Hear from Steve Kerr, Warriors players after practice session

Steve Kerr, Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski speak to reporters following Golden State's practice session on Friday at Chase Center.

Hear from Steve Kerr, Warriors players after practice session originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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We had a great film session, and then a good crisp, kind of, half-hour practice of, some of the things that we know we have to get better with at, at both ends, and, good spirits.

you know, we'll be ready to go on Sunday, and we'll have another, another good practice tomorrow.

So it's a, a, a chance for us to, to brush up on some things.

And have you had a chance to talk to Steph yet, today?

I have.

I saw him, but I haven't I didn't ask him, you know, a whole lot about how he was feeling.

I mean, the fact that he's, he's out 10 days, we'll reevaluate.

I, I don't need to be, you know, asking him every day how he's feeling.

What were some of the things that the film revealed about last night's game?

Spacing issues offensively.

you know, I thought we did a lot of good things.

You know, we, we, we took care of the ball, we moved it, 30 assists, you know, eight turnovers.

we won the possession battle.

You know, our, our process was, was, pretty good, but our spacing was not offensively, and then defensively, our shell was a mess.

You know, we, we gave up way too much penetration.

it felt like Pritchard and, and Jaylen Brown were getting past us, Derrick White, those guys were getting into the paint and, had a lot of kick-out threes and, they just scored way too easily.

Seventy-four points in the first half, and, you know, and then you're, you're swimming upstream the rest of the game.

Rough night for Draymond last night.

what are your Again, do you have any concerns about where that- Well, I've, I've gotta, do a better job of helping Draymond.

The game is so different without Steph.

You know, those two guys have built such a rapport.

you know, for 14 years now they've been playing together, and for sure in, in my 12, you know, the, the two-man game with those two guys has been our bread and butter.

And, when Steph goes out, it, it really changes everything in terms of how defenses guard us, and it impacts Draymond probably more than anybody.

You know, when he plays pick and roll with Steph, it's, it's our best action.

You know, people sometimes blitz Steph, Dray's playing out of the pocket, he's a great passer, we get into our splits.

But without Steph, we're We have a much harder time gaining an advantage in pick and roll.

And that's where the spacing comes in, and that's where our work has to, be better as a, as a staff, and that's what today was about, was, understanding how we have to play without Steph, the, the importance of, of spacing over and over again.

It's what Boston does probably better than any team in the league.

Their spacing is, is, pristine and, makes them really difficult to guard.

You think he's feeling okay?

Because since the trade deadline, he's been kind of somber for him.

Yeah.

I, I thought his approach last night was fantastic.

I mean, it was a rough game for him, and, he kept his spirits up.

he was talking to guys on the bench, giving advice.

you know, I, I've talked about this occasionally this year, but, you know, how you approach, you know, the, the latter stages of your career as a player is, is so important.

And, I think, you know, Draymond's, approach and attitude during this time, especially without Steph, where a lot of our weaknesses are, are exposed, he's handling things with a lot of dignity, and, and it's not easy.

You know, when, especially when you have that kind of pride for being a great player, you have a night like that, it's, it's tough.

And, so it's so important that he keeps his spirits up like he did last night, but that we help him, and we help the team, as a staff, develop a better rhythm, and that's, that's what we're trying to do collectively.

And how was, KP this morning, physically?

Any, any- KP was good.

Took part in all of practice.

so, I thought he found a good rhythm there in the second half.

I thought, the whole game looked better, kind of, the last quarter and a half, for us, and for him, and, he's gonna be a really, really important player for us.

We're lucky to have him, and I think he's gonna get better and better.

Obviously, the key is, you know, staying on the floor.

and, you know, he's working hard in the training room, to, to make sure he handles all, all of his business there.

to follow on that, do you see more minutes for him, potentially, on Sunday?

I don't know.

I've gotta talk to the training staff.

I know he wants more, but that's kind of a, a decision by the performance staff, and we'll, we'll figure that out by Sunday.

And then to follow on Draymond for a second, what are some ways that he can be impactful on offense without Steph out there?

Well, it- as I mentioned earlier, the spacing, is really crucial for us.

and it's not just his spacing, it's the spacing of the team.

