Warriors shooters, speed: “Nobody else has that when they’re rolling”
[+notes/quotes/video from GSW-Raptors]
As I’ve said before on this website, you can learn a lot about the game from the opposing coach, especially about the Golden State Warriors. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was the latest to marvel at how unique the Dubs are, see the first quotes below the behind-the-scenes video… 👇
I still have some more evergreen quotes from Steve Kerr waxing poetic about Kevon Looney, Jonathan Kuminga making confident declarations while on the podium (both of those are from practice the day before the Raptors game), and an aggregation of Bob Myers quotes and topics over the past month, pertaining to the roster and impending trade deadline (February 9th). Those three potential articles should show up on this Substack site in due time.
Notes, quotes and video from TOR-GSW are in reverse chronological order, per usual:
DISCLAIMER: These are all just notes for my main workflow of YouTube videos, tweeted by beatwriters, as listed, or transcribed by me. I used to transcribe every interview but it became too tedious and not worth the investment for the small amount of views we got on the soundbites on YouTube. The links to the tweets are not available because sometimes I don’t use the full tweet and just having a ton of tweets on this website imo isn’t aesthetically pleasing and gets away from the main goal: transferring information (not so much entertainment) to the brains of DubNation asap.
• Nick Nurse postgame recap: “The thing that you have to do against these guys is you gotta make shots at the basket.”
4:00 • On the Warriors: “The level and quantity of shooters, speed that they run and cut, nobody else has that when they’re rolling. It’s a challenge. I always say they run really fast and you better be ready to run fast with them. And change directions.”
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on what worked better: “when we went with the small guard to guard pick and roll… making the decision downhill. It changed the spacing a little bit.”
• On Kuminga: “first half he knows he could be better… we all could be better second half… he knocked down shots but he was calling out reds, switches.”
• On the ball movement emphasis: “wasn’t nothing different with the message… like Memphis… pack the paint… long… meet everything at the rim… they’re gonna come block everything.”
• On having a +24: “I had no idea I was +24… skewed, I’m playing with two of the best players of all time.”
• On the defense: “You saw us a couple times blitz Fred… we were aware of what the shooters were.”
• On playing better last few weeks, per Kerr: “playing with a clear mind… don’t care if I make or miss shots… confidence-wise for me when you got Draymond Green and Klay and Steph hyping you up… those are hall of famers… working with them you can’t have a bad day.”
• On how important it was to spread the floor and trust the personnel: “just attacking close outs for me… I had a lot of options… dump-offs, kick-outs… takes the load off of Steph and Jordan… they can be spot-up shooters.”
• On Kerr having faith to stop Van Vleet: “It’s huge because I pride myself on the defensive end… makes you wanna play harder for them.”
• Klay Thompson postgame on the ball movement: “Forty assists equals great ball movement equals everybody’s happy so I’m happy.”
• On 62 paint points, how much was concerted effort vs Raptors defense: “Our shooting is such a threat… when we score at the rim the shots at the perimeter become easier.”
• On Kuminga’s theees: “JK has really nice form (makes arm motion)… that’s dangerous when he masters that… some might’ve doubted… for that man, the sky’s the limit.”
• JaMychal Green on the ordeal of the illness and leg infection: “I want to give a lot of credit to AV (Anthony Vereen). He helped put a lot of work in to getting me in the gym.”
• On how he got his conditioning back: “They pushed me to the point where I was fighting against them… to where I was letting the game come to me.”
• On the threes: “I’ve been fighting a little wrist injury… frustrating… I know what type of shooter I am.”
• On playing physically: “Enjoy the physicality… I’m from Alabama so it’s a football state… Roll Tide… playing against football players.”
• On how long he played football for: “Played up to 7th grade… tight end… defensive end.”
• On how he knew basketball was the way to go: “took a shot to the knee… grew six inches that summer”
• On having 40 assists: “we have so many weapons on the team. We’re at our best moving the ball.”
• On Kerr having concerns with minutes for Draymond and Looney: “I can handle my own… frustrating going up and down with the minutes but as a professional you have to stay locked in.”
• On the wrist without surgery: “got a cortisone shot but it kinda needs rest for it to heal.”
• On who is on his gold chain: “This is my brother. He died when I was two… gotta take him everywhere.”
• Steph Curry postgame on Kuminga’s 3s: “Just being ready for the moment… one in the first half was kinda rushed… second half he was patient… understood how they were defending us… I told him that’s a big momentum swing… put up a good defensive front and connect the game.”
