Warriors’ tentacled attack will only get better with Draymond back
[news/analysis/game notes/film study]
I gave a friend a “fair warning” about my verbose style last Game Notes From Film Study for the Phoenix Suns vs Golden State Warriors and she responded, “Fair warning, indeed,” so in the interests of certain rabbit holes and the fact there’s a San Francisco 49ers game today — my goal is to finish editing this by halftime (didn’t happen, I’ve posted this on first edit) — in addition to the road game at the Houston Rockets, I intend to reduce my thumb-typing below to 50% of the previous post, even though there were probably 50% more notes — because our squad was excellent other than that 6:00 Q4 to 1:00 Q4 mark.
But first, some copy-and-paste of the latest Warriors news heading into Houston. So, this is a tiny bit of the usual digest, which I haven’t found a window of time to do since the end of last Friday, the last preseason game.
The team stayed in Sacramento for the first part of the day Saturday, with young guys and Draymond Green heading to Sacramento State University for a mini-practice, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
So the non-official-media-availability day had a couple beatwriters in Slater and CJ Holmes of the SF Chronicle seeking exclusives. Slater, who usually is first to all roster transactions, got Draymond ahead of his return tonight and Holmes got Moses Moody, who has been shooting lights out (ironically these numbers are from Slater’s postgame tweet/recap article):
Moses Moody from 3 since March: 40-of-72 (55.5 percent)
- 11-of-21 to close last regular season
- 13-of-22 in playoffs
- 12-of-22 in preseason
- 4-of-7 to open season
Here’s how Saturday went down, with the Slater tweet of Curry playing happening before pregame in Houston today. Perhaps Kendra Andrews of ESPN was present for the Draymond interview, I’m not sure, but she also reported on him, and Holmes may have also had an exclusive with Trayce Jackson-Davis, I didn’t have time to read that one:
• Steph Curry upgraded to probable in Houston tonight. Foot soreness. Expected to play. (Anthony Slater)
• Warriors forward Draymond Green (ankle) plans to make his season-debut tomorrow at Houston, a source told Andscape. (Marc Spears)
• Draymond Green said he will make his season debut on Sunday in Houston: “Tomorrow. For sure.” Said he expects a minute limit but doesn’t yet know if he is starting or coming off the bench. He also says he wants to play in the second end of the back-to-back in New Orleans on Monday. (Anthony Slater, Kendra Andrews)
• Stephen Curry and Jonathan Kuminga are both questionable for the Warriors tomorrow in Houston. Left foot soreness for both. Curry was icing his left foot last night postgame. Warriors had a light workout in Sacramento today. Only young guys and Draymond Green. (Anthony Slater)
• Trayce Jackson-Davis did not expect to make his NBA regular-season debut against Sacramento on Friday, but was ready when his number was called: “It gives me a lot of confidence that coach trusts me in moments like these.” (CJ Holmes)
Here are some quotes from Draymond: https://theathletic.com/5007776/2023/10/29/draymond-green-warriors-debut/
“Tomorrow,” Green said. “For sure. Hell yeah.”
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“Hell yeah,” Green said. “I got goals. I got goals. I don’t know what they are yet. But I’m going to need to play 65 games (to reach some of them).”
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“I like to play,” Green said. “That’s what I get paid to do and that’s what I love to do. Players catch a lot of flak for, ‘Oh, it’s load management.’ Most of the time it’s not the players and, quite frankly, we haven’t load-managed. We’ve had guys with injuries every year. When we sit, it’s to protect that injury, not because we’re tired. You don’t win championships if you can’t play a little tired. When we’ve sat, we’ve sat because, (for example), I just came off a major back injury and playing a back-to-back puts me more at risk.
“We have an incredible staff that does the science. I’m talking Dave Taylor and Rick Celebrini and their staff. They do the science: ‘Yo, he has this injury he’s been playing through and playing this back-to-back is probably gonna pull it.’ We haven’t played because of injuries, not because we’re tired. I respect the (65-game) rule. I think everyone gonna agree with the rule until there’s a bum on first-team (All-NBA). Then it’s, ‘Ahh, now I have to pay this bum $315 million dollars because somebody was really hurt.'”