And then we have certain actions that we can get to that, will be better for him than, you know, the, the stuff we do with Steph, that he and Steph do together.

And so there's, there's kind of some nuance to it, but, we, we've talked about it today, but it, it all starts with the team spacing, and then working off of each other from there.

And Steve, while we're on the topic, we talked a bit about it last night with the two, two big men and trying to figure out the rotation.

You touched on it a couple months ago, but have you thought anymore, now that Porziis is in the fold, about bringing Draymond off the bench, kind of, in that super sub role?

No, I haven't really thought about it.

Um- You know, I, I, I, I think that, no matter how we play it without Steph, I think it's gonna- there'll be an impact.

we know that we want to get to certain combinations, we want to avoid certain combinations, so we factor all that stuff in.

but I, I want to keep starting, the same way to try to develop some, some continuity, you know, and with, with Kristaps' minutes being limited, we'll continue to start the same way and, and, try to weather the storm while Steph is out.

obviously you have a strong and, and long relationship with Draymond.

what are the conversations like, with him at this point in his career, talking about these kind of things?

Total collaboration.

Just, you know, "Here's what, we see as a staff.

Here are the things that we think, we can do better to help you."

you know, he shared some things about how the game went.

this is how it should work, you know, where it's, you're just putting your heads together and trying to figure it out, and, it's one of the things I really, respect about Draymond and admire, is his, his basketball IQ and his, his understanding of the game, and, and how we need to, evolve and shift, both without Steph and last year with Jimmy.

you know, there's a lot of subtleties that, that really factor in.

Do, do those conversations feel, I guess, like Is there- is it different than maybe when he was younger and when you were a, like, a younger coach?

I didn't have to say a whole lot to him, back then, you know?

but this is a very unique time, you know, for our team, where we are, the changes, the injuries.

so it's more necessary right now.

what did the, film session sort of reveal about the game last night?

it's mostly about shell defense, you know.

we could do a better job in that.

We, we know that we gotta contain the ball better.

They were driving too easy, kind of like in a straight, straight line, so that makes the harder for the def- for the, for the gaps or and the helps to be there, you know?

So that was most part of that.

You spent a bit of time last night, in lineups with Porziis.

What was it like playing with him, and how different of a look does he provide?

you know, when you have a guy with that size on the court, just like, on a, on a paint, it's tough for the, the other team to finish.

So we, we I already felt that we can just, like, kind of like rely on him on defense, especially be in the middle of the paint, because he's gonna clean up a lot of stuff that we, like, do it wrong, you know?

And on offense, he just, like, can make everything.

He can make, he can play on the post, he can make threes.

Yesterday, in particular, I have a play that I was running in the, down, down to the court, and I saw him on the forty-five.

I just scream, "My man," and he's man, and he had a deep, three-point shot.

So he can provide a lot of stuff for us, for sure.

just in terms of for you, I guess, what- how valuable was the All-Star break in terms of getting a little bit of a rest or just being able to re- recharge?

yesterday, Will Richard talked about how important the All-Star break was for him.

So, that was a needed break, you know, that we've been, a tough s- sequence of games, and But it's, at the same time, it's not like, you know, it's not a vacation.

You gotta be still working, you gotta still going to the gym and doing everything, so when you get back, you'll be ready to play.

And but also, when you can do it somewhere different, like, for example, I was in Hawaii, seeing my, my fiance there.

But just for you to be able to do something different for two days and just clear your mind is, is amazing for you.

When you come back here, you, you have your mind fresh, your body fresh, and you're just, you know, ready to play again.

Gi, I don't know how much you've been able to talk to Steph, but if you have, how do you think he's feeling?

So I, you know, it's tough for us to, to know exactly how he's feeling, but, every time I see him, just asking, "How he doing?"

He's saying that he's always getting better, you know.

I don't know exactly how long it's gonna take for him to get back with us, but, every time I see him, I'm just asking him how he's doing.

He's always saying, like, in a positive way, that he's getting better.

Gi, what are the keys to spacing offensively without Steph?

What, what does ideal spacing look like?

We just cannot stop moving the ball, you know, because when you got Steph, just for him run- running randomly to somewhere on the court, that's gonna generate some, you know, overreaction on defense.

