Please read: “It’s more so grown men trying to figure it out” — Moses Moody
[PHX-GSW practice videos/transcripts]
Who knew that Justin Dutari’s subject line of “Please read” would actually work? So, I’m giving it a try.
Icymi, Dutari, a Warriors fan from Panama, sent Joe Lacob this email and got a reply within two minutes 😂 (credit the investigative journalism to Alex Simon of SFGATE):
Anyways, I love how Moses Moody answered a question from Nick Friedell of ESPN at Warriors practice, two days before the Phoenix game, on how the squad is feeling day-to-day, going through all the ups and downs:
Good, through and through. A lot of highs and lows. (We have) a lot of professionals on the team, so it’s not dealing with the childish emotions or any of that. It’s more so grown men trying to figure something out. And that’s from the coaching staff to the last player on the bench. It’s not as much emotions of, “Oh, you said this, you said that,” rather than a group of men trying to figure something out and that’s cool to see.
I want to make it abundantly clear: our small little LetsGoWarriors YouTube livestream community, we are seeking more “grown men” (and women, of course) to join our in-game observations and cheering of your Dubs.
Please come join us!
I’m proud to say that we do have several “blue wrench” live chat moderators who are women, and obviously all the commentary is on the up and up. Whenever we encounter someone thumb-typing childish emotions, the blue wrenchers delete those Comments within seconds.
I’ve always embraced the behind-the-scenes nature of our franchise and, by extension, our YouTube channel. Moody’s view of grown men, straight from the locker room, is right up our alley.
Heck, it’s even better than how the brass at the LA Clippers are handling things, right? Check out the article about Chris Paul being sent home by Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Sure glad that would never happen here with the Bay’s team. “Stable environment” is how Steve Kerr put it, on the podium after practice (transcript below). Note: he did not reference the Clippers, obviously.
Why wouldn’t DubNation want to experience your own team as if you were the 19th player? That’s 15 NBA roster spots and the 3 two-ways, by the way. So, yeah, let’s embody the Warriors as if we were the 19th player on the bench. Let’s listen closely to how Moses conducts himself.
That’s why I used to film everything that I was allowed to, back when I went to every practice, every shootaround, every pregame, every game, every postgame, every single media availability possible.
Yes, I was told to limit the basketball footage to no more than two minutes each, just in case someone blurted out something not meant for the masses and I didn’t catch it in my edit. So I uploaded two minutes of every session I could attend and nearly every pregame routine was captured.
I think I can reveal this now, but I remember the time we were at some Catholic high school on the outskirts of Miami for practice. They were tossing around the football in that little gym. I thought that was a fun moment, so I started recording them throwing that pigskin back and forth.
Oops! One problem: Damion Lee was getting back from a broken wrist and he had just thrown the football down from the bleachers where he was sitting. He didn’t want any trouble, obviously, so he told me to stop filming. That footage never saw the light of day. And yet I felt like one of the guys.
Like, a Warriors player trusted me not to post that. And I, in turn, vowed (to myself) never to throw him under the bus because — well, you know, it’s the human side of things.
This is what we do when we are a part of something, even if it’s as simple as a group of people attending a practice in a remote part of some road trip. We are comrades for a mere hour. But we are comrades.
Imagine my attendance at every media availability possible. You start to know what it’s like to be part of the Golden State Warriors. The coaches and players start to see you all the time. You learn by osmosis, if nothing else.
When you get high-fived by an assistant coach before Game 7 in Houston, when one Wardell Stephen Curry slaps your butt in the tunnel after a comeback win in Portland, when Ron Adams comes up to you as if he’s known you for years, the human side of things start to outweigh wins and losses.
The game of basketball starts to feel like life.
When we doomscroll, we completely lose the human side of basketball. I’m here to bring that back.
I used to arrive at every arena three hours before tipoff because I thought that if I filmed two minutes of Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Chris Chiozza in their pregame group routine, more fans would appreciate the access, feel like they are part of the team, and maybe sense some responsibility before they thought about teeing off on so-and-so in the comments or replies of whatever app they were on.