• On Kerr saying he looked fast: “I felt good moving well… couple games now in terms of everything being in sync… don’t nobody tell him but I played a lot of minutes and I get really good for all 39… felt great.”
• On limiting turnovers: “We talked about it before the game because they’re a long athletic team. If you turn it over they make you pay… over the top or just rushing it on offense… get adjusted and then you settle into the game… good effort on that front.”
• On Donte: “Even in our struggles all year he’s been a bright spot… move and make reads at the right time… big assist numbers… just a steady player… energy, a lot of competitive grit. Knows where to be.”
• On 62 paint points: “They play a certain style of defense. I used a couple adjectives back in the day: gimmicky, idk… getting to the rim and being able to finish… especially with a switching type defense… a lot of opportunities there… good mindfulness on the teamwork.”
• On stacking wins: “We just need wins in general, however we can get them. Just the next one up… teetering on either side of .500 for a very long time. Kind of sick of it.”
• On All-Star appearance: “I appreciate everyone that voted… something you never ever take for granted… just an honor to keep doing it this many years… hopefully there’s many more in the future but I’m gonna enjoy it… Draymond said some amazing words pregame… how you never take it for granted… Bron has done it 19 years straight… the level you have to be at.”
• Steve Kerr postgame on moving the ball vs a switching team: “Yeah for the most part the ball was moving… they’re too good with their switches… cutting. We did a good job of that.”
• On getting to the rim more: “It wasn’t something we put on the board… when you move around and cut you’re gonna… they’re more of a steals team… there’s openings in there (in the paint)”.
• On Kuminga corner threes: “Effective weapon for him… big swing in the game”
• On Donte: “Great stretch over the last six or eight weeks… competes defensively… we put him on Van Vleet after (he) got off to the hot start.”
• On JaMychal Green being first big off the bench: “Well, every game is different… he’s very reliable… as a 5-man (the three) is a valuable weapon.”
• On better offense: “better care of the ball… when Steph plays like that the whole game opens up… he had 11 assists but… kicked the ball to someone else… Steph is always the key for us… playing at a high level.”
• On Looney having four fouls in the first half: “changed the rotations accordingly but we’re used to this… there’s injuries all the time.”
• On Steph Curry: “I didn’t think he was as sharp as he usually is on the trip… rest… sleeping in his own bed… he looked really fast out there and under control.”
• On Wiseman: “We just decided to go with JaMychal. We thought about going with Wise but JaMychal’s been playing well… James could find himself out there next game… stay ready.”
• On Kuminga: “He’s got the physical ability to be a helluva two-way… guard 1 through 4… ability to score around the basket, you saw the three-point shots… why we drafted him… getting better and better.”
• On Donte being the Swiss Army knife, Gary Payton role: “Donte has played a big role for us… has kinda taken on the Gary role… guard the best guy… he’s more of a ball-handler… Gary played more like a finishing big man… played at a great college program at Villanova… the ball movement.”
• Donte DiVincenzo postgame on-court on his 11 assists: “Klay said 11 assists, never seen it (Warriors culture joke dating back to 2015). I told him, I haven’t either.”
• On his playmaking and what he does on the bench: “reading the game… sometimes we lack energy… giving the opposing team a different look… those guys don’t have to carry that big load.”
• On Kuminga and the bench: “JK is huge on the defensive end every night… turned the ball over, dropped his head… came back third quarter.”
• On being mic’ed up: “Sometimes I forget I’m mic’ed up.”
