Kerr on Kuminga for Game 7: “early and get his feet wet”
[G6+off-day thoughts/videos/transcripts]
Reminder of the twists and turns of this series, as I’ve been writing in each of the past six-or-so articles after each game:
Game 1: Warriors locked in, maybe young Rockets have jitters (per Ime Udoka pregame of Game 7 which just happened)
Game 2: one Wardell Stephen Curry tried to steal it with hero shots (and bad turnovers) early, Jimmy Butler gets hurt and Houston bullies the rest of the team
Game 3: good execution by Golden State sans Jimmy
Game 4: Brandin Podziemski and Buddy Hield have career nights as Udoka deploys the “inverted zone” (what I call it, see podcast below) extra heavy — along with the double-big lineup
Game 5: Jimmy, perhaps not going 100%, makes four disastrous plays in the first quarter and the Warriors get blown out. The inverted zone kind of gets lost in the shuffle because of the blowout.
Game 6: Inverted zone with double-bigs stifle Warriors in 4th quarter.
And so here we are. Will the Warriors finally figure out the zone?
If they don’t, I’d be surprised if they win, because the basketball gods usually reward innovation and execution. Granted, Steph could go nuclear and that changes everything — which is why we also need to spend this moment to appreciate him.
Not a ton of Game 7s with Curry remaining in his career.
Again, I’ll unlock the transcripts behind the paywall when I post the next article, but you can read them in the Comments on YouTube anyways.
The stuff below includes Steve Kerr from pregame Game 7 as well as Saturday off-day Zoom call with reporters, so it’s chronological order starting with pregame before Game 6:
00:00 STEVE KERR, PREGAME G6-HOU-GSW: Before I start, Pop's gonna kill me for wearing this shirt. He's gonna call me a hapless rube for wearing the the shirt. But, no, I just want to say thank you to Pop and to the Spurs organization for everything that they meant to me in my career. I know this is a pretty emotional day for the Spurs. It is for the entire NBA. The number of people Pop has influenced, the number of coaches in his coaching, it's just incredible, but Pop is one of the most important people in my life for many, many reasons and most of 'em go way beyond basketball, but it's a sad day. It's also an encouraging day, I think, because I think this is a natural transition for him, organizationally, to move into his next role. I think it also gives him the space and the time that he needs to recover from the health issues. And so I've got a lot of mixed emotions today, mainly just my love for Pop, my empathy for him for what he's gone through, for the Spurs organization, all of the above. And it's a very, very emotional day for everybody involved, so, thank you Pop. I'll take the shirt off after and love you and we'll see you soon.
01:46 Steve, when did you have that shirt made up? Raymond (Ridder) just handed it to me as I walked in, so yeah, Playoff Raymond is on it yet again.
01:58 Have you talked to him and is there anything you could share of your conversation?
02:02 He would not want me to share anything about personal conversations. I went and saw him three weeks ago when we were in San Antonio. We had a great visit and we stay in touch all the time.
02:16 And in kind of a full circle way, he's obviously impacted Ime Udoka, who played and coached under him. How beautiful and symbolic is it that you guys are coaching against each other on this day?
02:26 Yeah, I mean, I you could say that almost any matchup. You seem to be coaching against a Pop disciple. That's his impact on the game, on the league, the success, the records, all that stuff goes without saying, but it's the impact he's had on so many of us, our lives, our families, and then of course our coaching, development, learning. I mean, I think Pop transformed coaching over the last 20 years. I think it went from one era to the next with several coaches kind of leading the way. I think Phil Jackson and Pop — and I know I'm biased for both of them — but I think each of them in their own way transformed the coaching profession into more than just Xs and Os, authoritarian figure, to culture and collaboration and this unique chemistry that great teams have. Those two guys, in my mind, helped create the current culture that we're in for coaching and team-building where it's so much based on values, human values, human connection, and then a fierce competitive desire to go with that. And to me, that's what we're all searching for and I think, like I said, Pop sort of helped to create that vibe around the league and in other sports, too.
04:06 Backing up on that, Steve — over to your right — Pop, whether it was his ability, willingness to speak out on issues beyond basketball, the load management, different things, how did he stretch the definition of what a coach could and should do, maybe?
04:20 Yeah, I think he probably was one of the first coaches in the modern generation to really speak out on politics, on social injustices. I know one of my favorite coaches is Dean Smith. Dean Smith in the '60s helped break down the racial barriers in the south, refusing to take his team to certain places to play or stay or eat. I think Pop is kind of in that Dean Smith mode of seeing the bigger picture beyond sports and those are the coaches who really stand out to me, the guys who — and Phil, I immediately think of Phil in that regard too — just the guys who recognize the importance of sports and yet the relative un-importance and find that balance and that perspective. And then, make an impact, societally, and that's where Pop is.
05:28 Coach, along the same lines, where do you think Pop got the confidence to speak unapologetically with his platform about social issues? And before you were able to do that as a coach, did you get inspired by him at all or talk to him about the best way to do it yourself?
05:49 I was 100% inspired by Pop to have the courage to speak out and take the hits that you're gonna take if you do. Pop — I met Pop when I signed with the Spurs in '99 during the lockout and you could see the conviction, you could see the dedication to his country, an Air Force grad, proud Air Force grad. From the first national anthem, I saw him standing at attention towards the American flag. I knew how much he loved his country and I knew how much his Air Force experience meant to him and I think that conviction combined with, let's just say, the shenanigans of this century politically, really, all the BS kind of started right around that time at the turn of the century where between social media and buffoonery politically, we just got into this current era we're in where everybody's screaming at each other. So I think he already had the conviction, but he saw what was happening and he wanted to make sure he spoke out.
07:01 Hi Steve, with regards to tonight's game and for someone that's never been in this position or been in the locker room, can you just describe what it's like for your team, knowing next year things change, that you're trying to just get an extra series, an extra day with these guys and moving on because things change rapidly in the league?
