Yurtseven on spacing and Pat Spencer switching from Chick-fil-A to Chipotle 😂
[videos/interviews/captions/transcripts]
Loved the comparisons Omer Yurtseven made postgame about the differences in spacing with the Warriors compared to the RGV Vipers (G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets) and even EuroLeague where the pack the paint and don’t have the defensive-three-second rule — see entire transcript, below. The video interview is embedded up top 👆
Btw, here are the most recent Omer highlights from G League:
And good ol’ fashioned paint-dominant highlights via his IG account from EuroLeague where he played in Turkey:
But probably the most fun comparison was the surprise news that Yurtseven trained with Pat Spencer during the pandemic.
“We trained for about six months together in Maryland,” said Omer. “Being able to reunite with him here is a blessing. And I’m happy to see him change some habits from Chick-fil-A to Chipotle.”
From “Steady Eddie” Honda CRVs to Chick-fil-A to Chipotle. I’m dying to hear what the next Pat Spencer anecdote might be!
Gary Payton II is also included in the video above. Stay through the whole thing and watch Raymond Ridder steal GP2’s trademark outro.
I’ll try commenting more about the game later and there’s also the postgame from Steve Kerr and Gui Santos, as well. The “honest recap” is already up on the various platforms (YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts):
00:00 Just what have the last 24 hours been like for you?
00:06 OMER YURTSEVEN, POSTGAME GSW-NYK: Crazy. I mean, last week or so has been crazy. I was with another team in Europe and then national team, and then got to the Vipers, three games, and now we’re Golden State. It’s a huge opportunity and I’m blessed to be here, but, it’s a loop. And it’s just, you just gotta stay ready and kind of figure everything out on the go, but that’s what I gotta do. That’s what I’ll do.
00:30 How difficult was it learning to play about learning all new plays in, like, less than, like, 24 hours?
00:35 It was about 12 hours, I would say, to learn — well, not even 12 — maybe I started this morning, just to look at some plays and the shootaround and the team meeting — not shootaround, I guess just the team meeting. And yeah, I mean, like I said, it’s an adjustment, but I gotta make it quick and on the go and that’s what it is. You just gotta adapt and I feel like that’s what our job as a basketball player is, too.
00:54 When did you get out here with the team?
00:56 I landed last night. Well, today at 1:00 AM. 1:00 AM, yeah.
01:01 Where from?
01:03 McAllen.
01:04 Okay.
01:04 Down by the Texas, Texas-Mexican border.
01:07 I gotcha.
01:07 Yeah.
01:08 Yeah, just what has been communicated to you about what they want from you for the next 10 days?
01:13 I mean, just play hard and they showed me the defense that we play, the setups that we want to get into on offense and everything, so I think they did a great job kind of simplifying everything for me. I appreciate that. You have a legendary coach here with Steve, so Steve Kerr is, he’s been a legend on my radar for a while. So also just a lot of legends in this organization. So just being around them is amazing.
01:39 How did it feel when you were on the court, once you were able to play and play all that?
01:43 Felt good. Felt good. Absolutely. And like I said, it’s an adjustment to just knowing where the spacing is gonna be and everything’s gonna be, because I had a different spacing a week ago. Then I switched to RGV Vipers, kind of like how they want to play. Now, I gotta adapt to here. Like I said, it’s an adjustment, but I’ll make it quick and there were times where I struggled, where I went to some, a little bit of old habits — not even old, I guess — it was a habit that I had 24 hours ago. But just like being able to duck in and getting the ball, et cetera, were really simple things that I would do, but here it’s much more about creating all that space for the shooters and everything, to come down and making sure those cuts and everything are able to happen within space. Like I said, it’s something on the — what would you call it? — like, it’s something simple, but I just gotta get it going. I think next thing I should be able to fully adapt to it.
02:43 How was your experience in the Euro League and just what do you take away from that experience that you’re bringing back over the NBA now?
02:49 I mean, to be honest, that was a much lower pace game compared to here, absolutely, and much more constricted area, so I think being able to play in that space makes things easier for you to play here because you have so much more, like, the defensive three seconds opens up the paint in crazy ways, because the defender has to get out at some point and maybe they got a clear out, opposite side towards your side, where they would try to help and you can hit corner and then you create an advantage. And all those things, I think, make the game a little bit more, I would say, opened out more, spaced out here, which allows for better reads. But in Europe it’s much more chaotic where they’ll just shrink and be able to recover back because the three-point line is closer because there is no three second rule on defense. And those kind of things affect everything and being able to play in the paint there, like I said, it’s harder because of all the digs and the three-point — the three second rule that you have and everything.
