Highlighted some interesting tidbits from Steve Kerr’s pregame (before facing Detroit) with the 📌 emoji in the transcript below.
So even though the Warriors have been kicking some a— (Buddy Hield voice!) in the preseason, now 4-0, it appears their journey of a thousand steps has just begun, if they’re going to do a full 180 on their poor transition offense and defense over the past two years, as Kerr has said in the past two weeks.
The new wrinkles with the Terry Stotts flares are fun to watch, and I did notice last night that Lindy Waters III was late on a split action cut (2m40 q3), but I think what Steve means is a combination of all those things plus the forthcoming addition of Andrew Wiggins — he will play on Tuesday and I think it’s safe to assume he’ll start. The Dubs will be in Las Vegas to face the Lakers, so added with the curiosity of Bronny James, it’s going to be a super-intriguing watch (please join us)!
And finally of note, in the pregame, Kerr said that Hield is expected to take on the scoring load when Stephen Curry is off the floor. To me, it’s basically the role they wanted for Klay Thompson had he not found two other places to play where he would be recognized more for his impact (the Mavs and the Lakers) — plus he wanted more years from Joe Lacob which he wasn’t gonna get. Anyways, I’ll try to get my last few words on Klay (they’re good words, actually, and I have way more intel on it now than I did with my first two attempts) on here before the season starts. Also, not to jinx it, but according to our regular Bruce in the livechat last night, the Warriors went 5-0 in the preseason before the 2021-22 regular season and 6-1 before 2016-17…
00:12 Steve, do you have a new starting lineup to announce?
00:15 Yeah, Steph and Draymond will not play tonight, so BP, Melt, Moses, JK, Trayce.
00:26 What are-- who are you looking forward to seeing tonight in Steph and Draymond's absence?
00:32 Everybody, everybody. We've got a deep team and this will open up a lot of minutes and I'm excited to see them all play.
00:41 Is there still an opportunity for Andrew to earn a starting spot? I know there's those three competition-- or those three spots and then you've got the reset week and a half basically after today. But where is everything with that process? And can he still earn a spot? Is there still time?
📌 00:55 Yeah, he scrimmaged today with the group that we-- that was available for that and he'll practice tomorrow and he'll play Tuesday and, absolutely, that's still on the table.
01:10 You talked this preseason about wanting to see guys together with combinations work. With Steph and Draymond, obviously, you're trying to see who plays well with them, but is tonight a chance-- like, what is the unit look like when they're both out, kind of a second unit kind of feel to this?
📌 01:27 Not necessarily. I anticipate Buddy will be on the floor when Steph's not, when we start the regular season, just for obvious reasons. So I could have started Buddy, but I really wanted to see Moses, JK, Trayce, the young guys with BP and Melton. Melton really connects the game well for others, and I want to see all of our young guys. I want to see them take the next step and playing well together, playing for each other, all that kind of stuff.
02:00 And forgive me if you've been asked this before, but have you decided you need a backup point, someone who is the backup point guard? And would that be Brandin at this point?
📌 02:08 Well, Brandin and De'Anthony Melton are both capable of being the backup point, and there's a good chance they'll play together to share the ball handling responsibilities. But Kyle Anderson's a point- forward. Draymond's a point- forward. So we've got options. It's just not going to be as sort of clear as it was last year, where Chris (Paul) was going to play all the non- Steph minutes.
02:35 What has Pat Spencer given to the program so far in the preseason?
02:39 Smart, tough. He's been with us now for over a year. So he's got a way of, I think, two years now-- so he's got a way of making people better because he understands the game and when he's out there, we tend to play well. I thought the last five minutes of the game the other night were a perfect example. We just got into a really good rhythm and flow and Pat's a big part of that.
03:06 Just don't want to assume anything. Are Steph and Draymond okay? Is this just a rest night for them?
03:10 It's a rest night for Draymond. Steph jammed the finger the other night, so probably would have rested anyway, just preseason. He wasn't going to play all six, but given that he hurt his finger, he can use the extra couple of days.