One time, I filmed JaVale McGee playing 3-on-3. He had a block, his opponent called a foul, and McGee immediately marched towards me for the replay. We all watched the film. It proved he got the block, not a foul.
And so tons of diehard Warriors fans got to see how cool and funny JaVale was, not to mention a good baller. Maybe they would just skip that temptation to jump on the “Shaqtin’ A Fool” bullyism bandwagon that was rampant in those days, just maybe that one time after they saw my video.
Maybe some bts footage would be just enough for them to resist complaining about what Chiozza did in a spot reserve role that night, filling in for an injured role player. Maybe the fan would see that he puts in the work, just like our hero, Steph.
And so on our YouTube channel, we make it a point not to throw anybody under the bus, or as I’ve recently put it:
Try not make someone feel bad about themselves in the Comments, obviously, which sometimes I even have to stop myself from doing, especially if an angry fan hops on and immediately starts ripping one of the Warriors. Tbh, my first instinct usually is to yell at him back — I have to practice what I preach and it’s hard — but I’ve learned how to just have more compassion, even if it is with some Internet rando. We can help him dial it back, little by little, follow-up question by follow-up question, the Socratic method. Just remember to still root for your team, but also…
Go to the next level and try not to make someone feel bad about the players and team we are supposed to root for. This is the other part of the disease of modern society. It’s like they’re saying, “Let me tell you why it’s cool to be angry at ___ (fill in Warriors player or staff member here).” They are declaring what they say as fact and they are lobbying you to join them, as if it were confirmation of said “fact”. Sure, not every critical person is like this, but especially after losses, we the audience are very vulnerable to this persuasion. And the persuasion is heavy and everywhere! But some of us actually don’t want that negative energy and are seeking silver linings. We are seeking rays of hope. We are few and far between, though.
I have literally wondered how Curry maintains joy through the thick and thin.
💡 I want what he has! 👈
Through my own personal journey, which included walking away from being a credentialed media member after fifteen years of service, I think I’ve learned what Steph’s secret sauce is and, no, being a Christian is not a prerequisite. I am living proof that you can reprogram how you view life and the greater good and see the beauty in all things.
Don’t you want that?
Did you see 30’s demeanor even after he scored 48 in a loss? Can we have discussions like that? Can we learn from the way Steph might disagree with what a reporter asks him, what words he carefully chooses, with the utmost respect to all parties involved?
[Full transcript of these Q&As on deck.]
If you feel trapped by the negative energy of all this Warriors talk and the world we live in, hop on our live chats! Can’t wait to have erudite discussions with you about the team we fell in love with, real-time, even as shit is happening.
It’s good practice to do this across all walks of life, not just with specific banter about your squad. Trust me, it works. Good things start to happen.
Guys like Gibou “EyeG” Njie, JK’s best friend, would not have granted me an interview during the Love Your Dubs Summit if I did not embody the energy of gratitude and compassion.
By the way, EyeG posted a picture from Stanford University on his Instagram the other day and JK followed up with one, too, training with Jimmy Butler at what looks like Jimmy’s home gym in Poway, CA (I could be wrong about that):
These were posted on our Discord server, as well.
This is a friendly reminder that our Discord server is free to join and shuts out all the outraged replies, which lead to misinformation and heavy bias, that Twitter/X has when you get your Warriors news fix.
Our Discord also features a searchable database of all the news, even across the NBA. VIP members get access to real-time feeds and the ability to filter on videos from reporters who are on the scene each night at various NBA arenas — just like what I used to do when I was credentialed at Chase Center as well as on road trips.
Join for free and get a taste of it: https://whop.com/letsgowarriors-discord-free
My ultimate goal is to post shorter articles on this Substack than in the past, so thank you for allowing me to canvas the readership for “grown men” this one time and I’ll drop the entire transcript from practice behind the paywall down below, which will lift and be open to the public by at the latest when the transcripts are posted after the Phoenix game, 48+ hours from now.
Next up: a detailed rundown of the state of the Warriors, according to what was said recently by Steve, Mo and even Brandin Podziemski, who also went on the podium after practice.
