Draymond on Kerr: “It’s the things that people don’t see”
[GSW-HOU videos/interviews/transcripts]
Man, Steve Kerr coached his butt off! Let me list the ways, straight from my game notes taken during the Watch Party:
Calling the ATO with about four minutes to go in Q4 which had Draymond Green setting a pin-down screen for Brandin Podziemski, and Podz slipping the curl for a bucket, assisted by Al Horford. I had noticed more of that two-man action between Dray and Podz last game — and mentioned that as something to watch for going into Houston — with BP simply plugged in for the role of one Wardell Stephen Curry. It’s kinda fun to see that play out successfully. Didn’t see much of the two-man action between them up top, though, but one or two per game anywhere on the court, particularly in crunch time is neat to see, tbh.
Calling the timeout with 1.6 seconds left in regulation as he saw that De’Anthony Melton (6’2”) was successfully contained by Amen Thompson (6’7”) after Horford won the tip — I’m sure some nitpicky naysayer reading this will register it as bad coaching for not immediately calling the timeout after Al won the tip, but I would disagree 🤷🏻♂️ Melt just hit a bucket, so I got no problem with letting him freelance for a game-winner and, oh btw, that’s an All-Defensive First-Teamer who picked him up.
Having enough timeouts saved up, up until that point.
Having your 5 (Horford) execute a relocation to the corner a la Curry with under a minute to go in regulation — has another team in the NBA ever pulled off a center relocating to the corner for three? Victor Wembanyama for the Spurs, maybe? Shout out Gui Santos and Green for being part of this action.
Going with LJ Cryer to start overtime (due to the Melton minutes restriction) instead of Pat Spencer. Sorry, Pat. Cryer gets buckets and is quicker and more dynamic. 🤷♂️ But my advice to Spencer would be to seek out some Chris Paul highlights and emulate the hell out of CP3. Master that midrange and the change-of-pace because you actually can already get to that elbow/paint spot, that much we know. You will have a long career in the NBA if you can consistently turn that spot-getting into buckets.
Laying into Quinten Post on a timeout after Post’s failure to peel off of Clint Capela to help Reed Sheppard’s 1v1 bucket on Cryer. QP responded and played well the rest of the way. In fact, the whole team did after the Amazon Prime Video broadcast caught Kerr praying to his team on the bench. 😂 The extra oomph to keep the urgency and focus for 48 minutes paid dividends. Steve brought it — because that’s what a young team needs, is those constant reminders.
There’s probably more, somewhere in my volume of game notes, but let me allow Dray to take over:
It’s very interesting seeing, like, to sit and watch Steve speak to the team every day because you could easily get down, right? Like, under the circumstance and just watching him find the right thing to say to get guys going, to keep guys to continue to believe, it’s the things that people don’t see. And gotta give him a lot of credit. Every day he’s walked in, he hasn’t dropped his head. He keep telling us, “Yo, we right there fellas. We got a great opportunity. Just keep pushing. I promise you it’ll turn for us.” And so he’s been doing an incredible job of that. And it’s a lot of guys in this locker room with a lot to fight for and so we just gotta continue to do that.
All of the postgame interviews with Steve, Melt, Podz, LJ, Al and Dray are below…
00:00 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-HOU: That was incredible to watch. I thought that was vintage Draymond, the defense, the leadership, the force, the passing. I thought that might’ve been Brandin’s best game of the year, but I just love the fight. I love the fight. Last game against the Clippers, we just have to compete night after night. And if we play well like we did tonight, we got a shot against anybody, so the mentality’s right and we just gotta keep plugging away, but tonight was really fun.
00:34 How big was having Al Horford being able to finish on Sengun and having Draymond be able to guard Durant?
00:40 Yeah, it’s a big deal to be able to match size with Al and then put Draymond on the other team’s best player, whether it’s Kawhi or Kevin. I think Draymond really relishes the opportunity because he’s still an all-world defender and so I loved that combination. And I played Al almost 33 minutes, so I’m probably gonna be reprimanded by Rick Celebrini. So I’m willing to take my punishment if it meant that we got the win tonight.