07:17 So fun. I mean, this is was what it's about, to compete at the highest level. In the NBA playoffs, Steph talked about it, meaningful basketball. This is — tonight is meaningful basketball and we have two cracks at this thing to advance. We obviously want to get it done today, but we come into this building tonight knowing we got a wonderful opportunity. Nothing's guaranteed, but we feel very confident that if we play our game, we hit our keys, with this crowd, we've got a great chance to win and advance and I've said — I say it all the time — all we want is a chance. Every year you just want a chance and Jimmy, Jimmy came in here and gave us a chance. Our guys have done an incredible job flipping the season, advancing to this point and now it's up to us to go get it, and that's why we're here. That's why we do this.
08:14 Steve, everybody available, healthy? How's Jimmy feeling?
08:18 Everybody's available.
08:19 And I don't know how much you watched the video of Game 5, but did you, I mean, obviously you talked about it to us afterward, but whether watching the video or thinking about it more, what did you learn from that night that maybe can help you tonight?
08:34 I learned that we stunk. That's about it.
08:37 You have to be diplomatic.
08:38 I know, I know, but I don't think it was anything strategic. I think it was, they just were way better and we gotta be better tonight.
08:47 How urgent do you plan to coach from a minutes perspective tonight with your stars? How comfortable are you going over 40 for all three of your names?
08:57 Yeah. It'll all depend on how the game's going, but we're ready to give our guys heavy minutes. They're ready for it, but we'll always play it by ear and foul trouble can dictate some things. Injuries, you never know, but our guys are ready to play big minutes if they need to.
09:14 We've talked about getting Jimmy the ball and getting spaced around him. Are there specific spots on the court where you'd like to get him the ball, like, inside the arc, outside the arc in the corner, anything like that?
09:24 He likes the ball at the elbows. He likes the ball at the — kind of the wing, where he can go either way, but generally you don't need to run anything for Jimmy. If you get him the ball, you have to get spaced around him, but wherever he is, he's pretty comfortable. Thank you.
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TRANSCRIPT FOR IME UDOKA N/A DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS
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00:00 Was it an energy level situation? Was it a loss of confidence? Just generally, what would you explain this to me?
00:05 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME G6-HOU-GSW: I didn't like our first half with the turnovers. I think we had 10 and that's the key to the whole series, is our ball security. And so the 10 turnovers in the first half got us off to a rough start. With that said, we're down two going into the fourth and I thought the key play was the four-point play to start the quarter. And that's on us as a staff. We gotta make sure they're matched up and they just threw it — we didn't guard Van Vleet. They threw it up the floor and he knocks it down and gets the free throw. And that felt like a game changing play because it's, like I said, two-point game. We're right where we need to be despite not having played very well and turned it over quite a bit.
00:47 Steve, do you see a common thread or commonality with the turnovers that's such a big issue? Is there something that's similar between them or — ?
00:55 We have the three wins in the series, we're averaging, I think 10 or 11 turnovers, so it's just, we're in a rush. We gotta slow down a little bit. With that being said, I mean, there was the four-point play, but I think you guys missed like 14 or 15 shots in the fourth quarter. What happened offensively, would you say, during that stretch?
01:12 Well, they were in a zone. They played Adams quite a bit and he's at the center of that zone, kind of a 2-1-2. And I thought we got some good looks against the zone, but then once they pulled away by 10 or 12, it was easier for them to run us off the line. We had a lot of openings, but they were, using their length to run us off the three-point line, knowing that we had to make threes to get back in it and I thought they did a good job of kind of running us off the line and keeping us from knocking down threes to get us back in the game.
01:45 It would kind of seem outside looking in that, that you guys, your issues are not being able to solve this zone, but from some of your answers, it sounds like you feel okay about what you're getting against it. I mean, like, do you go to Game 7 believing that you know you can, like how many change, how much change do you think is needed against the zone or not, how much change — how you're attacking it, personnel, whatever?
02:10 Yeah. I mean it's the — there's playing zone offense is really about, getting the ball to open space and then filling behind the play and moving the ball and, like I said, we've had a lot of good zone possessions in this series and I thought we had some tonight, but we'll do a better job in Game 7. We've got another tape to watch and we will see some things, but it's definitely been a factor. Adams was fantastic tonight, 31 minutes, probably most he's played in a couple years, but he was so effective that Ime kept him out there and they controlled the game while he was out there. We fouled him and then they got a couple rebounds after his missed free throws too, so that wasn't very effective, ultimately. So, we got some things that we can clean up. We got a Game 7, though, and we're excited about that.
03:06 Coach, 37-from-90 from the field, 15-for-49 from beyond the arc. Do you think fatigue played a role in that?
03:14 No, I don't think fatigue was a factor.
03:17 Obviously Game 7, maybe everything's on the table?
03:19 Everything's on the table for Game 7, for sure.
03:21 Yeah, given some of the struggles, maybe some of the other guys are having even taken a shot, but definitely making him — I know it'd be a lot to ask, like, went and played a lot — is Jonathan Kuminga on the table to play?
03:31 100%. He is on the table and this — we've kind of found a formula here in the latter part of the season and we've stayed with that formula to start the series, up 3-1, things are going well and then, obviously, last two games have gone very poorly. We have to assess everything and lineup combination, starters, all of that we have to assess and we feel like we've got a great chance to go down there and win Game 7.
04:03 Steve, as the Rockets kept answering your comebacks, it looked like certain guys were starting to show signs of frustration, Draymond, Podz. I mean, is that an issue for you guys right now just trying to stay together?
04:16 Staying together will not be an issue. This team has been connected and has been through everything. There's no question the frustration tonight set in. I could see it, the body language. We can't have that. We can't afford that in Game 7. We've gotta stay tight, whole way through and like I said, I like our chances. I've seen what this group can do over the years. We've been in a lot of Game 7s, I believe, and had a lot of success. Jimmy Butler is Jimmy Butler. I mean, he's been in all of these games and is one of the clutch performers and in the league, so we will get ready. We will regroup and be ready to roll.
04:59 Van Vleet has been super hot past few games. What have you seen defensively against him and what could you guys change to?
