Credit Carmelo Anthony for Porzingis jab-and-shoot
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Loved the Carmelo Anthony reference from Kristaps Porzingis postgame after the win versus Washington:
Even my post game and my turning and maybe sometimes I jab and shoot, like, I kind of developed my own stuff from that, but some of it started with me being with Melo (Carmelo Anthony) early in my career and seeing how he jabs and shoots, just those jumpers, you know? And so obviously there’s always that. Once you see somebody daily, like, even for sure, for guards like BP or whoever, just being around Steph, for sure, influences them in an amazing way, so there’s always that, for sure.
Also, thought the angle of this picture was funny, contrasting Porzingis (7’2”) to one Wardell Stephen Curry (6’3”), courtesy USA Today/Imagn Images:
The context of the question to KP was that Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos both referenced Jimmy Butler as someone they emulate, in particular for the Wizards game. Podziemski had a good night at the free throw line (7-for-8) and Santos’ footwork in finishing plays has been a boon to the Warriors over the past week and becoming a regular trend, see full transcript below.
Ironically, I have a couple posts on deck in regards to those two guys: Podz in terms of his (wrong, imo) approach to games and Gui in terms of that footwork.
It’s interesting how we have more patience for more veteran players. The only complaint I’ve had with Kristaps was his high-turnover game against Brooklyn. I find myself extremely forgiving on his self-proclaimed shooting woes, whereas I’ve lost some patience in the moment with BP’s shot selection plus untimely gambles on defense, as well as Gui’s turnovers, subpar free throw shooting, and general lack of point-of-attack defense — deep dives forthcoming on this Substack, plus the YouTube channel.
Here are Steve Kerr, Gui, BP, and KP postgame:
00:00 Obviously kind of a scattered game, but do you grow, get even more of appreciative of what Porzingis can do for you in the middle of a kind of scatteredness out there?
00:13 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME WSH-GSW: Yeah. Yeah, I mean we’re going to him a lot when we need a basket and he’s capable of that. He probably hasn’t done a ton of that in recent years. I mean, Boston has a number of guys who are gonna kind of have the ball in their hands late, but right now we’re going to him a lot. Generally, he takes care of the ball, he gets a shot for either himself or someone else, so he’s a great weapon, and at any point in the game. And it’s really fun to watch him play.
00:47 You’ve spoken about how finding the spacing around Kristaps has been an emphasis for this team since he arrived. Do you feel like the team has kind of figured out how to space around him by this point?
00:55 I think we’re getting better with it. The biggest thing with our team is just our decision making. The first half we had three turnovers and we generally just played a solid offensive half and then second half, we got crazy again and nine turnovers, most of them unforced and we just have to understand the value of the ball. And I think it’s a little tricky these days in the NBA. Everybody’s playing so fast. Everybody’s launching threes. There are times where the NBA game just gets it looks like a pickup game at times because everybody is just launching and playing fast. And so in some ways we have to reteach the value of time and score and hitting singles decision making because all it takes is a bad shot and a turnover and the whole game flips.
01:50 Steve, you guys have talked about building good habits along the way as you get toward the end of the season. What did you see tonight, good, bad? I mean, what, what did you see tonight?
01:59 First half I saw focus offensively, simple decisions and then I thought we let our guard down defensively in the second quarter, a couple back cut layups, some poor transition, missed communication on switches, so there was good and bad tonight, but I liked the way we closed the game and had a lot of good individual performances.
02:31 Coach, we didn’t kind of know what the incentives are for some of these teams that you’ve played recently. And we don’t need to maybe start a whole conversation about that, but just from your standpoint of being a team that’s fighting for wins, what is it like for your own competitive situation, to see a team just not play its best players down the end of the game, like this happened the last two nights?
