Draymond’s pace & force: “sprints into every screen, DHOs are w/ speed” + more from Thibodeau
[catching up on notes/quotes/video]
The last few games, I’ve delved head-first into postgame video breakdowns (a lot of work!), plus expect to do the same with James Wiseman’s stint with the Santa Cruz Warriors as well. As such, these notes and quotes have been harder to squeeze into the workflow. I’m still mulling using this website more as a replacement for what I would have normally tweeted on the Bluebird app when my list of haters was smaller 🤣 but I’m not quite sure of how to transition to that and am too busy anyways.
In the meantime, I’ll try to catch up as best as I can. From the Golden State Warriors’ win over the New York Knicks last week, here we’ll go once more in reverse chronological order here as I bring out some great under-the-radar quotes coach Tom Thibodeau had about Draymond Green, which were reflected in the breakdown video I did.
If this were a normal Warriors content site, I would just try to write a story about Draymond, add the Thibs quote and get a new one that’s more recent, maybe pop a question to Steve Kerr in a random road morning shootaround coming up, but that’s not the most efficient way to get the information into your brain, so we have the usual technical manual style below (engineers rule!). Interviews included: Thibs, Klay Thompson, JaMychal Green, Steve, Stephen Curry, and Jonathan Kuminga (from morning shootaround before the NYK-GSW game).
Regardless, it’s good to see #WarriorsBasketball” is definitely back…
THIBS POSTGAME
DISCLAIMER: These are all just notes for my main workflow of YouTube videos, tweeted by beatwriters, as listed, or transcribed by me. I used to transcribe every interview but it became too tedious and not worth the investment for the small amount of views we got on the soundbites on YouTube. The links to the tweets are not available because sometimes I don’t use the full tweet and just having a ton of tweets on this website imo isn’t aesthetically pleasing and gets away from the main goal: transferring information (not so much entertainment) to the brains of DubNation asap.
1:25 • Thibodeau postgame on the Warriors’ pace: “I give their vets a lot of credit. Steph never stops moving and neither does Klay...” (me)
1:50 • Thibodeau postgame on Draymond: “has great impact on the game because he plays with a lot of pace and force. He sprints into every screen, his dribble handoffs are with speed…he also creates movement and action for them so it requires you to do more than one thing. Looney had big impact on the game as well.” (me)
WARRIORS-KNICKS BREAKDOWN
WARRIORS-KNICKS COMMENTARY/TOPICS
5:00 Klay breakdown video (I don't think he's taking ALL bad shots)
8:30 my sermon about enjoying the unknown (in talking about are the Big Three breaking up)
13:45 Kerr couldn't really go to the well again to say, okay Phoenix shot lights out because he did that already with the Sacramento game and also the team kinda needs more urgency
15:45 Klay's last 5 shots were all bad shots (3 of them garbage time)
17:45 on Draymond punching Poole and if that is affecting the team now in terms of Dray yelling at guys?
25:30 when too much speculation turns into a conspiracy theory
30:45 what we do here at LetsGoWarriors is that we pretend we're on the bench and give a perspective of behind-the-scenes (thus stats don't really work here, knowing Klay's PER is terrible)
34:00 the whole NBA2K analogy which I try to avoid (and throwing people under the bus)
36:15 on KNBR yesterday, Tom Tolbert suggested to Steve that they break out the champagne on the road for when they finally win. Steve said that he'd actually had thought about that lol
47:15 "that's what we pay Klay for" hot start: well, we also pay for the inevitable slumps
51:15 7min53 14-6 Klay says my bad on the quick shot
56:15 5min11 we go small Jordan Poole for Looney
1:26:15 had Herro not been signed for $120M, Brunson at $27.5M was already the benchmark for Poole -- goes to show you, people would've used that in their complaints
1:45:30 for the "JP should start" crowd, he just left Randle wide open
2:44:00 7min30 Q4 Donte x Klay rotation
2:45:30 6min45 Q4 Steph x Donte x Klay
2:50:30 3min55 Q4 Steph didn't drop the fast break pass to Klay because he was confident of getting the and-one
2:55:45 replaying the above, Steph had Barrett beaten, so he thought he'd try the and-one instead of dropping the automatic 2 to Klay
3:48:30 Warriors had a team meeting in the morning, maybe explains why only Kuminga was at morning shootaround podium (?)
3:49:30 so... what did the team address ("elephant in the room")?
4:03:00 KLAY POSTGAME, made a paper airplane lol, little tidbit for you from me
4:21:00 Monte Poole says Moody's dad gives a lot of talks at the community center
KLAY POSTGAME
• Klay Thompson on his play tonight: "Me and Draymond had a great conversation and he told me to be patient and trust the team. And I feel like tonight I exemplified that.” (Madeline Kenney)
• Klay said he “watched a lot of film” and he and Draymond Green had an honest conversation this morning. Led to more patient shot selection tonight: “When you make the easy ones later,” the harder ones are easier later. (me, Anthony Slater)
• Klay’s game recap: “We played that Warriors brand of basketball that has made us the best team of the past decade.” (Dalton Johnson)
• On the Warriors team meeting this morning: “Very constructive meeting. Draymond definitely held the floor. He’s such a great motivator. So we all responded very well. Looking forward to starting a new win streak.” (95.7 The Game)
• On the dagger swing-swing with JaMychal: “That felt awesome especially when you swish the ball. That’s the best feeling as a shooter is tickling the twine like that.” (Madeline Kenney)
J-MIKE POSTGAME
• JaMychal Green says the Warriors had a great team meeting this morning: "Had a great team meeting this morning. I think we addresssed a lot of things that needed to be addressed…We addressed the elephants in the room. We had that hard conversation that a lot of people don’t want to have… It was much needed... I think it got people more focused and locked in to what we have to do as a team." (Dalton Johnson, KNBR, 95.7 The Game)
• JaMychal Green said his entire right side was messed up after that hard fall on Monday against San Antonio. (CJ Holmes)
• On Klay: “He's laid back like me, kind of to himself, but he's a competitor. The Suns game, man that turnt me up, seeing him and Book getting into it. He's a great competitor...he's going to fight.”
