Kerr: Draymond “took a chance” with Kuminga, turnover — but was it a good chance?

[transcripts/videos/notes/quotes]

Sometimes it takes extreme adversity for people to change. I’ve been through that myself, would love to tell the story someday soon. It’s just evolution, though. And usually evolution leads to great things. There’s no better epitome of one Wardell Stephen Curry on the podium after a random loss, saying, in effect, that he enjoys “the process” which will ultimately lead to the desired result. Evolution is process.

At the 1:03 mark of the fourth quarter in the loss in Houston, up 90-87, Draymond Green fired a pass to a cutting Jonathan Kuminga, who found himself switched onto by the smaller Dillon Brooks. Like Deebo Samuel’s route to a dropped pass last night, Kuminga was in full stride in a slant-like direction and had the upper advantage on Brooks.

But Green fired the pass “just a little bit outside” (Bob Uecker voice from the movie Major League). That is to say, it wasn’t even close. The ball sailed upwards several rows into the baseline seats. We all know what happened after that — my commentary on Adam Silver’s weirdly officiated modern NBA forthcoming.

In the moment, I was peeved. That was already Draymond’s fifth turnover of the night and the team’s twenty-first!

And then Steve Kerr took the podium and said:

We had a turnover on the pass from Draymond to JK. We had done a great job taking care of the ball after that first quarter-and-a-half that was a disaster. And Dray's gotta make a good decision there. And he took a chance throwing it to JK. He's gotta just get the ball back to Steph on that. And he knows. He feels terrible in there. And I could have done a better job getting us into something different, try to free up Steph or JK. So we all take it. We all took part in this one.

Fast forward a couple days and here I am, rethinking it all. I actually don’t mind Dray targeting JK there. As I’ve said many times already, dating back to last January after that Christmas loss to Denver, the team needs to come up with pet plays for him. There needs to be some optionality from the sole dependence on our GOAT for hero shots or Draymond and Steph doing some sort of action. I don’t mind a loss in the 24th of 82 games for the team to come to this realization.

In fact, why stop at crunch time? Obviously the second unit is in dysfunction on offense whenever Curry is on the bench. I said postgame that a simple solution would be to ensure that Steph or Jonathan is on the floor at all times. Maybe even just post up JK if push comes to shove.

The funny thing is, Andrew Wiggins was all but ready to go before tipoff and then couldn’t go — and so I think what happened was, they had to scrap the original rotations and just went back to the previous one with Gary Payton II starting and, iirc, Steph and Jonathan both being on the bench together during some stretches.

In other words, I’m open-minded to real-world reasons why they would ever have both scorers on a Wiggs-less night on the bench at the same time.

Kerr even said Friday on 95.7: “We're giving (Kuminga) more opportunity, for sure. That's the plan,” but also stating it’s “tricky” and that they’re “experimenting.”

So what’s tricky about simply giving JK the ball? Well, the entire culture is based on ball movement around Steph, with Draymond having that “shared brain” (Luke Walton’s moniker when he coached in Sacramento against the Dubs). That pervades even to the second unit so that when Curry checks back in, there’s a seamless transition, although that’s kind of a gross oversimplification. It’s complicated. The beat of the drum goes to ball movement. Changing that disrupts the rhythm of everything, including catch-and-shooters like Buddy Hield and Lindy Waters III, for example. So, there’s a ripple effect of changing that.

Steph said in the locker room after the game:

The pattern of scoreless kind of droughts down the stretch has to be addressed or else we're going to be a mediocre team. I take responsibility for not being able to get us organized or not being able to finish plays, like, the ball's in my hands, I gotta make shots. But I think we all can address certain sets that can get us into better shot-creation type of opportunities, knowing how teams are trying to guard us, especially in the last five minutes. And we're talking about it, we're experimenting and that's going to be a defining point of our full season, if we can figure it out, if we don't. Because we're playing well enough to win most games. So that's a good sign and a bad sign.

And so the evolution continues, but it drives home a point I’ve been saying all year: Kuminga is untouchable. If he were, say, on the LA Clippers, Tyronn Lue would probably feature him with post-up after post-up with their second unit. There’s a whole library of what Kuminga can do from the post:

But it’s a lot easier to implement that with their culture.

And so I trust that JK has a lot of believers elsewhere in the NBA, whereby it only takes one GM to set the market, just like if someone sells their house down the block from you for $5 million, your house is instantly worth in the range of that, too, give or take.

