Warriors-Grizzlies morning shootaround: Looney & Nico on stepping up in absences of Curry, Wiseman, Paschall
Grinding it out vs Jonas Valanciunas & Ja Morant
Here are notes & quotes from Warriors-Grizzlies morning shootaround in Memphis with Kevon Looney and Nico Mannion. This occurred before the first official NBA injury report for the day came out at 10:30AM PDT, which listed James Wiseman and Eric Paschall out (per NBA COVID contact tracing protocols, as previously reported), Stephen Curry and Kelly Oubre both were still listed as “doubtful”. Yesterday evening, Steve Kerr (not required to speak at morning shootarounds) told 95.7 The Game that Curry is unlikely to play both games in Memphis:
Our first YouTube video, clickable at the top of this article, is on the challenge of facing the Grizzlies with those absences. Please check back later for more. I’m also going to be doing a video on a Marquese Chriss update, but will first need to get the requisite Steve Kerr’s input from pregame availability, so look for that later on our YouTube channel.
LOONEY:
- bigs out: need to step up
- Steph out: “playing defense, grinding things out…gotta take on that challenge.”
- JV: “keep him off the glass”
- men’s vs women’s NCAA weight rooms (Sedona Prince video): “shame that there’s still a big difference like that…should get the same amount of perks.”
- Chriss: “always in good spirits…sees a lot of things…different type of finishes…making progress.”
NICO:
- Steph out: “I try to be ready every game.”
- men’s vs women’s NCAA weight rooms: “I don’t think it’s fair personally…the women had a lot of space…needs to be equally.”
- “I think Arizona handles it very well…share gym time…pretty equal for both teams.”
- bracket: “I have not yet, I need to.”
- Ja: “every night for me is just a new challenge…ultra athletic electric guard…Grayson Allen…not being too hard on myself.”
- different type of opponent: “it’s honestly really fun…not getting comfortable…every team nowadays has someone of all-star caliber.”
- learned while playing with Steph: “professionalism…some detailed stuff…shows up every day…being there one hour early before we had to leave for the flight.”
- return from bubble: “I feel more comfortable more confident.”
- Chriss: “like a big brother to me, helping me…role model…doesn’t really let that show…good energy…being sad or being mad is not gonna speed up my recovery…
- example of Chriss: “Just getting around the city…by myself a lot, he’ll come over to my place…I was trying to take care of him…bringing food..”
- potential? “I try not to put a limit on those things…haven’t played well…two months ago I wasn’t even getting into the game…slowly grow that role.”
- Poole: “I just think he got comfortable, the way he’s playing right now is just who he is…I’m super happy for him.”
- Wiseman/Paschall: “group chat there was a couple things just joking around…James had COVID earlier in the year and still has contact tracing.”
/end