Jimmy Butler: “No excuse for how I played, how we played” in Game 5

[offday-G5-HOU-GSW videos/transcripts]

Turns out, Jimmy Butler (probably) just played bad. I watched Q1 of G5 over again and he made, actually, four mistakes in the opening frame before Steve Kerr finally called timeout, down 20-8. I hope to show you all of that and more soon, even if it dovetails into a discussion about whatever happens in Game 6 tonight.

But that’s the thing. I think there is a macro issue. And that’s that this team led by older Hall-of-Famers, they trick off games. They do. But I get it. I’ve seen it before, even in rec league or Asian tournaments, but not as much because all the tournaments are like one-and-done.

I explained this in detail on the latest podcast:

There’s also an awesome behind-the-scenes video of how to get an autograph from one Wardell Stephen Curry which is in the context of Game 5 in Houston, which didn’t have a whole lot of Dubs highlights.

Below under the paywall are the transcriptions from Kerr yesterday (off-day Zoom call) and Game 5 in chronological order starting with pregame. He said, “Get the ball to Jimmy,” but at the same time, I think Brandin Podziemski has to play better and not get happy with the shots early on.

The transcripts below will be unlocked when I post the next article, just like every article, but you can also just go to the Comments section of every video interview to see them.

00:00 Steve, same starters tonight?

00:02 STEVE KERR, PREGAME G5-GSW-HOU: I'm not telling.

00:07 In a game like tonight, where you can close it out and the way the series has gone, just how much more important is the mental side of just staying composed through a game like tonight?

00:18 It's a big part of this series, just the physicality, the emotion of it. We have to stay poised. We have to take care of the ball. We have to battle for every rebound, every loose ball, and just keep playing, keep doing what we're doing, expect some adjustments from them and adapt to them as we see them.

00:38 Are you surprised at all how big of an impact Steven Adams is having in this series? And what do you think of your team's biggest solves?

00:44 He's been great. I've always been a huge fan. He is a hell of a player and, I think, a really good pro, really good leader. You just see the maturity and perspective, so yeah, they're giving us problems with that two-big lineup and we see some things on tape that we can do better, but yeah, it definitely poses a major threat to us.

01:14 Is it particularly an issue when they went zone with it?

01:19 Well, we actually got some pretty good possessions against the zone, so it's just interesting when you watch the games and you watch how things unfold and then you get a chance to look back after the game, you always see some things that you could do better and vice-versa. They're doing the same things and every decision you make, there's a reaction to that, a counter to it, so what we're doing might not work tonight. What we did last game might not work tonight. Same thing goes for them, so everyone's got contingency plans and new thoughts, new ideas for the next game and that's kind of what makes it fun.

02:04 When you hacked him late in the game, Adams, was that in hopes he would come out of the game or, I mean, were you doing it thinking — ?

02:12 I just felt like at that stage, it made sense, so I was fouling him to get to the bonus, 46%, and if they took him out, then they took him out and the momentum or the flow of the game changed and that's why I did it. I wouldn't — I'm not gonna just do it automatically. We have to feel it within the flow of the game.

02:39 Hi Steve, two quick questions. Jimmy, how did he come out of Game 4 and how did, physically, how is he going into tonight?

02:46 Yeah, he said — I asked him this morning — he said he's doing fine, so I'm sure he's still in pain, but yeah, he'll be ready to play.

02:55 And you were asked the earlier question about composure. Is that an area where your team's abundant playoff experience surfaces or how has that, in your mind, how has all that playoff experience manifest itself in this series?

03:10 Well, I think closing the games we've been pretty good. Our guys are used to it. Jimmy's used to it, finishing strong with good possessions, getting stops. Draymond got that huge stop the other night and Jimmy got the rebound, so yeah, playoff experience comes into play, especially down the stretch, but it doesn't guarantee anything you have, you gotta keep going out and doing it. Thank you.

03:43 You were caught in the locker room talking, really talking about Buddy Hield's defense. I'm just curious your perspective on that. Obviously, he comes in with a reputation of being a non-defender.