02:55 it’s definitely strange, but it almost doesn’t matter because these guys are all in the NBA and, I mean, Jaden Hardy didn’t play the first 36 minutes and then he scores 14 in the fourth quarter, so technically he’s not one of their best players, but he was their best player in the fourth quarter. And so for us, we’ve had a few of these games. Utah came or came back and beat us in Utah, Chicago beat us late, and you can say, well, they weren’t — they didn’t have this guy. They didn’t have that guy. They still have NBA guys who can’t wait to play. And so it’s a strange phenomenon. I think it’s pretty unique to this season. I haven’t really seen this in the past. I think this is different, but I always remind our guys, every one of these guys is in the NBA for a reason, and Hardy was a great example of that tonight, so we can’t take anything for granted.
04:06 Another high scoring game for Gui. It seems like things are kind of slowing down from on that offensive end. What are you kind of seeing with his patience on that end?
04:14 Well, he’s — the more reps he’s getting, the more minutes, the more confident he’s become in his shot, in his ability to get past people. I agree, I think the game has slowed down for him. I think he’s making good decisions. Tonight was a great game for him in terms of handling the ball, only one turnover and as a shot creator, we’re asking a lot of him. And he’s playing really, really well. Sam?
04:53 Steph gonna make the trip to Denver?
04:55 I’m sorry?
04:55 Is Steph gonna travel to Denver?
04:56 No, he’ll stay here with Rick (Celebrini) and they’ll get some work in this weekend. Yeah, thanks.
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05:05 GUI SANTOS: Hello, hello.
05:07 Another high scoring game. What was sort of working tonight for you?
05:12 I think especially the confidence when you have a high confidence, when you have a team just trusting you and like playing, kind of like giving me the ball for me to create some plays and all that, that’s give a lot of confidence and it make it easier for for me to go score or either find teammates. So when you have the type of confidence, it’s great to go there and just be free, play free.
05:38 Steve’s talked about the value of valuing every possession of avoiding turnovers. Just what is the key to not turning the ball over with this team?
05:47 I think we just got a slow down, you know? We don’t need to play — of course we need to play fast, move the ball fast, but at the same time, under control, you know? When we drive, when we get into the into the paint, we gotta just stopping two feet and like I learned a lot from Jimmy. Jimmy’s the guy that every time he was driving to the paint, he was stopping with two feet. And after that he decides what he can do. He go, he can go score, he can pass the ball, he can do whatever he wants to do, so watching him allowed me to try and do that right now in. When you start doing that, you see how much that help you, you know? And the whole team had this mentality of just getting into the paint, stopping two feet and just go there and play free. Don’t worry about turn the ball over and all that because when you’re too worried about it, it’s stuff you have that is stuck in your mind and you just go there and sometimes the passes is not there. You’re anxious and make you turn the ball over, but overall, today we did a good job of that.
06:48 Did you have conversations with Jimmy about playing off two feet or was it more just you watching him?
06:55 The first time when he got here, I have a lot of conversation with him, but after a time that he was here, I was just watching him. Every time he get into the paint, he took his time and that was so easy for him to do everything, so when you learn that and watch that, that’s very, like, you see how much that works and you know why he’s that great player that he is, because he can do that all night. He can get into the paint because he’s strong, he’s tall. He can get in there and just stop and create and take the decision after that.
07:27 And these past month, few weeks, you’ve had a lot of chances to initiate offense, create your own shot. When Steph gets back, do you imagine slotting back into the role you used to have or playing more like you have been?
07:43 I think that’s gonna be game to game because there is games they double, they of course gotta double a lot on Steph. And that’s two men less on the defense and that create offense for us, so when Steph’s in the game with us, I think that’s gonna be easier for me to create offense of him because they gonna double him. And he always is a great passer. He pass the ball either in the pocket or for the guy in front of him and that’s just 4 (versus) 3 situation. You just can do whatever is easier, so I think when he get back, that would make more easier for everybody else to create their own shot on offense.
08:24 Hello Gui, Draymond mentioning on Wednesday, he said, like, team during this time, team can’t just throw in the towel because they have a young guys like you and Brandin and trying to build a career. And how do you think about his, this kind of expression and this veteran’s leadership?
08:45 So you asking about the the leadership?
08:48 Draymond’s leadership?