01:14 Steve, you’ve talked a lot in the last couple weeks about how proud you’ve been of how hard everybody comes played. Why do you think that has maintained at the level that it has consistently, no matter who — ?
01:25 We just got a great group, these young guys who’ve come in. Nate Williams has played really well for us. Malevy, you see the energy that he brings. It’s really fun to see LJ tonight. He’s from here, obviously. He was at the Houston game last night and got honored by Coach Sampson and then comes out tonight and hits four threes, big shots, big minutes. We start him in overtime because we were trying to keep Melt’s minutes down and he made some huge plays for us. He’s a winner, but all these guys are just committed to each other and to the mission and it’s a fun, a really fun group.
02:07 How important for this operation as De’Anthony’s dribble penetration, just his scoring?
02:12 Yeah, it’s huge down the stretch. When he, I think we were up one and he had the isolation up top, he got to the rim and eventually scored on the putback and his ability to get past people is really a big deal for us.
02:29 You said you thought it might be Brandin’s best game of the year. What, I mean, I know the stat line’s good, but what did you really like about this game?
02:36 There was just the right mix of on and off ball attacks. You saw him get that flare and dive layup to start overtime that gave us the lead. He recognizes those plays probably better than anybody else on the floor, on both teams. Like, he just sees the game. When the ball swings, he runs into a screen, dives to the rim, gets a layup, but you look at look at the numbers, one turnover, nine boards, made four threes, like, made big shots, too, big plays. And his defense was was really good, so just a great, great game for Brandin.
03:19 You mentioned LJ. What’d you like about him as he was coming out of college and just what do you think about him making most of his on the two-way?
03:25 Well, I think every shot’s going in when LJ shoots it. He’s just got that look and he’s confident. His misses are dead online. He’s just got a natural shooting stroke, but also a natural ability to create some separation and he’s a winner. I mean, he won in college. He’s a gamer. You saw how beloved he was in that building last night. That doesn’t happen by accident and our guys totally respect him and are watching him as a two-way player trying to carve out a place in the NBA and we saw tonight, like, he’s not afraid he’s gonna get out there and let it fly.
04:07 At one point in the fourth quarter, you had all three two-way guys on the court at one time. It’s obviously by necessity given how shorthanded you are, but how, like, how nerve wracking is doing something like that and is that scripted? What did you see at that?
04:20 Well, we try to script our rotation each night based on who’s available and combinations and we had to get minutes without Draymond, without Al. And we had to get BP and Melt out, so we were gonna utilize our whole bench and these guys are all working hard every day. Our coaching staff’s working with them development-wise and we’re not afraid to put any of them in the game. They’re all good players and learning and growing and it’s really fun as a coach to watch them have success like tonight.
04:57 How much — it seems like you guys have celebrated in this building a ton. I mean, is there any — how fond of memories do you have in this tunnel right here?
05:07 Yeah, this is a good building for us. We’ve won some playoff series here and a lot of good memories in that locker room. And it’s interesting. I mean, we’ve won playoff games over the years here in series. We won Game 7 here. You win a game like tonight, it feels the same. You’re just trying to win and winning is just an amazing feeling. And even though this is a regular season game, just to see a bunch of young guys compete and come out with a win, it feels like a playoff win. It really does. It’s the beauty of competing and playing in the NBA, coaching in the NBA, is you get nights like tonight where everything’s worth it.
05:55 Separately, I know you still keep up with your alma mater Arizona. They had a great year this year. What did you think about their season and what they might be able to do in the March?
06:03 Yeah, I’m good friends with Tommy (Lloyd) and really impressed with the job he’s done and the team looks great and I’m watching every game that I can. To win the Big 12 in just their second year, best conference in the country, it’s been a great season so far and I’m excited to watch what’s next. Thanks.
06:24 Thank you.
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06:26 You have a foul that was called on KD called back and then you have the foul on the three. You’re able to kind of shake it off. How do you stay poised mentally when you have those in two pretty crucial situations, to have the wherewithal to get that put back, to kind of seal the game.
