Warriors/Heat Postgame, Steph, Klay, Coach Kerr Reactions | March 26, 2024

Warriors/Heat Postgame, Steph, Klay, Coach Kerr Reactions | March 26, 2024

What sparked the decision to start clay and what do you feel like his presence opened up uh just felt like um get a little more spacing on the floor to start the game and um so um you know it’s it’s not doesn’t necessarily mean you know it’s permanent it just felt

Like tonight that was important and what’s stood out to you obviously from the second half this just able to just turn it up and out scor those two final two periods much better uh level of uh competitive in the second half I thought they outcompeted Us in

The first half and um you know they were making it difficult for us to get the ball across half court uh they were playing really really hard and we didn’t match that and the second half I thought we uh flipped that around I thought wigs is defense on Terry roier second half

Was one of the keys to the game I thought JK uh really did a a great job competing coming up with some rebounds and loose balls and uh and great to have Lon back in the lineup you know Lon represents um a lot of what we’re about you know just

The professionalism and and um staying ready and we’ve missed having him out on the floor and uh it’s great great to see Lon step in and and play well and help us get a win how good was Draymond on on bam uh yeah Draymond was great I mean I

Bam had so many tough Shots tonight um you know all you can can really hope for is to keep him you know away from the hoop and he made um I don’t know it felt like seven or eight turnaround Fade Away jumpers um but Draymond made him work

For everything that he got and um you know I thought that was really key and you know we didn’t have to double so we were able to to guard the three-point line pretty well and uh draymond’s always you know a key to our defense but especially so

Tonight coach you held the heat to I believe 37 points in the second half you mentioned the second half competitiveness being much better but what do you think was a key other than just was it just guys like guarding their yard better or what led to that uh

Just I like I said I think Wiggins set the tone with his defense on on roier and better better ball pressure but also uh better um job of staying in front and not allowing as much penetration as we did in the first half Steve obviously the the record’s better on the road than

It is at home what do you think has been worth to you guys over the years that when you what what do you think it’s been worth to you over the years that when you come into an opposing Arena there’s often a lot of fans for you guys here I mean

You’re one of the few people that get you’re one of the few teams that gets loud cheers in this building what’s what’s that like the collective of that been like for you guys over the years um yeah it’s it’s great I mean you know you

Walk into any Arena um in the league on the road and there’s automatically um you know just um blue and yellow jerseys all over the place you know Steph’s got so many fans across the country and a lot of people cheer for him no matter

Where we are and um you know so that that that part is is nice it’s um I it didn’t work last year so it’s working again this year I yeah I don’t I don’t know why you mentioned their their pressure their ball pressure giving you guys some issues in the first half they

Play a bunch of different variations of Defense it’s all on tape um did that full core pressure catch you guys by surprise I guess and how different is preparing for this team versus other teams yeah I mean we we expected it because that’s what they

Do they you know they play a lot of Zone um I don’t know where their numbers are this year but historically they’re one of the uh the the most um Zone heavy teams in the league and um you know especially when they’re short-handed um I know SPO well um he’s challenging

Those guys to to pick up full to to get into the you know into the ball full court pressure they got a an 8-second violation on us in the first half a couple Steals and and I thought that kept them in the game and and I just

Felt like we matched it much uh much better in the second half we were more aggressive attacking uh the Press another one on Miami’s defense just what’s the challenge of going into a game of preparing for bam defensively like what what’s unique about him well

He’s unique in that he can uh he can push the ball in transition um he’s the fulcrum of their offense you know um they give him the ball and they they start running their off ball actions triple handoffs um but he can also be the lob guy set the high screen and dive

Um and as you saw tonight he can make that that mid-range shot um with ease so he’s a great Player so obviously the second half you guys were able to just turn it up compared to the first what’s stood out to you from that second half uh I think we just ramped up the intensity you know uh they kind of beat us to the loose

Balls in in the first half kind of slowed down our pace and I think we got out and rain in the second half we was able to get stops uh we was lot more physical and I think that changed the game this is a bunch of pretty good

Games in a row for clay just at this time of year how important is that that’s huge for us uh you know he’s a key part to our team and uh know he’s been pretty really really good since probably before Allstar break uh he’s been putting good games together on both

Ends of the Court you know for us to be good and be a special team he got he’s we depend on him and uh he’s been doing a great job and we need him down stretch matching up with bam for a good portion of the game just what what kind of