STEPH POSTGAME
• Steph Curry on court: “It was nice to see Klay getting going early. Wiggs…build momentum, build a big lead at home.”
• On Klay: “It’s just letting the game come to you…usually the ball’s gonna find the right guys…let it come to you, be patient…the shots came easy. I’m taking that Klay Thompson shot any day of the week.”
• On selflessness: “it’s really hard to beat us when we got the ball moving and humming around the court…defensive effort was finally better…put it together game after game after game.”
• On assessing where they are right now: “a lot of room to grow. We’re nowhere near where we need to be. We have what it takes, we just need to get it done.”
STEPH POSTGAME WITH CHELSEA GRAY, A’JA WILSON & DAWN STALEY
STEVE POSTGAME
• Steve Kerr on Klay Thompson: "Much more patient early, and it paid off for him. It paid off for our team, too. It seemed like every time Klay made an extra pass, the ball started to move and then we got a wide open shot. It started with early on, Klay taking a more patient approach. I thought he was great." (Dalton Johnson, Madeline Kenney, KNBR)
• On JaMychal Green: “Every night’s different in the NBA…proven vet…he was great the game before Phoenix…I think this is the right role for him…then playing with Draymond…got a comfort level that’s showing.” (me)
• On tonight’s performance: “connected…really good effort…now we just have to do that consistently.” (me)
• On the missed free throws: “It happens. Just one random game, so no big deal.” (me)
• Kerr on Steph assisting the first five buckets: “Steph approached the game with a sense of purpose…making sure our offense was clicking…then he started being more aggressive…I thought Steph was brilliant tonight.” (Dalton Johnson, me)
This is just where it is right now. That could all change.” (me)
• On what he’s looking for in the defense: “Transition. Literally it starts as soon as the possession changes…when we can get teams in the half-court we can be pretty foot…Houston is gonna be coming downhill at us.” (me)
• On any pass in particular from Klay tonight: “there was one early where he had a semi-open look…tic tac toe play. That’s how the game is supposed to look…sometimes two people closing out on him. If he just moves it…the ball tends to come back to him.” (me)
STEVE PREGAME
• Steve Kerr pregame on what’s a good Klay shot: “Just open ones. I think our history here has been a ball movement team. We are either No. 1 in assists or close to it every year. When the ball moves we tend to play better, and Klay is the beneficiary of that often.” (Dalton Johnson)
• Kerr says the Warriors 0-8 road record is “directly connected to the defense.” (KNBR)
• On being bottom 5 in defensive rebounds and if losing Otto, GPII (personnel changes) is a factor: “Rebounding is a big problem. Doesn’t matter who was here last year or the year before, what matters is the guys who are here right now. They all have to take it upon themselves individually and collectively to get better.” (Kylen Mills, KNBR)
• Jonathan Kuminga will be available tonight vs the Knicks. Missed the Phoenix game. (Anthony Slater)
• On Moses Moody’s role, says Steph, Draymond can turn the ball over, can’t afford that and too many fouls from Moody: “Moses isn’t allowed to be a high turnover guy. I think he’s learning when you get into the paint in the NBA these shovel passes in traffic aren’t going to work.” Kerr said there are no plans to send Moses Moody down to Santa Cruz now but it could be a possibility down the line. Moody has been the on the fringe of the rotation this season and didn’t play until the fourth in Phoenix. (Tim Kawakami, Kylen Mills, Madeline Kenney)
JK MORNING SHOOTAROUND
• Jonathan Kuminga, who’s listed as questionable on the Warriors’ injury report, said he’s feeling better now and anticipates he’ll play tonight: “I’m really excited to be back. I can’t wait.” He had “headaches, stomach, everything”, but he feels much better and looks forward to playing tonight against the Knicks. (Madeline Kenney, CJ Holmes, Kendra Andrews, me)
• Kuminga agreed with Steve Kerr’s sentiment that the Warriors are played scattered right now: “we just gotta put more effort into being together…everybody’s trying to figure out their role…we have a chance to win a championship…as soon as that happens we’re gonna be unstoppable again.” (me)
• On if there’s a lack of urgency: “Everybody’s playing hard…things haven’t gone our way yet but I feel like we’re getting close to it.” (me)
• On Steph Curry’s performance but then dovetailing into the connection issue: “It was impressive. We’re not separate, nobody’s beefing.” (me, Kendra Andrews)
• On the connection with the bench: “Everybody’s gonna blame themselves (after the losses)…us young guys…we gotta give it all we got…the energy has to come from us young guys…help the vets step up.” (me)
• On if he talked to Wiseman yet: “I texted him before the Phoenix game…you going out there, so everything you can, study as much as you can…you have something to prove…you don’t gotta score, you just gotta do the little things…at some point it’s gonna click back.” (me)
• On if it’s hard as an athlete to get sent down to G League: “As long as you get some types of reps…I got some of that last year…Moses…team just want to get those types of reps…stay active…not just sit on the bench and work out.” (me)
👍👍💛💙