#GSWJournal: Sights, Sounds, Links From Warriors Practice – Festus Ezeli Likes Blocking Shots

WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — The Golden State Warriors held practice yesterday before jetting off to San Diego to face the Los Angeles Lakers for the Warriors’ fifth preseason game.

[CLICK ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARROWS ABOVE FOR THE PHOTO GALLERY SLIDESHOW]

There will be two more after that, both in the city of Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers again, respectively, before heading back for the home- and season-opener at Oracle on Tuesday, October 27th, versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

With center Andrew Bogut sidelined with a broken nose from Thursday night’s home win against the Houston Rockets, interim head coach Luke Walton said, “We’re leaning towards starting Festus (Ezeli) tomorrow night.”

Warriors PR also announced that Jarell Eddie had suffered a sprained ankle and Klay Thompson left for the Bahamas to attend a family funeral along with his father, Lakers color commentator Mychal Thompson. Both Eddie and Thompson would not make the flight to San Diego.

Furthermore, small forward Harrison Barnes was ruled out with the same sprained right knee that kept him out of the Rockets game. Brandon Rush will get the start again.

As for Ezeli, “Our biggest thing is we just want him to be a monster on the defensive end and control the paint for us,” said Walton:

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Here’s the full video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjO5O_xYMc8&w=560&h=315]

Ezeli looked forward to the challenge and, when asked if he prefers dunks or blocks, said, “Every time I block a shot I like talking a little smack, so I like blocking shots.”

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He had 5 blocked shots the other night against the Rockets.

Here’s the full video of his interview, where he talked about his relationship with Andrew Bogut and admitted that he’s the most made-fun of on the team, especially about how old he looks, his “soccer age”:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU0mxaSbTQE&w=560&h=315]

Ezeli is continuing his progress with offense, working with assistant coach Ron Adams, as usual:

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Meanwhile, although ruled out for the next game, Barnes looked, for the most part, healthy:

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And Stephen Curry, of course, looked like Stephen Curry:

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Walton also touched on other topics, such as Marreese Speights shooting more threes…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC7elhC_Has&w=560&h=315]

…and his philosophies on the Triangle:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muParx28U3M&w=560&h=315] [CLICK ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT ARROWS ABOVE FOR THE PHOTO GALLERY SLIDESHOW]

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(All photos courtesy @poormanscommish)