Problems does he present on both ends uh no we don’t get the match up uh often so uh know it was fun playing against him uh you know know she’s pretty athletic know it’s a great ball handri has a great field and uh he was hitting a lot

Of his mid-ranges today uh that’s pretty tough to stop me he shouldn’t High AR shots and different things like that and defensively you know he’s a one of the best in the league uh you know a guarding protecting real guard on the perimeter uh he’s a pretty Elite so uh

You know he definitely gave us problems definitely in that first half he took us out of our Rhythm a lot in that first half and uh you know he’s a special player for a reason you mentioned the team second half intensity being better uh that included you know holding the

Team to 37 points in the second half including I think 40% from the field overall what was the key to that was it them cooling down or was it a Better Effort from you guys on that end I think it was just a Better Effort uh know us

Respecting their Shooters a little bit more closing out harder uh know just overall just playing with more intensity uh you know they play extremely hard and you know sometimes it’s couldn’t be shocking you know uh when they come out there playing that aggressive and that that greedy and uh once we matched that

Uh we was able to you know play our style and uh and play our Our Winning basketball how how I know B you mentioned bam hitting some mid-rangers but how good was Draymond just in the one-on-one scenarios that mostly allowed you guys to not have to you know help

Too much draym was awesome that’s what we expect from him uh you know going into any match up we never usually play on doubling or even digging that much cuz we know he’s a you know probably one of the best ever and in is is situation

Bam still hit tough shots uh he made him work for it though uh you know uh know draymond’s been one of the best defenders in the league for a reason so uh you know him being able to guard him one-onone was able to made us be able to

Know focus in on their Shooters and uh take them out of their stuff a little bit big picture on this team just where do you think you guys are at and you know considering standings wise you know lack of season left but I guess still a

Path to to do something uh no we uh we got a lot of work to do you know uh we feel like we still got a chance to do something special but you know we got to go out there and prove it none of these games are going to be easy down

The stretch uh we got to go out there and dig dig deep and uh play our style of basketball play winning basketball you know you can’t just have a one good game and then have a l we got to know string together to win so we more than

Capable of doing we don’t show flashes throughout the year uh we just need to be peing at the right time and this is the time what jump shot looking at that box score um i’ say our uh assist to turnover ratio is really good that’s always a great indicator

Of just a good night at the office you’re basically played the same minutes tonight that you had been coming off the bench is it different though starting not really I just try to keep the same approach uh have fun communicate get great looks and uh just yeah those those three

Things I think you have like 50 something made threes this month on 40 this guy’s trying to jinx me something percent um how I know even in this the rougher times this season you felt good shots and and your shot was there but like how good a rhythm do you currently

Feel in uh I feel really good I would like to repeat this performance in Orlando tomorrow night because these games are so crucial obviously and I think it’s just about enjoying this obviously but once we get on that plane and we leave Miami we got to turn the page because uh the

NBA does not wait for you so we got to we got to focus man there land’s playing really good too so we got a big task tomorrow you held the heat to 40% shooting overall and I believe 37 points combined in the second half what was the

Key to that was it more was a A Better Effort from you guys was it them cooling down I think uh we played well as far as not letting them get downhill and and the paint repeatedly I mean bam is a really good player it helps when they’re not when they’re missing you

Know their Elite scores and Jimmy and hero So that obviously or that obviously was a big reason why but other than that um get Draymond great credit too I mean he made it hard on Bam Bam made some really tough jumpers on him but uh draymond’s

Such a great post Defender he uh he’s hard to go against for you know 30 35 to 40 minutes a night obviously you you mentioned how you feel good in terms of your play but what Pride do you have in terms of just just a second and half of your play

Yourself individually I mean I’ve been prideful ever since I laced up bball sneakers uh you know a lot of my um you don’t want to say identity but of who I am is reflected how I play on the basketball court and my father was a Hooper my older brother is a Hooper and

I am as well so I take great pride in just trying to be my best nightly it’s a really hard thing to do but it’s uh what the greats aspire to do on a nightly basis and um I’m just a prideful player at the end of the

Day clay I wanted to ask you about kuminga is there something specific that you’ve seen evolve or is this just time and Reps and work just I think his uh I think his rhythm to the game has gotten so much better he knows when to take a

