Warriors-Clippers pregame: matinee in LA

Kerr x Lue, physical on Stephen Curry, playing fast, Wiggs/PG

I’m not in LA due to the Thanksgiving weekend spiked airfare, but I’ll be there for Golden State Warriors practice tomorrow. In any case here are my notes & quotes from the pregame vs the Clippers. Nice praise from Tyronn Lue and some good inside connections with Steve Kerr, among other news. Looks like Moses Moody (shoulder, questionable) will play.

Btw I’ll go live on YouTube with commentary during the game (second screen). There’s usually good comments in the chat, too.

I actually have a nine-minute pregame video for the YouTube channel but sadly my Internet upload speed here at the parents’ house is atrocious, so I’ll update this article later with it…

LUE

Warriors: “…play fast and attack early…”

Other guys aside from Steph and Dray: “…other guys are getting slips…so locked in on Steph…can’t relax, can’t give him easy baskets…”

GSW defense: “They’re number one in rebounding…in transition offense as well…biggest thing for us is just taking cate of the basketball because if you turn the ball over against this team…

GSW defense specifically: “Yeah because they turn you over…they switch one through five sometimes they blitz…they keep you guessing…”

Luke Kennard question

GSW now vs champ run: “Klay’s not there so once they add him to the mix they’re really gonna be dangerous…playing a little faster…Iguodala is a great passer…Bjelica…all their movement and all their back screens…more play makers now…”

Ibaka: “feels good…” (still injured)

Bledsoe question

Kerr: “I like Steve Kerr (room laughs). No, I do. I really do. Always checking on me…I don’t cheer for too many guys but I do cheer for Steve. Just all the battles we had…he is one of my friends so that is pretty rare for me (laughs).”

Being physical on Steph: “…Offense, he’s very elusive…back cutting for a layup…caused confusion…using your aggressiveness against you…Cleveland…one of the best at doing that…”

Go at Steph defensively, hiding him coming out of timeouts: “…that guy has to be ready to run the same action (after you switch to him)…”

KERR

Moses playing? “Yeah”

🚨 (haven’t spliced below yet)

Maintaining high level: “The season is always going to be changing. 82 games, you’re gonna have stretches…then there’s gonna be inevitably (problems), whether it’s injuries or poor play…when you do hit that inevitable tough patch you roll with it…veteran team is they know that…internal leadership…”

Klay and James: “Klay will be scrimmaging…James…I don’t think he’ll be scrimmaging…”

Wiseman: “still just taking it slow.”

Andre: “got on the court yesterday but won’t play on the trip.”

Atkinson: “…very analytically driven. He’s an outside the box thinker…initiate ideas that you might not otherwise think of…fantastic coach, lucky to have him…learned a lot from Ty (Lue)…keep going within his own career…we’re always constantly learning…he’s learning from us but we’re learning from him…”

Why sought him out? “Because of all those things…felt like we needed some different ideas, different thoughts, someone to stir the pot a little bit.”

🚨

Wiggs vs PG: “…two-way player…6’7, 6’8 wing defender…good weapon to have…what a challenge, Paul is one of the best players in the league…monumental task…”

Relationship with Lue: “Just a lot of healthy respect…serious battles in the playoffs…one of the great coaches in the league. What he has done in the playoffs…see his impact on the game, he’s got a style, got a system he believes in. Excellent coach.”

Lue bringing the best of everyone: “…still have one of the best defenses in the league…surviving the injury situations…Batum and Ibaka. They’ve got something in place foundationally…”

🚨 Pleasant surprises? “Rebounding…we’ve never been a good rebounding team since I’ve been here…top of the league in rebound percentage since Opening Night…”

Rebounding: “Looney…never get the credit he deserves…Draymond is having an All-Star season…veteran players who understand you gotta box out every time…we don’t have one guy who is Dennis Rodman 🚨 out there…”

Early PM, LA Saturday night: “…they’re used it but it’s alright it’s still basketball.”

Anymore importance of LAC and PHX: “No…measuring stick…huge challenges…LA…going to Phoenix, they haven’t lost in forever…”

Tough game why? “Their physicality, their length…Bledsoe a bulldog defensively…Ty has coached against us about forty times (laughs)…versatility to go in with a good game plan…”

🚨 (haven’t spliced the below yet)

Weird defenses seen this season: “idk that we’ve seen anything new. Steph has seen pretty much everything…playing on the top side of him so he can’t come off screens…forcing him down the floor instead of up…we’ve seen that stuff before. This is not brand new, it’s just different.”

/end