03:53 Yeah, I mean, I was just making fun of him, just like Jimmy does, just like we all do. It's just too — he's too easy of a target and he loves it and we were just having fun, but he's actually a really good defender. He's strong, he's quick. Now, he gets out of position sometimes. He'll make some crazy gambles, so he is not known as a defender and that's not really what you think of with him. I think he's a really good on-ball defender and did a good job against Jalen the other night and I just think he's better than people think he is on that end. Thanks.

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00:00 Much of that from, from your side, didn't I? Do you think was kind of maybe lack of urgency, lack of desperation considering the circumstance?

00:06 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME G5-GSW-HOU: Yeah. I didn't have 'em ready to play, clearly. We committed three fouls in the first two minutes of the game and I think they were 13-for-13 from the line after the first quarter, so we can't come out with that lack of defensive focus and energy and expect to beat a great team on their own floor in a closeout game, so they took it to us. They were awesome tonight and we gotta be better.

00:34 Was the conversation at half and, I mean, did you know you were probably gonna pull the plug pretty quick?

00:39 Yeah, yeah. I wasn't gonna chase this game, obviously, Game 6 coming up and 48 hours, so I talked to Draymond, I said, "What do you think?" He said five minutes and so we gave the starting group the first five or six minutes and we kind of had — thus we had made a huge run, kind of had an in mind that we would pull the plug.

01:07 Was there any temptation though when you guys got down to, I think it was 12 or 13, to bring him in?

01:10 No, you can't do that. When you make a move like that and then you know the starters are on the bench, you can't go back to them. It's just not the right thing to do.

01:26 What can you say about the fight though that you guys bench gave?

01:29 Loved our bench group. They came in, they forced Houston to bring their starters back in. They set a tone that we're gonna need for Game 6 and I thought, even though we lost the game, I thought it was crucial that we fought the way we did in the fourth quarter.

01:46 And for someone like Moses whose shot's been a little gone for him to get the 25 points, get his shot going. How important is that?

01:52 Yeah, it's great. Got some rhythm. Very important for him to go out there and compete and play the way he did, so yeah, I mean, there were some positives in what was otherwise, obviously, a decisive loss. Houston was great and they took it to us right away, but, like I said, it was an important finish.

02:16 Steve, one of the things with such an experienced team is there's a comp for almost everything and I'm wondering if this situation reminds you at all of the Game 5 in Memphis and which you of course missed, but similar feeling.

02:30 Yeah, similar vibe, down 30 in the first half, I think, in Memphis. We might've been down 40 or 50, even. I don't remember exactly, but similar vibe, young team, on their home floor, trying to stay alive. They came out and threw haymakers at us. They made every shot in the first quarter, so we got what we deserved.

02:54 Also, the broadcast back home, there's a lot of talk from Bob Fitzgerald that they're targeting Steph's thumb and deliberately trying to hurt him and I'm just wondering if that's your view of things and if you've talked to the ref about it.

03:11 Yeah, yeah, so the rule the NBA has, once the shot has been released, you're allowed to hit the guy's arm and so what's happened in the league this year is players always are — they're gonna outsmart the rules. They know what they're doing, so players all over the league are just taking shots at guys, shooting hands, after release 'cause they know it's not gonna be a foul. And I'm very confident that next year the league will fix it because it's only a matter of time before somebody, breaks a thumb or breaks a hand or whatever, but these are the rules. I do believe they're allowed to call a flagrant if they want. The refs could call flagrant if they if the guy winds up and takes a shot, but no, it's been happening, across the league all year long. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but we have to take it through the league process, to get that changed and that'll probably happen this summer, I would guess.

04:13 Is it impacting Steph?

04:16 No, I don't think it's impacting him. It's just, again, players are gonna do whatever they're allowed to do and so on every release, Steph's getting hit, but it's basically within the rules, so this is how the league wants it right now and I know we got 30 coaches who all think it's just idiotic that we allow this, so we'll have to take it through the Competition Committee, all that stuff, this summer and eventually we'll get it fixed, but right now this is how the league works. Whatever the rules are, the players are, they're all really, really smart and you can't blame them at all for doing whatever it takes to win the game. It's the highest level of competition on earth and so it's what it is.