I think JK will get paid based on the above example. Which also makes the notion of trading him right now, at his less-than-$8 million salary, ridiculous. Now, could something happen where he does get traded at his current salary? Anything can happen in the NBA and so if I’m wrong, I’ll dissect what happened and recalibrate my knowledge of the NBA and salary cap sheets accordingly, but I cannot see a situation where Kuminga — a potential franchise-level player if you’re running pet plays and featuring him — is dealt away by Mike Dunleavy, Jr. at contract value one-fifth of the nearest present comparable (Franz Wagner, for example, makes $39 million). Physical talents like Kuminga are very hard to find, as well.

Can’t wait to see what Kerr’s staff comes up with in the next week to two weeks.

Join us Saturday night for a in-depth analysis on all the trade rumors — what we do differently is that I usually look at salary cap implications and optionality, whereas my co-host Dean “of Positivity” Chambers will look at rotational and positional fit on the present squad. We’ll try to make sense of all the talk out there for you. The link will be posted here by 8:00PM PST Sat 12/14.

Transcripts from Houston, below…

00:00 Do you feel like you went too early on that last possession?

00:05 STEPH CURRY: About what?

00:06 Do you feel like you went too early on that last possession or do you like the shot you got?

00:11 Both. Yeah. I mean, they were hawking, Dillon was hawking the whole 94 feet. And when you find a little bit of space, I shoot that shot all the time. And, obviously, the way it went down, loose ball, the 50-50 ball into a unreal loose ball foul that changed the game. So definitely probably a couple of seconds too early. I like the shot if we make it. If I make it, we're playing in Vegas. So I live with it, but tough way to end it.

00:46 How — I mean it seems to to us, the locker room is pretty upset about that loose ball foul.

00:53 Well, yeah. I haven't seen the replay, but in that type of situation, there's a feel of, like, who gotta the ball first. I don't — I mean, if you're telling me it was a clear foul, then I'll shut up, but I don't think that's the case. Is it? Was it? There's indecision in the group, so that means, then, let the game play out and let us decide it, not two free throws 90 feet from the basket.

01:23 Pretty physical tenor throughout. Did it feel like a different atmosphere, different level of intensity out there?

01:29 We obviously know the streak we've been on with them and they tried to come out and play with the level of aggression and physicality. We did the same. 91-90 speaks to that type of basketball. But we felt like we played well enough to win. A tough, tough outcome for us, so, proud of the way we played. We obviously can play better. We know that. Just sucks that you're not able to get over the hump to experience Vegas. It is a cool vibe, something to look forward to.

02:08 What did the refs tell you, not only about the loose ball, but also the call that you thought you were fouled on that jump shot?

02:14 That's a huge — I mean, so we can talk about the refs all day. It's not why we lost, but there are swings in the game. Obviously, the last two free throws and then that play. It's a five-point swing where I think Mousa (Dagher) said the ball was already released and he hit my hand or wrist. And I'm like, "Well, if I shoot an 18-footer and I miss it by six feet, then either you tell me he hit the ball or it's a foul. You can't say that." Never shot an 18-footer 12 feet. So they go down and Eason hits a three in the corner, like, that's a huge swing. We can't let the refs take us out of it, which I don't think we did, but those are clear plays that can dictate a very tough game, low-scoring game where you give a team an extra possession that they don't deserve, which is why I was going crazy. I don't want to yell at the refs like that. It was a clear foul.

03:06 You guys had a six-point lead with about 77 seconds left, obviously blew it, similar in Denver. It feels like it's kind of even been a trend back the last couple seasons where, in previous years, it wasn't. I mean, how concerning is just like those type of blown leads in that condensed amount of time?

03:26 It's a team trying to figure out who you are, what works, what sets we need to be in. Teams selling out on kind of our standard pick-and-roll, which I usually can make plays. Like I said, I make that last shot, you might not ask about the last two possessions. It's kind of just the way the game goes. When you lose, everything is on full display. The pattern of scoreless kind of droughts down the stretch has to be addressed or else we're going to be a mediocre team. I take responsibility for not being able to get us organized or not being able to finish plays, like, the ball's in my hands, I gotta make shots. But I think we all can address certain sets that can get us into better shot-creation type of opportunities, knowing how teams are trying to guard us, especially in the last five minutes. And we're talking about it, we're experimenting and that's going to be a defining point of our full season, if we can figure it out, if we don't. Because we're playing well enough to win most games. So that's a good sign and a bad sign.

04:38 What have you seen from this young Rockets team? The game that they won tonight is not a game that you all are able to, down at the end of the stretch, beat them. But it seems like they're starting to play a little bit more competitively over these last two years, especially with Ime (Udoka) coaching.

