Atkinson helps untangle Kuminga/Podziemski: “NBA teams say, no, you can't do six of those things, just do these two”
[GSW-CLE pregame videos/transcripts]
Great pregame with a ton of Warriors references from Kenny Atkinson, before the game in Cleveland:
Praised Draymond Green for “taking over the film session” in the 2022 Finals,
Reiterated his stint was like “finishing school”,
Called Steve Kerr a “risk-taker when pressure situations come,” with “no doubt, let’s go,” which is how you “win big”,
Stated that Kerr has given Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga “a little more freedom to be more aggressive.”
And finally on the recent struggles of Podziemski and Kuminga, which fit the context of what he’s dealing with, with his own youngster, Jaylon Tyson:
All of a sudden, wait a second. College or G League Ignite, I’m doing all this stuff. I got the ball in my hands all the time. That’s the way I’ve kind of grown up, AAU, all that, and now all of a sudden, no, we’re gonna reduce your menu to a really — that’s hard. That’s really hard for a player… I don’t know what young player wants to hear that, right? Everything around them is, how can I get my game off, right? So I think it’s really hard and that’s the hard part of this league right now with younger guys coming into the league. They have kind of all this freedom (before entering the NBA). Whatever their path is, they have a lot of freedom. They have the ball in their hands all the time and now they come to the NBA, NBA teams say, “No, you can’t do six of those things, just do these two things.” And not everybody adapts to that and I think that’s where you see some failure.
If only tons of people on social media would:
Read this article,
Have tons of respect for what Atkinson has to say, and therefore
Have more patience, understanding and mindfulness with Podz and JK.
I guess it might be a little wishful thinking to expect all of those things to happen.
00:00 Kenny, in what ways did your Warriors experience help shape the bigger picture aspect of coaching that you talked about?
00:13 I think I’ve said this before, it was finishing school for me. Seeing a great leader like Steve, how he conducted, really, coached through crisis at times. You go through tough times and I thought he was brilliant, so, and obviously, we had a lot of high tension, pressure filled games. And you’re right there observing all this and then you learn from great players, which is probably just as important. Steph Draymond, Klay, those guys taught me a lot about the game. And again, thinking moments there, being down to Boston in a series and just seeing how everybody came together and reacted and how Draymond led to-- took over the film session, quite honestly. And so it was great. Steve understands leadership as well as anybody in the biz, any coach I’ve ever been around. And then Draymond, Steph, those guys are the best. Great players, but also great leaders.
01:45 What is, what’s something that has happened with Jaylon Tyson where you can think of, like, it’s just a moment being, well, that’s so Jaylon. Like, whether it’s a basketball thing or just a competitive thing or just something that sums up from your perspective who he is that you’ve seen?
02:10 Wow, that’s a-- I, let me think real quick. Can I just, I’ll think like recent, right? He can do some goofy things. The one where he caught it on the wing near the bench and it just kind of slipped out of his hands, but doesn’t get too upset, right? He’s just kinda, so that’s one case. And then he’s got some chutzpah to him. He is not afraid and that thing that happened last night where I was about to put Donovan in for him and he jacks a contested wing three. I was like, what? Get him out of there. I think I said that as soon as he released it and of course it goes in and we all laugh. It’s kind of that. He’s got, he’s so fun to be around. You never know, never quite know what to expect. I think the guys really enjoy being around him, though, at the end of the day, he, we talk. We’ve been talking about joy a lot lately and he kind of epitomizes that, the way he plays, the way he carries himself.
03:17 Hey Kenny, going back to what you were talking about with Golden State and learning how to coach and pressure situations, this year for you guys there is pressure, there are expectations. So what specifically did you learn from Steve about how to manage that with the guys?