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00:00 Steve, I know it’s still relatively early, but this is obvious, the team with high aspirations, do you do have to do some kind of rethinking about things after the recent stretch or do you keep it to what this is, what we are and we keep it who we are? What is kind of, what’s the mind set right now?
00:19 STEVE KERR, PRACTICE, TWO DAYS BEFORE PHX-GSW: Yeah, I mean, I actually like the trend where we’re heading. We’ve been much better the last couple weeks in kind of the key areas that we’ve talked about until the turnovers the other night. Obviously, that killed us in the Portland game, but all in all, I think we’re heading in the right direction. I would love to get some continuity. It’s been tough to string together games with everyone healthy and the same starting lineup, so assuming everybody’s available in Phoenix, we’ll start the same way we did last game and I’d like to keep doing that to really build some continuity with the starting lineup and then also with the rotation off the bench.
01:02 Yeah, I mean, do you, almost like you said there, do you almost have to force continuity even if there is some struggles?
01:08 Yeah, I mean, to be honest, it was impossible over the last couple of weeks. I mean, I don’t think we’ve had Dray, Steph and Jimmy all together since the Houston game, which was, I don’t know, six or seven games ago. So, and then obviously Pat played so well on the road and I wanted to reward him and we got two wins with him starting. And so circumstances have led to some of the lack of continuity, but I can do a better job of trying to help the guys build some of that too.
01:40 How long a runway are you wanting to give at least this starting lineup?
01:43 I would love for this to be our starting lineup, but I never say never. I mean, it’s our starting lineup going forward and we’ll give it a good look and I feel confident with it, but we always have to make adjustments as the season goes.
02:02 Even with all the injuries you’ve had to make a bunch of like tough decisions with the rotations, how tough was it to take Will Richard out of the rotation?
02:11 Really tough because he’s been really consistent. He’s been a calming force out there, just the way he sprints the floor and gets to the right spots and takes care of the ball, but the numbers have kept us from playing him the last couple of games and I talked to him and told him, this is just how the NBA works. And we got a lot of players and we’re getting healthy and Melton back, so for the time being, he’s out of the rotation, but he’s just gotta stay ready.
02:54 You mentioned the other night, the 5-9 mark in clutch games. What’s the anatomy of that? What, in particular, in the last five minutes, these close games, aren’t you guys doing well?
03:04 Well, they’re all different, looking at every one of them. Every one is slightly different. And, in general, I think to close games, you gotta be able to get stops and take care of the ball. And if we do that, we’ve got Steph, we’ve got Jimmy, we’ve got two guys who can make the big play down the stretch, who’ve done that their whole career, so it still comes back to our keys of taking care of the basketball and containing penetration at the other end, finishing possessions.
03:40 You went with Steph to start the second and fourth last game and Jimmy not. That’s definitely different. Is that a one time thing or, and what--?
03:47 No.
03:47 What were you thinking by doing that?
03:49 Yeah, we’ll keep doing that. We’re just trying to shake things up a little bit. We want to limit the amount of time that Jimmy was playing straight through without Steph. It’s like an eight-minute stretch and it felt like a lot and so we talked to Steph and of course she’s always willing to change up his rotation and it’s nice having him out there at the beginning of the fourth. We just have to make sure we get him enough rest because we’ve done this in the past. The danger is his minutes climb because you take him out in the middle of the fourth and you can’t wait to get him back in. It’s easier, psychologically, to have him not start the fourth, but I think him starting the fourth makes some sense for us and hopefully we can keep his minutes throughout the game down a little bit.
04:43 I’m sorry, when you say you’re trending in the right direction on the things that you’re focused on, that’s turnovers?
04:49 Yeah. What we’re focused on, until the other night, our turnovers have been better. Our crashing offensively has been better. Our spacing in transition has been better. We had about five beautiful transition plays the other night where nothing was there, we just made a jump stop and pitched the ball back, got wide open looks and those are important plays, we just, we can’t force the issue when it’s not there and if we’re spaced in transition or running to the corners, then we’re getting really good looks. We’re doing that better.
05:24 Do you have an update on Al?
05:26 Yeah, he’s just getting back to basketball work, so his injury is healed, but now it’s been a couple of weeks, whatever it’s been, 10, 11 days. So he’s gotta get back on the court now and get his wind back, his timing back.