05:06 What challenges are you seeing that their zone is presenting and what are the keys to beating an effective zone defense?

05:11 Well, I thought we were pretty good against the zone in Game 4. You can't get stagnant. You have to push the ball. You have to play with pace and movement and get to spots, and we definitely had some poor possessions against that zone tonight.

05:26 Steve, I saw Jimmy and Draymond kind of talking things out — I think Steph was talking to you at some point because you guys have this championship experience. How fast do you know that? Because you've been with these guys in this situations that they turned the page and started looking toward the next game.

05:40 I mean, our guys have been here many times. Jimmy's been here many times. I think a couple years ago, Jimmy was part of that Miami team that, was up 3-0 against Boston, lost the next three and then had to win the road in game seven. This is what the playoffs are about. I mean, it's just incredibly competitive. Everybody who is playing now, who's still alive, has great basketball players and great coaches and I've said it throughout the series, houston's a great team. Ime's a great coach. 52 wins the 2-seed, athletic, they got all these lottery picks, so they're a hell of a team and this is the playoffs. It's just as much a mental test, an emotional test as it is a physical test, as a skill test. It's what makes it fun of, it's what makes it challenging, it's what keeps you up at night, but this is what we do and we love it.

06:43 Steve, how would you say Jimmy Butler was moving out there? What do you think he was healthy? I know before the game —

06:48 I'm sorry, who?

06:49 Jimmy Butler. Kind of what'd you think of his health and how he was moving tonight?

06:54 It's tough to gauge based on the way the game went. A game got out of hand early and I think, yeah, it wasn't — obviously, it wasn't his best night, but I think he was moving fine. I'm not concerned about him for Friday.

07:12 Just a follow up on their zone defense, did they do anything differently tonight or was it more just your execution?

07:17 No, same zone that basically they played the other night and we were outta sorts from the beginning, especially defensively and I think that carried over to our offense. It's hard to play offense when you're taking the ball out of the net every single play. They, at one point, I think at halftime, their effective field goal percentage was 95%. I've never seen that in my life, so, you're not winning that game.

07:41 What was so problematic defensively? I mean, you mentioned the early fouls, but I guess without seeing the film yet, where did you guys screw up most?

07:49 Well, I thought, I mean, honestly the fouls set just a brutal tone for us. We can't. You can't set a tone defensively by fouling. You have to set a tone by putting pressure on the ball and being in the right spots to help and building your shell, rebounding, forcing the shots that you're willing to give up. We didn't do any of that.

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00:00 How early — Steve seemed to think like the three fouls early was a bad sign about how you focused you guys were defensively. How early did you know it might be this type of night?

00:13 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME G5-GSW-HOU: That was a tough stretch 'cause we started the game — I don't know if it was 8-2 or something like that — had a good couple good possessions, hit some threes and then the game kind of halted with — they got in the bonus in four and a half minutes, so one hand they were the aggressor, first three fouls were, I mean, I guess they were fouls and it kind of set the tone. And then they got confidence, went on a run, got the crowd into it early and the desperate team set the tone, so for us, we understand how to negate that going into Game 6 and come out with a better effort in that first six minutes to set the tone our way.

01:04 Steph, how much does this remind you of Memphis, the Game 5 in Memphis three years ago and is one of the beauties of all your playoff experience that you have basically a comp for every scenario?

01:18 Yeah, there's definitely something you could look back on, on part of the journey, but that's all well and great to talk about, you have to go do something about it on the court and we talked about our group is trying to do this for the first time together. And I love that challenge because we have an opportunity to write our own story and how we bounce back and we've had a pretty resilient group over the last two months and it has to show on Friday.

01:51 How cognizant are you about the way that they're closing out on your jump shot, particularly swiping down on your thumb?

02:00 You don't think about it and if it's a foul, they should call it and that's it. If it's a foul, they should call it.