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But Green wasn’t yet sure if he’d be starting or coming off the bench against the Rockets.
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“I feel incredible,” Green said. “I’m excited, ready to play. Missing training camp sucks because everybody’s going and you’re behind, but I’m excited. Ready to go.”
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“The preseason went really well for us,” Green said. “You got young guys showing what they’re capable of and taking proper steps. It’s good to see the growth of JK and Mo. I like where we are heading. How I fit in is what we have to figure out. It may not be what it was before, but you have to figure it out.”
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“How I see the challenge is for the other team,” Green said. “They’ll have players on the floor that have to think the game of basketball with us. Good luck. That’s how I see the challenge. You put Bill Gates and Paul Allen in a room and you get Microsoft. That’s how I see it.”
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“(Have to figure) out what he likes in the pick-and-roll,” Green said. “That’s what I try to do. Different guys like different screening angles. He may want a hand off. He may want a pitch-back. He may want a step up. But, like I said, I think we are two of the smartest guys in the league. When you can put two of the smartest guys in the league on the floor on the same team with the weapons we have around us, I like the odds.”
Here are quotes from Moses: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/moses-moody-golden-state-18453830.php
“You can’t control the outcome,” Moody told the Chronicle. “You can’t control if a shot goes in or not. But you can control whether you take a good or bad shot. I can control my rhythm. So as long as it feels good, that’s all I can ask for. Stop thinking about what you can’t control, and start thinking about what you can.”
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“To be a part of this team you have to do more than get drafted,” Moody told the Chronicle. “It takes time. These are really smart players, really smart coaches, really smart people in general. They’re really observant. You can’t trick anybody on Day 1 and they believe in you. You have to show who you are over a long period of time. And the easiest way to do that is to just be that person.”
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“It was definitely hard, especially last year,” Moody told the Chronicle. “I don’t want to talk like I made it to the promised land, because there’s going to be highs and lows. But I wouldn’t want it to be any other way, though. The hard way is the best way — you learn the most that way. And as long as you learn those lessons you can grow from that, or you can be damaged from it. But as long as you grow and take those lessons, you remember how you felt when you were in that position, and when you work to get something you appreciate it that much more.”
Alright, let’s jump back to the Kings game, with the full YouTube livestream embedded in case you wanted to specifically check some things out (there are certain other nuggets outside the scope of this post). I’m going to try and adjustment due to time constraints; I’m going to just add my commentary (if any) after the notes instead of before. Each note contains the timestamp of the game or the timestamp of the livestream. You can basically ignore these. I left them in there in the simplicity of copy/paste and interests of time…
WIGGS REDEMPTION GAME
12m00 Q1 first play designed for Wiggs to get him going, post entry turnaround — Steve Kerr had said at postgame Suns he was confident Andrew Wiggins would bounce back and running the first set for him exemplified that.
9m40 Q1 Klay curl, good D by Fox, extra action Wiggs back cut (somebody credit Kerr) — a little Tiki-taka action even with Draymond not on the floor was good to see.
8m30 Q1 Wiggs should've drove past Kevin Huerter, but was patient — Wiggs still not 100% there with the decision-making.
7m40 Q1 Wiggs assist to Steph 3 — not his only time doing this, obviously; his chemistry with Steph seems nearly there...
6m15 Q1 Steph screen for Wiggs but Wiggs shot it — …but then again maybe not quite 100% yet, although trending very well.
8m10 Q2 Fox blows by Wiggs again (bad POA) — I’m not sure whether to categorize the joust with De’Aaron Fox as just Fox’s brilliance or Wiggs rust, but Wiggs couldn’t stay in front on multiple occasions (Kuminga looked pretty good on him, though, read below).
7m02 Q2 Steph 3 pull up after Wiggs and Kevon Looney successive screens
4m20 Q2 Wiggs block on fast break, then good screen for Steph 3
8m20 Q3 Wiggs stops Fox
6m32 Q3 Wiggs nice drive but we don't get back in transition
1m10 Q4 Ouch, during the timeout CP telling truth to Wiggs, Loon doesn't box out Sab oreb, JK in for Loon — and so as I mentioned above, point-of-attack wasn’t great late in the game on Fox for Wiggs so it could just be that Fox is that great, but also nice to see Chris Paul the extra assistant player-coach out there.
