Podziemski wants to “steal 4-6 points” as a point guard
[GSW-LAL video/interviews/transcripts]
Quick good news: the Love Your Dubs Summit schedule is ready to go!
It is, indeed, Gargantua, as I mentioned in the previous article. Sneak peek:
So, yeah, forty-one speakers! Over 22 hours of content! Happening starting this Wednesday and lasting a whole week, October 15th-21st:
🎟️ Sign up here for FREE 🎟️
As for the third preseason game, for some reason, NBC Sports Bay Area didn’t cover the game; it was only available on League Pass. Someone said preseason games are on there for free, but I didn’t see that. I was led to a pay site by the NBA and the only option that wasn’t triple-digits for the entire season was a monthly option at $16.99.
I paid that and did the play-by-here:
Tuesday’s game in Portland will be the same problem, so be sure to join me by clicking on the livestream playlist link and you’ll be good to go with my real-time commentary.
Brandin Podziemski, at 23-5-8 on 10-for-16 field, 3-for-7 on threes and only 2 turnovers, was incredible. And in a head-to-head matchup with his Rigorer buddy, Austin Reaves (21 points on 7-for-10 shooting, 2-for-4 downtown), no less.
Funny how just days before, the local radio station decided to push the “outrage” button for clicks on not one, but two separate shows, giving Podz the Nelson Muntz and saying he’s “not that dude” when literally without one Wardell Stephen Curry available, or Jimmy Butler or Al Horford or Moses Moody for that matter and Draymond Green, with four turnovers in 22 minutes, jogging around for the most part — read: Brandin actually did have the keys to the franchise this game — on a lazy Sunday evening as Bay Area fans sulked about the loss of Fred Warner to a season-ending injury, BP literally was that dude.
The Podz approach, full transcript below:
Just be aggressive, push the pace off makes, off misses, see if we can get a couple easy buckets and not have to run a set every play. How can I steal four to six points? As a point guard out there, especially if I’m handling without Steph out there, how do we steal points? And I think we got a couple of those in the third quarter, which is, like I said, led to the run.
Another guy who racked up the assists was Jonathan Kuminga.
“He’s had a really good passing camp,” said Steve Kerr, postgame [full transcript below]. “He’s done that in scrimmages. He’s seen the floor. He’s making some really nice reads and that’s a part of his game that he’s improved, for sure.”
Here are some Kuminga scouting report detail:
The Buddy Hield-to-JK screen action was used only once, at the top of the second half right out of the break. It produced two free throws for Kuminga. If I ever get a chance to ask Kerr before me to a question, I’ll be sure to ask why they don’t just run that over and over especially when Curry is out. I’m not sure why we didn’t against Minnesota in the WCS. It works. For preseason, I think we can again conclude it works and put that back in the cupboard until needed, as it only involves two of the five players on the floor, therefore goes against the grain of a Steph movement ecosystem.
Kuminga had too many turnovers, again. This time, teammates took the blame, as Podz said, “We did a poor job of giving JK a space when you had to in the post, whether it was off of iso or a set play.”
“When we get the guys that need to get the ball, then we need to figure out to make life easier for them, space around them,” added Quinten Post. “As a team, we just didn’t do a good job of that in the first half, clogging up the paint. So that’s something we will look at the film and we’ll get better at that.”
JK’s defense was pretty good, with multiple helps and not over-fouling.
He was having BBQ chicken in the post. A couple times it was spin, bye-bye! Nobody on the Lakers, especially without LeBron James, can guard JK in the post.
The “jet pack” dunk. It was like he jumped and then, mid-air, jumped again!
And, yeah, this is easily worth $25 million-plus in the NBA. There are owners in the NBA that want to pay him for the ability to do this, it’s just really that plain and simple — so, stop hating:
Detailed notes from the live call:
10m53 q1 jk good help on reaves vs podz
8m45 q1 jk lefty post bank over knecht early o
8m27 q1 jk to buddy 94 steal
28:15 6m53 q1 jk tov to dray corner but causes ar to dribble off foot (sort of)
31:45 6m28 q1 ato jk strong lefty lay
11m14 q2 jk good help for tjd
49:45 9m44 q2 jk tov after fade
51:45 8m30 q2 JK corner 3
52:00 8m22 q2 jk step on line on catch buddy showed some exasperation
53:45 7m33 q2 JK catch travel (kerr had just talked about that on the bench with podz)
57:30 7m05 q2 good hustle jk oreb out on da
58:00 6m52 q2 jk another tov (5) late shot elbow (what was he gonna do with it?)