06:43 DE’ANTHONY MELTON: Man, I thought we was gonna start with something positive. Yeah, nah, but I mean, like you said, you gotta just stay poised. I mean, everybody was kind of telling me finish the game, bring us home, and stuff like that, so I was just trying to just stay locked in and not let them type of plays affect me down the stretch. You gotta just be even more locked in and even more dialed in going forward.
07:05 How good does this win feel?
07:07 This win feel good, but at the same time, I mean, it’s another win that we gotta keep stacking and we gotta keep going. And it doesn’t stop here. We got games coming up and we gotta push that. We gotta get through to try to get the highest seed possible.
07:21 Draymond was talking in his locker about the championship standard here of, because we were asking him, how do you guys keep playing hard? You guys, there’s — it’s so easy to say, okay, we’re undermanned. You guys keep playing hard. Is there a difference you feel in this locker room compared to, not calling out certain teams, bu compared to other teams you’ve been on, other teams you’ve seen, when it comes to that standard of playing hard every night?
07:43 I mean, like he said, it’s a standard that is held here and if you don’t wanna kind of hold that standard, then I mean it’s no place, but, I think, I mean, other places are like that, too, which is how they structure their team. But for us, we try to structure it with dudes that play hard and dudes that know how to win it and high IQ players.
08:05 And the three two-way players, I think, were all on the floor at one point together. Just what did you see from the three of them playing big minutes and big situations?
08:14 Man, they played great. I mean, they played great. Nate, defensive menace and just the way he dials in on defensive end and he knew he got a couple of big rebounds for us, too. And those guys are just gonna keep getting more and more reps as guys keep going down. But Malevy played great, even though he didn’t score, but it’s like it’s his activity and it’s his ball pressure and all that stuff. And LJ, I mean, we knew what he can do. I think we’ve all seen it and when he was in college, so for him to come out here and just get up a threes, that’s the most important part. Like, he wasn’t gunshy and that’s him, so he was just being himself.
00:00 How good did that one feel just overall after the win?
00:05 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI, POSTGAME GSW-HOU: We needed it. After the Memphis game, we looked at the next four. The first two weren’t as tough as these two and to not get those two at home, just had to figure out a way to get it done tonight, so played with our backs against the wall and just figured out how to win.
00:22 Steve said this was maybe your best game of the season. Like, do you feel that way?
00:27 I think, I mean, yeah, probably. We won. That’s the most important thing. I felt I was composed, just tried to make the right play all the time and yeah, we won the game, so I think that’s the most important to me.
00:41 How comfortable do you guys feel in this building?
00:45 I wouldn’t say it’s just this building. I think, especially tonight with the group we had, it’s like you really don’t have nothing to lose. you’re playing out there with seven of our guys, three two-ways and they got their full team, basically, so you’re just going out there and just competing hard for 48 minutes, whoever’s out there. And we were able to withstand runs by not turning the ball over, getting stops when we needed to.
01:14 Podz, your rebounding numbers have been really, really good the last few weeks. Specific to that area of your game, what is the difference there of recently to you?
01:25 Yeah, I think just talking to family and them telling me I didn’t, like, I haven’t looked like I’ve wanted to rebound since I was — my rookie year college and that’s when I really started rebounding, so they just pointed that out to me and we already are small as it is, so any chance I can get to go in there and help. I think beginning of the season, I didn’t do a good job of it and just talking to people and making a point of it, I think I’ve had a bigger emphasis going offensively and going defensively.
02:01 What did you see from LJ today, his first game in, I think, two months? What did you see from him?
02:06 Yeah, I saw a fiery guy, competitor. I went to the Houston game with him last night. He got his Big 12 championship ring and his Final Four ring, so that was cool. He just had a kid, so he hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep. And just to see him come out here and compete where he went to school and — did he foul out, maybe? Fifth? Five or six? But just using those fouls wisely, making it tough on Reed (Sheppard) and just super proud of his effort.
