Warriors/Raptors Postgame, Steph, Klay, TJD, Coach Kerr Reactions | Jan 7, 2024

Warriors/Raptors Postgame, Steph, Klay, TJD, Coach Kerr Reactions | Jan 7, 2024

Got punched in the mouth right away um just uh they just took it to us they they um had Barnes on Steph and then we had the Cross Match and he just ran to the front of the rim um over and over again and and they just threw it

Basically threw the ball in transition and got a bunch of easy buckets early I think I took two timeouts in the first five or six minutes and um tried to to stem the tide um so it was a was an ugly really ugly first half I was um happy

With the way the the guys competed in the second half we got it to nine with the ball I think we had a three to get it to six um second half our guys really competed uh but we were too far behind to to Really um you know make the make

The full run Steve you started kaminga and Wiggins together but then moved away from that combination in the second half so what was the decision- making in starting with those two together but then not going back to it to start the second well you know we’ve talked about

Uh trying to get them together um you know theoretically um our two longest most athletic U players so um we have not been a good defensive team this year so we’ve wanted to to try it um it hasn’t you know connected really it hasn’t been good for uh all season but

We’re we’re experimenting you know we’ve um Gary out Draymond out we’re trying to find a a two-way lineup that can help us but um obviously the um you know that lineup didn’t click what uh you know she kind of mentioned it but you know you went to a different

Lineup to start the second half that did kind of Click what was I guess the theory behind that lineup and then what did you think really well I didn’t want to go back to the same lineup and and uh so you know I just the only thing I was

Interested in in the second half was just competing and um you know what what that mean you can say compete but you know what is do that mean um it means talking on defense um I didn’t hear anything he was silent in the first half

And so um we needed to have uh you know some talk some chatter some connection and uh so I went with that lineup because I felt like um they would give us that and they did they got us off to a good start and as I said we made a

Made a pretty good run in the third but um obviously wasn’t enough I think we we’ve asked you about this a couple times so far but how much has the lineup experimentation sort of um hinder you or hinder Communication in games like this hinder hinder hinder the

Way that you guys are communicating or or the connection or chemistry that you guys have in a game like this well you know I mean there there’s a reason I stayed with that uh first five for 25 games or so because it’s it’s really hard to uh to find uh combinations that

That click and um I felt great coming into the season about that lineup it’s the best lineup in the league last two years and then coming off the bench with Chris sario and some of our younger players with those guys it it looked on paper like that was going to be the way

We would go and uh you know once we went away from that first group which we had to based on suspensions and injuries and and you know poor play um we’ve been kind of in search mode um ever since and uh so we’re we’re still searching what did you think of trac’s

Aggressiveness in the third quarter he had about a three minute span where he had four points six rebounds one block in a tough game he that stick tutiven yeah Trace is um he’s a good young player you know um he’s very consistent every night um you know he’s in the

Right spots he’s protecting the rim he’s scoring around the rim um so he’s uh you know he was a bright spot tonight one of the one of the few bright spots you mentioned in the first half you didn’t hear much communicating it was very quiet was it just one of those nights

For them or is it concerning to you this point in the season and you’re still seeing stuff like that well I wouldn’t say we’re still seeing like that stuff like that I would say that’s the first time we’ve seen that all year um I know we’ve lost uh some games that we should

Have won five or six of them probably that we had down the stretch and let slip away um but this is the first time I’ve seen this all season um and I suspect it it’ll be the last too I I know our team I know our guys are

Competitors and uh they were embarrassed tonight um and um but as I said that’s um that’s the first time I’ve seen that um normally in an 82 Game season you do get a couple of them um but um you know we have to to bounce back and make sure

It doesn’t happen again when Steph has an off night like he does do you look at it as like what the defense did to him that he’s couldn’t play as much off ball given that Chris and Draymond are out or is he tired like what do you look at or

Point to to to kind of make reason for when he struggles like I mean you know 80 82 games everyone is going to have uh nights where shots don’t go down um and we can watch the tape and you know probably theorize a bunch of stuff um

But you know it doesn’t doesn’t matter it’s just you know it’s um we we just learn from uh the tape and learn from our lineups and see if we want to try something different um and go from there thanks Moses what’s the how would you describe the feeling after a game like this

Whether you know you and just in the locker room um coach came in said made a point just saying that uh this is our first one of these type of games to where uh he just wasn’t there I mean we fought we played hard in the second half they had

A big stretch in the second quarter and it was hard to bounce back from we show fight we play we tried to play through it and everything but it was our first one and you know throughout the NBA season you going to have some of those

