Preseason 4: GSW vs Sacramento Kings. Plus Steve Kerr on Kuminga's great vibe and Saric lineup experiments. Plus open thread.

Praying for no injuries

Inspirational verse from Steve Kerr’s interview on 95.7 on 2023-10-16:

Kerr on Jonathan Kuminga

He's feeling more comfortable than ever before. He looks more confident. He's shooting the ball well. We have a really good vibe going. I think he's more comfortable in his own skin which makes him more aware of the mistakes he makes and what he's got to clean up and he's embracing coaching more. I just think it's all part of the natural maturity that that's happening with JK….

Coach, that's an interesting comment that JK is accepting coaching more. I don't know how you would phrase what was going on in the playoffs last year. People say it was the doghouse, maybe it was something different, but what can you share with regard to where that journey was then and what has happened to where it is now?

I don't have a doghouse. I really don't. When the playoffs come, I just play the guys who I think are gonna help us win. And last year, that's what I did. You know, we had Gary Payton back. We've got Klay and Steph and Wiggs and Draymond. I mean, we had a lot of guys who were capable of helping us win. And so I chose them and, you know, I didn't feel like JK was ready at that point, frankly. So if I did, I would have played him. So it's pretty simple. So this is all part of every young player's process. It's, you know, going through and growing and learning and then, you know, getting to the point where you've earned that trust from the staff and you understand what makes winning plays. And that's been really fun. I mean, JK and I are really clicking and enjoying each other's company and collaborating every single day. And I think it's all playing out just as it should.

Kerr on Saric lineup experiments

You've mentioned that this week's games might be a bit of a dress rehearsal. If [Draymond Green] won't play these games, what are you planning to do there and how does that affect your rotations?

We want to make sure we're getting a good look at different combinations. We've got a lot of new guys. Last night we looked at Dario at the four a little bit. So Dario played with Loon in the third quarter and he was great. That's a great sign for us that he can stay in front of guys defensively on the perimeter and that because he can stretch the floor and shoot the three, which gives you the spacing you need on the offensive side. But as you guys know, last year we were small an awful lot. And when we went to certain lineups in the playoffs, we didn't have enough size, but if we had gone with the size, we wouldn't have had enough shooting. So we feel like this is a training camp where we're really exploring a lot of lineups, seeing what we have, and we're gonna continue to do that this week.

The dress rehearsals are more about the routine than the lineups, so we'll have a shoot around on Wednesday and Friday. We'll have a full scout where we go through the opponents and walking through their favorite actions and that kind of stuff. So this is the week where you kind of get used to your game day routine, and then you go from there.

---

GAME DETAILS

WHEN: 2023-10-18 7:00 PM Pacific
WHO: Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings
WATCH: NBCSN Bay Area

---