05:06 Well, we started Gary because of Fred the last two games. He was 12-for-18 from three. Tonight, got hot again, 6-for-9. tonight it felt like offensive boards and kick outs. I thought we handled the pick-and-roll stuff much better than last game and so it didn't feel like he was getting his threes on pick-and-roll action. It was more second-chance opportunities. They got some offensive boards, kicked it out. They had 19 points off second chance, I think. He had a couple threes off those.
05:39 Steve, you've played, five Game 7s in the Steph era, I think four of them with you. What — anything from those games that you can use as sort of lessons and reminders and how, I mean, it's pretty quick turnaround to after two disappointing losses. What's the challenge in sort of mentally recharging in 48 hours? Your season's on the line?
06:02 That's the goal. That's the key, right? Starts right now, players getting hydrated and getting their rest tonight and coaches figuring out what our adjustments will be. And we'll get on the plane tomorrow and we'll be ready to go. I can tell you our guys are gonna be excited and, as I said, I have every confidence that they can get this done.
06:29 And can you describe briefly, sort of how the vibe's different in Game 7? I mean, there's obviously intensity through all these series, but when it gets to Game 7, what's that like?
06:39 It just feels slower. It feels like most Game 7s are kind of rock fights. There's a different vibe. There's a nervous vibe on with the home crowd and there's just a sense of, "All right, we're finally here." It's been two weeks and both teams throwing haymakers at each other and all that and it's why people love watching them at home. Game 7s are special and they're fun to be a part of.
07:13 Quinten had, I think, five fouls in 17 minutes. It seemed like they were kind of going at him a little bit. I guess how difficult are you seeing this series kind of become for him in the way that they're kind of attacking him?
07:25 Yeah, I thought he handled himself pretty well, defensively, in the first half. Second half, he got the two fouls, I think, late third, early fourth, where he came over to help. He was a half-step late and he got the blocking calls and so we'll watch the tape and we'll try to help him out on that, but Quinten's been great for us this second half of the season and a very important player for us. And I won't hesitate to put him out there in Game 7 if I think that's the right call.
07:56 Steve, you told us why you went to Gary to control Fred. Offensively, with Gary and Draymond bringing out there together, potentially some spacing issues, how do you think that unit looked?
08:07 Well, that's the equation for us. We have to make these decisions. Every coach has to make decisions based on offense, defense. Gary has shot it really well. I think coming into tonight he was 45% from three. He's been making the corner three in this series, so we felt like the gamble was worth it to put him on Fred and we knew that taking Brandin out would hurt us a little bit in terms of flow and play playmaking, but that was the gamble we took. I don't think it hurt us too badly, but Fred got going anyway. And so in the end we have to reassess that one and other decisions as well.
08:58 Steve, Draymond and Steph have played in five of these games each and then Jimmy has four. And then on the other side, Game 7s, they have four guys that have played a combined total of ten Game 7s. From your experience, where does the Game 7 playoff experience factor in the most when you're in those type of games?
09:17 You mean what aspect of the game?
09:19 In a Game 7, yeah, having been through those, when you have that type of experience.
09:23 Just confidence, belief. I know our guys believe and they'll be ready to go. Thank you.
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00:00 Steph, many of your teammates have come here and said that the downfall tonight is not getting after the 50-50 balls, the want to kind of get those hustle plays and have them go in your favor. Why do you think that is happening and how do you think that changes in Game 7?
00:19 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME G7-HOU-GSW: You just gotta go do it. We were down, what, two going into the fourth, they are playing zone against us pretty much the whole second half and you can kind of look at the possession here at the start of the fourth, Fred getting an and-one three, that's a tough momentum play. Jabari got two threes off of a good hustle play and a tough turnover and then another offensive rebound that turned into a three that a possession here, possession there, it's not just the points on the board, it's a feeling, it's a vibe, it's a morale, it's momentum. And you gotta dig deep to win these type of games, so thankfully we have another opportunity to go do it. Very confident that we can go do it.
01:13 Steph, do you see some sense of hesitancy on some of your guys not to take the shot? Do you tell them, "Hey, it's okay if you miss or make, just take the shot?" Or do you want them to keep passing the ball, just trying to make sure the perfect shot's there?
01:28 There's a reason they're playing a zone for a whole half, pretty much, and they're trying to force a certain type of shot. Obviously, they want — I took probably four heavily contested deep threes just to try to kind of will us, but if they're gonna do that and they're gonna play zone and make certain guys shoot it, then it's the same way we talk about all season long, regular season playoffs, everybody's in this league for a reason. If you have a shot, take it. I don't need to say anything. Coach don't need to say anything. You're out there, be aggressive, look for your shot and we'll live with it. That's the name of the game. The shots that we're creating or the shots that are open, keep taking them.
02:27 Do you have to — as you look at this zone, I mean, do you feel like you're getting the looks you want? I mean, just going back to that answer, do you just feel like you need to keep doing the same thing and hopefully your other guys make those shots or do you guys need to attack this zone different?
02:45 Well, it's probably a little bit of both. I mean, I don't know if it's a surprise or it might be a little bit of surprise that they played that much zone, but I think we could probably look at a little bit more film and see where those shots are, see where those driving lanes are. Obviously, when you drive, they have Steven Adams in the middle of the paint waiting on you, so, whether that's a drive to a kick, to a swing that's going to get you a step-in three, I think we can be a little bit more patient on certain possessions, but you have to make shots at the end of the day. Fred hit some big momentum ones, Jabari hit some big momentum ones. Those can swing momentum again, so for us, don't panic. Just make the necessary adjustments and understand how they're defending us and we should be all right.
03:50 Steph, you and Draymond have five Game 7s together and Jimmy's played in four of them — over here. Where does that Game 7 experience factor in the most when you're actually in a Game 7. Where — how does it help you guys the most?