05:42 So out Thursday, I would assume?
05:44 Doubtful, I would say yeah.
05:47 Sort of following up on Sam’s question about clutch games, obviously when you’re in the last four or five minutes of a close game, you want Steph taking most of the shots. How do you do that and keep Jimmy involved in the-- I mean, you’ve talked so much about how Jimmy creates for others. How do you meld those two ambitions, I guess?
06:04 Well, we did it last year. The last-- after we got Jimmy last year, we found the perfect balance and we took care of the ball, we defended at a high level and both Steph and Jimmy took turns taking over games, so we have the formula, we just have to look right back to the end of last season.
06:30 Did you see Joe Lacob had an email that, I don’t know if it was a leak, whatever you wanna call it. Did you see it?
06:35 Yeah. Yeah, Raymond (Ridder) told me this story. It’s not a big deal. Yeah. I’m not concerned about anything like that.
06:40 I mean, it did, I guess, express a sense of frustration with the current situation.
06:44 Yeah.
06:44 I guess, how are you feeling, not only above you, below you, players, all that, just like the growing frustration at 13-14?
06:52 Well, we’re all frustrated. Joe is frustrated. I’m frustrated, Steph and Dray. Everybody’s frustrated and this is kind of how the league works. And I hate when people are gonna post private emails like, I mean, imagine if everyone’s emails were just publicly posted, how tough that would be to live our lives? So Joe supports me a hundred percent. I support him. We have a great connection and we’ve had so much continuity here. And our stable environment and our organization is one of our strengths. And so yeah, that, I didn’t even know about it, but Raymond told me about it. It’s not a big deal.
07:32 Just back to the starting lineup, it does have Draymond next to QP. That’s a duo that has worked, but historically the lineups with Draymond at center have been really potent. This year, not as much, I think they’re neutral. What have you seen when you guys downshift to Draymond at center?
07:50 You mean when he’s at the 5, what do I see? Well, we’re more dynamic speed-wise and disruptive defensively when he’s at the 5. He’s pushing the ball, he’s playing against other 5s and he’s playing center field and blowing up a lot of things defensively, but when he’s at the 4, he’s more on the perimeter offensively. So we’re not quite as dynamic, but I think the trade off is a good one. We get some minutes for him at the 4. We can always close the game with him at the 5 anytime we want, and this will give QP, who’s had a great year, who’s playing at a very high level especially defensively, the size, the rebounding. I like that. I mean, we’re a pretty small team in general, so to get QP in the starting lineup with Dray, it feels good.
08:47 I know all seasons are different, but can you look back on any previous seasons with this team that this feels like it or this sort of urgency reminds me of this time when we were in December? Just a year ago is when you traded for Schroder.
09:00 Right.
09:01 Do you mention these things? Do you reflect on those things?
09:05 Yeah, it feels a lot like last year, ironically. At the trade deadline, I think we were .500. We were very inconsistent. We traded for Dennis first and then Jimmy, obviously, as we were searching for answers and we found it. And I’m very confident that this group will find it because we already have Jimmy and when we’re healthy, I think the lineup is really formidable. I think we have depth. I think we have everything we need, so it’s on me to put it together and to help these guys find the rhythm and the confidence that I know they have inside.
—
09:48 Where do you feel like you guys are at, from a rotation standpoint? I know there’s been a lot of guys in and out of the lineup, but just trying to develop some continuity.
09:57 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: I mean, yeah, I’m not really sure. It’s just whatever Steve’s gonna do is what he gonna do and everybody’s gotta just control what they can. And when you’re out there, just play as hard as you can.
10:06 Steve did say that he’s going to, obviously, depending on injuries, stick with that starting five that played last game. Just how important is that though to know, this is my role, players that are younger or older?
10:19 I mean, I think it builds confidence. It builds trust. It builds feeling okay to play through mistakes. It builds all those things, so like I said, everybody’s gonna control what they can.
10:37 What are you noticing about late game execution right now? Where do you feel like you guys can be better?
