Warriors Charlotte postgame: Draymond crossing the line, took ownership, Steph felt sick
Loss to Hornets “as tough as it gets”
Here’s the postgame notes & quotes from Steve Kerr, Eric Paschall (where something weird happened), Damion Lee and Brad Wanamaker.
KERR
- last two minutes: “There’s a lot to unwind…very difficult call on a loose ball…they get a timeout on…exact same situation…when Brad had the ball at the top of the key…exact same thing happened back to back…we actually had possession…after watching the replay…it’s a loose ball…Draymond can’t do that, he knows that.”
- Draymond say anything? “That’s private.”
- Steph: “just did not feel well at all…saw the Charlotte team doctor…wasn’t feeling good…we all made the decision to not play him.”
- dizziness? “No protocols…Just him feeling sick.”
- throw you guys off without Steph: “took us some time to get our feet on the ground…did everything necessary to win the game…we defended well, we let Rozier off the hook…give him credit.”
- Draymond crossing the line, talk to him again: “As his coach it’s my job to communicate with him and to the team…he crossed the line…doesn’t give him license to cross that line.”
- two techs? “I didn’t have time to ask them all that…how we were gonna plan with the jump ball…we were scrambling just to get Juan in the game.”
- didn’t challenge Oubre getting blocked on dunk: “can’t challenge a non-call.”
- moral victories: “two straight back to back difficult losses…my job to get emotionally ready to play New York…NBA season is filled with a lot of ups and downs.”
- Steph NYK? “Hopefully, we’ll see how he’s feeling.”
- Steph specifics? “No…update tomorrow.”
- locker room mood: “If silence…I would say the mood is down…as tough as it gets…guys played their asses off…I love coaching this team (but) we gotta get better…lazy with our offensive execution kinda walking up the floor…let our guard down, and they got hot…figure out what it means to close games.”
PASCHALL:
Weird thing happened. He said Draymond told the team it was his fault, then when Connor Letourneau tweeted it, said he never said that. I checked my notes, then checked the video; Paschall did say that, so I don’t know he means.
Perhaps Paschall meant Draymond took responsibility for the two technicals? Here’s another postgame tweet:
- last two minutes: “Give credit where’s it due…tough shots”
- surprised timeout to CHA: “same thing…they didn’t give it to us…game of runs, it’s all good, shit happens.”
- Did Draymond say anything? “he said it was his fault, he took ownership…great dude, competitor, so it’s all good, I mean, shit happens in the NBA…can’t ever be mad at that, he wants to win.”
- tough? “Continue to keep fighting…we’re gonna be alright, all the pieces are gonna come together.”
- break needed? “I wouldn’t say all that. We like playing…it’s gonna be good for us because we get a practice in…we’ll learn from it.”
- toughest loss? “It’s up there, tbh I can’t remember every game.”
- losing Steph: “played together, played the right way, all for our chances to make the right shots…still played basketball…we adjusted…we played hard as hell.”
- Steph five seconds before tip? “Literally game time decision.”
DAMION:
- what happened: “to be real, film showed it all…(don’t wanna get fined)…gotta take your lumps.”
- losing Steph: “what is gonna continue to make us great…not necessarily say do something outside of yourself…Brad had a great game, EP…KO…Draymond…Juan…a lot of things didn’t show up on the stat sheet.”
- Draymond: “all of that is internal…one of my vets, he’s a leader…he’s been in this league long enough…I’m always gonna ride with Day Day…it doesn’t matter if I’m a Warrior…that’s my guy.”
- good or bad? “Get things rolling before we go to the ASB.”
- happened again: “these are growing pains…take these learning experiences now while you’re in the regular season…it sucks (but) these are losses that when we get towards the end of the season…put teams away…or climb back.”
- had both experiences, comebacks too: “it’s just basketball, man. Look at the Bucks…lost five in a row…this year is gonna be a funky year.”
WANAMAKER
- hear Kerr call timeout? “I didn’t hear it but he said he called it.”
- heartbreak: “we just gotta learn from…a lot of positive things…playing without Steph was a big adjustment…a lot of people stepped up.”
- Rozier: “Once you find a rhythm and you’re hot it’s hard to stop.”
- another jump ball? “The refs ref the game.”
- Draymond took responsibility: “What happened in the locker room I don’t want to speak on but he’s the leader so I’m just gonna leave it at that.”
- Draymond’s fire: “I love it…keeps us going, fires us up, something we love.”
Warriors will have the day off tomorrow then practice in New York on Monday, then they face the Knicks on Tuesday. Check the pregame notes for the info on Kevon Looney and James Wiseman.
So far Justinian Jessup is shooting 54% from three in Australia through 9 games
Yeah, after missing Kerr's timeout call, taking several minutes to almost fuck up who's even in the jump ball, the blatantly obvious missed foul on Oubre's dunk, and plenty of other things before that, I think it's a very natural reaction for Draymond to be livid with the refs. This was a perfect storm of bad calls to just barely give away the game... TBH, I do think fouls could've been called against us for the hard closeouts on a couple 3-point shots before that, though at least one of those looked like the "high-five" on the follow-through that, by rule, isn't a foul.
Overall I just hope Steph feels better soon, and the team doesn't get too bummed out by the losses. Oubre in particular played really well, the team nearly got it despite everything.