59:00 6m08 q2 jk jetpack dunk!!!!***
1:00:00 5m45 q2 jk laser roll pass pat
1:08:20 4m40 q2 jk talking to steve during flagrant assess
1:36:00 11m25 q3 JK via buddy screen fouled
1:38:15 10m30 q3 qp bad butt screen looks awkward, same on split with jk
1:39:15 9m41 q3 jk kick spray qp 3 57-69
1:39:30 9m15 q3 dray td to jk to buddy after made bucket 59-69
1:42:15 7m24 q3 jk miss corner 3 catch should’ve taken ar
1:43:30 remember jk came over at age 13, six years behind, hopefully time compresses soon
1:50:00 5m47 q3 ***jk post spin bye bye jake (and da)
1:52:15 4m57 q3 good d podz and jk***
Transcript below will be released from the pay wall at next post…
00:00 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-LAL: Like what, how we want to play. We took care of the ball. We spaced the floor. We moved it. We still had a problem fouling. They shot 35 free throws. So we’re not where we need to be and we definitely have to play more than 15 good minutes in a 48 minute game.
00:20 So what’d you make of Podz game tonight? Podz.
00:24 Podz?
00:24 Yep.
00:26 Yeah, he was great. He’s been really aggressive throughout camp. I know he didn’t score particularly well the first two games, but this is more like what he’s looked like in practice, scrimmages, super aggressive, very confident with his shot, moving the ball. Eight assists tonight. He just has a good feel and a good flow, good pace, to his game and, yeah, he was definitely aggressive and playing at a high level. I think he knew, without Steph and Jimmy, he needed to be more aggressive.
01:02 Considering Moses is missing preseason and the way you continue -- [the way Podz is playing, is he pretty penciled in at that starting two guard to start the year, would you say?
01:15 I can’t say that yet. We’ve gotta see where we are. Brandin’s gonna play a ton. He’s a hugely important player for us, but the starting lineup frankly, is a little tricky for us, just given the pieces, Al’s age. If Al were a little younger, he’d be in the starting lineup for sure, but if he’s gonna play limited minutes, it’s tougher to start him and finish the game, if he’s not playing as many minutes as he would’ve a few years ago. So we still have a lot to think about, but Brandin is gonna be a huge part of it one way or the other.
01:59 Do you expect, Draymond to play at all? He played 22 minutes tonight. Do you expect him to play in Portland or is he gonna get the night off?
02:04 He will have the night off in Portland and then he’ll play against the Clippers on Friday.
02:12 Hey Steve, what’s JK shown you in camp so far? And how do you see him building off of this season?
02:17 He’s had a good camp. I’ve been very pleased with just the approach, the effort. I thought tonight, he ran the floor hard. He had a couple plays in the third quarter where he sprinted and took a defender with him and we got shots behind the play. And that’s a hugely important trait that we need from everybody, but especially from him given his speed, because those often lead to layups for him or put backs. So when he sprints like that and the ball moves, then he can really take advantage of his athleticism. So JK’s having a good camp.
02:56 You think Steph and Jimmy play?
02:59 Yeah, Steph and Jimmy are scheduled to play in Portland, yeah, and Al, too.
03:03 Quick follow on JK. Just what did you make, it seemed like he was featured especially early on in that first six minutes of the first quarter. What’d you think of that stretch, his floor game?
03:10 Well, we had too many turnovers. He had a couple of them. We will have to look at the tape, but it felt like our spacing wasn’t great on some of those turnovers, but 14 as a team in the first half, you can’t recover from that. So we’ve gotta clean that up. And, but that was the whole team. But we knew without Jimmy and Steph that we were gonna run a lot of offense through JK and Brandin and those guys did a good job.
03:37 And what do you make of, I think he had what, six. He had six assists again tonight. What do you make of him look looking to pass, I guess. Seems every time he gets the ball, he’s looking to kick it out or make the extra pass.
03:49 Yeah, I think he’s had a really good passing camp. He’s done that in scrimmages. He’s seen the floor. He’s making some really nice reads and that’s a part of his game that he’s improved, for sure.
04:01 Steve, Cryer continues to least get those shots up and look solid. What have you seen his progression look like in the last couple weeks here as camp gets set to close?
04:13 The progression has come with shot making. We knew he was a good shooter, but first week of camp and first exhibition game or two, he didn’t shoot it well. I just, the first one, I guess we’ve only had three. He’s a gamer. LJ, he’s tough, he’s confident, and I think he’s showing he’s got a real chance to play in this league. Thank you, guys.
04:46 What was working in that third quarter?
04:51 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: I just think we just didn’t turn the ball over. I think it said at the second media, we only turned the ball over one time.