04:10 Just the confidence that no matter how it looks, we can get it done. We need to be composed. We need to be able to manage the emotions of the next 48 hours, again, not panic, but have a sense of urgency on the adjustments that we need to make going into Game 7 and how to deal with a hostile environment. I think we've had one in that building before and you understand the crowd's gonna be into it. How we start the game is gonna matter, but it's gonna be a long 48 minutes to stick with it and come with a level of aggressiveness and intention to detail — or attention to detail — and just the idea that it's gonna be a game of runs. You gotta just embrace it, have fun with it, show up with a kind of killer instinct. Everybody gotta be like that.
05:15 Steph, this is my third time watching you play. I'll say it gets crazier every time seeing you get triple-teamed. You're getting like held almost every play, so how do you stay locked in the whole time when the defense is doing everything they can to stop you or get you involved?
05:30 Just embrace it and still try to find a way to impact the game you see all the type of defenses and at the end of the day, you have to be able to figure it out.
05:48 How do you feel, physically? What are your fatigue levels?
05:52 I actually feel great. You're having to work and that's fine. I think the — it is weird 'cause the zone, it doesn't necessarily take the most out of you, or demand the most physically, it's just mentally trying to figure out where the holes, where the pockets are, where the openings are, but I feel great.
06:17 Is the solution to get in the paint or is it to shoot them out of a zone, or do you want to get inside?
06:29 I mean, it's a balance because, again, they have size in there. They're playing the two bigs and trying to buy possessions defensively with the zone, so that they can take advantage of it on the other end. I think in the fourth quarter we struggled that first six minutes and you have to resist the temptation to rush. And four shots, if it's me or Jimmy trying to get good looks, but use the attention they're gonna throw at us, whether it's me running around, trying to find openings with Jimmy driving to make the defense collapse and swing and find open looks, but I think for the most part, we got a lot of pretty good looks in the fourth. We just didn't make 'em and then on the other end they made a couple. They got a bunch of offensive rebounds and then we had to go hack-a-Steven-Adams for a while, so make shots. And that's me, that's Jimmy, that's everybody.
07:39 You mentioned a couple times that Kuminga could or should have a role in this series. I know he's played a little bit already, but could Game 7 be a really nice time for that, for him?
07:51 I think everything's on the table, for sure, and him included to the ultimate challenge of staying ready. I know he has answered that question plenty of times that he is ready and it's gonna be good for us to get into the war room and figure out what those adjustments are gonna be, personnel-wise, scheme-wise, to give our best effort for Game 7. The cool good part or the fun part about this is, no matter how it looks, you win one game, you hit reset and get an opportunity to play another series and this is a grind. This is tough. This is what it's supposed to be in the playoffs, to bring the best out of you, to earn the right to get to the next round, so for us, everybody's gotta be willing to step up. And if you're asked to play and you're asked to impact the game, be ready to go do it.
08:53 Steph, you just said it. This is a grind and it's obviously been a grind. One of the subplots is that you guys are an older team and now having to fly, play a game, fly, play a game, go back and forth, is it taking a toll? Is it harder now than it was a couple years ago?
09:15 It is different. It's always been hard to win. Don't get that twisted in terms of not just everybody, just in the sense of winning is hard and sustaining it is hard. And there are different challenges of figuring out a team that's trying to take you out of your rhythm or your patterns or whatnot. And you're playing against a really good team, so if you wanna win at the highest level, you have to embrace the hard, whether it's the physical challenges of doing it at this stage of your career or whether it's just because you're playing a good team. We've had challenges all throughout this run, and this is another one.
09:58 Steph, you guys have had a couple chances to close them out this series. Just what is your reaction to the fact that it got to Game 7, this series?
10:08 I mean, thankfully we have another game to play and we did our work early in the series to give us some cushion, but they're the 2-seed. They have home court advantage in the series because they're a really good team and they've demonstrated that all season. We've been on a run since the trade, to have an opportunity to play a Game 7 in a playoff series and get to the next round. So, again, in February, if you told us we had a Game 7, we'll take that all day long, How we got here, not happy about it, but we do have another opportunity.
10:46 Steph, over here. How are Game 7s different than Games 1 through 6? I mean, they're all intense and competitive. What's different about a Game 7 and, related question, do you have any specific snapshot memory of Game 7 in Sacramento two years ago?
11:04 No, it's just the nerves and the adrenaline and you understand the stakes. If you don't play a game — or your best game — or you don't figure out a way to win, you're going home, but it's also exhilarating because when you do, it brings the best out of you. And there's no better feeling of closing out a series with just the whole Game 7 vibe, so there's one tomorrow. We get to watch it. We got one on Sunday. It's what this league is about and it's a great opportunity to show up when it matters most and have an opportunity to move on, so there you don't really do anything different, but you have to embrace the nerves and the adrenaline of it.
11:54 Do you have a specific memory from Sacramento?
11:58 I mean, that was — no, that was just a great game overall. Hopefully, I can repeat that.
12:08 Asked Draymond earlier about how there were some moments in this game when — or you guys were frustrated, visibly frustrated, Draymond, Podz. And I said, is that because of something that the Rockets were doing to you guys, or is it because something you guys weren't doing? He had an answer. What's your answer to that? Why was the frustration level sort of visible at times today?
12:29 There were momentum plays that you want to have back, 50-50 balls that we didn't get, offensive rebounds that we let them have, just breakdowns where they're getting open looks. There were times we would make a run, we just couldn't get over the hump and you understand, there was pressure to win on your home floor. They're playing great. You gotta give them credit. It's not like we're just laying an egg and rolling over. We're fighting, we're trying to compete. There's just in the margins some things that we can do better and control what we can control. And I think we can do that in Game 7.
13:15 Steph, knowing that things change, you're in this league, how much does will play a factor in just wanting to have another game, another series with this particular group of guys on your team?
13:26 It's kind of baked into the nature of a Game 7. If you don't show up with that appropriate mentality, then you got a long vacation ahead of you, so you don't want to be the team that's packing up. We're packing for a week, getting on this plane to go to Texas and hopefully go to Minnesota right after. That's the approach and I know we're all excited about the fact that we still have life left even though these last two games haven't gone our way.