0m58 Q4 good job by Wiggs to get downhill, Steph night night
STEPH MINIMIZED THE BRAIN FARTS
11m12 Q1 Klay-Steph pick and flare, Steph misses sidestep over Keegan Murray — you don’t often see the Klay Thompson pick-and-roll with Steph when Draymond is out there.
10m40 Q1 Steph confident sling pass to CP left side in transition — you LOVE seeing the chemistry as indicated by the risk-taking.
7m02 Q2 Steph 3 pull up after Wiggs and Loon successive screens
9m50 Q3 Steph boxes out! draws foul on Keegan — HOORAY!!!! Redeemed after the Suns “apocalypse” lol, although the Kings don’t really have a linebacker-type dude.
3m43 Q3 timeout back from TV: Cory Joseph talking to Steph, nodding — again, love the developing chemistry.
11m35 Q4 good job Steph on the help on PNR
10m00 Q4 good closeout after help by Steph, but Keegan blows by Klay
5m10 Q4 Steph brain fart on the trap — This one is inexplicable to me, and yet it’s, well, Steph. I shall avoid another diatribe of the casuals focusing on other people’s brain farts when Curry has plenty of them, too. So anyways, Steph should just dribble all over the place as needed (and some blame goes to the coaches and the other guys on the floor), but maybe his sore left foot had something to do with the passive approach to Mike Brown’s trapping. It should be solved by this upcoming Wednesday rematch.
4m35 Q4 TJD celebrates Steph rainbow by putting hand over eyes — Warriors culture at its finest!
2m40 Q4 another bad sequence by vets, Steph trapped again
2:35:00 credit Mike Brown and Kings for figuring us out with the trap, I don't think you can sub rn, it's theirs to lose
1m03 Q4 Steph tells guys to clear space for CP
0m58 Q4 good job by Wiggs to get downhill, Steph night night
4:22:00 Bruce Maro, regular commenter: "the kings are to Curry like the Knicks to Michael Jordan. The rockets maybe are too." — Love love love this fan’s hot take comparison!
4:33:00 Steph locker room interview (30 sec) on popcorn -- won't go to podium, too late, left foot iced
KLAY’s WELL-BALANCED GAME
11m12 Q1 Klay-Steph pick and flare, Steph misses sidestep over Keegan
9m40 Q1 Klay curl, good D by Fox, extra action Wiggs back cut (somebody credit Kerr) — That curl is almost as deadly as Devin Booker’s for Phoenix.
11m15 Q2 good show by Klay but Malik Monk lob to JaVale McGee — We got burned a few times by that Monk POA, per usual (see Kings seven-game series). At least Klay did his part.
9m21 Q2 Klay can't shake Duarte, then does via curl — Klay loves that curl action!
8m00 Q2 Klay good deflection on Monk — Again, please show any casuals that need to see this, that Klay had a nice overall game.
1:06:45 clipping the last play, Loon x Klay good D to layup, Keegan lost it Klay hand — This was the one where Kevon Looney assisted Klay on the uncontested breakaway. Let’s face it, Murray struggled again, as a second-year player should against a vet-laden team like us. But Klay’s hands are underrated. Reminds me of Chris Mullin, tbh.
0m10 Q2 proud of my team: Klay extra pass, JK swish, look at how happy Steve is, also Keegan didn't want to ruin 3PP — First off, I don’t think I’ve seen this much joy from Steve in a regular season game since the Kevin Durant era. Secondly, as I diagrammed on the livestream, Klay already knew he was going with the extra pass to JK. The play already had Harrison Barnes beat. We all would’ve been okay with Klay launching the 26-footer with HB two steps away, but the extra half-step as HB closed was the “tell” that revealed the confidence he had in JK. What a game Klay had, despite the brain farts with under six minutes to play.
