Steve Kerr calls Brandin Podziemski's availability for Warriors a best quality
Warriors coach Steve Kerr speaks to reporters ahead of Golden State's matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night at Intuit Dome.
Steve Kerr calls Brandin Podziemski's availability for Warriors a best quality originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
How did Steph kind of come out of the other night?
Obviously, he had the ankle tweak.
Good.
Yeah, he's fine.
Ready to go today.
And then Draymond, I mean, he's played so many of these games.
Yep.
Was tonight just a, you know, get him a break?
Yep, just giving him a night, and, uh- Yeah yeah, he'll be ready for Wednesday.
I imagine neither you nor the Clippers tonight will want to show much of your hands, but are you anticipating being able to take anything away from this game, schematically from their side or for, for yourself?
Not really.
Not really.
yeah, obviously Kawhi's not playing.
Dray's not playing.
Wednesday will be much different, for sure.
What do you hope to see from, Kristaps tonight?
just sh- continued, rhythm, with Steph.
we'll start him tonight.
hopefully, you know, get, get some good minutes with, with the two of them and, you know, just hoping to, to continue to build, a connection.
You've had Buddy and Kevon do it recently, play all 82.
What does it say about Brandon playing all 82 with the way that he plays the game?
Not easy to do, these days, especially with the pace and the space, the amount of ground these guys cover every single night.
it's one of, Brandon's best qualities really is that he's there for us every single night.
He's just really durable, loves to play.
so that's it's quite a feat.
To kind of follow on that, it's, I think since March 2nd, he's been averaging, I think, 18 and a half a game, efficient shooting splits.
What have you seen from him?
What is he putting together as a score the last month and a half?
He's, he's taken on more responsibility with Steph being out.
his usage rate has probably climbed a little bit.
but I think just the, the game-to-game confidence has improved in my mind.
He just looks much more comfortable, out there, and he's played really well for us.
Steve, you, you used the phrase, you know, just continuing to build.
I feel like it's kind of hard to build when you've had the kind of the, the injuries and everything that you've had this year.
Yeah.
Like, how do you approach just whatever's left in front of you now in terms of trying to find a rhythm with any of these guys?
Yeah, I mean, we, we only have one game left.
obviously the, the result of the game doesn't, matter, which is not great when you're trying to build and grow.
And, you know, we've been talking about the last week, kind of knowing we're in tenth.
We've been talking about really preparing for Wednesday by putting it together.
but it's hard to do that when, when there's not much on the line.
And, and, I think we've had spurts of good basketball, but, we know we're gonna have to put together a good four quarters on Wednesday.
So, tonight is, you know, another chance to make a step in that direction.
But again, it's, it's, it's different.
It's a different feeling when the game when the result doesn't matter.
Hey, Steve, good to see you.
even with the limited sample size, what has the early returns looked like with Porziis, with establishing chemistry with his new teammates?
With, with Steph?
With Porziis.
Yeah.
What, what chemistry has Porziis been able to provide with the- Chemistry with, with the whole team or with Steph?
Yeah, with everyone.
With everyone.
Yeah.
he's a really easy guy to play with.
you know, he, he understands the game.
He's, he's got really good skill, obviously great shooter, passer, spacer.
So, it, it, it hasn't been a big adjustment.
I would say that maybe the biggest one is just, his post-ups are different from Jimmy's.
You know, Jimmy's more of a driver and a guy who's gonna get right to the front of the rim.
Kristaps is more of a, you know, jump shooter, 10, 10, 12-foot turnaround jump shots.
And so the spacing's a little bit different, but our guys have, gotten comfortable with him very quickly.
Who, who you starting tonight next to him?
Starting, BP, Melt, Al, Kristaps, and Steph Curry.
yes, Steph.
Steph.
I'm so used to starting without him, I forgot he's, he's starting.
Okay, so Gee off the bench.
Yeah, Gee off the bench.
Yeah, Melt, Melt instead of Gee, yeah.
How, how many minutes do you kind of see for Steph with him- Steph?
Yeah.
You know, maybe 30.
Like, probably no more than that.
we'll see how the game goes, but he-- I think he can play up to 30, you know.
Coach, you know, with a season like, like this year with an organization that's so used to winning recently, what are some lessons that you can guys can kind of take towards the play-in or even next season from everything that you guys have been through this year?
The lesson, lesson is that losing sucks.
It's no fun.
you know, it, it's but this is life.
This is, basketball.
This is how it works.
You know, you just, every year is different.