04:53 Yeah, I think a team that has a certain identity, they try to play harder than you, they try to play more physically than you. And even on a night like tonight, like you said, there's a reason we had that long streak against them, because we usually figured it out. I feel like tonight was an opportunity to do that again. It just didn't go our way. But they're scrappy. They didn't quit. You can tell by the way they celebrate how much it meant to them. So, sucks for us. We don't get to go to Vegas. But they obviously deserve to win.

05:33 You sound like, I mean, you've said it a couple times, it seemed like you were really motivated to try to get to Vegas.

05:39 Absolutely. I talked to some guys who played in there last year. Buddy was there last year. He said how much fun it was, so would've been a cool experience. You want to win the games that matter in the sense of something with a little extra incentive on the back end. Definitely frustrating, disappointing, especially the way the game ended because you're sitting there looking at the clock, like, three or four minutes left, if we just play sound basketball, we should be fine and then possession after possession, goes the other way and then that last foul you're just kind of in shock a little bit. So that's tough.

06:25 Gary, that's about as physical as a game can be. What do you think about just the end there with the foul call?

06:32 GARY PAYTON II: Unfortunate. Dumb play by me. Unfortunate call leads to that. It's just that's what it is.

06:41 I mean, you say dumb play by you, you should have held it?

06:44 Hold the ball. Jump ball. Touch the ball. Two seconds. One second left. Game over.

06:52 You guys have had a few of these now. I mean, Denver one comes to mind. I mean, what's the frustration level about some of these kind of late game misses?

07:00 What, this one? Advancing and going to Vegas. We just gotta be better down the stretch, smarter, execute. And once again, turnovers.

07:16 What did you guys most feel their defense?

07:19 Ah, they just sped us up in that last little minute. They had a little stint, they sped us up, I want to say, in the late second. They just sped us up, turnovers, and that's where they're the best, is when they turn it over and go get easy layups and buckets, transition.

07:40 Great.

07:41 Getting ready to shoot those free throws, what were those emotions?

07:45 JALEN GREEN: Well, I was thinking, like, it was getting so loud. It didn't get quiet in here for a second, but I was just — I was, I mean, I was ready for the opportunity. I work on free throws a lot. I feel like I made a big jump on free throw percentages, so.

08:00 What happened on the play that led to the foul?

08:04 To make me shoot the free throws?

08:05 Yeah.

08:06 It was a scramble situation. We needed a stop. We got a stop. And when somebody spread on the floor and then saw the ball rolling and it was time for me to get on the floor. So, yeah, it was just a scramble situation.

08:17 Were you surprised they called the foul, or were you thinking jump ball, timeout?

08:21 Well, I was trying to call the timeout. But I'm glad the ref seen that he's over my neck. And like, so it was cool.

08:29 How cool was it to be able to win a game like this that means a little bit more, considering you guys haven't been in a playoff-type situation in a long time?

08:37 I think it's really cool, especially for the guys that's been here since the beginning of it. We ain't never had no situation like that.

08:44 (DILLON BROOKS:) Send they ass back to Golden State.

08:46 We ain't had no situation like that before. So I think we just showed our growth. And it wasn't even our best night. We weren't hitting threes like we normally do. But our defense was on-point. Had a couple lapses, but we held it down.

09:00 What does it mean to you guys to finally beat Golden State after they had won so many in a row?

09:04 Yeah, that's — that was — that's crazy. I'm glad we did that because we were 18 in a row or something. Fifteen? Fifteen, yeah, it's still crazy. I'm glad we did it though.

09:13 What does it say about the team that they were able to beat it after 15 streaks?

09:18 I mean, it just shows our resiliency, our togetherness, and how hard we play.

09:24 Can you talk about the crowd? You just mentioned how loud they were. Can you talk about the crowd, not only in this game, but also the OKC game, how loud they've been?

09:31 Yeah, it was crackin', man. I mean, the fans have been poppin' off. I mean, we got one of the best fan bases in the league. So they just need to see us put some wins together.

09:43 Ime subbed you in for a couple of defensive possessions late in the game. What were you thinking when he did that and what does that say about how far you've come on that side of the ball?

09:53 I mean, I appreciate him for, throwing me in there. But yeah, I'm glad I was able to get some stops and just get that big one at the end of the day to ice it, so I appreciate it.

00:00 You know on Wiggins for sure, yet?

00:03 STEVE KERR, PREGAME: No, he'll warm up and we'll see how he is.

00:10 What can you take from the first two matches and how does the fact that Steph didn't play — ?