1:22:30 BREAKING DOWN THE LAST PLAY PER THE ABOVE HOT TAKE (a 1-1-1-1-1 set?!?!), it's remarkable actually how simple these plays are (the talent!) -- really it's about Klay's trust in JK, because HB went all-out, Klay took an extra half-step, CP clears out for Steph too — It wasn’t even a 1-2-2 set, per se. And that’s again the versatility with CP3 on the floor.
3m16 Q3 Duarte misses FT, Klay fist pump, he should be mic'd up every game — This was hilarious, as Chris Duarte had been complaining about the foul. Klay knew his defensive hands on this night were disrupting the Kings, so he probably didn’t appreciate Duarte’s complaint to the ref despite that play being indeed a foul on Klay, and celebrated when Duarte missed.
0m37 Q3 CP letting ball roll is the first time in Warriors history, Klay fake sidestep move is a new, Mo called for a flop tech (is that $2k? foul on JaVale landing spot -- did the new flop replace the landing foul?) — Wow, Klay has a fake side-step in his bag now!!
10m10 Q4 Klay draws foul on JaVale, who hasn't looked good even though he has the numbers, looks kinda slow and that's we don't need a big man — The opposing big man looking slow in an 0.5 Basketball System vs an 0.5 Basketball System should be further indication of why we don’t need a big man, but of course the narrative lives on in certain casual circles of the NBA. But okay, I get it, I get it: wait til the playoffs.
10m00 Q4 good closeout after help by Steph, Keegan blows by Klay — Klay didn’t play a perfect game on defense, nobody does, not even Gary Payton II (see Suns game), and credit Keegan, which Klay actually did when a Sac reporter asked him the first question at the podium about Murray.
3m40 Q4 Klay around a curl, has been great around a curl in 2 games, to be humble pie'd by the bball gods seconds later! Lol
3m33 Q4 Klay throws the inbound to Domantas Sabonis — At least we had built a double-digit buffer by the time the walls came crashing down.
3m15 Q4 Klay off curl foul vs Keegan
1m30 Q4 Klay stripped by HB
3:22:30 Blasian, another live chat regular: “Klay Thompson doesn’t care, he just wants to hoop…right Rich ??, talking about how Klay might need "step down" from his role, not worried about it because he can erupt at any moment's so in essence, he's sort of immune to stepping down in his role -- although that does mean to play unselfishly at certain times.
3:47:30 Klay 18p 4a, we want that as his season average! — Might not get him to the All-Star Game, but would certainly help us be that championship-contender.
LOON HAS SABONIS’ NUMBER
8m20 Q1 Loon knocks Sabonis ball out
7m02 Q2 Steph 3 pull up after Wiggs and Loon successive screens
1:06:45 clipping the last play, Loon x Klay good D to layup, Keegan lost it to Klay’s hand
11m00 Q4 Loon blocks JaVale straight up
8m55 Q4 Loon fake Sab, two hand dunk — This one is called “Milwaukee Loon” per Steve postgame. Kevon funnily said he won’t be doing anymore of these unless the shotclock is down to six, which speaks volumes about the Warriors’ culture.
1m10 Q4 Ouch, during the timeout CP telling truth to Wiggs, Loon doesn't box out Sabonis oreb, JK in for Loon — Again, nobody plays perfect defense for 48 minutes. And Sabonis is actually a great player. So, it’s weird, but I’m less worried about Loon vs Sabonis than I am about Loon vs, say, Jusuf Nurkic lol, although Loon might have Nurkic figured out by the first few possessions of the next Suns matchup.
JK BELIEVES HE CAN FLY
7m04 Q1 JK for CP — Interesting sub but also the right one, given our Q1 struggles, and the fact that JK has been living up to his fence-bender status.
6m45 Q1 JK pivot tov (indecisive by a millisec), possibly another miscommunication with Klay before, 39:00 looking at the first JK tov, easily correctable mistake in practice, just drill it, can jump because he's so athletic and then pass — We shall monitor this potential chemistry adjustment with Klay, as we saw the egregious one vs the Suns.
5m30 Q1 good attack in post by JK vs Davion Mitchell (lineup: Steph Mo JK GP Dario) — Not only did he immediately jump on the mismatch, but also JK kept working down low for the advantage, so you love the confidence. We need the bench mic’d up for these instances (“Mouse-in-the-house” basketball vernacular reference).