02:10 Steph, you were talking about getting off to a good start. How much of that do you feel like is on you to do, even though —

02:16 On the what?

02:16 On you. On you. How much of getting the right energy and urgency is on you, even though they're kind of playing the kitchen sink defense against you?

02:30 Yes. it's a balance and then we have some things that we can do going into Game 6 to get more organized and get a better rhythm offensively, whether it's me taking shots or not, but I did notice tonight was an even more concerted effort. Thompson got me twice a half court when I was trying to set up a play, worrying about everything that was going on behind and not worrying about him. And then there were a couple possessions where you get downhill and you see a lot of white jerseys, so you just gotta figure out where the driving angles are. We need to get Jimmy more involved in the half court with the right spacing around him and then we all gotta make shots, so it is on me to balance all of that and put some points on the board and get ourselves some rhythm early.

03:29 Steph, following up on Danny (Emerman)'s question, Steve was asked about Brooks swiping down and basically said it's a league-wide issue. The league allows it after the shot's released and teams everywhere do it and the league needs to address it in the off season. What do you think about the larger question of contact after release?

03:48 There's a pattern of when it's full extension, when it's — what's the full point of release? Because that's — it's hard for a ref, I get it. You're trying to look at the body, look at the release and where contact is. There's a subtle difference in how certain people do it that when I say if it's a foul, it's a foul. But other than that, as a player, you can't worry about it too much because whether you get the call or not, if you complain — or you can complain. If you dwell on it and get distracted by it, then you're not worried about making shots. I'm trying to do both, make shots and if I get fouled, let them know I got fouled, so that's all.

04:36 What's the state of your thumb right now?

04:40 Cold.

04:42 There was a picture — I don't know if you've seen it online — where it looks pretty swollen. I think it was with you walking to the plane.

04:49 I got the feds on me? What are you talking about?

04:50 No, the internet is the feds at this point.

04:57 I love this league so much. I love it so much.

05:02 How is your thumb, besides cold because you're icing it?

05:06 I don't even know how to answer it. It's just something you're dealing with and you keep it moving. As long as I can play, you gotta warp for a reason, but that's it.

05:13 Do you feel it's impacting your game at all?

05:16 No, no. Not at all.

05:30 Just what stuck out about the way the bench competed in the last 18 minutes?

05:34 They took the challenge on the game's going the opposite way and we tried to encourage them at that six-minute mark in the third, just go out there, compete. What they did, they made their starters come back in, which was was something and they brought a level of energy and competitiveness that it was kind of remarkable, to be honest, to sustain that for that long. So they did an amazing job and hopefully that'll kind of get us going in the sense of good morale and good energy going into Game 6.

06:16 Mr. Curry, I know we didn't see it tonight, but we've seen you and Jimmy Butler do some damage on the floor together. Can you talk about your chemistry and what you've seen him add to the roster on the court and off the court?

06:30 Understands especially this time of year and what it means to and what it takes to win. You've seen what he did coming back for his last game off of an injury and giving us everything he had and we expect that to continue, hopefully closing out this series in Game 6 and and beyond.

06:54 Steph, Coach Kerr mentioned he pretty much asked you guys to pull the plug and give you guys five more minutes. As much as you'd like to win this, is it conflicting for you to just say, "Okay, I'm gonna let the game go and try again on Game 6"?

07:08 Yeah, you hate being in a situation where you have to come out 'cause you're down 25 going into the first timeout in the third and I know crazy things have happened in this league and wild comebacks and there was a moment, as great as our bench played that stretch from halfway through the third, halfway through the fourth, a couple more threes, it might've been a single-digit type thing. And then you're making decisions, but we have to do a better job of not letting a team dominate like that and then we don't have to worry about questions like that 'cause — but it is basketball. Things happening and great news is, 0-0, Game 6.

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00:00 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME G5-GSW-HOU: Oh, I gonna talk about you if you was right here.

00:04 JIMMY BUTLER: I already know.

00:15 What do you think happened mostly defensively tonight?