10:43 I mean, we didn’t get many stops last game. Neither did we in Minnesota, so I think that’s just where it starts and then if you don’t get stops, it makes it that much harder to have to feel like you have to score on offense. Or if you get stops, you have that room for error.
10:59 What is preventing you guys in your mind from getting stops?
11:03 I mean, little things within our defense that we talk about all the time that we just are not doing.
11:14 You mentioned the importance of being able to play through your mistakes. Is that tension something that you felt more this year than in the past?
11:25 Nah, I don’t really look at it like that. I just go out there and whether I play 2, 12, 22, 32 minutes, just give it all I can.
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11:34 What’s up, Moses? Steve mentioned that he plans on giving the starting lineup, the group that started Sunday, a longer look in an effort to establish some continuity. I know that you guys were able to stick with a lineup down the stretch last year. For you, how much does lineup continuity, I guess, matter? What have you noticed when you’ve been in situations where there has been lineup continuity here?
11:55 MOSES MOODY: Consistency is good, so you can get a like feel and comfort in your role, in your spot and know it, but it’s the NBA, so you gotta be able to be ready to adjust.
12:09 Brandin said that getting stops is something you guys haven’t done very well late in games recently. How much does that lack of continuity impact that late game defense or just being able to get stops down the stretch?
12:22 I wouldn’t really relate the two, personally. When it come down the stretch, no matter what your disadvantages are, you gotta make it happen, so yeah, I wouldn’t put that on any decision like that, but you just gotta figure it out
12:41 In that lineup from the starting lineup last game, do you see yourself as more of the 2 or the 3, there?
12:47 I don’t really think it matters on this team. 1 through 4 is the same position, so yeah.
12:59 What do you think should work with that particular unit, you, Steph, Jimmy, Draymond, Post?
13:07 I think Steph being able to do what Steph has been doing and then guys that can play around that, as well as Jimmy being able to create for himself and others, surrounded by shooters. And then Dray anchoring the defensive side. I think it’s just a lot of options, a lot of threats.
13:33 Steve mentioned after last game that you guys sort of need to do more of play through Jimmy and get him the ball more. How do you sort of, what adjustments do you make to get Jimmy into a groove offensively?
13:45 I think just get him the ball, get him the ball in ideal situations and then he can handle the rest because he’s-- it’s cool the way Jimmy plays because he’s aggressive but he’s aggressive to create an advantage. He’s not in a-- he’s not aggressive to score every time. He’s aggressive to create an advantage, so sometimes he might score, sometimes he might pass, but that gets everybody else involved and creates a flow through the offense.
14:20 Moses, how’s the group doing? It’s been so up and down pretty much all year. How is everybody feeling day to day right now?
14:33 Good question. I would say good, through and through, a lot of highs and lows. We’re not like-- a lot of professionals on the team, so it’s not dealing with the childish emotions or like any of that, it’s more so grown men trying to figure something out. And that’s from the coaching staff to the last player on the bench. It’s not as much emotions of, oh, you said this, you said that, rather than a group of men trying to figure something out and that’s cool to see.
15:14 Does it feel around the same last year around this time or does it feel different right now within the locker room?
15:21 Feels different. I’m not exactly sure the situation last year at this time, but these last couple games of so many games this year we should have won. And coming down to the end like that to where it’s not, we’re not far off, one shot goes differently and this is a whole different conversation. And I think we’re able to realize that Coach is able to realize that and so nobody’s panicking more so as we’re trying to figure that out, just figure out a little bit. Because I think it happens a lot of times where you’ll be so close to what you want and you just need to change something, so you change something and then it go, then you’re a lot further away than what you actually were trying to get to. So I think it’s a delicate situation as well as we just gotta figure it out and that’s what we’re working towards.
16:09 What was clicking last year in that-- when you guys closed 23-8 on the season versus now, where it’s maybe less consistent and less solid?
16:30 I think we’re a lot healthier for that stretch. Right now, a lot of the lineup changes have been due to injuries. Last week we didn’t have Dray, Steph, or Jimmy, so I think that has a lot to do with it and essentially, too, it’s what Coach has been doing, what he always does, try to figure stuff out until you figure out what works and then you figure out what works and stick with it. So I think we’re finding that.
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