[The above is an embedded video.] When we saw Jonathan Kuminga lose his rotation spot to Gui Santos, I’ll admit, most of us long-time hoop heads didn’t think Santos had much of a bag.
Even Steve Kerr went on the podium and said Santos is a “short spurts” player with his energy and penchant for deflecting the loose ball.
This was early in the season when the coaching staff reacted to the sudden huge uptick in pace across the NBA and, like Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo did in Memphis, reduced minutes of certain guys — yes, that led to the disconnect with Ja Morant — to address that wild pickup-game-style of play that we are now used to seeing across the NBA.
Come to our watch party livestreams and you’ll see how hard it is for me to keep game notes these days. Sometimes I go type a note and I look back at the game action, the Warriors have already thrown the ball to the other team for a fast break pull-up three.
In terms of pace, the Phoenix game was no different. With no Jimmy Butler and one Wardell Stephen Curry sidelined with that “painful” — check our free Discord server in the easy-to-navigate “steph” channel or see latest article from Anthony Slater of ESPN — runner’s knee, our man “Ener-Gui”™️ stepped up with starters’ minutes and delivered.
It was back in Cleveland on the road trip led by “That Motherfucker” Pat Spencer — again without the services of both our superstars — when we got a glimpse of Gui having an array of spins and fakes.
And so I must apologize. I got it wrong. Gui is more than just a spot-minutes guy who only chases down rebounds and, as you see in the thumbnail above, can do his own Dennis Rodman impersonation.
However, big question remains. Can he adjust to the inevitable adjustment?
I don’t think Kuminga gets enough credit. Even on that same road trip that had Cleveland, at Philadelphia head coach Nick Nurse had the Sixers double-teaming JK the moment he put the ball on the floor.
Nurse knew what JK could do, one-on-one, and true to his “janky defense” form (Wardell voice), took young Jon out of his element.
Things like failing to adjust to the adjustment, especially on a team that has a target on its back, can lead an inexperienced player making the wrong reads, turning the ball over too much, losing confidence from his coach, and ending up back on the proverbial pine.
Gui hasn’t had to deal with that yet. But the more good games like this he has, the more of his bag he shows — such as the “decel” (deceleration) move — the more teams will game plan, the more individual defensive players will watch Santos-specific tape, the more he will get a target on his back and a counter to that decel.
Let’s hope he doesn’t hit a wall like JK did on that. That’s no knock on Jonathan. The NBA is hard, man.
Should be interesting to see, tonight, as Gui is likely to be in the crosshairs of the likes of LeBron James or Rui Hachimura, at some point or another.
But in enjoying the moment, let’s give credit where credit is due. H1ggs8 of our chat did, calling him “Guiannis Santetokuonmpo” in the Warriors-Suns chat.
Here’s Draymond Green, then Kerr, on the rise of Gui, followed by the full transcripts from Phoenix after that thrilling and much-needed win.
“Much-needed” in terms of psyche, as I’ll write more about soon, not just wins and losses and standings, but also the trade deadline and missing out on Jaren Jackson, Jr. — see our Discord for what Curry said about the playoff chase: https://whop.com/letsgowarriors-discord-free for the free curated version or https://whop.com/letsgowarriors-discord-vip for the raw live feeds and searchable video from reporters at every NBA arena ($5/mo)…
Draymond on Gui:
We are starting to see him grow each and every game and with that growth, he’s getting more and more opportunity. Steve called a couple pick-and-rolls for him today and he made the plays. Like, the energy — he start — one thing I love about Gui Santos is, on my journey in the NBA, I had to figure out what it was that was gonna get me on the floor and what it was ultimately to give me a chance on the floor was defense. And so I locked in on that. That’s my path on the floor. Gui Santos’ path on the floor was hustle place and offensive rebounds and he locked in on that and he’s become one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA, especially wing crashers. Guy crashing from the wing get offensive rebound and, in turn, once you’ve done that, then you earn the minutes and you can show everything else that you’re able to do. And that’s where he is. It’s like he’s now stamped himself as — I guarantee you, on every scouting report in the NBA, they’re talking about him crashing, but that’s what got him on the floor. Now you’re able to see what he can do with the ball, how he can shoot the ball, how he can finish around the rim, defensively, just hard-nosed Brazilian. It’s beautiful to watch. I’m such a fan of his growth. 36 minutes tonight and without him, we stand no chance of winning this game. So I’m gonna continue to enjoy watching his growth and him carry us to wins. I love it. It’s great.
