WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — Media covering the Golden State Warriors‘ 2015 playoff run were in full force yesterday…
The media scrum around Stephen Curry today #Warriors pic.twitter.com/rvPHelfcvz
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) May 18, 2015
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…here are some sights and sounds.
We entered the gym to see head coach Steve Kerr and associate head coach Alvin Gentry — who incidentally had met with New Orleans Pelicans representatives the night before about their head coaching vacancy — discussing a few things in the middle of the practice facility.
Back at #Warriors HQ where Kerr and Alvin Gentry discuss strategy. I'll be reporting at @LetsGoWarriors… pic.twitter.com/buQasVcs1i
— Poor Man's Commish (@poormanscommish) May 18, 2015
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One member of #DubNation joked that Gentry was probably sizing up James Harden‘s beard.
All the Warriors players were busy shooting around:
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…including Festus Ezeli continuing his offensive drills with assistant coach Ron Adams, as we’ve seen on many an occasion after practice.
Point guard Stephen Curry spiced things up a little, add a few high-arcing “shots” to his routine. He doesn’t normally practice these, and we didn’t see him make any:
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Kerr
Coach Kerr got started first, as is the custom here, and went straight into the discussion about Western Conference opponents the Houston Rockets. Kerr was asked if the team might be over-confident heading into this series, after dispatching the Memphis Grizzlies in impressive fashion.
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The 4-0 sweep of the Rockets by the Warriors during the regular season also seemed to be irrelevant to the team. “The regular season, that’s a long time ago,” said Kerr.
Kerr was also asked about the three-point shooting style of the remaining teams in contention for the NBA Finals, which Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area covered:
“To me, you have to have a combination of 3-point shooting and great defense. And that’s been the formula the last few years. All those teams defended really well, made threes. You’ve got to be healthy and you’ve got to be clicking and playing well, but the three is a huge part of the game.”
Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group also covered some of that.
The unique matchup between MVP Curry and runner-up Harden also came up and Kerr said of Curry’s unique abilities, “It’s getting the space to make shots…Most shooters need somebody else to create the space for them.”
Finally, Kerr was also asked about the “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy and so was Andrew Bogut, who began his interviews shortly after Kerr’s, which split up the media group into two.
Bogut
Bogut was asked about defending MVP runner-up Harden. As we covered in November, Bogut said, “He does a great job swinging his arms trying to create contact.”
As far as the “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy, Bogut said, “Teams that do that are scared of something.” San Francisco Chronicle reporter Rusty Simmons had the story on Kerr’s probable reluctance to employ that tactic against the Rockets.
Draymond
A third interview scrum broke off as Draymond Green began fielding questions on the sideline of the far court. Usually, there are only at most two interviews going on, and often one after the other instead of simultaneously.
Green was asked a variety of questions, but what stood out was his deflecting any type of potential trash talk, which Matt Moore of CBS Sports covered thoroughly, although Green did get in a small jab against the Los Angeles Clippers, sort of:
[facebook url=”https://www.facebook.com/LetsGoWarriors/videos/692534294191779" data-width="466"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https:/” /]Green also reiterated something that Kerr said, that the Warriors had gotten a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card of sorts, after overcoming the 2-1 deficit to the Grizzlies.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25189202/how-the-warriors-defense-looks-at-the-rockets-primary-attack
Klay
Shooting guard Klay Thompson was up next and was asked about guarding Harden, as well as Klay’s stamina running around on the court. Thompson has been charted running an average of 2.7 miles per game, at the time, the most in the NBA.
“I was a great runner since I was a kid,” said Thompson, although when asked if he ran on the cross-country or track teams, he responded flatly, “Absolutely not.”
Sherwood Strauss reported on how the Warriors push the pace and even use technologies like SportVu to help monitor fatigue.
Sideshows
Before and during the wait for Curry, the last to interview, we witnessed a Steph vs assistant coach Luke Walton three-point contest. Curry likes to watch these from the base of the stanchion and Walton did well at the beginning, to the “He’s hot!” yells of Curry, but ultimately lost.
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We spotted Kawakami chatting with Gentry and Kawakami later posted a detailed report on the Kerr’s coaching staff.
#Warriors asst coach Jarron Collins and shooting guard Justin Holiday being interviewed, plus radio pbp guy Tim Roye. pic.twitter.com/UOuGzMLdKr
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) May 18, 2015
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Incidentally, Justin Holiday had quite a sideshow, although it was the day before. He did a between-the-legs slam dunk reminiscent of Vince Carter‘s. Maybe it rubbed on him during the Grizzlies series.
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Steph
Last was Curry. Here are some of the things he touched on:
- Not overlooking the Rockets: “Any team that can win three straight playoff games should never be overlooked.”
- What the team learned from the Rockets’ defeat of the Clippers: “Its a good lesson for us if that situation comes up. To keep our foot on the gas pedal.”
- On the pressures and the moments: “I don’t really think about going out & trying to make some Vine moment or do something crazy.”
Curry also mentioned that he deleted Twitter from his phone (!):
[facebook url=”https://www.facebook.com/LetsGoWarriors/videos/692568790854996" data-width="466"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https:/” /]Poole also got a chance to catch Iguodala one-on-one on how to guard Harden.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account, by @LetsGoWarriors)
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