Warriors-Lakers pregame w/ Kerr: Oubre/Wiggins interchangeability; rebounding/Wiseman; LeBron x Steph
Curry cross-courts; Klay 2019 G6; HOF; Jared Dudley
Here are notes & quotes from Warriors-Lakers pregame with Steve Kerr. Sorry, I missed the Frank Vogel pregame as I was too locked in on processing and uploading leftover video from last night’s postgame.
Please check our YouTube channel (the first pregame one is above 👆 and clickable) for more visuals as they come out. Hitting the “subscribe” button on the channel plus the notification bell 🛎 will alert you the moment we upload something, plus the YouTube mobile app is severely underrated — it allows us to post their own version of Instagram Stories and we try and post as many highlights on there as we can. Imo, the YouTube app is really the one app I would need if stuck on a deserted island, needing my Warriors fix.
Here’s Kerr on the NBA having a 4-point line: “gimmicky…I’m old school”; then deflects Hall of Fame talk: “love to have your vote.”
Also, we do a livestream commentary every game, so if you’re sick and tired of the same old same old from ESPN, please check us out as we offer our own insider analysis as plays happen, plus hot takes, what I heard from whom at Q&As, and the extra bonus is that we don’t have any commercials. So hopefully you can check out our 2nd screen. It’ll be the latest video when you go to our YouTube channel during the game.
KERR:
- starters: same
- Poole averaging 19 ppg: “he’s just more confident, got into a rhythm…it’s his second year…progression.”
- Steph passing: “he gets blitzed so often…getting the ball out of the traps…how many passes has he made that leads to a Draymond assist?…the assists don’t even begin to tell the story.”
- Steph cross court passes: “They’ve always been a part of his repertoire…he’s always been a risk-taker…nobody ever taught me to make those passes…at this level with the kind of pressure the defenses put on you…I sort of had to live with some of Steph’s one-handed cross court stuff.”
- Nico/Wiseman/Poole chemistry: “become good friends (Nico and JP)…natural connection, you got two good playmaking guards…center who’s got incredible catch radius…we’re throwing them into the deep end a little bit…get Nico and Jordan out there right after their Orlando experience…good condition because they were playing 30-35 minutes…I did think about holding them off, then I thought let’s just do it (vs elite teams).”
- 2nd unit with Wiggins: “came about because of foul trouble…Andrew picked up his 4th so we had to take him out mid-3rd…I felt comfortable doing.”
- Klay 2019 G6: “he came to the huddle and I said after your FTs we’re gonna take a foul…he said okay but I’ll be back in about two minutes…that’s gotta hurt, I tore mine in college, mine was very painful…he was ready to go with a torn ACL.”
- Steph x LeBron: “great respect for each other…I think they would play well together…I’m sure they were both looking forward to that.”
- switching Kelly and Andrew at will: “those are the kind of players you have to have these days…we’d have no chance of guarding LeBron…we lost all our wings a couple years ago (2019)…load up on big, athletic wings…they’re great to coach…when they set a tone (vs UTA), it sort of takes us over the top.”
- no fans: “I’m kept abreast of any dynamics like that so we are hopeful that we’ll have some fans in the building…even if it’s 2500 fans the energy is entirely different…it was awesome (at Knicks MSG)…energy that was really fun to feel…good reminder to all of us just how important the fans are…games are more competitive.”
- Jared Dudley: “actually traded for Jared when I was GM of the Suns…right place at the right time…what I didn’t know is he’s one of the funniest people…intelligence…sense of joy/humor…that can extend your career by years.”
- NBA 4-point line? “I think it would be gimmicky, it’s not something I would advocate for. It wouldn’t shock me, though…the league has been very very offensive-minded.”
- why not? “I’m old school Steve…the 3pt line already skews…understand there’s no going back…still believe in penetration and getting the ball close to the hoop. I don’t want that go out of style.”
- rebounding? “It’s an area where we’re gonna struggle at times. As James continues to grow and learn, he’s gonna help us…he showed much better rebounding awareness (vs LAC)…he’s probably our best hope…we can’t just concede, we’ve gotta continue to harp on it and insist everybody on boxing out.”
- no Gasol, rebounding: “he’s so smart…passer from the top of the key…they’ll miss him for sure, Davis being out…game they played against us…were expecting that same type of effort…they’re still potent…it’s an important game for us…gotta try to string together some wins.”
- Kerr HOF? “I appreciate the question and if you’re on the committee I would love to have your vote, so thank you.”
/end