Steve:
Gui has been fantastic, now, the last few weeks, just his playmaking. Especially without Jimmy now, we’re gonna rely on Gui to make plays. He’s very deceptive with his moves. He has a knack for getting into the paint and then kicking the ball to the right guy and finding open shooters, but he’s also shooting the ball well himself, and he’s playing at a really, really high level right now… Yeah, a lot more confidence and this is how it works. I mean, you get consistent minutes, you have the confidence of your teammates and the staff, that’s when you really blossom and I feel like he is blossoming right now.
00:00 Sounded like a loud celebration.
00:02 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-PHX: Yeah, felt like we won the championship. We needed that. We needed it.
00:07 What — why do you, would you describe why it was such a big win?
00:12 Just the emotion of everything the last two days, losing three of our guys who were beloved in the locker room and losing Jimmy to a season-ending injury, Steph being out. It just, everything. It has just been tough the last, this last week or 10 days and whatever it is since Jimmy’s been out. And it felt like a great team win where everybody just fought and competed and stayed with it. And it was a beautiful, beautiful thing to watch.
00:48 What do you feel like flipped defensively down the stretch there, 25-7 run?
00:51 Yeah, I mean, they had it going for a while. Gillespie really had it rolling. They forced a bunch of turnovers in the second half. I think we had two at halftime and 13 in the second half. They picked up their defense and down the stretch we were able to take care of the ball and keep them out of transition. And we guarded them in the half court really well all night. And I thought the last possession, really, it was kind of emblematic of our defensive effort. I mean, Moses staying in front of brooks and then Melt switching onto him, the fight for the rebound, Gary getting the rebound, Al saving, and then Moses going up to get it. It was really just an amazing display of grit to finish the game. It was pretty awesome.
01:40 How good was Pat Spencer tonight?
01:41 Pat was great. I mean, he got his chance again and we saw that, obviously, for that stretch when he played five or six games. And I just think the biggest thing for Pat is just to shoot it. Shoot the three. Let it rip. And he had that mentality. He took three threes in the first minute or so and that’s the right mentality for him. And when he shoots that shot, even if he doesn’t make it, it just, it sets up the offense. We can crash, we can get offensive boards, there’s a flow to the game, so if people want to go under screens or don’t pay attention to him, he’s gotta let it fly like he did tonight.
02:23 Steve, Melt’s first start this season. Do you expect to start him going forward?
02:26 I don’t know. We’re trying to just sort through everything right now with the injuries. His minutes, he’s at a 24-minute limit right now, which is doable in the starting lineup. You saw I ended up at 24:43, so I went 43 seconds over. I hope I don’t get in trouble from Rick (Celebrini), but it is tricky with no back-to-backs for him, for Al. Right now we’re just trying to piece it together and kinda keep our head above water until we can get healthier and get a more consistent rotation.
03:07 You guys were on pace to set an NBA record for three-point attempts through the first half. Was that by design to shoot that much from out there or was that just the way the game was kind of —
03:16 It’s kind of, it’s kind of the way we play, honestly. We don’t, especially without Jimmy, we don’t have a lot of guys who are gonna score in the paint or get fouled. And so we’re trying to spread the floor, play five-out. if we have a three, we have to take it, crash and get extra possessions. And if we can make some, like we did in that first half, and teams come out and now we can penetrate and drive and kick. So I know it’s a lot of threes, but I think it’s kind of how we have to play.
03:54 Hey Coach, now that Trayce is, trade is official, what can you say about his impact?
