Steve Kerr expects more Steph Curry magic in Warriors' NBA play-in vs. Clippers
Warriors coach Steve Kerr speaks to reporters Tuesday ahead of Golden State's NBA play-in game vs. the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome.
Steve Kerr expects more Steph Curry magic in Warriors' NBA play-in vs. Clippers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Practice was good.
we got up and down a little bit, got a good sweat, lots of shots, and went through our game plan.
You guys are in a good frame of mind.
Do you expect everyone on the team who is left to be available tomorrow?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You touched on it yesterday, but how's Draymond's focus level been coming through in practice the last several days?
Oh, man, this is the time of year that Draymond loves, you know?
He's, he's locked in, leading a lot of the discussion about what we're trying to do, and, yeah, he's he's been great.
What have you seen from the Clippers team after they traded Harden and Zubac and got younger?
Well, they're connected.
they're, they're playing well.
They, you know, Gar-Garland is a different kind of threat than Harden.
he's faster.
Harden, you know, is-- plays more with his strength, where Garland plays, Ex-excuse me?
Garland.
Garland.
Gardner.
Garland plays, with his speed, and he gets past you, and he shoots pull-up threes, and, it's-- he's a totally different challenge than Harden, but they've really incorporated him quickly, and, playing well together.
They're always connected defensively, playing at a high level.
How was the Jerry West doc?
It was great.
had to leave halfway through 'cause we had a team dinner that I had to get to, so I look forward to seeing the, the second half.
but, yeah, it's a really remarkable film.
you know, seeing Jerry really open up about his childhood and, his life was, very powerful.
Steve, you kind of touched on this in a way, talking about Draymond's focus, but Steph calls this meaningful basketball, games like this.
How, how does the vibe feel different when it's truly meaningful basketball, and does it feel like the first You guys were locked into the ten seed for a while.
Right.
Does it feel like this is the first truly meaningful game in a while?
It does, yeah.
First one in a while, because you just can't simulate the stakes, you know?
I mean, we, we've been talking about trying to play to a standard the last couple weeks, but until the stakes are really high, it's, it's, it doesn't feel as meaningful.
So this is totally different, to practices, to, to get ready, to install a game plan.
the, the guys are locked in.
it's basically a playoff game, even though it's not, you know, technically a playoff game.
But these are really fun.
You get to prepare.
You get to, throw different things at your opponent, and you have to adapt on the fly during the game.
It's all really fun stuff.
And you talk about Draymond's focus.
What's Steph like when the stakes are like this?
Same way.
And, and how grateful are you that he, he has a chance to be on this stage again?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm so happy that he, came back, made it back for this reason, meaningful basketball.
the challenge, I mean, he's thirty-eight, so who knows how many more chances he'll have.
And, he loves this stuff, so his focus is really sharp, and, But joyful as ever, loving every second of the preparation, loving the game.
It's, beautiful to watch him prepare.
Kristaps has, struggled from three-point range recently.
Do you like the shots that he's been taking, though?
Yeah.
Yeah, he's getting good shots, and, you know, we, we can do a couple things to help him find a rhythm, but, I'm not, not concerned about that at all.
Steve, what do you think has gone into Gary's growth in different areas this season, his availability and his scoring?
Yeah, he's been there for us.
I mean, I think, he played in, like, seventy-three games or something.
that's might be a career high.
so he's, he's locked in.
He's taking care of his body.
he's played really well at both ends.
He's our best finisher.
He's kind of a six-three power forward, you know, and, and very unique player, but, has learned how to play with Steph and Dray.
He's been a big part of everything we've done in the last six years or so.
It's great to, it's just great to have him, you know, with that corporate knowledge that he has, what we're doing, how we operate.
He adapts really quickly.
so he's a, an important part of tomorrow's plan.
The one, the one unique thing about the Intuit Dome is the wall.
there's all sorts of stats about how teams shoot free throws against that side of the court.
How much of a consideration are you putting that into, in terms of, like, which basket you shoot at during this game?
Yeah.
well, we went eighteen for twenty the other night, into the wall in the second half- despite the wall, plus another distraction that happened to be, there during the game.
I don't know if anyone noticed, but, you know, you noticed it.
The guitar?
Multiple distractions, let's just say.
Yeah.
So shot it fine.
So yeah, I'm not, I'm not worried about it.
Sure.
Mike Brown the other day talked about, just the loss of local broadcast for the first round.
I, I wonder- What, we talked about it?
Mike Brown.
Oh.
so I'm wondering what the connection you guys have had, and you think fans have with the, with local broadcasts that makes the first round loss such a big, you know, a big loss to, to the league as a whole.