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00:00 Jimmy, both Steve and Draymond said that four-point shot, the play that Van Vleet had, really seemed to turn the game. Did you feel that when you were on the court, that it kinda was deflating?
00:16 JIMMY BUTLER, POSTGAME G6-HOU-GSW: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anytime he shot out of the corner not organized, not matched up, it's definitely deflating, one play that definitely turned the tides, but we're not gonna sit here and say that that's the the real reason why we lost.
00:32 What would you say is the reason?
00:34 We just gotta get these 50-50 balls. We gotta rebound better. That's been the story this entire series. They've gotten the loose balls and they've gotten way too many offensive rebounds.
00:48 You guys also, you missed, I think, 14 of your first 15 to open the fourth after that Van Vleet three. What would you say is leading into some of these prolonged offensive droughts?
00:58 Just, I think it's the pressing part of it. We'll be fine. We just gotta continue to make the right play time after time after time. If somebody's open, they get the ball, you create for somebody else and then just the karma of the game, you're gonna find yourself more open, more often than not.
01:16 Jimmy, what would you say would be the reason for the lack of hustle plays coming out on you guys, as in a lack of effort or a lack of energy?
01:22 No, I won't say that it's a lack of effort. It's just if you want to do it or not. That is the bottom line. If you wanna rebound, if you want to dive on a loose floor, if you want to take a charge, all those little things is if you want to do it. It's really that simple.
01:36 You always talk about taking the right shot or getting to the right shot. Do you think some of the guys are turning down the right shot a little bit too often?
01:43 Sometimes, yeah, but too much of any good thing is a bad thing. You can be way too unselfish, you can be way too passive. I think you gotta find a fine line and yes, obviously, if Steph is open, you pass up your shot to get it to him, but when it comes to everybody else, if you find your shot and you're in rhythm, you take it. If you're not, it's simple. Pass it to the next open guy or create for somebody else or create for yourself. I think a lot of the times we do a lot of thinking and it just, it doesn't end well for us.
02:15 Jimmy, I think you've been in four Game 7s. Draymond and Steph have played in five each. On the other side, they have a total of like 10 Game 7 experience. Where does that playoff experience of being in a Game 7 help you guys the most?
02:29 I think we just know how important it is. They do too, though. On the road, backs against the wall. I think this is why you play this game. I know, we know that we have the opportunity to win the game, so on the road at Houston, Game 7 Sunday at some time.
02:50 And you said the other night after the game, the confidence hasn't wavered. Now that you've lost two in a row, where is it at?
02:55 At an all-time high. It's now, out of all times, it's win or go home. It's not wavering. We know how good of a team we are. Like you said, a couple of us have been here before multiple times, so it's on us to make sure we get it done.
03:11 Jimmy, from your experience, tell us what a Game 7 feels like, how it's different? What the vibe is like, what the energy, the whole feeling?
03:19 Yeah, it's definitely gonna be high energy, but it shouldn't feel any different for anybody. You go out there and you play basketball the way that you know how to play it. For us, for my teammates, those nerves don't need to set in. We're gonna be just fine. Game 7 is not the hardest thing in the world, so we'll be okay.
03:39 Jimmy, Steven Adams has been a huge factor in this series, especially in this game. When you look at some of the offensive boards he's been getting and just his dominance inside, what's an adjustment you think you guys can make for Game 7 to kind of neutralize him or try and neutralize him?
03:52 Just get the ball. You gotta jump. You gotta get the ball. It's hard. It is. But if you wanna win in this league, you definitely gotta do some hard things, so just gotta go get the ball.
04:04 Speaking of which, as one who's guarding him and you've got the tailbone, how do you feel, physically? Where's your —
04:09 Good enough. Good enough. I probably gotta jump up there and get some more rebounds. I've been being lazy, so I'm gonna definitely chase after the loose balls, dive, do all of that good stuff come Game 7. I should have been doing it anyways, but lead by example. If I do it, everybody else gotta do it.
04:28 You know end of games, tight games, it's about getting inside, attacking the paint, high percentage shots. Do you feel like y'all are doing that enough? Are you settling for too many threes in those high leverage moments?
04:42 I mean, we already shoot a lot of threes, so we are gonna take the shots that are given to us and it actually is my job to make sure that I get inside the paint and get some layups, get to the free throw line, collapse the defense and kick it to the open shooter, so if I haven't been doing enough, then I will do it more.
05:03 I mean, you and Steph obviously carry the heaviest load on the offensive end, but what do you need from your supporting cast? I mean, is it effort? Is it just production? Is it efficiency? What do you need from the guys to kind of get this team where you want to be?
05:15 Confidence. Keep them confident. Keep doing what y'all are doing. It's not only y'all, it's on all of us, so we gonna win together, we're gonna lose together, but I know we're definitely gonna win together come Sunday.
05:29 And how would you describe the vibe before the game tonight going into this game?
05:34 We good. We good. We smiling. We listen to our music, celebrating life. And we're ready to compete. We were ready to compete tonight. Things didn't go our way, okay? We're gonna be ready to compete on Sunday and we're gonna make the game go our way.
05:50 Steven Adams was a factor for the Rockets tonight. Just going into Game 7, how do you guys kind of adjust to what he was able to do tonight, if he's able to do that at home in game Game 7?
06:01 I think we gotta stop focusing so much on them and focus on us. If we do that, then we're gonna be fine. We're not going to sit here and act like we've been playing our best version of basketball 'cause we haven't. And they've been doing okay, but they haven't played their best version of basketball either, so what we're gonna do, we're gonna focus on us, we're gonna get the ball from Steven Adams for the last time, but we gotta focus on us. We can't keep focusing on the Houston Rockets.
06:29 Jimmy, from the outside, a lot of people are saying, "Oh my God, this team is veteran, 35, 37, and now they gotta go all the way back to Houston with very little rest and win another game, and that's gonna be so hard." How do you guys react to this kind of noise about age and travel and the toll this series is taking?