03:58 I can talk about him now? Trayce was great, just a wonderful young guy who played well for us, great second-round pick to be able to come in and do what he did, but also to be such a great part of the team. He’s just a friendly soul and he’s really talented and there just weren’t minutes for him here. And so we think it’s a good opportunity for him to move on and hopefully he gets more playing time in Toronto, but getting Kristaps means the minutes are really gonna be limited for Trayce, so I think this was a good move for him. But we’re gonna miss him. He had a great presence about him.
04:50 Coach, going back to the 55 three-point attempts you guys took in this game, are you using the same pick-and-roll offense that you and Uncle Mo used, back on the Cavs back in the day?
04:59 Oh my gosh. Who put you up to this?
05:03 Paul Mokeski.
05:03 Paul Mokeski did?
05:04 Yeah, we did a show together.
05:05 Yeah, we used to run a lot of the pick-and-pop stuff. Anytime you can put two of the slowest guys in the league together in a pick-and-pop, it’s almost impossible to stop, so yeah, the Kerr-Mokeski pick-and-roll. I think they’re still talking about it in Cleveland, actually.
05:21 He’s still talking about it.
05:22 I’m sure he is.
05:23 Yeah.
05:24 Coach, beyond the energy Gui Santos always bring to the court tonight, he played the most minutes on the team with almost 36. He scored a season-high 18 points and had a career high seven assists. What was his impact in today’s win and how would describe his potential as a passer as well?
05:44 Gui has been fantastic, now, the last few weeks, just his playmaking. Especially without Jimmy now, we’re gonna rely on Gui to make plays. He’s very deceptive with his moves. He has a knack for getting into the paint and then kicking the ball to the right guy and finding open shooters, but he’s also shooting the ball well himself, and he’s playing at a really, really high level right now.
06:10 Are you sensing more confidence from him attacking with his —
06:12 Yeah. Yeah, a lot more confidence and this is how it works. I mean, you get consistent minutes, you have the confidence of your teammates and the staff, that’s when you really blossom and I feel like he is blossoming right now.
06:28 Steve, to follow up on Pat, he’s always the guy that doesn’t play with much fear, but now that he’s hit that 50-game mark, he knows he’s gonna get converted. Do you think there’s almost a sense of relief to really —
06:39 It is for me. I can tell you I’m relieved that — I was really worried that we were gonna lose him after 50 games and not be able to do anything, so it’s a relief to now get him on the main roster and you can see what he’s capable of. What he did out there tonight was fantastic.
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06:59 Pat, as a team, you guys attempted 55 three-pointers tonight. How necessary is that kind of approach, given the personnel you have at this moment?
07:10 PAT SPENCER: Yeah. I can promise you we didn’t go into it thinking we were gonna let off 55 threes, but we kind of took what the defense gave us. They were super aggressive on the perimeter in that second half and just proud of our team for adjusting. We had a little stretch. It’s a game of runs. We had a little stretch there in the third and the fourth where we gave them a little bit more ground than we wanted. And we’ve kind of tucked our tails in those moments, so I’m proud of this group today for sticking together, getting through that, but the 55 threes were just kind of a culmination of what they were giving us.
07:46 Some of us heard quite the celebration in there. How are you guys feeling getting through the deadline and getting this kind of win?
07:51 Yeah, I mean, it’s never a fun time of year. You’re gonna lose — I think people forget the human aspect of it. I spent four years working my butt off with Trayce in that gym. Four years with JK. Buddy’s been incredible to be around. Anybody that’s been around him will tell you that, so that part’s tough, but you got a game to play, so you gotta lace some up and come out and get your head in the right head space. And so we found a way to get it done.
08:18 Pat, this was obviously Game 50 for you. You earned everything that’s coming your way now. Is there relief that you kind of crossed that threshold and they’re gonna convert you?
08:30 I don’t know if relief is the right word. We’ve got some phone calls to make here, so business is business. We’ll figure it out, but I’m beyond thankful for this organization and what we’ve been able to do together. I’m thankful they’ve given me an opportunity and so we’ll see where the chips fall.
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08:50 What did it feel like to close the game on that kind of run that you guys did and win, considering just the emotion of this week?