I felt great about our team coming into this year, you know, coming off of, the playoff run last year.
with, with Jimmy and Moses out, you know, it obviously changed our season pretty dramatically.
I still feel hopeful.
I love our guys.
I think we can, win a couple games and get into the playoffs, which would be a great accomplishment, and give ourselves a chance, and, and that's the whole focus.
but the lesson you take is that you don't take anything for granted.
You prepare every day, and, you just do, do the best you can with w- however things shake out.
Steve, you got a chance to see Darius Garland, his team debut for the Clippers last month, and he's probably going to be in a more prominent role for- I'm sorry, I can't quite hear you.
Darius Garland, the fact that- Garland, yeah you saw him when he made his Clippers debut- Uh-huh last month in Golden State.
yeah, I mean, you've seen a different Clippers team every time you've seen him this year.
So, getting a chance to see more of him, like what, what do you anticipate, getting to see and, and how do you feel like he's progressed in the time that he's from the time that he started, against the Clippers or- Yeah, he's, he's playing well.
He's quick, obviously, shoots a three really well.
Um-It's a different player from Harden, much different challenge, but a, a very potent threat.
And, you know, the speed, the, ability to get to the rim, you really have to, try to keep him contained, and it's not, it's not an easy job given his skill set and his, and his speed and pace.
So it's a big challenge, and, you know, we know, that'll be a big part of our game plan on Wednesday.
Steve, h-how would you describe the job that Ty has done in pulling this team from six and 21 to the postseason?
Pretty remarkable, the turnaround.
it's not often, that anybody has ever, you know, come back from that type of start to, you know, to, to make a run, get to the playoffs.
The one that I know of from my NBA knowledge is, the '79 Sonics, Lenny Wilkins.
I want to say they started like f-five and- 17 nineteen, five and 17, yeah.
That's what he does.
That's what he does.
Yeah.
So, that's the, that, that's the most dramatic turnaround that I've know of in the NBA f- to go from five and 17 to winning the championship.
but, I know Ty well.
He's a great friend.
he's an incredible coach.
one of his strengths is just staying the course and, and really, you know, keeping the guys, on an even keel.
And, that's not easy to do when you're five and 21.
So Ty's done a phenomenal job.
Six and 21.
I'm sorry.
Six and 21.
Six and 21.
Six and 21.
Thank you.
If I may.
Thank you.
Yeah, well, the six and 21 changes things a little bit.
It's not- It's not, it's not nearly as impressive as I- Right as I had thought it was, yeah.
Hey, Steve.
just trying to get into your head space a little bit.
barring the 2020, '21 season where there was a lot of injuries, would this be considered the, I don't know, the toughest you had to go through in terms of injuries, in terms of just moving pieces all over the place, just how this season panned out for you guys?
yeah.
Tw- was it 19-20 that we had all the injuries or- 19-20.
Yeah, 19-20.
That was crazy.
departures and injuries and COVID.
was that That was the COVID year, right?
That was the COVID year.
Yeah, yeah.
yeah, that was, that season was absolutely bizarre for everybody.
this season has been tough.
I think, you know, the expectations were, higher for us this year than they were that year after losing Andre, Shaun Livingston, Kevin Durant.
so a different vibe going into that year.
this year, I, I think the high hopes were there coming off last year's run, having Jimmy on our team.
and, yeah, the, the, the ACL, definitely took some wind out of our sails.
And, and then seeing Moses go down was just devastating.
You know, he's, beloved in that locker room, both guys.
so when you see two guys mid-season go down, and it impacts not only this season but the next one, that's about as tough as it gets.
And, and, so it's, this, it for sure has been very difficult, season.
It doesn't mean I don't still enjoy it.
You know, I love coaching, and I love the challenge no matter what the challenge is.
And, you just have to change your, expectations, change your, your goals.
and then obviously within that, the smaller details are you gotta try to figure it out.
And, and that part is really, really fun and challenging as a staff.
But, no, no question, this has been a, a tough season for the, for the players and for the, you know, the injured guys.
it's, but it is, is what it is.
Steve, I know you've kinda tabled your own future for the off-season or whenever you get there, but how does that, how does the way this season went sort of factor into how you think about your, your own future here?
it doesn't factor in.
Yeah.
it's just, that's something I'll address at, you know, after, after the season ends.
Hopefully, that doesn't, you know, happen for, for a while.
But, we, we're, we're still in it.
We're still going.
My focus is all on the Clippers, and I'm excited about, about trying to get in.