Jump shot he knows when to attack he plays Above the Rim he’s a two-way player and he’s oozing with potential and then you forget he’s only 21 years old um so you get excited for his future I mean I’ve been very impressed with the work ethic he’s displayed the past

Couple years and I know he’s going to be a future star in this league uh had you met Neymar before yeah we’ met uh we met all the way back in 2016 so I’ve known Neymar for a while and big fan of basketball and we’re all

A big fan of football so we just uh respect his greatness Cay the he’ have been a team known to give up you know some of the most threes in the league for years now going into tonight do you know you know I’m sure you know that going in was that

Part of the the Str as far as you you know having such a big game tonight just knowing that that was going to be available for you uh we do know that they help they’re very great help defending team and they cover up their mistakes well for us it’s a we Thrive

Off making threes obviously Steph and I so you see a couple go in it always helps early and uh it was an emphasis to draw to and kick to start the game and I thought we did that well throughout the whole 48 minutes you mentioned the you

Know kind of the importance of the Orlando game tomorrow how late is it starting to feel and and how challenging is it starting to feel with what’s you know ahead of you guys standings wise lack of time left challenging um but you can’t be intimidated by what’s ahead you just got

To take it one game at a time most importantly have fun and play your hardest and you can live with the results and uh but like I said before you can’t look ahead you you just got to do what you got to do that’s in front of

You and it happens to be the magic tomorrow now that the team is almost fully healthy how is the team uh confidence that you guys can make a big push heading to the play very confident it’s been conf I mean we’re very confident we can make a run but uh we’re

Not even thinking about the postseason we still have whatever 11 12 games left and we want to finish as strong as possible whether it’s nine wins 10 wins 11 we know it’s doable so it’s about just uh simplifying things and just looking ahead to the game tomorrow Steve

Praised uh Andrew wiggins’s defense on roier especially in the second half um it seems like he’s been a little bit more aggressive offensively recently how different is this team when when he is kind of hunting his shot and getting going on both ends that’s why we won the

Championship a couple years ago is because of Andrew’s two-way play we obviously need him to be that to go where we want to go and he’s so vital to what we do without him we cannot reach our full potential so we all love wigs and we know what he’s capable of and

Like you said his defense is when he’s playing tenacious defense it’s uh it’s going to fuel his ability to get to the rim and just his confidence will improve as well nice thank what dynamic did the clay bring back to the starting lineup tonight uh just obviously he’s his

Gravity his ability to give us you know spacing on the floor I think it uh it was an effort To unlock JK and wigs you know give them driving lanes and you know get them more involved early in the game obviously Miami is they’re really kind of sneaky and some of the defensive schemes they have and Zone man uh you know different coverages bam protecting the him so it’s helpful to

Have you know Clay out there doing what he does um and it’s a credit to him just in general and being able to respond to whatever he’s been asked to do this year uh whether it’s coming off the bench whether it’s starting most people think that might be

I know maybe they think it’s easy to just transition from one to the other and it’s not you have to kind of prepare your mind to you know and your body to be ready for whatever you know is throwing at you so it’s credit to him and his his his

Attitude and his preparation and you know going out there and hooping the way he does Steph you guys held the heat to 40% shooting in the second half and I believe 37 combined points after them shooting about 51% in the first half what was the biggest change for you guys

On that side of the floor just playing a little bit more physical we kept getting beat on back cuts and even whether they scored or not it was causing our defense to have to react and then they would open up either three for somebody in a corner or uh just a break

Down that would you know give them space I think we got a little bit more discipline in the second half it’s the NBA there’s so much talent out there obviously they’re missing a lot of guys um but if you give you know them confidence and you know their patterns

Start to you know attack you that’s when they’re they’re lethal I don’t care who’s out there so we were very much more disciplined in the second have to keep things in front of us make him take tough shots and you live with it Steph there bam talked about in the past there

Was a play in his rookie year where he was guarding you and it was kind of the play that put him on the defensive map I’m just wondering what number one if you remember that play and two just what are the ways you’ve seen him develop defensively and kind of matching up in

That way I do remember that player for sure it was in this building uh he’s he’s versatile he’s long he can move his feet he he’s obviously a great rim protector and you know there’s a reason they’ve been in the finals twice uh obviously you know what Jimmy’s able to do and the