00:20 I mean, it was just a slow start for us on both sides of the ball. We missed some shots, turned the ball over early and didn't make them miss at all. That was the game, for us, at the beginning.

00:37 How would you describe the way the bench played in the fourth, end of the third and fourth quarter?

00:41 Yeah, inspiring. To get us back in the game, give them a chance is something special. Kudos to those guys for staying ready, for fighting, for not giving up and always staying ready 'cause you never know when your number's gonna be called. And it was tonight and they played their asses off.

01:02 Jimmy, what was your level of movement tonight compared to last game?

01:07 It's getting better. It's getting there. Another day and some change of recovery and rest, but that's no excuse for how I played, how we played as a whole. Like I always say, if anybody takes that floor, you're expected to go out there and produce and, more than anything, you're expected to go out there and win.

01:28 Jimmy, this team has kind of been through a similar situation. They were down 55 in Memphis when they were up 3-1, lost, but then closed things out in Game 6 in 2022 and Steve mentioned how you had that 3-0 lead against Boston then ended up winning in Game 7. What does it take from your experience to kind of rebound from something like this where you don't close the team out, but then can do it later?

01:48 We're fine. Our confidence isn't gonna waver any. We going to start out better, we're gonna play a better overall game because we know how good of a team we are as a unit and we know how good our players are as individuals, so we just gotta, us starters, we gotta kick us off better, which we know that we will do. We'll be fine.

02:12 Jimmy, I want to commend you for being a true competitor. You'll show up regardless of what the score is. How would you describe yourself as a competitor on the court?

02:20 I just do whatever it takes to win. I pride myself on that. It doesn't matter how many points, how many shots, how many assists. The main goal in this game is to always win, so when you do see me out there competing, it doesn't matter how we get there. We didn't get there tonight, but I always play to win.

02:40 Was there a moment in the fourth you thought you might go back in?

02:45 I mean, yeah, of course, but I would want the unit that was out there to close it out. They did it, for me, they worked so hard to get us back in the game, getting buckets, getting stops. It's only right that they keep going and lead us to victory.

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00:00 What do you feel like went wrong defensively to start that first quarter?

00:13 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME G5-GSW-HOU: I think we were really bad in transition. Get mashed up, they got loose, hit some shots and then they just had it going.

00:23 Steve mentioned at half that he kind of had a conversation with you about how much to chase it in the second half, how much not to. What was kind of your calculation there and I mean, do you believe, I mean, I don't know how many minutes you finished at tonight, but do you believe that could maybe help a little bit going into Friday?

00:38 I mean, it is what it is. Obviously, it's not ideal to play that amount of minutes because we're winning. Play way more. But yeah, we had a quick conversation and he was just saying, “Yo, I don't think we should chase it.” I said, “Cool, we'll give it five, six minutes. We can't turn it fast, then pull the plug.”

01:00 Draymond, they weren't playing Whoop That Trick, but does this remind you at all of the Memphis Game 5, when kind of the same thing happened and. Is one of the benefits of your guys having so much playoff experience that there's like a comp for almost everything?

01:14 Yeah. You kinda seeing everything. They weren't playing Whoop That Trick, but they may as well have been. But yeah, I mean, at this point in our careers we've seen it all, had all the experiences, so you got something to draw back on. But yeah, they played a good game, but whether they win by one or 50, it's a playoff series. Count as one win.

01:44 Draymond, Steve mentioned, he noticed that defenders, when they're closing out, they're trying to almost hit Steph's thumb as he is shooting. Have you noticed that or have you — how much have you seen that, especially in these playoffs?

01:56 Yeah, I noticed it. I think it's pretty obvious, but it is what it is. Yeah.

02:04 Do you think the league should like crack down on it at all?

02:09 I'm not one to come to cry to you about what the league should do. I see enough people cry about me and I lose respect for those people when they cry about me, so I will not allow somebody to lose respect for me over that. It's all good.

02:24 What can you say about the bench's fight for you guys tonight?

