WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — As of Saturday, 5/2/2015, the Golden State Warriors will have accrued seven days’ worth of rest since they ousted the New Orleans Pelicans from Round 1 of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.
To recap the week, they had Sunday 4/26 off, then practiced on Monday 4/27, scrimmaged on Tuesday 4/28, had another day off on Wednesday 4/29, practiced again on Thursday 4/30, and scrimmaged hard for a second time yesterday, Friday 5/1.
On Tuesday, media entered the gym with both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green playfully jawing at each other.
Media presence was “medium-heavy” for the second practice after advancing past the Pelicans. The newcomers were Marc Stein of ESPN, CSN Bay Area crew other than beatwriter and in-game analyst Monte Poole, and a few other local TV stations such as KTVU, KPIX, and KGO.
Media scrum with Andre Iguodala while Klay Thompson gets the 1on1 TV interview on CSN Bay Area. #Warriors pic.twitter.com/z3Nd6E37Yi
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) April 28, 2015
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CSN had an exclusive sit-down with Klay Thompson while the scrum with Andre Iguodala was going on.
Here are some highlights from the media scrums:
- Veteran reporter Lowell Cohn of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat opened with a “no-no” question to head coach Steve Kerr about matching any offer that Green, who becomes a restricted free agent on July 1st, gets during free agency — to which Kerr gave the standard I’ll-get-fined-if-I-comment-on-that answer. But Cohn was really looking for a leader to his story about the Warriors’ thin championship window. Here’s an excerpt:
Spoke to a retired player early this season — when Lee was hurt and not playing and Green took his spot, as a substitute, we thought. This former player told me the Warriors would cede Lee his spot when he got well. “They play the guy with the big contract,” he told me. “It’s how the league works.”
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Maybe it’s how the league works. It’s not how Kerr works. He saw Green “grab” Lee’s position. “Grab” is Kerr’s words. The hell with the big contract. Good coach, that Steve Kerr.
- Iguodala was asked about the Blazers-Grizzlies series and said that Memphis imposed their will, then applied that to the Warriors, saying that this team had the right combination of both talent and mental toughness.
Dieter Kurtenbach of KNBR expanded on the concept:
The Warriors can batter and bruise with the best of them and were the best defensive team in the NBA, and the Grizzlies can go small…
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But there’s an underlying truth to that initial hypothesis because when both teams are playing at their best, they’re playing dissimilar basketball. That creates conflict and winning that conflict is the key to winning the series.
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And that requires a truly unquantifiable skill — willpower.
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“At the end of the day, you have to be who you are and the best at who you are in order to win,” Andre Iguodala said. “It’s a battle of wills.You can’t change who you are in the playoffs. You have to force your will upon other teams.”
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..the real story of this second-round series is who can exert their will on the opposing team. Can the Warriors speed the Grizzlies up? Can the Grizzlies slow the Warriors down?
- Stephen Curry was asked about and gave some high praise to Andrew Bogut, both on the offensive and defensive ends.
- Speaking of Bogut, the big man from “Down Under” apparently signed an endorsement deal with watchmaker Bausele, which gave away free watches to the Warriors. Curry did not receive one, as he missed practice on Monday due to a personal issue, and remarked that he had broken “Rule Number One: Don’t miss the day when they’re giving away free gifts.”
- Curry described how the scrimmages were important during their time off: “In that time that you’re playing (in the scrimmages), you can’t go thru the motions because bad habits can come up when the game actually comes and the lights are on.”
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle had the full report on Tuesday’s intra-squad scrimmages.
- Thursday’s scrums revolved mostly around the game-planning for the Grizzlies. The main topic of discussion was the status of point guard Mike Conley. The Warriors said they were preparing for Memphis as if he were going to play.
- Friday’s scrums revolved mostly around general manager Bob Myers‘ winning the Executive Of The Year award.
Finally, perhaps most interesting to #DubNation, Curry’s prowess with the three-pointer was on full display the last two practices, but on Tuesday he also showed off his hops. More on this later, though!
(Photo: @letsgowarriors)
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