02:36 And obviously it comes down to the players and how you guys perform on the court, but what do you make of how Steve and the coaching staff have done over the past month when you guys are so shorthanded?
02:47 Yeah, I think all of our coaches have been around the game of basketball, especially the NBA, for a long time and so they understand what that looks like. Every team goes through a stretch like this throughout the season where they don’t have guys available and so just putting people in the best positions to succeed, I think they do a good job of it. And when we’re shorthanded, we gotta hang our hats defensively and just kinda let the offense come down to it. And so we just try not to foul and not to turn it over and I think we did that for the most part.
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03:20 LJ, how would you describe the homecoming, just going to the Houston game last night, getting out there tonight, four threes, the victory, just what were these last couple days like for you?
03:28 LJ CRYER: Man it’s been a amazing past couple days, honestly. Shoot, I thought I was gonna be in Santa Cruz, not even coming on this trip, but they told me last minute, so got to go to University of Houston, get my Big-12 championship ring, Final Four ring, got to see my daughter. And then got to play here in front of my family, so it’s been an amazing past couple days.
03:55 I know you’ve been dealing with that hamstring. When did you feel healthy to play?
04:02 Probably like two days ago, maybe, but they just asked me, like, can you go? And I was just like, yeah, it’s about that time. So, wasn’t expecting to play that many minutes, but I was asked to and I felt good enough to do it, so just went out there and just tried to do my best.
04:24 Even when you were sidelined, what were you observing? What were you taking away? How did you visualize the kind of impact that you could make with this group?
04:33 Just the — for me, it’s a lot different when I come in with me being a smaller player, so just try to bring some physicality to the game because playing against guys like Kevin Durant and a lot of those bigger guys, when they probably didn’t even know who we were when we checked in, so kind of know what they’re thinking when we check in, like, ah, who are these guys? So we gotta go out there and be there, aggressive and show them. So, yeah.
05:01 How many family and friends did you have in the building tonight?
05:05 Not too much, honestly. Well, a lot of familiar faces for sure, but as far as my family, just my mom, my dad, my girlfriend. So, but I did see a lot of familiar faces.
05:16 What’d you think about the matchup with Reed Shepherd? Obviously you guys had the opportunity to guard each other and then trade buckets in overtime. What do you think about him as a talent and what’s like just competing against him?
05:24 I mean, he’s a talented player, could really shoot the ball, competitor. I think he’s young, too, so sky’s kind of the limit for him, but it was a great challenge for me to be able to go in and guard someone like that because outside of KD and Sengun, he’s kind of like their other guy, so they gave me the assignment and I was more than ready for it.
05:49 You started the overtime period. What kind of moment was that for you?
05:54 That was also crazy, too, because I wasn’t expecting to go back in, like, I said, because kind of talked about the minutes I was gonna play. But you just gotta be prepared for anything and first NBA overtime, they threw me in there, so I was just, like, just make the most of it, so yeah.
06:13 Last year, of course, you were All-American. This year, U.H. might have another one in Kingston Flemings. I know you keep up. What do you think about Kingston?
06:19 Man, he’s special. It sucks that I ain’t have another year of eligibility because I wish I could play with him, but it’s been fun watching him and he’s gonna be doing the same thing at this level if he stays humble and continues to put in the work, so sky’s the limit for him and I can’t wait to see him here.
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06:38 After the last just few games, just how good did this one feel to get this win, especially in overtime?
06:43 AL HORFORD: Oh, it’s important. It feels really good. Last game, I felt like we came out with good energy and just couldn’t sustain it and I feel like Draymond hit it on the nail with us tonight. He was like, we have to make sure that we keep that intensity in the second half, and I felt like we did that and give ourselves a chance.
07:06 How do you maintain that intensity, especially in the game — ?
07:08 Just the defensive effort was there. We weren’t — I feel like last game we got discouraged when we missed some shots and, whew, and then tonight we just stayed with it.
07:23 And at this stage of your career, how invigorating is just a random regular season night like that where you guys are playing three two-way guys, were big underdogs coming in and you pull it out in overtime?