Guys around him but Bam’s a huge part of connecting the game on both ends he’s obviously a great uh weapon on on the offensive end with his he can put pressure on the rim he he’s got mid-range he hit a three tonight they run a lot of actions around

Him so then you add that to the defensive you know presence that’s why he’s all star why he is who he is Steph there’s a lot of teams that can make a reasonable argument why they’re going to be the team at the end that wins the whole

Thing is this the most parody would you even call it that is this the most parody that you can remember and is it good that there’s a lot of teams that clearly have stepped up in recent years and are com can compete for the whole thing it’s great for the league hasn’t

Been good for us this year we uh we’ve been on a nice run since January 1st and haven’t really made up any ground in in the conference standings um but yeah you want to see capable teams all around the league I think on paper right like it’s it’s

Names uh in the Western Conference and it’s great teams and a combination of all of that that to your point it wouldn’t be a surprise if any of the top you know 10 11 whatever made a run um obviously Denver being the Champs and still at the top of

Those standings they’re they’re the Champs until somebody beats him um and even on the other side so yeah it’s great to see you know that much competition and I’m sure it’ll be a uh a show down the stretch of the season and the playoffs with whatever matchups happen and a lot

Of excitement around the league step playay said that the team is confident to make a push towards the playoff what does does the team uh need to do better to make that big push play a Brandon basketball like we did tonight I think we were like I said

In the second half we were a lot more disciplined a lot more physical on defense we took care of the basketball tonight which is a big deal for us the way that we play kept the turnovers down created some really good looks but can’t get too ahead of ourselves just take it

Every I know y’all love that answer take it a game at a time and but honestly that’s our only way to get to where we want to go cuz it’s been a a wild roller coaster of emotions this year for us step the heat are known for kind of

Doing everything they can to take away the other team’s best player I know you played against them for years and you faced every coverage but going into a game like this tonight how does that affect your mentality knowing that you know you can get these you know Force

Two to the ball Poss and other guys will be open or does it mix you up in any way not knowing what type of defenses they’re going to run the challenges you to kind of see the game um like and I was kind of talking about earlier whether it’s a

Zone possession a man possession they were pressing it tests your patience for sure because you got to be you don’t know when your looks are going to come you know you’re going to see bodies I think there was a couple possessions I came off of pin downs and caught it and

There were two people there got by them there’s another person back there and we Swing Swing we got a good look uh they were trapping off ISO uh possessions and get the ball out of your hands and swing it find the open guy I got loon that

Dunk down the fourth quarter CU they were paying a lot of attention to our perimeter so as long as you just stay patient and see what’s in front of you keep your turnovers down don’t get rushed then whether I’m taking a shot or we’re getting a good look that’s good off

And you mentioned the roller coaster of the Year obviously with emotions and the quick turnaround for you guys with with Orlando but what stands out to you to some of the some bit of the success that you guys have had on the road that’s why we think we’re still a

Good team that can beat anybody because we can you know our defense can travel you know we’ve had good performances even at home we’ve had big leads on good teams but Let Us slip so you know we don’t our record doesn’t you are what your record is that’s what the the line

Is but we do feel like we’ve kind of underachieved on that front and but there’s still belief that you can get hot that you can establish the identity that you need to have uh to be a a team that can win four games against anybody in the Western Conference in the playoff

Series until we don’t have that opportunity anymore we’re going to I still believe it last just a follow up on the earlier questions about the way the heat toggle between defensive schemes um why do you think more teams don’t play that way you have to be a very disciplined

Team and very connected team because it requires a lot of trust and communication um obviously have a great coach that year after year uh you know they have their core but they find guys that plug those holes and play a certain brand of basketball so if it was easy everybody would do it

Right how good has clay been for an extended stretch now he’s been great uh like I was talking about earlier I think he there’s nobody that uh could handle the kind of where you’re off the bench your start how many minutes you playing and in comparison to his entire career and his

Body of work somebody can handle it like clay in in the sense of you know just being prepared accepting his uh you know what he’s asked to do and and going out and Performing and I think he shot the ball extremely well as of late he’s been very

Consistent and he’s given us a huge boost in whatever role he’s played so uh there’s a it’s it’s a challenge he could have gone the other way in the sense of you know resisting in the the evolution of what he’s been asked to do this year and he’s responded extremely

Well we need that energy cuz he gives us so much on that front

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