04:59 What have you learned about y’all team wise, this pre season?
05:06 We’re really good when we wanna be.
05:09 What do you, what went wrong in the first half?
05:11 Turnovers, yeah.
05:15 What do you think caused those, spacing or?
05:17 Just spacing, getting into our spots, being organized. I think we did a poor job of giving JK a space when you had to in the post, whether it was off of iso or a set play. So cleaned that up in the third quarter and we got some really good looks. That’s why we went on a run.
05:32 You and Austin Reaves had a fun kind of back and forth in this game. You guys have matched up before. Just what is that matchup like?
05:39 Very fun, represented by the same shoe company, so we know each other from that. Just high level competition every time we get to go and play each other.
05:48 Steve’s talk most of camp how you’ve been playing, practice and all that. How do you feel like the last three weeks you’ve gone through?
05:57 I think they’ve been pretty well, just trying to find my lane and do the right things on and off the floor. And what I’ve been doing has been working, so continue.
06:06 You obviously cranked up the scoring today. Did you know that going’ into the game, considering who’s out?
06:12 Just having an understanding of who’s out, who I got on the floor with me, what I gotta do as a point guard to make sure everybody gets their touches, but also play within myself. And so I think I did a good job of evenly distributing the load throughout the guys I was out there with.
06:28 To follow on that, what’s your approach when you’re at the point with your floor game?
06:33 Just be aggressive, push the pace off makes, off misses, see if we can get a couple easy buckets and not have to run a set every play. How can I steal four to six points? As a point guard out there, especially if I’m handling without Steph out there, how do we steal points? And I think we got a couple of those in the third quarter, which is, like I said, led to the run.
06:58 I would say, during the preseason, one of your emphasis both you and Steve talked about was emotional maturity, not engaging with the refs quite as much. How do you feel like you’ve handled that now through three preseason games?
07:12 I don’t know. I think I’ve been better, but it’s for the rest of the people to judge that.
07:17 What’d they tell you on the travel?
07:20 On the travel? She said she was gonna look at it again. I thought just normally when you dribble, opposite hand, opposite foot. So if you dribble to your left foot’s gonna hit the ground. And so I thought I dribbled my left, my right foot, which is my zero step. And then I took a left and a right and shot the hook. She said she could have been wrong, but she’ll look at it. But just in the play and through the moment, she thought it was three steps instead of two.
07:44 Starting, coming off the bench, does that change your approach at all, does it matter?
07:47 No, just wanna be at the game, be in the game when it matters most at the end of the games. It really doesn’t matter to me. I know, fortunately, I’m gonna get my minutes, whatever that looks like. Whatever I’m giving, just take advantage of that. Starting, coming off the bench. Doesn’t matter. Just whatever I can do to help the team win is what obviously we’re all here to do.
08:09 Quinten, what do you think turned things in the second half for you guys?
08:13 QUINTEN POST: I thought Brandin really stepped up for us in the second half, both offensively and defensively. I thought we stopped turning the ball over as much, especially in the first half. We struggled with that. I thought we got space pretty well in the third quarter and, yeah, with BP playing like that, that definitely ignited the comeback.
08:36 What caused those turnovers in your mind in the first half, was it just spacing or was there something else to it?
08:40 Yeah, bad spacing, probably. When we get the guys that need to get the ball, then we need to figure out to make life easier for them, space around them. And I think as a team, we just didn’t do a good job of that in the first half, clogging up the paint. So that’s something we will look at the film and we’ll get better at that.
08:59 Steve mentioned the way Brandin performed tonight. That’s a lot of what he’s, how he’s been playing in camp. Just what have you seen behind the scenes with Brandin’s play at training camp?
09:07 No, he’s been great. He plays with a lot of confidence and he works really hard, so I feel like this game, everything clicked for him and all his hard work from training camp showed up. Thank you, guys.
09:28 What do you think got everything rolling in the second half there?
09:34 WILL RICHARD: I think we did a better job of defending without fouling and not turning the ball over. I feel like once we were able to get into our our stuff clean, it made it a lot easier for ourselves.
09:46 What did you see from Brandin Podziemski today, his overall?
09:50 Yeah, I felt like he was, he’s very poised. He picked the spots, took the shots they gave him and he did a good job of controlling the game. He played very well and got us in our stuff, so it was really good with not having Steph out there.
10:03 And what was your reaction to that JK dunk?
10:05 It caught me off guard, but I know he got that in his bag, so I’m glad to see him do that.
10:14 That it?
10:14 Oh good, thank God.
🫶💙💛