Days most you were out of the rotation for three games and came back last game what was that like for you and and what was it like for you to snap back into the mode that you were in today um it’s part of it you know um

Since I’ve been in the NBA it’s been you know um just part of the journey um it’s something it’s you could say challenging to do but you know everything uh depending on perspective has a certain look to it you know that’s just a time that you can work uh without the stress

On your body of playing the NBA game you know you can um put the work in behind the scenes and make sure you’re ready whenever it comes Mo what do you think is your best Pathway to sticking into rotation like in terms of what you bring out there on the court um

Like uh a lot of the stuff that has happened um like I mean coach they they told me that a lot of it is like out of my control they say like I’ve been even when when it first happened it say I was doing all the right stuff playing good

But uh circumstances and situation things that I can’t control so uh obviously taking a self-conscious route I mean there’s obviously something you can do better always something I could do better to control but uh I mean I feel like i’ been in a good Rhythm been

In a good flow all season so I don’t want to try to change things up just because the Situation’s changed so just uh sticking into the key things that I remember during the game that keep it solid keep it steady it cool great thank you appreciate that

How would you describe just the the vibe after a game like this and just you know you personally and also just in the locker room in general um obviously guys are upset um we didn’t play up to our capabilities to start the game um I think we settled in when the

Second half started but it was a little bit too late but um yeah um guys are upset um obviously we we were better team than that and we should have played better than that but um at the end of the day um we got to move on to the next

Game see what we did wrong fix it and then move on Trace do you think it was one of those nights where you guys just didn’t have it or do you think you guys just didn’t come out with the energy required to win an NBA basketball game um I

Wouldn’t say that we didn’t have it because I felt like in the second half we definitely put some a little run together um but at the same time um yeah coach told us after the game this is really the first time where we really just got punched in the mouth and real

Like goose egg I would say but um at the end of the day we just got to learn from it um fix our mistakes and move forward what do you feel like is you know the biggest reason this team should continue to have optimism right now and is

Draymond’s return a big part of that um yeah Draymond is going to be a huge piece for us especially on the defensive end of the floor I feel like he’s one of the connectors he really he’s a huge talker even when he was out there on the

Sidelines just talking to us telling us what we should do our halftime adjustments who Shard who to start the second half which sparked one of our runs um he’s just huge he’s a huge guy in the locker room and he’s much needed on our team Trace from your perspective where

Are the breakdowns coming for from on your defense is it because Steve there’s constant changing of the rotations and guys aren’t really jelling or maybe not jelling but just cohesive enough with each other yet where do you see the breakdowns coming um I don’t think it’s anything to do with that because every

Night it’s a different lineup that’s doing very well for us so it’s not necessarily the same lineup every time that plays well and so I I don’t think it was that but I do think that um our transition defense is something that needs to get better and that’s something

That we’ve been harping on since the Dallas game and so um transition defense they got early post-ups with Scotty Barnes and seak and we got to stop that all right Co clay do you think it was just one of those nights where you guys didn’t have

It or are you concerned with kind of the energy level that you guys came out with I think it was just one of those nights I think we haven’t been blown out like that all year and just one of those nights where we tried to muster up the

Energy especially in that third made a nice run but uh just got nothing to flow and just ugly loss clay at this point what’s kind of the thing that you’re clinging to that gives you optimism going forward to the season um we got Steph Curry got myself Draymond Green’s coming

Back Chris Paul will be back uh we have Champions on the roster and uh I will never Panic like I said with uh I really believe in this team and and um still have a ton of basketball left and like what what’s the point of panicking like we’ve been

Through incredible highs and some low lows with this team so there’s no point in just pointing fingers all you can do is keep working and uh believe and I certainly do believe what was it like having Draymond back today it was great we missed him dearly and we’ll never be the same until

He’s in the lineup but we uh are eager for his return on the court and he is obviously the backbone of this team and heart and soul so looking forward to just playing being out there with Draymond again and uh yeah hope be a Difference

Maker clay what do you is is is the various different lineups tough to find chemistry on the court I don’t think so I think uh we all professionals and uh we just got to give our best and we’re still you know things will great things will happen when we do

That is that it cool oh nice good day what do you think happened in that really in that first half overall it a tough start uh we had a weird turnover that set the tone really um and then you know every time they got a stop they kind of ran

It right back at us took advantage of some the know the size advantage and then it becomes a game where you’re chasing right out the gate so got punked from from from the jump not the way that you want to come out um yeah it was a rough