06:50 I've never been one to listen to the outside noise or people as a whole 'cause they just be saying stuff and half of it don't make sense, so we'll be alright. I mean, I'm 35. Hell, I don't — I can't even remember how old Steph is. I think Dray 35 too. We'll be right. Everybody gotta travel the same distance. It ain't like we gonna go around the world and then land in Houston and they only got a five minute flight to Houston, so they gotta travel just like we gotta travel.
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STEVEN ADAMS TRANSCRIPT N/A DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS
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00:00 Draymond, how much disappointment is there in that locker room or in your mind that not being able to take care of this at at home?
00:10 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME G6-HOU-GSW: It's a little frustrating. You get the opportunity to close out at home, wanna do it. Nonetheless, it's a seven-game series. We know we can win there. Gotta go get the win.
00:22 Well, you just kind of mentioned what I wanted to ask. You know you can win there, so obviously you guys feel that you can win. What do you need to do on the road to make sure you guys come out of this one with a win?
00:32 Get loose balls. I think they probably had 20 points off broken plays and getting loose balls and kicking off for three. So get loose balls and we'll defend them way better, kind of getting their first effort, but in order to beat this team, you gotta make second and third efforts and the last two games, we have not done that.
00:55 Do you think that's due to fatigue or just the lack of effort?
01:00 I think it can be due to whatever the reality is. The person who wants the ball more will get it, and right now seems as if they want it more.
01:09 I mean, there were times in this game you could see you and Podz, especially where you guys looked, you were frustrated with the way things were going. How much of the frustration was based on what you guys were not doing and how much was it with what they were doing?
01:21 It's all with what we're not doing, which is fighting to come up with the loose balls when they're out there. It's all what we're not doing.
01:32 Is that a very correctable thing you think?
01:34 Absolutely.
01:40 Draymond, you guys have played — I think you played in five Game 7s. How is the vibe different and what's the challenge like after two disappointing losses? Your season's obviously on the line in 48 hours.
01:53 Yeah, you move past the two losses. They don't matter. A Game 7 is Game 7. I think anytime you have an opportunity to play in a Game 7, it's fun, it's exciting, it's for all the marbles, so move on. I mean, we've moved on, learned from what we did wrong. It's kind of obvious what we did wrong. Get ready for the game, but I think Game 7s are fun.
02:25 I know you're kind of blaming the loss on some of the effort stuff that didn't go right, but you guys also missed, I think, 14 of your first 15 to start the fourth when you kinda lost control of the game. What is so difficult right now offensively, particularly they're going very big and they go to a zone.
02:43 I think it was less about the zone and more about we started off the fourth quarter, two-point game and we gave up a four-point play. And it is just like you lose the life, you know? So you gotta give 'em some credit. They're doing a great job defensively. That's who they've been, that's why they're the 2-seed, is because they have a great defense, but in saying that, we can't give up a four-point play in a two-point game off one pass ahead. That's crazy, so yeah, they're doing a great job defensively, but I thought it was also caused by, kind of just losing the life after that.
03:31 What, in your, I guess, view what happened on that play?
03:35 Just, I don't know. I haven't seen a replay of it. I'm not sure. I mean, obviously we didn't get matched up. Fred Van Vleet's got 17 threes in three games and he's wide open coming out of at timeout. That's crazy.
03:51 I guess to follow on that, just what are you noticing with the way you guys are defending him or what, what problems are emerging when he has the ball?
04:04 I think it's just comfortable, he's comfortable. He's getting to what he wants to get to, somehow. You gotta break that up, but he's too comfortable.
04:18 Draymond, you've been in a lot of big games back here, a lot of big games, Game 7s on the road. What is the difference and what's the key to getting off to a good start?
04:28 Just gotta meet force for force, execute the game plan. Everybody will be excited. There'll be hype in there. They'll be loud and then the game starts and it's just basketball, so you gotta execute your game plan, stay the course. They're gonna make runs, stay the course, continue to fight, but gotta execute.
04:54 How do you see Steven Adams moving out there and the impact he's having on the game? He had 31 minutes in this game.
05:02 He's having a great impact. He's doing a great job on the offensive glass. He's doing a great job defensively. I just wish we could get a three-second call. He's standing the paint, whole possession is hard to box out. He's strong as hell, so being outweighed by, what, 40, 50 pounds, six inches, you could just stand in the paint, it though to box him out. So hopefully we'll get a three-second call next game, but he's doing incredible.
05:37 Draymond, obviously everything has to be on the table for a Game 7. And Kerr said that there's a hundred percent chance he is gonna consider playing Jonathan in Game 7. A lot to ask, but do you think that he would be something interesting to see in a Game 7?
05:52 Yeah. He cut out for it. He cut out for whatever you throw at him. He built right the right way for that. 1000%.
06:03 If any of your younger teammates asked you for advice about how to approach a Game 7, that's gonna have a lot of pressure, what would you tell them?
06:11 I'm not — I'll tell my younger players that 'cause they got younger players and I don't need them getting my advice.
06:17 Draymond, as you guys were getting ready for this series, Fred hadn't shot the three ball well, mostly all season, he hasn't. Are you surprised at all by how well he shot these last few games? Because at first he wasn't shooting at all, I mean, he couldn't get ball to drop.
06:33 No, I'm not surprised one bit. Fred Van Vleet is the reason we lost to Toronto in the Finals, so we know what he's capable of. I'm not surprised at all.
06:49 Just to ask you about some of the big basketball news today with Gregg Popovich transitioning.
06:53 Oh man, that is my guy.
06:54 I'm sorry to cut you off, but wow.
06:57 Take it.