03:36 Steve is very confident. Steve’s a risk taker. Like, he’s not conventional. And there’s a difference between a risk taker and then a risk taker when pressure situations come. And I could give you probably 10 examples where he was willing to change a coverage, change-- lineup changes. You could probably-- like, all of a sudden you’re throwing Gary Payton in the starting lineup when he hasn’t been starting in the Finals. He, and I think to win big or anything, you gotta be, you gotta be able to take risks and that really stuck with me, right? And he was willing to roll with it. There was no doubt. We’re doing this. Let’s go. So that was really cool to see.
04:25 And then given some of the changes across the league, what do you characterize as a good defensive night these days?
04:34 Hold the team under 130? Like, really, it’s so hard to guard now. And the three, three point shooting obviously sways a lot of that, but yeah, the thing is, Chris (Fedor), I think you can, you see these really explosive nights where-- like, their first half the other night, last night, like they were just hitting step back three and you’re like, you want to get mad at your guys because it’s like they’re scoring on us, but on the other hand you’re like, holy, that was a step back three. We had pressure on the ball, we had a good contest and it’s still going in. So I think you have to really kind of keep your calm as a coach. I mean, you still gotta coach guys and try to help them schematically, but when these barrages come and these “Cavalanches” come you gotta, and that’s where the analytics help. I always tell you, like, I get the expected values for everything so we can keep a little semblance of, okay, they’re getting a little lucky. So I like to have that information because I think it helps me coach better end game.
06:03 You were in Golden State when both Kuminga and Podziemski entered the league. How have you seen those guys grow since then?
06:10 Oh man. I mean, two really good players. Two guys I respect a lot and they were thrown into, obviously, not an easy situation in terms of, this is kind of a ready made machine. And I think they both adapted well, right? Now, they’re kind of in this transition period and being more aggressive. They’re starting to find their footing in terms of being more aggressive with their own game, but in the beginning when I was there, it was like, man, fit in. Like, screen for Steph, cut, all that stuff. And Steve, I think Steve’s done a good job, too, to give those guys a little more freedom to be more aggressive, but yeah, I mean, both of them are really, really good players. I just hope they don’t come in and kick our tail tonight.
07:06 Getting back to Jalon, and I know his role recently is not necessarily what you guys envision for him at the start of the season because of everything else that is going on, but how do you look at what his background was, particularly at Cal, where he had to do everything in terms of helping him adjust to what he’s being asked to do right now?
07:24 Yeah, that’s, I see where you’re going with that. I think, yeah, because we’ve got so many guys out, he’s gotta do more and he’s prepared for it. Where maybe if you just, if you just drafted like a strict role guy, because they are at that, I would say this and I don’t wanna speak for Koby (Altman), but I think he really values skill. Skill, highly skilled players, high IQ players, playmakers, so, I’m sure the front office had a vision. Okay, he can be more and then of course the coaches, we get our hands on him and no, do less, we don’t need you to do all that stuff. And I keep saying how important our vets have been to coaching him and getting them to understand what he needs to do for us. And that’s really hard for young-- we were talking about Podz and Kuminga. Like, all of a sudden, wait a second. College or G League Ignite, I’m doing all this stuff. I got the ball in my hands all the time. That’s the way I’ve kind of grown up, AAU all that and now all of a sudden, no, we’re gonna reduce your menu to a really-- that’s hard. That’s really hard for a player. I’m really surprised how well Jaylen’s adapted to that role.
08:45 How much of a challenge is that for a coach to ask somebody to do that, because you’re basically telling the guy, like, limit yourself.
08:58 For the betterment of the team and I don’t know what young player wants to hear that, right? They want to, I think everything around them is how can I get in my, how can I get my game off, right? So I think it’s really hard and that’s the hard part of this league right now with younger guys coming into the league. They have kind of all this freedom, whatever their path is, they have a lot of freedom. They have the ball in their hands all the time and now they come to the NBA saying, NBA teams say, no, you can’t do six of those things, just do these two things. So that’s, and not everybody adapts to that. And I think that’s where you, what, you see some failure.
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Thanks for this article! Love Kenny! It’s great to hear how his time with Golden State and Steve still has an impact on him after all this time! Also love the perspective he provides on Kuminga and Podz’ current situation.