00:17 Well, I mean, obviously, winning both without Steph was a big accomplishment. I think what we know about Houston is, they're a great defensive team and we have to take care of the ball and we have to rebound. If we do those things, we have a great chance to win, but if they turn you over like they did in the second half of, that first game here that's a problem. So we know what we have to do and then we gotta go do it.

00:47 Did you watch the game last night?

00:48 A little bit, yeah.

00:50 Any takeaways from the atmosphere or intensity that stood out?

00:56 I mean, both games looked intense and the court really stood out, as it does here tonight. So, I told one of the coaches that I felt like I was descending into the depths of hell going into this deep, deep red hue on the floor. It's a little disconcerting. I thought I had been better in my life. I didn't think I deserved that fate, but, no, it's — what I like about it is you turn the game on, you know it's a Cup game. And I think that was the intent. You see the court, you know it's a Cup game. All the guys are competing. Everybody wants to win. So that's how we are tonight.

01:42 Obviously, Jonathan's 33 points against them last game. What do you expect as far as their focus, defensively, to make sure he doesn't get downhill towards the cup?

01:52 Yeah. I mean, they'll — I'm sure they'll — I think they went for a couple of pump fakes last game. They — he got them off their feet and he got to the rim and they'll — I'm sure they'll be more prepared from a personnel standpoint, just tendencies. That's generally what happens as a young player, when you start playing well and teams start to pick your game apart and they force you to do things you don't want to do and that kind of stuff. So Ime's a great defensive coach and they've got really good personnel, so I'm sure they've got a plan.

02:28 Do you see any similarities between how the Rockets veterans that they brought in last year have had an influence on their young guys between how Steph and Draymond have led JK and Moody and those dudes for you?

02:39 The similarities between — ?

02:41 I guess the veteran influences that guys on your team have had on your youngsters and the same with the Rockets.

02:48 Yeah, I mean, I think it's always important when you have a group of young players to have an influence, good internal leadership and mentors within the team. And I know that's what Fred is here for and Dillon Brooks, I mean, they signed those guys and Adams and Jeff Green for a reason. They're trying to bring along a really young, talented team. So it's a good strategy.

03:17 In the format, the teams that do well in group play and advance also get themselves a tougher regular season schedule. Should that be addressed, is should you be punished for success?

03:31 We were talking about that today. The eight teams that make the quarters all have significantly tougher schedules than the teams that don't. I don't know how you can address it. I don't know. I mean, I think we're the only league in the world that has a Cup where the games count in both competitions and that's rare. So I don't know how you address that, though. I'm not sure you can separate them entirely and have one team play more games than another, that sort of thing. So I don't have an answer for you, but yeah, we noticed, we noticed.

04:17 When you packed?

04:18 What's that?

04:19 You noticed when you packed?

04:20 We noticed when we packed and we noticed when we looked at the standings and who other teams are playing. And we're — yeah, but it's all good. We're going out and playing. We're competing. We're excited.

04:35 Jonathan Kuminga has had his two highest-scoring games of the season against the Rockets. Why has he been able to find so much success against this team?

04:42 I think last game without Steph was the main thing. We really got the ball to both Wiggs and JK a lot more than we did. And then I guess same thing was true the first game, no Steph. So I'm guessing usage rate and field goal attempts were both up.

05:06 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME: I've never seen a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I've never seen that. I think I saw it in college one time 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is, I mean, unconscionable. I don't even understand what just happened. Loose ball, diving on the floor, 80 feet from the basket and a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are scrambling for the ball. Just give them a timeout. Give them a timeout and let the players decide the game. That's how you officiate, especially because the game was a complete wrestling match. They didn't call anything. Steph Curry got hit on the elbow, plain as day on a jump shot. Just clubbed right on there. No call. So you've established you're just not gonna call anything throughout the game. It's a physical game. We're gonna call it a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation with guys diving on the floor? With the game on the line? This is a billion-dollar industry. You've got people's jobs on the line. It's — I am stunned. I'm stunned. I give the Rockets credit. They battled back. They played great defense all night, but I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their asses off and deserve to win that game or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken from us by a call that I don't think an elementary school referee would have made because that guy would have had feel and said, "You know what? I'm not gonna decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket."

06:58 Did you — I know you had a challenge. You (inaudible) had one timeout left. Did you think about — ?

07:02 No, no, it wouldn't have been — it wouldn't have been reversed. And I needed to save it for the ensuing play.

07:17 You obviously blew a six-point lead in the final 70 seconds. That was obviously the punctuation.