So when you don't have him, we just gotta create that moving the ball.

The mo- ball gotta move quick side to side, and every time that we move the ball side to side, everything every time, something good happens.

So we just gotta keep doing that.

We can, we cannot, like, hold the ball and just, trying to play one-on-one and iso.

We're not a team that do that a lot, so we just gotta keep moving the ball and make sure that everybody has a quick decision when, when we get the ball.

Steve's meant, talked in the past about the spacing around Porziis.

He said it's not, it's not identical to what you guys did with Jimmy Butler, but I was wondering, what are some of the similarities and differences of spacing around Porziis versus spacing with Jimmy?

So, Jimmy is a guy that had a ball in the low post a lot.

yesterday, you could see that Porziis can do the same thing, and Porziis is also smart.

You know, like, Jimmy is very smart with the ball, and Porziis is, is like that.

So he's always looking for the right pass, and he, when he needs to be aggressive to the basket to score, he's doing it.

So it's kind of like similar, similar, but at the same time, it's not, you know, just like Steve said.... What were some of the things that the film revealed from last night's game?

just gotta do a better job of guarding our man, be more connected in the shell defensively.

You've said that Boston is kind of, like, the gold standard for spacing.

Mm-hmm.

Are there any things that you guys can learn from the way that they operate in the half court?

I mean, I think it helps that they always, for the most part, have five guys out there that can really shoot.

so that helps in terms of, like, if you come over to help somebody on the drive, someone's always gonna be open.

but just their initial spacing and their ability to lengthen closeouts more than the normal closeout would be, whether that's on the wing, starting higher, farther away from the three-point line, things like that, that are subtle.

but I think that's what makes them unique, and they have guys that can shoot from that far, too.

What was it like playing with, Kristaps, and what are some of the things that you guys kinda saw from, from just playing with him spacing-wise and offensively?

Yeah, I think similar to Steph and Jimmy, that he commands two people most of the time, and if he- if they don't, then he usually scores, so, just another domino creator that we have now.

but it was fun.

I always enjoy playing with European players.

Just IQ, smart, know how to play the game of basketball.

BP, you guys have twenty-six games to go.

For you, I mean, what are the things that would determine how high you guys can go, or just how well you guys play over the last twenty-six games?

I think it starts defensively, but also then not turning the ball over.

We did a pretty good job yesterday.

Had a lot of assists, low turnovers, but I think it's just, you gotta find ways to, to grind out games, 'cause it's not gonna always look the prettiest, especially with Steph out.

And for some guys, the All-Star break is kind of a refresh.

Was it for you?

I mean, what, what was your break like in terms of just getting ready for part three of the season, I guess?

Yeah, I mean, I didn't really do nothing.

Just chilled, refreshed my mind.

That's it.

Where do you feel like your game is at, the past month or so?

I mean, just, just keep on going.

just keep on plugging along, doing the things I can, and, you know, hopefully the last twenty-six games are something good for our team.

Pod, Steve was saying that Draymond is active on the bench, talking to guys.

How often do you talk to him during games, and what are the biggest messages that he imparts?

Yeah, I try to, catch him when, you know, he's not just out of the game, or, I try to catch him during halftime, just to see his thoughts, what he sees from a perspective, more so on the bench than when he's on the floor.

but I think he's been great as a leader for us, especially helping people, you know, that may be a little bit new to how we play, grow and develop.

And so, he's been great on both sides of the ball in terms of a leadership perspective.

Over the next couple of games here, how, how do you guys sort of adjust to you, you had to do it before, adjust to life without Steph, but what are some of the keys moving forward with that?

Gotta take care of the ball, convert in transition when we get those opportunities, and, you know, defensively, we gotta force turnovers to make offense a little bit easier.

Steve has been a big proponent of saying that, especially without Steph, every game has to be almost like a fight.

You gotta really, really grind it out and play really hard, like you mentioned.

is that sustainable night after night, to play at a high level, playing at a, you know, basically playing balls out?

I mean, it should be.

we get paid a lot of money to do this.

we play a lot of people, so I mean, it's our job.

That's why the Warriors sign their contracts to, for us to be here.

So I think you just gotta give it all you got every night and live with the result.

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