08:49 Yeah, so Draymond leadership is always like you can see that he’s a guy that talk to us a lot because he want us to be at our best and that’s what make him great and make him like the leader of the team, because every time we step in there, he trusts a lot in us. He been talking to us, he been like trying to put us in another level and we, me and BP, all the young guys that are here, are very grateful to have him on the team because we learn a lot with him just by watching him on defense and offensely, but also just being around him and learn how, like, to be smart like he’s on the court.
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09:37 The third straight game, your third straight game with 20 points. Just what’s working for you on that side of the ball?
09:43 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Getting to the line quite a bit. I think it’s helped, but yeah just taking good shots within the flow of the game and getting to the foul line.
09:53 What’s the key to getting to the foul line?
09:57 Really understanding the rules. Learned a lot from Jimmy early in the season and then just watching other players play.
10:06 What’s something that Jimmy does to get to the foul line that you’ve kind of picked up on?
10:10 I think it’s constant aggression in terms of going to the basket. The more drives you do again, the more likely you’re gonna get fouled. And so just always being aggressive, going to the rim.
10:24 Brandin, there’s a lot of talk between you guys and the coaches, too, about building good habits as you go toward the end of the season, get to the Play-in tournament. Is, do you see it happening yet? And what does it look like when you do that?
10:37 Yeah, we’re getting there. We’re showing flashes of both good and bad. Fortunately, we got to do it against Brooklyn and Washington these last two, but we’ll see what we got come Sunday.
10:51 It seems like in the last couple days people have asked you a lot about the outside noise and some of the way the fans talk about you. Do you pay attention to that at all?
11:01 Yeah, I see it. Like I said, a few days, a lot of the things I said, I probably haven’t — I probably shouldn’t have said it because it can be construed a certain, but I understand where I’m at. A lot of it is self-indictive, but all I can do is look forward and give up my all every night.
11:22 How do you kind of not let that stuff like affect how you play?
11:26 I mean, I really just try to tune it out when I’m in between the four lines. I’m not gonna think about what someone says about me on the internet. And so every day just come in with a clear head, be happy, be blessed that I’m here, and so that’s my perspective every night.
11:50 Brandin, you’re been through a lot of upside downs this season, but did you feel like the process of finding your reason back each time is quite a little different?
11:59 Yeah, I think you’re right. I’ve had little ups and downs. I think, as of late, I’ve been able to find a good rhythm, understand what’s being asked of me every night and just kind of try to follow through with that and let the result fall where it may, but like I said, I just go out there with the attitude of playing the same way I did when I first got a chance to play in my rookie year.
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12:34 You have 5-of-11 from three-point range tonight. How’d the jumper feel tonight?
12:39 KRISTAPS PORZINGIS: I got lucky. I got lucky. Crazy. No, honestly, it’s not feeling good now, but I hit the first two or three and yeah, I kept shooting. Something goes in anyway, but what you’re gonna see once I get it right-right, you’re gonna see. Like, there’s gonna be a difference, for sure.
12:59 Kerr mentioned that they basically were going to you a lot at the end. Did that — how good did that feel? How natural did it feel for you to kind of be initiating things, either taking a shot, obviously, or maybe even making the pass?
13:13 Yeah, no, I feel comfortable in those situations. I trust myself. I’ll make the right pass. I can either get a bucket, draw a foul or create some advantage for us. And I feel good in those situations and I like those situations, so and the team trusts me.
13:39 Both Gui and Brandin talked about how Jimmy has kind of influenced them and how they play. How important is it for young players to have veterans that they can kind of not just look up to, but also emulate and take things from?
13:52 No, for sure. Like, even my post game and my turning and maybe sometimes I jab and shoot, like, I kind of developed my own stuff from that, but some of it started with me being with Melo (Carmelo Anthony) early in my career and seeing how he jabs and shoots, just those jumpers, you know? And so obviously there’s always that. Once you see somebody daily, like, even for sure, for guards like BP or whoever, just being around Steph, for sure, influences them in an amazing way, so there’s always that, for sure. And yeah, obviously we have Al and guys like that, that are very experienced and you could always learn something from them. Good? Cool.
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