4m30 Q1 JK great non-landing spot D, then good attack and pull-up 17 ft but missed — JK’s closeouts are nice to watch unfold, if you’re a basketball defense purist. Haven’t seen any of the 2022-23 brain fart 3-point line body checks, although it’s only been two games.
2m12 Q1 JK baseline pivot hesi over Sasha Vezenkov — Omg! If I only had time to make a clip of what’s in JK’s bag to unveil every now and then. Good lord. The potential trajectory is Kawhi Leonard. It just is.
0m15 Q1 another good close out by JK on Fox but Fox made it
48:15 DP: "Is it just me, or does CP have to keep telling JK where to be? He keeps leaving his guy undefended on the perimeter, then darting into the paint seeming to cause confusion with GP2" -- I disagreed with this on-the-spot, although I didn’t have further information as to the specific instances. I think CP just tells everyone where to be and often does on-court improvisation. I’ll keep a lookout for this on defense, but my gut instinct is that JK is so on-ball, I’m not really worried about this, especially due to the aforementioned close-outs.
2m25 Q2 JK got Steph open, missed it
2m12 Q2 CP steal Fox, JK Euro scoop finesse!!!! — The combination of finesse and power (and body type) makes me think of Kawhi.
0m10 Q2 proud of my team: Klay extra pass, JK swish, look at how happy Steve is, also Keegan didn't want to ruin 3PP — I could talk about this play for days! Love that JK was part of a “coach’s dream” play.
1:22:30 BREAKING DOWN THE LAST PLAY PER THE ABOVE HOT TAKE (a 1-1-1-1-1 set) , it's remarkable actually how simple these plays are (the talent!) -- really it's about Klay's trust in JK, because HB went all-out, Klay took an extra half-step, CP clears out for Steph too — Just putting this here again because it involved JK.
5m55 Q3 JK beasts Davion — Again!
4m30 Q3 Keegan no match for JK attack (fouls him) — The Homeless Man’s analogy of MJ dunking on John Stockton then picking on someone his own size by dunking on Mel Turpin; also by quickly googling Turpin for this, I found out that the heckler may have been Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller!?!? No time to delve rn 🤔 🤯
1m57 Q3 JK in the right spot to help on JaVale, Mo steal — I posted this on IG as well, but that clutch late-Q3 steal by Mo which led to CP3 finding Klay for three on the break (another coach’s dream sequence) was all facilitated by JK not being a millisecond late to close off the JaVale dive. Finally! JK was late so many times in 2022-23, and I pointed them out nearly every time on livestreams last season lol.
1m25 Q3 JK superman putback — That was a “Half-Man, Half-Amazing” leap. Kids this era probably don’t remember that moniker dubbed by Kenny Smith on TNT, so we can steal that for JK, right? It was actually a reference to Vince Carter, for those wondering. Also, the “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly chorus always plays in my mind when I think of JK fence-bending.
6m50 Q4 JK tov (too much on the menu to choose from), CP bamboozles Sabonis but it's kick ball, Kenny Atkinson talks to JK — For all the things JK did, I can forgive him for this one. Maybe chalk it up to fatigue? I think Kenny was just asking which move in his bag JK was thinking of doing and didn’t do.
1m10 Q4 Ouch, during the timeout CP telling truth to Wiggs, Loon doesn't box out Sab oreb, JK in for Loon — Steve really went with JK over Loon in super-crunchtime! Of course, this was on an offensive possession, but still, if you consider JK’s free throw reliability as compared to Loon’s, this is actually a huge development in JK’s, well, development!
ROTATIONS/SUBSTITUTIONS
5m30 Q1 good attack in post by JK vs Davion (lineup: Steph Mo JK GP and Dario Saric)
4m05 Q1 CP in for Steph, back to the PHX Q3 — So the second rotation of CP back in for Steph got the lineup of CP, Mo, JK, GP and Dario back in. They were really good against Phoenix. That’ll be too bad if Steph’s out, if we can’t see if they stick with this rotation again. It wasn’t as barn-storming against the Kings.
