump fake as the play of the game. Where would Podziemski’s tip-in kind of — ?
06:24 Tip-in was huge and Moses’ three from the corner, I mean, we had multiple guys step up and make big plays, but that’s kind of what Brandin does. He makes plays like that. That’s one of the reasons we like him so much. He’s got a nose for the ball. He’s got a feel for how to make a big play, beat other people to the ball. That was big time. Thank you.
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06:50 Yeah, you mentioned — right here, Coach — you mentioned just executing the game plan against Steph. In that first quarter, in particular, what did you see that allowed him to get going?
06:58 TUOMAS IISALO: Well, he got a lot of looks and different type of looks, so with a player that caliber who we’ve done actually a tremendous job throughout the season in all of the games, he was able to still find ways to get open. And once he gets into that zone, it’s very difficult to get him. I mean, we’re talking about the best shooter and certainly also the best movement shooter of all-time. And then he was in that zone and after that it becomes extremely hard to stop him and I know our guys were giving everything they had and then you look at, for example, in the second half, there’s no longer scripted situations where that is happening, where you can put two guys maybe on him. But he’s so good at getting rid of the ball, relocating and there’s not a — you can’t relax for even for a half a second because he’ll find some space and then use that space in order to get his shot off. But it’s a, let’s say, sight to behold how he, operates. He’s nonstop and constant in hunting for those opportunities.
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