03:49 Have you learned all your teammates and coaches’ names yet?
03:53 Not really. I’m still on the go. I mean, obviously there are people that I already knew. I mean, I trained with Pat, actually, with Pat Spencer throughout the COVID time. We trained for about six months together in Maryland, so just being able to reunite with him here is a blessing. And I’m happy to see him change some habits from Chick-fil-A to Chipotle, so that’s a good transition. And all those things, I think, like I said, whether it’s on the court or off the court, figuring out the names, figuring out the plays, these are all, I think, take 24, 48, maybe 72 hours, and we’ll be ready to go.
04:32 Cool. Great.
04:33 Thank you guys.
—
04:34 What do you hope some of the young guys take away from the stretch where you guys are missing so many players and have to play different roles and experiences (inaudible) — ?
04:43 GARY PAYTON II: Get thrown in a fire. Probably the best way to learn is just to get out, get reps, and get out there and just continue to just get a feel for games and situations like tonight, coming into the Garden shorthanded. Guys gotta step up, so puts the pressure on them to be able to come out there and do your job, right? So I love it. I love everything about this stretch for them. It’s a great opportunity for guys to showcase what they can do within a game, so it’s, I love it.
05:17 What’s a specific lesson (inaudible) — ?
05:25 Just, like, these are all meaningful games. Just to give our guys the time to get back and these are meaningful games to save the season. So, just to know that that’s what we got on the line, just to come out there every day and consistently do it over and over and leave ourselves in games to win late in games, so I like it. Those guys understand and it’s just good to just see them step up and fight.
06:00 What does it say about the group that no matter who has been out there, especially the last few weeks, that everybody seems to be playing as hard as they can every time?
06:14 Wait, say that one more time? Sorry.
06:16 What does it say about the group that every time, no matter who’s out there, everybody’s playing as hard as they possibly can?
06:22 Oh, no. Yeah, guys are bought in. We got another — Omer’s today. He came and made his impact, just learning on the fly. LJ, Mal, Nate, everybody’s just stepping up and with the confidence in our staff, doing a great job, giving guys confidence to just go out there, play freely, but still stay within the game and what we’re trying to do, so it’s great. We had a little too many turnovers, but that’s just a learning curve. Guys have the balls in their hands longer than usual, so I think for tonight, I think we did a great job to be in that position late in the game, to try to win the game. I think that’s all the staff can ask.
07:08 Gary, you’re a veteran member in this group and what is kind of your role in this kind of stretch where you’re playing with mostly younger guys and inexperienced guys in here, stars out? Kind of what is your role in this stretch? Obviously you guys are still in Play-in contention.
07:21 Mm-hmm.
07:21 So you guys wanna obviously use this as motivation to win more games coming up, so kind of in this stretch where you’re playing with those younger guys and you’re more of a veteran, you’ve been in the league for a while, what is kind of your role in this (inaudible)?
07:32 Just continue to talk to them, make it easier for them, just try to teach them to make quick decisions in situations like this, stay solid on defense. If we can get stops and play the right way on offense, we can get any look and that we want to. And these guys have been playing together for a while now, so that unit that we had out there, is very familiar with one another. So we continue to play the right way. Don’t turn on the ball and take the shots that we need to take. It’s good for everybody and it’s good for these young guys, for sure, just to get those reps and those meaningful minutes.
08:04 Been a little bit since Steph has traveled with you guys with what he’s going through. How significant is it, having him on this trip?
08:09 Oh, of course. Having everybody, all our guys, Dray, KP, Steph and just continuing to be — some of those guys that just give knowledge to the young guys and confidence on the bench when we’re in games like this. Just to be able to have those guys come over and talk to anybody and just give them confidence and boost and little tips, it’s huge, for sure.
08:29 To Nick (Friedell)’s question, where does this level of buy-in come from? Where — why is that buy-in so heavy right now?
08:36 It’s just, season’s on the line and those guys are trying to make a name for themselves and trying to find a home, so once you get a group of guys that are fighting for their lives, it tends to, brings out the best of them. And just know that you can help us save this season by giving those guys a little bit more time to get back and get flowing, and especially leading that into the postseason gives them confidence. And when we do do that, we’re gonna need a big bench presence, so I think that’s gonna build and help the confidence going into postseason.
09:09 Alright, you guys are great.
09:10 Thanks guys. You guys are great.
🫶💙💛