Draymond Green on GSW defense issues, Looney’s next step, CP3 and Steph, and his health; plus the rookies sing; plus open thread
Open Practice highlights, such as they are
Inspirational verse from Draymond Green’s interview on 2023-10-22.
On the Warriors defensive issues
I think at times our shell is great. I think at times our shell isn't there. I think at times when we have certain groups on the floor that are communicating, and then other groups aren't quite communicating? And obviously that's something that I can help with on that side of things, and with the communication, and making sure everyone's comfortable. But that's something that we all have to collectively be better at.
I think obviously we know the fouling. You turn the ball over, it's hard to defend a turnover. So those are the basics. We know we gotta cut those things out. Turnovers and fouling jump shooters, and all those things, like, that's petty stuff. we should be better than that and we will be better than that. So I'm not too worried about those things. That's been a problem of ours, but I think with a little bit of focus from, it goes for everybody.
So I feel like if I, as someone who handles the ball a lot — CP don't turn the ball over much. It's really Steph and I who leads the charge in the turnovers. And so I feel like if we can focus in that area and then it's a trickle down effect.… And then we can clean turnovers up and that'll help our defense out a lot.
But the number one thing for this group is gonna be communication. It's a new group, still getting comfortable with each other, learning each other's strengths. And what helps with that, what helps speed that process up is communication.
On what they need from Kevon Looney
So I'm gonna say this publicly because I wanna put that pressure on him and I trust and know that he'll handle it. But we need Kevon Looney to talk more. Looney is someone who's blossomed into a focal point of everything that we do. And he knows everything, everything.
Loon come ask me a question like, yo, so they're doing this and I was thinking about it this way and I should, what would you do? You just explained what I'll do!
He knows every single thing and so it's gonna be important for us to hear his voice more because everyone on the court feels more comfortable when they hear the big voice and he's been growing in that area. And I think it's time for him to take that ultimate step in that area and I have no doubt that he will but that'll be huge for us.
Chris Paul and Steph Curry together
Draymond, you've mastered the art of playing with Steph and all the intricacies of that. What is unique about now when Chris Paul playing with Steph and the possibilities that are there?
Obviously we know Chris is a basketball genius. I had the most fun when we're just standing there and practicing, he come over on the side. He's like, yo, you see this and this thing and that thing. And I think, we can get this guy to go down there, he pop over there and I'm just like, whoa, all right, yeah, that's great. And just hearing how he process and work through things, I think is incredible. For all of us to have the opportunity to learn from him, I think it's great.
I think it'll help all of us and when you add another playmaker, ball handler, one of the best we've ever seen do it in this league. You put him around the talent and the skill that we have, it's gonna produce some good things. I think him and Chris's chemistry has been great out there. They're working really well off each other. And I think that's gonna be something that teams are struggling with. Because even if, all right, say they try to key on Steph and they wanna take him away, Chris still can get to his stuff. And I think that's a different look than we had. So I think Chris will be really good for us. He'll be really good for a lot of guys. That's who he's been his whole career. He's made everyone he's playing with better and I don't see that stopping now. I see it happening now.
Draymond’s health
What do you think the chances are for you to be on the court on Tuesday?
You know me, I don't hardly trust anyone. And then once I trust you, you got my trust. And that's where I am with Rick and his staff. I 100% follow their guidance. If they say, "Yo, are you tired?" Yeah, I'm tired. We think you can go a little more, I'm gonna go more. You know, if they say, "Yo, we think this needs to be a day off, as much as the competitive juices could be flowing. And I don't mean a day off in the game. through my rehab process. You go through the rehab process and for me, every day you come in here, I'm attacking it like I'm attacking a game. That's how you gotta attack rehab. And so you come in, you get your competitive juices flowing, and you're ready to go. And they're like, yeah, we think you're a little overloaded. We need you to relax today and come back stronger tomorrow. We'll have a big day tomorrow. I follow that….
So in saying that, I do feel good. I don't feel all the way 100% myself, but I'm getting there. And to be three and a half weeks or so removed, I'll take it. As far as Tuesday goes, I don't know. I think what they're saying is we'll see kind of how I come out of today, which was a big day, my biggest day yet. As far as pre-practice and practice and after practice work and lift, and I did a ton today. So just see how the body recovered now with that much, and then we'll kind of figure it out from there. But like I said, I 100% follow their guidance. They have all the data. They got the trained eyes watching me move and kind of picking out things. You're not stepping here, you're not doing that. So I trust them. And if I'm able to play on Tuesday, I'll be ready to go. And if not, I don't think it'll be much longer after that if not. But right now we'll see, it's up in the air, depending on how I come out of today and figure it out over this next year or so. And it's game one of 82.
My Western conference power rankings:
1. Denver
2. Suns
3. Clippers
4. Golden State
5. Lakers
6. Mavs
7. Thunder
8. Kings
9. Grizzlies
10. Pelicans
11. Wolves
12. Jazz
13. Spurs
14. Blazers
15. Rockets
A new NBA season is finally upon us.
My predictions for Western Conference standings (I've done this 2 years in a row, in my memory as I can't seem to find my comment - I was fairly accurate 2 years ago and not very accurate at all last year lol but IIRC I've nailed the last 2 Warriors picks at 3 and 6 so I'm continuing with it):
1. Denver: Obvious - Jokic is the best player in the world and he's basically always healthy (well, in a modern NBA sense I suppose). MPJ and Murray should be better compared to their previous regular season, though the lack of depth is a bit worrying. But still, they're way too strong for the rest of the west imo.