1m10 Q4 Loon doesn't box out Sab oreb, JK in for Loon
TEAM DEFENSE
5m33 Q1 amazingly we have 0 team fouls
9m30 Q2 huge breakdown on team D, lost Venzenkov, CP's fault? — You’re not gonna win every battle, but you do have to be careful about a sniper like Vezenkov going off.
6m40 Q2 Keegan 3 vs zone junk D — We threw a zone out there and it was short-lived as the three-ball happy Murray hit one.
1m57 Q3 JK in the right spot to help on JaVale, Mo steal — Nothing makes a coach happier than a 4 cutting off a 5’s dive. And then the athleticism of Moody, very Andre Iguodala-like, was icing on the cake.
11m35 Q4 good job Steph on the help on PNR
1m52 Q4 Fox scores again, oreb HB — Had some rebounding issues late, but then again the Kings were desperate.
GARY THE GAME-CHANGER
4m47 Q1 GP2 game-changing backcourt inbound steal (supposed to only happen in AAU)
3m45 Q3 GP2 changes the game again, back on the tov to block Sab
CHRIS x WARRIORS CULTURE (3 > 2)
4m05 Q1 CP in for Steph, back to the PHX Q3
0m03 Q1 CP passes up a layup for open Dario 3 which misses, very Warrior like — I had to do a double-take. Chris is integrating well with that Iguodala “three is better than two” mentality, I see.
47:45 Jesse Brown in our comments (not a regular, fwiw): "CP dribbling too much" — HARD DISAGREE. I slammed down this commenter on the spot. I didn’t see CP dribbling any more than Draymond would have and so ‘nuff said.
10m50 Q2 CP superstar J to end a run — That patented jumper will bail us out of a few ruts this season.
3m37 Q2 CP steal of Keegan — Dawg!
2m12 Q2 CP steal Fox, JK Euro scoop finesse!!!!
1m07 Q2 after Duarte, CP does the fist bump signal — We shall monitor this more. My guess is the double-self-fist-bump is CP noticing pick-and-roll mismatch and wanting to exploit it.
0m36 Q2 CP 2-for-1 contested J — Again, more Warriors Culture-embracing by CP in terms of noticing there was a two-for-one opportunity to close out a quarter, although he’d probably do this on any team.
2m10 Q3 CP extra pass to Mo 3 — More giving up the two for a rhythm three.
0m37 Q3 CP letting ball roll is the first time in Warriors history — I mean, literally, someone tell me when’s the last time we had a guy take an inbound and let it roll? Just nitpicking lol.
7m55 Q4 Chris is even better than Steph on PNR hot take! (Saric) — The CP pick-and-rolls are poetry in motion. But then again Dray has those actions too, so I guess I just miss him.
6m50 Q4 CP bamboozles Sabonis but it's kick ball — At least CP tried and kept his serious straight face the whole time. We just haven’t had a guy like this wear our uniform in a long, long time. I’m sure there’s gotta be someone since… Stephen Jackson? Okay second-stint Matt Barnes, then. That settles it.
1m10 Q4 Ouch, during the timeout CP telling truth to Wiggs — Wiggs can sometimes have fragility, so it’s nice to have CP be that in-between guy in the spectrum of Steph/Loon to Dray.
1m03 Q4 Steph tells guys to clear space for CP — Even Steph knew what’s up. The easy solution for the Kings’ traps this upcoming Wednesday is the just get Chris the ball. But we shall see. I still think Steph needs to conjure that dawg in him, but again a bothersome foot may have been in play.
4:00:15 CP reminds us he's 9-time all-defense — CP is not only a dawg, he’s a dawg with subtlety.
MOODY MAKES US NOT MISS ANDRE
2m30 Q1 Mo tips out pass to JaVale — Very Andre-like deflection.
1m11 Q1 Mo shouldn't crowd it for JK — One of the rare mistakes, Mo was within eight feet of JK on a post-up. Gotta give him space, although JK will learn to operate with less and less of it as time goes by.
2m10 Q3 CP extra pass to Mo 3
1m57 Q3 JK in the right spot to help on JaVale, Mo steal — Again, very Andre-like!