0:00 why Looney is starting (probably): 12/18 GSW at TOR we won by 16 without Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins and the starting lineup included Loon and not Kuminga
9:15 NewLevel35: "Is Wise playing?" Theory: maybe Looney is starting so that rotationally, Wiseman can get minutes 💡
10:45 Jordan Poole succumbs to Scottie Barnes knowing our first set, then Draymond also with an unforced turnover
16:00 long-winded on Wise not playing the 4 and only the 5, Boston Game 6 rotation, Foundational Six, etc. (Moody developing too)
31:15 1min30 Steph has made about 4 impactful defensive plays the last few minutes
34:00 1min00 Steph makes his 5th strong play with charge on Fred Van Vleet that's called a block
39:00 11min50 maybe not come out in zone to start a quarter vs Nick Nurse (Precious alley-oop)
44:00 10min00 Q2 dissecting JP's bad POA defense
46:45 8min30 Q2 worst part of JK's bad pass to DiVincenzo was the hanging of the head afterwards
57:00 have refs been awful? Seems like new names plus a fast-evolving NBA, as if they didn't know Steph got back-to-back MVPs. Back in the day, Michael Jordan eventually earned the whistle after finally proving to the world he could withstand the tactics of Bad Boys. That paradigm does not exist anymore
1:08:00 halftime take: ratchet up the defense, gotta get stops and rebounds
1:11:00 why is Toronto 5 games under .500? Maybe thin bench and lack of shooters
1:13:00 why is Wiseman not playing? Simple answer: we're chasing wins and he's not part of the rotation
1:14:00 why didn't Wise get sent to G League? Idk, could be we have more practices with GSW, could be that the coaching staff expected him to play but just didn't get an opportunity. IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: stop worrying about Wiseman's development and just have patience. As I've said, he probably has til next training camp to solidify a spot in the rotation, so there's no absolute hurry. I'm not addicted to predictions, I embrace the unknown. And in that way, you get to enjoy the process easier. I hope you adopt my philosophy (in life too).
1:26:15 9min23 Q3 Gary Trent Jr x Precious tiki-taka: JaMychal Green looked pretty upset about the assignments with Steph
1:28:15 8min30 Q3 Klay double-dribble is the 4th turnover in 4 minutes
1:47:45 Bruce Maro: "Kuminga did say in that interview that his 3 shot will fall soon because his form is perfect"
1:52:00 10min00 Q4 Klay cheering Siakam's missed FT: wouldn't you love to go play slots with Klay?
1:53:00 9min26 Q4 Draymond unforced turnover: do we need to hire a hypnotist?
1:56:45 Elijah Curry: "Did you know that Fred Vanfleet was the nba player that showed Poole how much more he had to improve to make it to the league.. there was footage of him vs Fred when Poole was in college."
2:00:00 Blasian: "these vets are still growing and that’s good because they’ve yet to peak"
2:04:00 JABS NANA: "at least we're getting a lot of experience in close games, it seems like all our games are close" (youngsters, yes)
2:16:45 1min17 dominating close, if I'm on Bob Myers' staff, I breathe a sigh of relief that I don't have to consider shaking up the chemistry, as they finally woke up after 45 mins
2:20:30 Steph pep talks JK after the buzzer, wonder what he said to him (might not get the question in the postgame because beatwriters might not have seen it)
2:28:00 Poole didn't play a lot of closing minutes
2:42:15 What do I think of JP being benched? Same way I felt about JK being benched for Donte vs Memphis
2:44:45 I did notice that JP wasn't dribbling the ball too much or as much, so that's some good news going forward. Sometimes a good message is yelling at a kid, or even benching him even though we're in "softie" era (because of AAU, hard coaching not happening until kids reach the NBA, etc etc)
2:47:00 being hard on people only happens on social media, it does not happen IRL
3:03:30 Nicole Diaz: "Every season there’s an angry Steph moment that turns the season around.. Steph kicking chairs.. Steph screaming at teammates on the bench.. this year we have Steph mouthpiece toss."
JMIKE, KLAY, DONTE, STEPH (RADIO) INTERVIEWS (Steph said Klay has the memory of a "human goldfish" or Dory of Finding Nemo)
4:24:30 theory on Steph throwing mouthpiece "into the spectator stands": it ricocheted
[VIDEO FROM PREGAME N/A]
• Steve Kerr pregame: Andrew Wiggins will warm up pregame in an attempt to return tonight for the Warriors against the Raptors. Missed last game with a non-COVID illness. (Anthony Slater)
• On Steph Curry being named NBA All-Star starter: “He’s a showman at heart. The All-Star Game is perfect for him.” (95.7 The Game)
• On Klay Thompson: “He’s such a threat to score whether he has the ball or not. He’s just been really good as a two-way guy. His defense has been solid.” (95.7 The Game)
• On being .500, having the 16th-best offense and the 14th-best defense out of 30 teams: “I did the math and it turns out we’ve just been average.” (NBCSBA)
• On the death of Tyre Nichols: “It's awful and disgusting and a really tough thing to watch.” Kerr says the Warriors have been talking about the tragic death at the hands of police all day and will continue to have internal discussions. (Dalton Johnson)
👍👍💛💙