07:21 It's our fault, yeah. We didn't score. We had a turnover on the pass from Draymond to JK. We had done a great job taking care of the ball after that first quarter-and-a-half that was a disaster. And Dray's gotta make a good decision there. And he took a chance throwing it to JK. He's gotta just get the ball back to Steph on that. And he knows. He feels terrible in there. And I could have done a better job getting us into something different, try to free up Steph or JK. So we all take it. We all took part in this one.

08:01 I think you guys had six shot clock violations tonight. How much of that, obviously, (inaudible) to a really, really good defense, but how much was it defense versus you guys finding a — ?

08:09 It was defense. They were — their defense was great, pressured us all game, and I think four of them were in the first half and we couldn't we couldn't get free. And then we got control of the game in the second half, did a really good job of taking care of it and bouncing back and doing some nice things. But we didn't close, bottom line.

08:31 What was the difference in the third quarter? Seemed to get Buddy going there.

08:35 Just took care of the ball, got organized.

08:40 Any benefits of not playing until Sunday, three days off? It's been a pretty frenetic schedule.

08:44 I'm not ready to answer that question. I'm pissed off. I wanted to go to Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup. And we aren't going because of a loose ball foul 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I've never seen anything like it in my life. And that was ridiculous. Thank you.

09:06 Have you played on a bright red court like this?

09:13 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI, MORNING SHOOTAROUND: No. It looks pretty good though. I think we played on the blue one in new Orleans, that was. And Denver was kind of like reddish yellow, so it's cool how they do it.

09:23 Does it get a little time to get used to with practice shoot around as far as vision wise?

09:28 Nah, I'm only looking at the rim. The rim is always orange, so that's all that I look at.

09:35 Rockets tonight, NBA Cup. Have you felt more juice in the Cup games, just in general these past two years?

09:42 Yeah, for sure. Everybody is putting their best foot forward, both us and our opponent, trying to win, trying to win some money, win a championship in the season. And so, get another chance to play a good Houston team and show what we got.

09:55 Already beaten them twice, obviously, 15 in a row. But what jumps out about what makes them tough to play against?

10:01 They're a Top Five defense in the league and they're Top Five on offense and not turning the ball over. So you get a shot every time. And then, if you're turning the ball over, just kind of fuels them. They're not so good at shooting twos and threes, percentage-wise. but a lot of their points come off turnovers and offensive glass put backs.

10:24 Gary, you packed for 11 days?

10:28 GARY PAYTON II, MORNING SHOOTAROUND: More like, I think nine. I gotta get some more clothes. So, yeah, hopefully we can run out this 12-day road trip.

10:37 Did you actually pack for 11 days or you just, like, if you get to Vegas you might have to go buy some clothes?

10:41 No, yeah, I might get to Vegas, I might have to go home and grab some extra clothes, but other than that, I'm good though. I'll be alright.

10:49 Already seen Houston a couple times this year. What jumps out about them? What's it gonna take to get it done for a 16th straight time?

10:55 We just can't turn the ball over, can't let them speed us up. They want to get out, get stops and go the other way in transition. So if we can limit them and limit our turnovers and make them play half-court defense, I think we'll come out with it.

11:07 When it comes to the NBA Cup, have you seen a red court like this before?

11:13 I have not. First thing I've seen was the blue field. And I think that was Boise State back in the day. And now we got all different colored cups — I mean, courts for the Cup. It's a — I like it. It's cool. Like, throw the shoes on there, off-match it with the jersey. So it's a nice little fashion piece, I guess, the league threw in there.

11:32 Does it take a little bit of time to get used to, like, vision-wise, things like that, as far as shooting goes?

11:38 Thank God I got good vision, so it's just a glance or two and see where the lines and stuff is, what's the details and then it's all the same, really.

11:46 You guys are at the top of the league in rebounding again, despite being what I guess you conventionally consider an undersized team. What goes into being a great rebounding team?

11:55 Just commitment and having the will to go down there and find somebody, hit somebody, and just hit first. And Loon probably leads with us. He shows us how it's done, so we just follow him and try to do it as a unit.

12:10 Did you watch any of last night's games?

12:13 Yeah, Dallas. Yeah, I've seen Dallas. They couldn't get out the little 10-point lead. I think they cut it to eight and then oKC just started making tough shots.

12:23 But did it feel, I mean, did it look like a playoff-type of game?

12:27 Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They looked like they were trying to get to Vegas. So, like to have this competition, this competitive feeling right now in the middle of the season. I think it does help out for us to get us going and have more meaningful games. So I like it. You guys are great.

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