06:58 Coach Pop is incredible and none of us knew when that day would come that he'd hang them up, but it sucks to see him go. You love running on the side court, seeing him on the sideline. I had the ultimate honor playing for him and winning a gold medal and it meant so much to him. He has a military background, obviously, and it just meant so much and, wow, he's one of the most incredible human beings. You get this wall that everyone sees. You know how everybody say, like Steven, everyone says, Steven Adams a gentle giant. That's Pop. You got this wall that's like, you ask a dumb question, he gonna crush you, right? And it just appears as if he's this mean old man and he is the complete opposite. Complete opposite. The nicest person you ever want to be around. He cares about people so much and I was lucky enough and honored to have the opportunity to spend a summer with him and play for him. I gave him my shoes from the gold medal game. He wore them to the next — the first game we played them and every hug since then has meant so much to me, just to go over to the sideline and hug him and to see him leave this game, from the sideline. Obviously, they say he'll be the president, but that does nothing for me. But to not — it sucked playing against the Spurs this year and look over and not see him there and to know that I'll never get that opportunity again. I just wish I had one last time to go hug him on the sideline before a game. I know I sound like he's dead. He's not, but he's meant so much to this league and he means so much to me. Job well done, well-deserved retirement. I hope he enjoys the hell out of it. Clearly he's not going far 'cause he's gonna stay working in basketball, but, man, just everything he's meant to this game and I'm incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to play for him.
09:56 Draymond, the last Game 7, you had Steph, scored 50 points and I'm just wondering how you see him respond to that kind of pressure when probably everyone is looking to him to do something special?
10:09 We look to him to do something special every night for the last 13 years I've been here. I don't think it's any different.
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00:00 Hey Steve, it's Ann (Killion).
00:01 STEVE KERR, OFF DAY BEFORE G7-GSW-HOU: Hi, Ann.
00:02 How are you?
00:03 Good. How are you doing?
00:05 Two years ago you guys had a pretty famous bus ride to a Game 7 that's part of Warriors lore. I'm just wondering how the trip was, what you are gauging of the mood of your team today, after a pretty rough floss.
00:21 Yeah, the mood's good. I think we all realize the things we have to do better. It's a great series, two really evenly matched teams and you can't get caught up in anything other than the next game and I think we were well aware that last night we, had a great opportunity that we didn't cash in on, but there's a reason it's a seven-game series, so we got another crack at it and we're excited.
00:58 They're, I think, they're two-big lineups offensive rebound 45% of misses. Obviously, Adams plus-minus-wise has been kind of a dominant force in this series. How much of, as you're, I guess, game-planning for tomorrow, is based on just having to protect the glass better and dealing with Steven Adams?
01:20 Yeah, that's a big deal. I thought we had three or four plays where we tried to tip the ball to our teammate instead of grabbing it with two hands. A big key in this series was the possession battle and making sure we were chasing down every loose ball, every long rebound. I thought maybe the biggest problem last night was on those long rebounds or any rebounds, we were not locked in on finding shooters. Van Vleet's first three, for example, it was like five seconds from the time they got the rebound to the time he got the ball in the corner. We didn't recognize where he was, so we have to be more disciplined from a game-plan standpoint and some of that is just energy to go get the ball.
02:13 Draymond and Jimmy seem frustrated with the lack of, like, you guys hunting down the loose balls as you're mentioning, but part of that, I assume for them is they're the ones having to fight the bigs and I know you're not gonna reveal personnel choices going into Game 7, but Looney's an obvious guy that can help on the glass. How much do you have to kinda look at him as an option?
02:33 For sure, I mean, I trust Loon implicitly, based on being together for 10 years, seeing him perform in so many of these big games, so I would expect Loon to play more than he did last night. The challenge in this series has been finding the right combinations based on trying to put together two-way lineups. If they're gonna go zone, like they have quite a bit, then we have to have some shooting and spacing, but we've gotta get stops at the other end too, so we've gotta craft our lineups pretty carefully.
03:21 Draymond mentioned something about three in the key last night. He wants a three in the key. I'm curious, I think I saw you once during the game yelling for it. Are you looking at that with Adams, with the officials right now?
03:33 Yeah. Yeah, we we're talking to the refs about that. We thought there were three or four of them last night, but it's not really a call that officials make very often, so we can't worry about it too much. I mean, I'll alert the refs to it, but we just have to play.
03:54 Hey Steve, it's Danny (Emerman). When we're talking about Adams, obviously he's been a big factor in the series. What are kind of the keys to maybe playing him off the court, like you have so many bigs in the past?
04:09 You're talking about Adams?
04:10 Yeah.
04:12 Well, they're protecting him because the — what we've been able to do in the past is put bigs in pick-and-roll and that's generally how you play them off the floor, put 'em in pick-and-roll, but they're basically in kind of this hybrid zone whenever he is out there and he's just manning the middle and it's kind of a 2-1-2 and then they start chasing Steph around. I'm not sure they know what they're doing, other than staying glued to Steph and then it just kind of becomes pseudo-zone, so that's how they're protecting him and it's very difficult to expose him in any way to get him off the floor. The only way we've been able to so far is by fouling him in Game 4, I guess it was, maybe it was Game 3, I can't remember. But that's one way, but that's — as long as he can stick in that zone, then he's gonna be out on the floor.
05:20 Hey, Steve, it's Monte (Poole). Last night, your shooters — and I mean not Steph of course — but at Moses and BP, Buddy and Quinten were 11-for-32 from the field. Did you like the looks they got and just need to see them go down?
05:35 There were plenty of good looks and I have no doubt that'll even out and a lot of those shots will go. And then there were some possessions that we need to improve. Our spacing, I think, that's the real key against these guys. They're long and athletic, obviously big with the two big guys in the paint, so if our spacing is cramped, it's difficult to get great shots, so those are the things we're looking at.
06:03 Have you seen anything through six games that surprised you, from what they brought to the court?
06:11 Not really. I mean, I think it's a classic seven-game series, where if you look at the tape from Game 1 and now you look at the tape from Game 6, both teams are very, very different, a lot of counter-punching, a lot of changing strategies between games. I doubt Ime would've guessed that he would play Adams 31 minutes in a game during this series and, obviously, he's playing more and more now as the series goes on and because of how effective he's been, so yeah. And our lineup has changed, obviously. We've tried to stay ahead of the curve a little bit and throw some different things at them, lineup-wise. so it's a very classic seven-game series.
07:09 And how do you balance — defensively, they seem to be targeting Quinten, what he gives you — with what they're doing to him on that end versus what he gives you on the other end, the spacing and the shooting, how do you balance him playing that?