03:32 Hi, Steph. I mean, Steve. I know it's just preseason.
03:35 Hi Rick, I mean, Ryan.
03:38 Sorry, I'm still rusty. I know it's just preseason, but you guys are undefeated. How much importance do you place on the team's record during a preseason?
03:46 We don't place a lot of importance on it, but it definitely feels better to win. We were terrible the other night for 43 minutes, and that was the incorrect result, based on the two teams' performance, respective performances, but still felt a lot better for our young guys to go out there and pull it out.
04:08 Do you like what you have in terms of teachable tape so far through three preseason games?
📌 04:13 Yeah, but we have a lot of work ahead. Because this is a new team where we're instituting a lot of new things. We've got different lineups, new players to fit in. And I really wish this was the old days where you had a full month to prepare for opening night and not three weeks. So, we're nowhere near where we need to be, but it's okay. We're putting in a lot of good work and we'll get there.
04:43 You mentioned you appreciated the way Terry Stotts ran offense with Portland and is open, but it's also a little more structured than some of the things that you guys have done. When you look for us to be looking at it, what does that look like? Is it, you know, stuff that they did with Dame and CJ that kind of, like, they did a lot of curls, right?
📌 05:03 A lot of curls, a lot of flares, dual actions. So you've got a flare on one side, a pin- down on the other. So you're trying to occupy the defense, both sides of the defense. Those are things that we're going to get better and better with as we work on them. There are definitely more dead- ball type plays. We still want to play fast. We still want the ball to move. But we need to be really good in the half court and I like the additions that we're making.
05:39 That's my follow up is, those are called plays basically and in dead- ball situations?
05:44 Yes.
05:45 Not the open flow of a game?
05:46 Yeah. Yeah, so the ironic thing is that we've actually been much better in the half- court over the years than in transition. Transition numbers have suffered because we turn it over a lot. But part of that is on me to create better structure in transition. And so we've been working hard on transition, getting to spots, getting to spaces and then flowing into our offense from there. And that part is separate from what we're adding with Terry's stuff. But what I like about it is they really complement one another, the way he has played and the way we have played. It blends together and suits our personnel, too.
06:30 With the time limitation, do you view Tuesday or Friday as more of a dress rehearsal, one or the other, both? Do you need to treat maybe both of them like that or--?
06:41 It would be tough to do that Tuesday, given that Wiggs is just coming back. So I'll probably experiment more on Tuesday and then see what happens during the week and go from there.
06:52 I kind of forget. You do like to have one game, right?
06:55 Usually, but it has to be feasible, too.
07:01 Steve, just curious, this is a non- basketball question. You're familiar, I'm sure, with Macklin Celebrini. What are your thoughts on how he's progressed with the Sharks? And of course, he's gonna be playing here and his dad gets to watch him playing.
07:12 Pretty cool. Yeah, I mean, we've known Macklin forever here and so to see him get drafted in his backyard and he's worked out in our facility a million times. So exciting. I didn't get to go the other night, but a lot of our guys were there, players, coaches and it was-- I saw all the highlights. So it's really exciting and great for Bay Area hockey, but great for for the Warriors family, too.
07:39 Steve, did you consider calling in sick, to watch the Dodgers -Mets?
07:43 I don't even know what you're talking about.
07:46 I do have another question, though. We've talked a lot about the team's depth and 13 players, you think, in rotation. How much of your decision- making will be based on fit for your team versus matchups against the other team?
07:59 I would say it's possible that we'll have different starting lineups for different games. It's possible. We do have a lot of overlapping parts and we have different needs with different lineups. So we would consider doing that. I think Draymond either at the 4 or the 5 is kind of the key point in that.
08:23 So there could be some games where someone who's on the fringe of the rotation might play more versus the other team based on matchups?
08:31 Sure. Sure, yeah. Thank you.
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