02:27 That was huge, just them coming in, playing the way they played, forced their starters to have to get back in the game, gave us run at it, had it down 11 with multiple times to get it under 10, just didn't work out. But I thought our bench did an incredible job of coming in and continuing the fight and making their presence felt in this series.

02:51 Draymond, I saw you on the sideline talking to coaches. You and Jimmy were talking at one point. Steph's talking to Steve. How much are you guys already, "We're trying to figure out things for Game 6"?

03:00 Yeah, we turned the page quick and just start talking about possible adjustments that we can make, things we see, stuff we can get into, but yeah, it was — we flipped the page really fast.

03:12 You feel like those conversations were productive in terms of adjustments for the next game?

03:17 You'll tell me after the next game.

03:20 What was your reaction at the end when Pat and Trayce got into it with Sengun?

03:25 Beautiful. It's beautiful. You don't back down from anybody and they didn't, so I like it.

03:33 And Draymond, you're a true competitor. Y'all don't back down from anything. Can you just kind of talk about the competitiveness that you've seen out of Jimmy Butler and what he's added to the roster?

03:44 Ah man, he's changed our season. He's the reason we're here, right now with a 3-2 lead going home with the opportunity to close out. Just the toughness that he's brought, the smarts, the competitive fire. And then, obviously, he's just a great basketball player, so he's brought a lot to this team and we gonna make sure we capitalize on it.

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8:41 IME UDOKA deflects question about Bob Fitzgerald saying the Rockets are targeting Steph Curry’s right thumb injury after he releases the ball on shots.

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00:00 Moses, what do you think went wrong defensively tonight as a team?

00:09 MOSES MOODY, POSTGAME G5-GSW-HOU: It's hard to guard turnovers. We had a lot of those, so they guard, they play in the transition, that's how they like to play.

00:15 What can you say about your guys' fight in the second half there with the bench unit?

00:20 Yeah, the goal was to make them put their starters in and not get a break, so we accomplished that. We didn't get the win, obviously, but we got something out of it.

00:30 How important was it for you, maybe in those minutes, too, to get some offensive flow going for yourself as well?

00:36 Yeah, it was fun just getting out there playing free. Nothing really to lose. Yeah, it was fun, but obviously didn't get it done.

00:47 Moses, three years ago, you guys had kind of a similar situation in Memphis when you got blown off the floor in Game 5 and came back and won Game 6. Any memories or flashbacks to that game tonight for you guys?

01:00 Yeah, well, it was even more similar to three years ago. We played Dallas and we had a closeout chance in Dallas and same thing, they was up by a lot. We came in, it was me, JK, Beli (Nemanja Bjelica), Cheese (Chris Chiozza), D.Lee, Juan (Toscano-Anderson), maybe I forgot who else. Actually, Cheese wasn't there, but yeah, so they brought their starters back, tired 'em out. They had to fight for the win and we walked them off the next game, so let's finish that story the same way.

01:30 Is that something that this team, that works to your benefit, that there's kind of a comp for? There's so much playoff experience in your group that there's a comp for almost every situation that you can kind of draw on.

01:43 Yeah, that's definitely, cool. It's a good thing to be, good position to be in, having experience and things that remind you of other times because you can learn from the lessons before.

02:00 Has there been any chatter within the team about the way Houston is closing out on Steph, particularly swiping down on a shooting hand?

02:10 Nah.

02:15 What did you see just in that whole little — with Pat and TJD and everything that happened in that situation?

02:23 Well, I actually wasn't — I was looking the other direction when it happened, but Pat a dog, getting in at the end of the game, get Sengun talking or whatever it may be. I don't know what the situation was, honestly.

02:37 Y'all got a dog on the court with Jimmy Butler. Can you just tell us what you've seen him add on the court, but really more so behind-the-scenes?

02:46 Yeah, on the court he's added wins, so that's always good. Off the court, he's got a big presence. He's himself all the time. I respect that. He's obviously a good guy to have in the locker room, just the conversation that he brings. He, like I said, it's — in a world — in a game like this, you gotta conform, you gotta work as a group, so a lot of time that can be group think. Everybody got the same idea sometimes, but Jimmy is himself. He got a different playlist, different music that he listen to, different routine, and that's refreshing to have.