1m00 Q3 Mo fake and 3. Fox hangs head — Mo really did a fake then buried the triple. Sheesh! Shall we credit SplashBrothers osmosis?
0m37 Q3 Mo called for a flop tech (is that $2k? foul on JaVale landing spot -- did the new flop replace the landing foul?) — Just a weird one. Hope Mo can keep his $2k. They’ve been handing out flopping fines left and right lately in the NBA, but I think the relay will clearly show this wasn’t a flop.
3:14:45 Moody 3 steals again, probably leads the league in SPG, that's averages of 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 steals in per 36 after two games.
FOX WAS FOX IN CRUNCH TIME
3m00 Q2 Fox missed 3, do we want him working out with Steph during off-seasons? Is his 3ball gonna be as deadly as Dame's? — Luckily, I think we do have the Kings’ number, thanks to 🐐.
1m52 Q4 Fox scores again, oreb HB — I’m not gonna list out all of Fox’s heroics here, but man, he was good. All Curry Brand needs to do is hire the right advertising agency! 😬
THE TENTACLED OFFENSE
1:14:00 this is versatility at its finest (w/o Draymond). What other team can lose their “point guard” like this?
0m10 Q2 proud of my team: Klay extra pass, JK swish, look at how happy Steve is, also Keegan didn't want to ruin 3PP — 1:22:30 BREAKING DOWN THE LAST PLAY PER THE ABOVE HOT TAKE (a 1-1-1-1-1 set) , it's remarkable actually how simple these plays are (the talent!) -- really it's about Klay's trust in JK, because HB went all-out, Klay took an extra half-step, CP clears out for Steph too — Already talked about this ad nauseum, above.
1:18:45 first of all, be proud of this team's versatility, what are opposing coaches gonna do now, Draymond fake DHO, and then ALSO CP3 pick-and-roll, hot take: this might be the most tentacled offense in Warriors history (in NBA history) -- THERE IS NO OFFENSE (WITH DRAY BACK) THAT HAS THIS MANY TENTACLES ON OFFENSE (all based on a 60-57 halftime, but that's why you're here because I don't just give you stats, hot takes/comedy, I give you what I see)
3:21:15 Dean Agan, regular commenter: “Our top 5 combination for this game according to the nba lineup tool was CP3-Klay-JK-Moody-TJD at +6 in 3.2 minutes, then Steph-Klay-Wiggs-Loon-Moody at +5 in 5.6 minutes. Unfortunately, CP3-Steph-Klay-Wiggs-Loon played 13.8 minutes at -5. So I think having Dray back will be great.”
SARIC ACTUALLY HAD THE WORST GAME
0m50 Q2 welcome to the Kings-Warriors rivalry, Dario (Sabonis another and-one) — I think it was just Saric getting outplayed by Sabonis, most of the time, and that’s not a shameful thing.
4m50 Q3 Saric tough night on D (4th pf) helping out, TJD comes in — Trayce Jackson-Davis held his own!
7m55 Q4 Chris is even better than Steph on PNR hot take! (Saric) — Credit Dario for being in the “it takes two to tango” with CP’s works of art, though.
GUYS TALKING TO GUYS
3m43 Q3 timeout back from TV: Cory talking to Steph, nodding
Dray x CP per CP postgame — Chris talked about how he had a discussion with Dray about how versatile the team is.
“NEED A BIG MAN” MYTH
10m10 Q4 Klay draws foul on JaVale, who hasn't looked good even though he has the numbers, looks kinda slow and that's we don't need a big man — I already talked about this previously.
2:13:30 on "need a big man" -- But there is no Draymond out there taller than 6'5 and btw Dray is one of the few in the NBA who can go straight up vs Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid and that's all you need. Caveat: of course, Mike Dunleavy, Jr. can do whatever he wants and if he does sign Dwight Howard tomorrow, then we’ll have to adjust our understanding of this. We also tend to get the bottom of the barrel because 26 other teams (GSW, SAC, UTA, SAS being the four teams that run 0.5 Basketball) are actively looking for the traditional backup 5, which is why the Memphis Grizzlies can jump on a Bismack Biyombo.
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