07:33 It’s special because we’ve been hurting, obviously, missing so many guys. And for those G League guys to step in, LJ — I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and I was like, man, when we — if we’re able to get him — just because I just knew what kind of stuff he can bring, shooting the three, playing off the dribble, things like that, and we needed it. So it was just nice to see him come out and have that type of impact on our group.
08:07 When you signed this summer, some of the idea was you and Draymond together in the front court, like, particularly against front lines like this, Sengun and Durant. Obviously the season’s had so many different stuff, but how satisfying is that part of the night where it was kind of you two in the fourth, down the stretch, guarding Sengun and Durant?
08:25 Yeah, that’s what’s special about Draymond and his ability to take on Kawhi against the Clippers, take on KD and do such a great job. And for me, it’s just being able to be there and impact in any way that I can, but I am happy that I was able to show, or that we were able to show that we can play together and be efficient there down the stretch and get it done. And we were able to do that tonight.
00:00 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME GSW-HOU: It’s great, man. just keep talking to those guys. There’s great opportunity for them. We got a lot of injuries and playing— they’ve been stepping up in their minutes, been playing well. LJ’s been playing well tonight. He played great. Nate’s been playing well, so they’re giving us really good minutes. But you love to see guys take advantage of their opportunity. They’re doing that.
00:24 To your point, no matter who’s been out there the last couple weeks, you guys are playing really hard. Why has that maintained so consistent when a lot of teams with the injuries you guys had would maybe just— ?
00:43 You don’t become a championship organization with guys like that. And that’s what we are. We’re a championship organization. There’s a standard here, there’s a standard. You have to play hard. That’s not a— that’s a non-negotiable. And so number one, it’s the type of guys you had. I was telling my wife earlier today, I said it’s very interesting seeing, like, to sit and watch Steve speak to the team every day because you could easily get down, right? Like, under the circumstance and just watching him find the right thing to say to get guys going, to keep guys to continue to believe, it’s the things that people don’t see. And gotta give him a lot of credit. Every day he’s walked in, he hasn’t dropped his head. He keep telling us, yo, we right there fellas. We got a great opportunity. Just keep pushing. I promise you it’ll turn for us. And so he’s been doing an incredible job of that. And it’s a lot of guys in this locker room with a lot to fight for and so we just gotta continue to do that.
01:54 To follow on that, regarding Steve, he’s told us multiple times in the last couple weeks how much he’s enjoyed coaching this group. Like, are you sensing that from him despite the ups and downs of the season?
02:03 1000%. His energy’s always high, like, goes hand-in-hand with what I was just saying. You can tell, he’s really enjoying it, to try to get the best out of this group that we can, so it’s fun to go out there and compete, trying to help that process.
02:19 It felt great. Obviously under the circumstances, nine guys, guys dropping like flies, it’s a good morale booster. You need these throughout the season and obviously we’re trying to hold it together til we get Steph back, so it’s a big-time win for us, man. It’s one you can build off of, but this one, it feels great.
02:41 How much do you enjoy guarding Kevin (Durant) tonight?
02:43 I don’t enjoy guarding Kevin. it’s not an enjoyable thing. It’s very hard thing to do, but I enjoy competing against greats and Kevin is one of the all-time greats, Top Five NBA basketball player in the history of this game, so anytime you can have the opportunity to go up against guys like that, I’m always excited for it because it’s special. How many more times do we have to do that? Like, so yeah, anytime I got an opportunity, happy about it, but it’s— yet, I appreciate the opportunity and the challenge because it ultimately, as a competitor, brings out the best in me.
03:39 Great scorer. He’s been more aggressive as— a lot of people counting him out. And I love to see guys bounce back from that, so just, he’s a gym rat because he’s gotten so much better. So it’s good to see him playing well and kind of give him two middle fingers to everybody that doubted him last year. I love to see it.
03:59 Because once you got the history we have with this organization in this building, it don’t go away regardless of what the roster is. We still here and we won all those games and series here, so still feel that.
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