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7:45 DILLON BROOKS on Bob Fitzgerald saying the Rockets are targeting Steph Curry’s injured right thumb after every shot release

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00:00 Steve, what did the rewatching of the game tell you about the biggest issues?

00:07 STEVE KERR, OFF-DAY BEOFRE G6-HOU-GSW: It actually wasn't that revealing 'cause I think we saw it all live. The three fouls immediately were poor decisions which indicated that we weren't ready to play. So, 13 free throws in the first quarter for Houston. It's tough to overcome that on the road, just giving a team points like that, so we weren't sharp at all, but we knew that watching it live, so I'm not sure we learned a whole lot.

00:44 On the offensive side, there's some continuous patches of the game that kind of give you all issues. Just what can you do better against that?

00:56 We need to space a little bit better and we just had a walk through, so we went through some of that and we have a few actions that we run against zone, and so tightening up our actions, making sure our spacing is right. We've attacked it pretty well overall, in the series and gotten some good looks, but the idea behind a zone is to force other actions than what teams are used to and that's what the playoffs are all about, is trying to take away teams' strengths the best you can. And so they're playing that zone quite a bit. It allows them to play adams and Sengun together and try to avoid the pick-and-roll with Steph. And they're doing a good job of kind of mixing things up and we have to do a better job of finding rhythm against it.

02:03 Hey Steve. Steph mentioned two steal on Amen Thompson, head on. He was kinda looking ahead of Thompson, trying to create the pass or look for the pass. Is that something that has just been part of this offense or are there ways to kind of avoid steph having to make a decision like that with a defender like Thompson on him?

02:22 Yeah, yeah. There's plenty of things that we can do and that we have to do better. I think the game got away from us early last night and I think we got a little scattered and that's on me. I gotta do better job of getting us a little more organized and putting us in the spots that we've talked about throughout the series, where we can relieve some of that pressure off of Steph and make good decisions, and we've done that in the series and the three wins. I think we've had 10 or 11 turnovers in each game and done a really good job of handling their pressure, so gotta do a better job of that tomorrow for sure.

03:08 I know you're not gonna tip your hand or maybe haven't made a decision, but have you liked Buddy in the starting line? I know, obvious win last time he was in the starting lineup. This time, the start was a little slow. What kind of thought process is that, whether to keep Buddy in the starting lineup or not?

03:23 Yeah, we're considering everything. I think that's one of the things with this team is that we should be flexible every single game in terms of how we're gonna approach it, who we're gonna start, that sort of thing. Every team that I've coached has been different in that regard. We're lucky enough to basically start the same five guys in plenty of the seasons we've had over the years, but this team requires a little more creativity, a little more flexibility, game-planning-wise. And so all options are on the table for sure.

04:03 Hi, Steve.

04:05 Hi, Janie.

04:06 How are you?

04:07 Good, thanks.

04:09 Hi from the Giants-Rockies game. How is Jonathan doing today and do you expect he's available tomorrow?

04:18 Yeah. Yeah, he's feeling a lot better today and he had a migraine yesterday and so I talked to him today. He said it's cleared up. He'll be ready to go tomorrow.

04:29 Wonderful. Thank you.

04:30 Mm-hmm.

04:31 Steve, you talked about how the Rockets are defending Draymond and how it sort of impacts his playmaking. What are the keys to sort of unlocking it or is that even an option?

04:43 No, we can definitely get Draymond into spots to help his playmaking and it's something that we've talked a lot about. We've walked through a couple things today to get him in spots where he can create a little bit like he normally does, so yeah, we've gotta do a better job with it for sure.

05:06 You guys came into this series talking about two things basically that I recall, at least. One was turnovers, just keeping it in the half court as much as possible.

05:14 Mm-hmm.

05:15 Is that strictly about turnovers? How much of that is about making sure they don't shoot 70%?