07:21 Yeah, I thought he did a pretty good job in the first half, defensively, and then second half I thought we got a little scattered with our game, with our emotion. That's the biggest thing. There's always gonna be matchups and things that you try to do to protect certain matchups, certain actions that people are running, whatever. There's scheme changes you can make, but biggest thing is that we got out of sorts last night. We got too emotional and first play of the fourth quarter was indicative of our letting our guard down a few times and that's all it takes in a series like this. Van Vleet gets the four-point play, it goes from two to six, and the whole nature of the game changes. And that's based on just a missed matchup and so that's my biggest concern tomorrow, is just our overall emotional response to a night where we really weren't ourselves.
08:24 And what are you seeing from, through six games, from Draymond and what do you need to see from him in Game 7?
08:30 Well, I think he's our key in terms of what that emotion looks like. He's been in a bunch of Game 7s. He's had monster Game 7s. I think he recognizes that this series is not pleasant for him. He doesn't — he rarely gets the big on him to run pick-and-roll. They're putting Van Vleet on him, trying to take him out of the offense, trying to take his rhythm away, trying to goad him into technicals and flagrants like Green did last night. Draymond knows he cannot respond to that stuff in that way. He's just gotta maintain his composure and recognize he is the best defender in the world if we do our jobs and he's guarding, at his best capability and he's maintaining his emotion and we're doing our jobs, taking care of the ball. We got a great chance to win and he gets the last laugh.
09:33 Is there such thing as a pleasant series for Draymond at this point?
09:39 Yeah, I mean, I just think that when he can play his game and be in the pick-and-roll, the game is way more fun and Houston knows that. They have the personnel to sort of change the matchups and match up with us in a way that negates a lot of that to offensive effectiveness for Draymond and they've done a good job of that.
10:10 You mentioned Kuminga, kind of everything on the table last night and I know you were kind of referring to all rotation options, but just curious your thought about what he could give you and also the trickiness of dropping him in the middle of a series where he hasn't been part of it.
10:26 Yeah, I mean, I thought he played well in Game 3 when we started him, especially defensively. Did a good job on Jalen Green. I think that's an area where he can help us, on-ball defense, and the key is, what's the combination around him. We know they're in zone an awful lot. Can we find the right combination with JK with the shooting and spacing we need and passing to expose the zone? And so these are all the questions that we're asking and I think, as I've made very clear, the arrival of Jimmy made the combinations much tougher for JK and so that's what's been sort of standing in his way and I've gotta feel the game and I'd love to get him out there because I think he can help us. And if I can do that early and get his feet wet, I think that would be helpful for him and for us, but again, we've gotta feel good about the combinations and what we're facing, with the way they're guarding us.
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00:00 What happened with Gary and what's kind of the rotation domino effect?
00:03 STEVE KERR, PREGAME G7-GSW-HOU: He was just sick as a dog. He woke up ill and didn't go to shootaround, hasn't eaten. No way he can play, so big blow.
00:20 (Inaudible)
00:21 Yeah, I mean, we have to mix and match. He's obviously been an important player for us in the series, so we're actually going through it right now and trying to figure out lineup combos, but it definitely opens up the door for more minutes for several different options, but not gonna go into any detail.
00:47 For a game like this, how much do you consult guys like Steph and Draymond when it comes to who they might want out there with them?
00:54 How much do I consult with them?
00:57 Yes.
00:58 We talk every single day about all this stuff.
01:08 Do you expect to use the Hack-a-Adams strategy here in Game 7? And in the playoffs is the strategy at all different, given points per possession, pace, stuff like that?
01:20 Yeah. It's just a game-by-game basis. I remember being here when — was Game 7 against the Rockets '18 or '17? 18. I remember we fouled Capela down the stretch in that game, up — I think we were up seven, eight. There's different ways to use the strategy. If you've got a lead and you don't want the other team to make threes, you can use it down the stretch like we did that year. You can use it like we did in Game 4, where we just needed to change the momentum, so you just read the situation and decide whether you think it's effective or not, but no magic formula for sure.
02:13 Steve, when you're looking at the Rockets' zone, especially from Game 6, is the key success just making more shots? Is it executing something better or — just in your eyes, what's the key success?
02:26 Yeah, I mean, we've obviously faced it all series and it's kind of a hybrid. I think Ime would tell you that they're not really sure of the rules, either. It's just they kind of pieced it together, a little bit of a box-and-1 type of philosophy. It's clearly designed to keep Steph from getting free and then forcing other people to make plays and so we've seen plenty of stuff like this before. The key is to fill spots, fill gaps in the zone and get the ball moving and free your teammates up for open looks.
03:11 Steve, what will be your message to the team, your last message before you guys head out?
03:16 That's kind of between us, yeah.
03:22 Do you — are you not — does that look like a rah-rah message?
03:26 It's not Knute Rockne. Younger people have no idea what I'm talking about right now, but no, I'm not a rah-rah guy. I'm more, let's get our minds right. Let's settle in and — I mean, I played in, I think, three Game 7s, maybe. I know that the key is to lose yourself in the game. And I know our guys have experience with that and they've done a great job of that and you can't think about anything other than the next play. And you go for it and you — in the end, this is what we do. This is why we play, to get to these moments and you have to embrace the fact that, you might win, you might lose, so what's the most important thing? It's lose yourself in the game. Let it rip. Lock in on the game plan. And if you do that, then there's no regrets. There's — if you lose, there's sorrow, but there's no regrets. The only regrets that you have come if you let the circumstances dictate how you play and that's the goal. Just let it rip.
04:48 In situations like these, where are the benefits of having Steph Draymond and Jimmy, during this time when they're playing a younger team? With their experience versus a younger team, how beneficial is that for your roster at this point?
05:01 It's very meaningful for our younger players to be able to follow the lead of Dray and Jimmy and Steph, Loon, the guys who have been there and I think that'll be very helpful tonight. Thank you.
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TRANSCRIPT FOR IME UDOKA N/A DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS
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