08:57 GUI SANTOS: Means a lot. It means a lot because, like you said, there was a hard week for all the players around the league. it’s kind of tough spot to be, but that’s, we live for that. We get paid for that and all that, so this win felt great for us, felt great, especially we lost the last two games and get a game, a good game and to come back like that and win, it’s very good.
09:25 25-7 run down the stretch, that’s how you guys finished. What clicked late in the game?
09:30 Man, I think by the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, they were hitting tough shots. They were not hitting easy shots, so we were sticking together. We were like, yeah, we gotta keep playing defense. We playing and they’re not gonna make shots like that the whole game, so we gotta keep playing hard. We gotta keep playing, fighting, and that’s what we did. We keep playing, fight, we keep fighting until the end of the game and we had the 25 run.
09:57 How comfortable are you attacking off the dribble?
10:00 Man, I think a lot, yeah, like, more confident, especially because of Draymond and Steph. All the vets, they being like, Gui, attack. Melton a lot, too. He being like, Gui, you attack at the rim and if you don’t have the layup, if you don’t have the finish, kick out, kick the ball out. And then we find out what we do after that.
00:00 Draymond, how would you describe the tenor of the last 24 hours culminating (inaudible)?
00:04 DRAYMOND GREEN: It’s been a weird 24 hours. Everybody kind of just sitting on the edge with the trade deadline and then, obviously, the trade. You lose two guys that you got relationships with — three guys, actually, that you have relationships with, but that is the business that we’re in, shorthanded. Came out tonight down, what, 14 in the fourth quarter. Guys continue to fight and come out with a big-time win after a long week. Says a lot about the character of the group.
00:45 At what point did you know that you were still gonna be on this team through the deadline?
00:50 Today at one, Phoenix time.
00:56 That’s probably a new experience for you. I know you’ve talked about it a little bit. How nerve wracking is that?
01:01 It got nerve wracking towards the end, but yeah, it is what it is. Move forward. It’s not something I want to get used to though, so.
01:20 You talked to Mike?
01:22 Yeah.
01:23 What was the message that he conveyed to you?
01:27 We just talked some trade stuff. We talked about a possible trade. We talked about other stuff that could happen, yeah.
01:35 What do you think about (Kristaps Porzingis)?
01:43 I like it, just adding more size, more rim protection, more shooting. Porzingis switch guards onto him. He really punishes them, does a great job of that. He was the missing piece to a Boston championship. When he was with that team, they were really, really tough to beat, so hoping he could bring some of that here, but I like it. I think it’ll be a great fit.
02:15 How do you see yourself fitting next to him defensively? How do you guys (inaudible)?
02:22 Well, for me personally, I love when there’s another rim protector on the floor because then I could, stuff that I see, I can act on it. When I’m the only rim protector, stuff that I see and make it — want to act on, you can’t do that because you just leave the rim. It’s kind of like a, you watch football?
02:42 Mm-hmm.
02:43 You don’t watch no football.
02:44 I do watch football.
02:45 You watch football? Who your team?
02:46 Vikings.
02:47 Oh shit, y’all ain’t never won. No, but there’s great defensive ends and then there’s defensive ends that don’t stick to their assignment. They just want the sack and you run the ball right in the gap that they left because they just shot upfield trying to get a sack. It’s kind of like that with rim protection. if you just take off because you see something and all of a sudden it don’t work, then you got no rim protection. You just broke containment. You just broke the scheme because of something that you saw, that you wanted to do. When there’s another rim protector out there, you can take those chances. And so I’ve always enjoyed playing with another rim protector on the floor. I just think it really unlocks everything that I can do defensively.
03:37 When you call him secret, the extra weapon to Boston for their championship, what made him kind of that extra piece and how do you see him fitting with Al as well, too?
03:46 Oh, well, they were together, but both of those guys are smart. They can both shoot, both can protect the rim guard smaller guys, guard bigger guys. And so I think that’s beneficial. How he was great with Celtics was, they had a ton of shooting and so if you switch and you switch somebody on him, they just throw him the ball. And you can’t help because they’re — he’s just kicking it out the shooters and they’re launching threes. And so I think for us to have that weapon, especially with Jimmy going out, Jimmy, you switch on Jimmy, we throw Jimmy the ball. It’s over. And so with Jimmy being out, to add someone that you can do that to in a different way, like, obviously him and Jimmy are two totally different players, but that thing in particular to add someone that they get the switch in and you can throw it in there and punish them, that changes an offense.