One Steph it’s never always sunflowers and Roses in the NBA all the time and I know you said the other day that you know you haven’t lost hope in this team but how concerned are you at this point in the season that you guys haven’t really been able to find that

Consistency um from day to day the concern level grows is you know more nights like tonight that you have and you know tough losses obviously I got to play better and be more efficient find a way to get going early and give us some life um my

Nature when you know things get hard is look at what you can do better so it’s I’m going stay there and and respond the way I know how to do I know um you know the way has been playing it’s been great and he gave us everything he had tonight

To even you know give us a chance in that third quarter um we mixing up some lineups that it’s the challenge for us like we say is to find chemistry and to find an identity as fast as possible uh with just the hand that we’ve been dealt this year

And you know we failed that test tonight so that doesn’t mean Wednesday you don’t show show up with the the right mentality and the right confidence and the the right approach to to bounce back and then you got to do it again so uh I don’t want to be the broken record up

Here but that’s that’s the challenge for us uh what was it like to have Draymond back in the building and and back on the bench and how much do you think that he can his imminent return will will help some of the chemistry issues it’s great to have him back

Like uh he missed his presence and uh he talked a little bit during the timeouts a little bit of halftime um trying to give us what he had I know he’s going to put some work in this week and hopefully get back sooner sooner than later chemistry piece is when he’s

Out there like we’ve we know what he brings on both ends of the floor um there is definitely a familiarity and a confidence that he you know he brings when he’s out there doesn’t necessarily guarantee success we have to continue to address the issues

That we have as a team um to find that consistency and but you hope that he’ll help for sure you guys tried that the Wiggins incoming get together in the starting lineup obviously didn’t work tonight why do you think that combination or combinations that include them just haven’t really worked this

Year I don’t know the specific numbers but tonight was one of those that just I don’t know they uh everything that they bring from athleticism and energy uh we just didn’t it didn’t produce anything for us especially like like our transition defense was the problem in that first you know six

Minutes they had I think I’m not mistaken 20 something points in the paint in the first quarter and it was all easy layups off of mismatches um and then you’re you’re not able to get out and run and transition yourself self because you know you’re taking the ball out of the basket and

That’s where they flourish you know the most in the open floor so it was just a a bad combination of performance on both ends but um I don’t know the challenge for both of them is we we need them to play well and to uh produce because they give us so much

That from an athletic perspective and the size especially at the wing so uh we got to keep addressing or tweaking things uh whether it’s play calling whether it’s just a mindset thing um and try to figure it out Steph if you don’t mind a g a question it’s not directly related to

The game but uh I was talking to Emanuel quickley and he was saying how you know you’ve been he you’ve been some he’s really kind of modeled his game after and I’m wondering uh if you’re kind of how it feels to know that there’s so many young guards who kind of share your

Size sh share some of your some of your skills that are kind of you know youve influence coming up in in the league these days it’s it’s amazing um speaks to how long I’ve been around but and how uh you know you’re playing against guys that watch you you know throughout the

Years and to your point taking uh bits and pieces of what I do and try to add it to their game uh he’s got so much potential in this league I know the change of scenery can be fresh for him and he’s got a nice responsibility as a starting point guard

Now and uh I talked to him once or twice over the last couple years gave him some words of wisdom um he’s been pretty proactive to reach out and uh that’s pretty it’s been dope so overall like big picture is cool but I want to slow the Young Bucks

Down and hold my position as long as I can thank you uh yeah also kind of unrelated to this game Tara Vander Vander I’m sorry she won her 12,000th game uh tonight uh three away from coach kave for the most wins in cop I about to say how long she

Been coting on I’m sorry 12,000 not 12200 my pilot you got I know what you’re saying 1 12200 not sorry dyslexic over here anyway just you know you’ve been here in the bay watching her coach for a while now just how special is that uh that Milestone and her

Eminent kind of record that she’s chasing down with Coach K absolutely amazing uh she’s a legend icon what that program means for women’s basketball what means for basketball in general um it’s cool to have family member that’s you know I got to see it up close and personal more than I did

Before with Cam there so been the games talked to her got to know her a little bit um um she’s just a she’s a hoop head like cam was talking about how much film she watches and how hard she works even with all that success that she’s had and

Amount of win so pretty uh pretty amazing Milestone and when she hopefully surpasses the all time uh hope she gets her flowers and then she’s been getting them year after year but uh that’s something that’s a that’s a record that needs to be acknowledged right cool thank you practice

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