2. Pheonix: Controversial? Probably. This feels a little too high for them. If Ja wasn't suspended for his Ja-ness, Memphis would probably be here. But alas. KD is gonna miss some games, Nurkic is probably gonna miss games, but I believe in the rest of their team (and IIRC Booker has been historically fairly healthy?). And I actually like their FA pickups quite a lot (Yuta, Bates-Diop, Gordon). Their defense is gonna be problematic, but they have possibly the best defensive coach in the league in Vogel and in the regular season, their offense might just blow away other teams regardless (I think the defense is gonna come back and haunt them in the playoffs though). This one has obvious bust potential though - top heavy teams are obviously fragile when it comes to injuries.
3. Memphis: They're just a regular season machine. Their core is young and should be better, and Smart and JJJ on the same team is gonna cause havoc defensively. I also trust that Bane's gonna successfully take on more of a creation load so Ja's absence wouldn't be as big a deal. However, the Adams news (along with the Clarke news) is a real gut punch. I do trust in JJJ, Aldama and Tillman though. However, I'd be lying if my confidence for their regular season placement hasn't taken a substantial dive post the Adams news.
4. Lakers: They're fairly deep and they have a great defensive core. On offense, LBJ is the guy but he'll miss games. That'll hurt, but AD/Reaves/Vincent/D'Lo should be able to hold down the fort enough for their defense to win them enough games. They're obviously a better team than the Grizzlies at 100% though, so the reason they're down at 4 is because I'm expecting AD/LBJ to miss time.
5. Warriors: As always, we're a very fragile team due to the uniqueness of Steph/Draymond and how much we depend upon them. Paul might decrease our dependence on Steph a teensy tiny bit, but I think our defense sure as hell needs Draymond operating at somewhere near full capacity. Still, I like our depth a lot. We could finish as high as #2 I think if stuff falls correctly (injuries, player progression from Moody + Kuminga), but I think for an old team like ours it makes more sense to be somewhat conservative with injuries + general travel/rigor of a regular season. Dangerous as hell in the playoffs though (although I doubt we have the adaptability + consistency to win 4 playoff series consecutively in 2024).
6. Clippers: As happens every year, I've no idea where to place them. On talent they're obviously higher, but the if healthy question looms almost monstrously large for them. So I'm placing them here. Could be way off. Who can tell with Kawhi/PG? And who can tell whether they'll get Harden (if nothing, he'll definitely improve them in the regular season at least).
7. OKC: This is very bullish, but I'm a believer. Shai is a superstar, Giddey/JDub are good and really improving, and I loooooooove Chet. He's going to be so good and pretty much exactly what they need. + they have everything to prove and Daigneault is a great coach (RS perspective at least - we'll see in the playoffs).
8. Minnesota Timberwolves: Hmm, this one was difficult. But I had to go with Minny at #8. I think Ant's going to be really good, and McDaniels + Gobert is a hell of a defensive core. KAT's somewhat of a wild card in here, and I think long-term the very very obvious trade is to move him (if they did that, I'd probably be higher on their chances in here if they got back decent talent). But still, Conley and KAT are gonna make the offense hum a little. They have significant upward potential as well, depending on how McDaniels and Ant look this year.
9. Sacramento: Almost seems heretical with how good they looked last year in the regular season + the playoffs, but I think a lot of things went really right for them last year. Their rotation was fully healthy basically to a degree that is very uncommon, and Fox was ultra clutch which is unsustainable probably. The obvious counter-argument is that Keegan Murray is gonna be significantly better, but I just think there's better teams in the west this year. This conference is truly a gauntlet compared to the cakewalk that is the East (well, until the ECF at least).
10. Dallas Mavs: Luka + Kyrie is all I got. If they had a coach I considered top 25, they probably would be #6. But they don't so they languish here. They have Luka, which means a higher finish is obviously possible. But any situation with Kyrie has a lot of bust potential as well.
11. New Orleans Pelicans: This is basically me dinging them for health - Trey Murphy is going to miss the start of the season and he's essential to making their roster work. + Nance has injury questions. And of course, I'm assuming Zion misses a lot of time. If Zion is healthy, they're possibly (probably?) making top 6. But I'm not betting on that if.
12. Houston Rockets: I like their summer - Vanvleet + Brooks + Jeff Green gives them some adults (well, at least 2 of those guys lol) which they desperately needed. I'm expecting substantial growth from Jabari and Sengun as well, and Udoka is a really good coach. And they got rid of KPJ which I think makes them quite a bit better imo.
13. Utah Jazz: I think they'll probably lean towards tanking near the end of the season which is why I have them below Houston. Their roster is fine, and Kessler, Collins, Olynyk and Lauri is a really good frontcourt rotation. But their guards and more importantly their wings just aren't good enough for them to do too much this year.
14. Spurs: They'll have Wemby, but I think he'll be doing a lot of offensive exploration this year. Vassell is always someone I quite like, and the other guys like Keldon and Sochan are fun. But I don't see how they score enough. Obviously Wemby might take them to a higher seed all on his own, but I'm expecting him to have merely an excellent rookie year rather than an earth-shatteringly good one.
15. Portland: Obvious #15 pick. They'll be super fun, but I expect them to trade away guys like Brogdon and maybe even Grant in the trade deadline. And while I love their young guards (Scoot, Simons - Sharpe also exists I suppose), they're not exactly guys that lead to winning just yet (far from it). So fun watch, but bad.