04:50 What can Jonathan take away from his experience here to Atlanta?
04:56 Number one, I hope that we’ve been good vets to him and taught him how to be a pro. I think that’s first and foremost. You hope that what he walked away with was, regardless of how all of it went down, the guys whose wing I was under showed me the right way. And then I hope that he — in going there that he relishes the opportunity. I think he’s going to an organization, saw Coach’s comments maybe today or yesterday. I don’t know when they were, but I saw them today where he was just saying, yeah, he didn’t get a chance to make many mistakes because we’re trying to win. And that’s always been kind of the tough part about young guys and trying to win. You come into this league, you have to make mistakes to learn, but when you’re with a group that’s trying to compete for championships, you don’t always get that leash. And I think he’ll get a little more of that now and the same mistakes he was making two, three years ago, he don’t make now. But again, if you haven’t quite just had the opportunity to let all of it run its course, then you’re still somewhere along that process. And so I hope, like I said, I hope that’s what he takes away from it and, most importantly, I hope he go and become the player that we all thought he’d become here.
06:26 This situation, obviously, is what it is with Jimmy and every kind of roster ramification that’s gone on multiple days, you guys have set the standard for so long. What are your expectations for the rest of this year, to win games?
06:45 Try to give ourselves shot at a playoff spot and when you get in the playoffs, I guarantee you ain’t have us pick to win in 2022 when we got in the playoffs.
06:56 The reason I didn’t was in part because you said at the beginning of the year there was no chance in hell you were close to a title.
07:02 I agree.
07:03 And then the playoffs started and you won a title.
07:05 It changed. I told y’all, I called my friend after the first game of playoff, said, Danny, we gonna win the championship. I didn’t think so either. So I said all that to say, you just need a chance. if you give yourself a shot at it, we know how to do it and I think that’s a skill that probably 97% of the NBA does not have, is they don’t know how to do it. We actually know how and so we just want to give ourselves a shot at it. You give ourselves a shot at it last year. Steph don’t go down, who knows what happens. So we just want to give ourselves a chance. So that’s the goal for the rest of this year.
07:42 Are you relishing the idea that everybody’s written you guys off?
07:47 Yeah. yeah. Who? The people that don’t be knowing what the hell they talking about? Those are the same people that said we would’ve never won because we shot too many jump shots and I was too small and everybody else was too small. Those same people? Oh man. I’m gonna keep it PG. I ain’t gonna need to say nothing wild today. Yeah. Yeah, those people.
08:20 Draymond, how would you describe Gui Santos’ impact the last two games and the potential going forward?
08:29 I think we are starting to see him grow each and every game and with that growth, he’s getting more and more opportunity. Steve called a couple pick-and-rolls for him today and he made the plays. Like, the energy — he start — one thing I love about Gui Santos is, on my journey in the NBA, I had to figure out what it was that was gonna get me on the floor and what it was ultimately to give me a chance on the floor was defense. And so I locked in on that. That’s my path on the floor. Gui Santos’ path on the floor was hustle place and offensive rebounds and he locked in on that and he’s become one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA, especially wing crashers. Guy crashing from the wing get offensive rebound and, in turn, once you’ve done that, then you earn the minutes and you can show everything else that you’re able to do. And that’s where he is. It’s like he’s now stamped himself as — I guarantee you, on every scouting report in the NBA, they’re talking about him crashing, but that’s what got him on the floor. Now you’re able to see what he can do with the ball, how he can shoot the ball, how he can finish around the rim, defensively, just hard-nosed Brazilian. It’s beautiful to watch. I’m such a fan of his growth. 36 minutes tonight and without him, we stand no chance of winning this game. So I’m gonna continue to enjoy watching his growth and him carry us to wins. I love it. It’s great.
🫶💙💛