05:21 Yeah. The turnovers are clearly the thing we have to handle to keep them out of transition and keep them in the half court. Last night, as I said, the fouls got us into trouble. They had guys go to the line early and often which allowed them to feel good, see the ball go through the hoop, get some easy points and then the jump shot becomes a lot easier. And they just lit it up, so we have to do a better job of game-plan discipline, forcing more difficult shots and, as you said, keeping them in the half court. If we can do that without fouling, then that was our formula in our three victories and it's not exactly a mystery that we'd like to repeat that.

06:13 Steve, are there some things you guys can do differently on Van Vleet? Is it some simple adjustments defensively, just to make things a little bit more difficult on him, as you have any other games?

06:25 Yeah, it's never simple, but they pose a lot of problems. They have a couple great screen-setters with Adams and Sengun, massive guys who set good screens up the floor and Fred has just shot the lights out, 12-for-18 the last two games. So, we've gotta stay more attached to him, for sure, handle those pick-and-rolls better, but he got a few where we just lost our focus, too, where we lost our matchup and he walked into a couple of threes last night, so we can be much better for sure.

07:01 Steve, did you think Jimmy was moving — I mean, the results weren't great, but do you think Jimmy was moving better last night than he was a couple nights ago? Do you think he's almost back to normal from where he would be?

07:13 I think Jimmy will be fine tomorrow. I thought he looked good on tape. I didn't do a good enough job of getting him the ball at key times in the game, but I think he's ready to go and he's excited. This is kinda what he does.

07:30 Steph kind of mentioned that, too. What would you say — where didn't you guys get Jimmy the ball? How didn't you get him the ball? That was kind of an issue yesterday.

07:41 Well, we got scattered. We started the game and we actually started out pretty well, offensively. We got some great looks. but we didn't get the ball to Jimmy, really, at all in the first three, four minutes. We were attacking Sengun in pick-and-roll. We got some good looks, BP got free, but Jimmy got lost in the shuffle a little bit and so the thing with Jimmy is, there's nothing complicated about how he plays. You just gotta get him the ball and get spaced and so it felt like after those first five minutes where we were actually getting pretty good looks offensively, but we gave up 20 points 'cause we were fouling like crazy and breaking down defensively. So I think at the first time out, I think I took it, it was 20-8 and at that point the game got away from us, so we have to have better control of the game by connecting the offense and the defense and that's when Jimmy is at his best.

08:53 They had Sengun on Podziemski there. When a wing or a guard has Sengun or a center on him, what kind of, generally, are the things you want to see from that player?

09:06 Well, this was the reason for the lineup change, to force Sengun onto either BP or someone else and so it requires pace, a lot of pace, and creativity in the pocket. BP's really good, setting a ball screen for Steph, flipping the screen, hitting the pocket, creating a shot for someone else. And the last two games, he's done a nice job of that, so this is a typical playoff kind of back and forth. You change the matchups like Houston did. It requires some thought because it takes you away from your normal Steph, Draymond pick-and-roll game, for example. And so we changed our lineup to combat that and it's back-and-forth. This is kind of what the playoffs are about.

10:08 Steve, how do you feel about possessions when Steph and Jimmy are both on the floor and possessions where they don't — when neither one of them touches the ball?

10:15 I'm not a big fan of that, Monte (Poole). Yeah, I prefer when each one touches the ball, or at least one of them. So there were several possessions like that, you know? And it's something that we've talked about all season is we have to play off of Steph because of the attention he draws and then once we got Jimmy, that became a part of the mantra as well. Get the ball to Jimmy. So we'll do a better job of that tomorrow night.

10:47 And some of that seems to bleed into your late shotclock situations where you either get a violation or you're close to it and you throw up a grenade. Is that their zone or is that just spacing?

11:00 Honestly, to me, the No. 1 thing is taking the ball out of the net. Every time when a team shoots 90% effective field goal percentage in the first half, it's really hard to generate pace and cross matches and advantages. And now you're playing against a set defense, zone defense. So our offense will improve tomorrow if our defense improves.

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