I haven't given that any thought at all, to be honest.
I, I know, I know fans enjoy, you know, s-seeing the guys they've watched all year.
in my experience, usually the, the, the home broadcast gets a couple of games in the first round, and that's, and then that's it.
I didn't realize that that's all out the window now.
so yeah, it's too bad, but it's all part of this media landscape we're in.
A lot of, a lot of networks and streaming services, and so new landscape we all have to get used to.
The playoffs are usually a time when rotation's short and guys get more minutes.
A lot of players on this team are on minutes restrictions or things like that.
How do you-In total, like, guys aren't gonna play, like you said, play forty minutes or forty-five.
It's unique.
Yeah.
I mean, we, we have several guys we'd love to play, you know, thirty-eight minutes.
But, for whatever reason, you know, injury, age, it's just not something we can do, so we just adapt and adjust, and, we're comfortable playing a lot of people.
I've always liked to play a lot of people.
and we just have to go out there and play, put together a really good forty minutes.
How tight do you want the rotation to be?
it'll depend on how the game's going.
But, like I said, I feel comfortable, you know, playing ten, eleven guys.
The media deal has kind of been-- it's been one of those stories this season, how there's some distributing across the networks.
I mean, it doesn't affect you in any way.
Have you felt or noticed just the difference?
I think everybody just has to get used to finding the games.
not that different, from what's happened over the last, you know, fifteen years with, you know, the NCAA tournament all of a sudden went from CBS to TNT and, and TBS and through TV.
And, and I remember the first year I was working in television that year, and everybody was, like, freaking out.
Like, "How do I find the games?"
At Turner, we were, you know, we were talking about all the different, you know, things we had to put on the screen.
If you're looking for this game, you know, turn it to this channel.
and then same thing has happened in the NFL in recent years.
You know, there's now games on, on, streaming services.
You know, you're, you're ready to watch a playoff game, you turn your TV on, you can't find it.
so it's all part of, you know, kind of the new experience for the viewer, and, it's, uh-- you just, you just adapt.
Adapt and adjust.
What's the, what are the most conspicuous differences in preparing for a single game elimination as opposed to a seven-game series?
you-- in, in a single game, you, you have to make adjustments during the game right away.
In a seven game, you might kind of give it a little time, and you might even wait till game three to make an adjustment, depending on how the first two go.
but in a single game elimination, all bets are off.
You just have to adapt to whatever you're seeing, and you just have to be ready to change your plan on the fly.
How much do you work a plan B or C, or talk about that going into a game?
Plan B and C, usually involve, matchup changes, a coverage change.
so the stuff that we've done in the last couple of days that will be reflected in our, in our initial game plan, would then be tossed out, and you'd probably revert to, you know, something you've already done, because you, you can't possibly put in, you know, multiple plans if, if, if guys haven't done those things, for one game.
You've talked obviously many times over the years on how Steph sort of rises to the moment.
I'm, I'm thinking of Paris and the Olympics probably most recently.
But what about beyond increased focus or the obvious talent?
What allows him to sorta lift, lift his game even to another level in the playoff?
I wish I could tell you.
I, I honestly don't know the answer to that.
He's magical.
He just, he's, he is, he's one of those guys who's clutch, who doesn't appear, concerned with the repercussions of missing.
He just puts everything into winning, and he manages to have a wonderful time while he's competing at the highest level, and that joy people can see on his face.
And if we lose, he's absolutely devastated and crushed, because it means that much to him.
But he never stops and thinks about anything, like a lot of players do, like I do.
You know, where it's like, "Oh, man, if I miss this," you know, or, "We could lose."
Like, that never enters his mind.
He just, he plays.
He just seeks this, this state, this flow state.
Right.
I think it's what everybody loves about him.
How often does it enter your mind?
The flow state?
No.
You said you, you, you would think about, what if I miss?
Oh, yeah.
Like, often or?
Pretty much all the time.
Steve, with Gary, what do you think has enabled him to be positive, resilient through, you know, his journey of injuries and roles and what his future might be and all that?
Yeah, I think Gary just loves being part of a team.
Loves, You know, he had to go through an awful lot just to make it in the NBA.
He played on a million teams, G League teams, and, it's been-- He's had a really unorthodox path to get here.
So I think he just appreciates, being in the NBA, being on this team, and the, the ride he's had since he got here in '21.
So five years, with a brief stop in Portland in between.
But, yeah, he's-- he has a good perspective on things.
He's very grateful for everything he has.
