[video/transcripts/notes/quotes]
Sometimes it’s funnier to just read the transcript:
Jimmy Butler: It'd be better if it was B-U-D-D-I-E, but B-U-D-D-Y is kind of boring. Can you go home, man?
Buddy Hield: I'm going home and go pack.
Jonathan Kuminga: Yo, Buddy!
Hield: Yes.
Kuminga: Buddy!
Hield: JK, leave me alone. Jimmy, go upstairs!
Kuminga: Buddy!
Hield: Yes.
Raymond Ridder: Fire away. [And the scrum with Butler finally gets started…]
For all of DubNation’s angst with Hield’s inconsistency from three and sometimes lack of being on a string on defense, Buddy plays an important intangible role: team court jester.
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Postgame Toronto Raptors was at least the third time Hield had intersected a Butler scrum. Check the 5:02 mark of this one from postgame Sacramento Kings on March 13th (full transcript can be found in the Comments of the video)…
…and the 5:53 mark of this one postgame Detroit Pistons on March 10th, where Jimmy challenged Buddy to an impromptu spelling bee:
Not only in the locker room, but also on the court.Draymond Green and Jimmy seem to have had free license to yell at Buddy and the thing about Buddy, he never takes it personal and he’s literallyalways smiling.
My old Filipino team had a guy like that:Dax Legaspi. He was our center, sometimes out of control with his right-hand drive-and-fade go-to move, but nevertheless a big presence inside at like 6’3” and quite mobile.
I remember one time me and my point guardRandy Tagle (who was the rec league Fil-Am version ofRajon Rondo), we couldn’t shake a bad loss against a team we should’ve beaten. We were doing the shoulda-woulda-coulda thing at Dax’s house after the game and finally Dax just smiled and said, “Ahh, don’t worry about it fellas, we’ll get ‘em next time.”
Dax was always the guy that would try to find something funny about the game to point out. Maybe it was howNeil Nicolas contorted his body for a layup. Maybe it was how Tagle broke the ankles of some defender. He just loved laughing, which was obviously great when we won.
But after a stinging loss, “We’ll get them next time” was such a preposterous notion to gamers like Randy and me. Dude, it was a tournament, we might never match up against that squad again and, hell yeah we’re gonna get ‘em next time. But we wanted to revel in our anger and regret — we were young, we didn’t know any better and ball was life.
Now that I look back at it, Dax, who was easily our fifth option back in the day, he was right. He wasn’t right necessarily because of wisdom, but he just happened to have the right attitude in that moment, which was that he hardly ever got mad at anything and could easily move on.
And so you see the type of personality Buddy has. I don’t know if this was part of theMike Dunleavy, Jr. calculus in acquiring Hield, but I think he’s a key piece to the chemistry in a different way, and you just don’t necessarily see this on the court. He keeps it light, no matter what.
That might be good enough to keep him after this season, despite the shooting numbers — at 36.8% on threes, currently his second-worst of his career, the first being 2021-22 in Indiana when he only played 26 games — and even if Kuminga’s extension winds up pushing the franchise into the second apron.
Here are the interviews and transcripts from Warriors-Raptors, which includeQuinten Post,Brandin Podziemski,Steve Kerr, Draymond and Jimmy (with a little dash of Buddy):
00:00 What was your vantage point when Steph fell? Did you hear it?
00:03 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: I think we all heard it. Obviously, you don't want to see anybody go down like that, but especially you got Steph, who brings so much to our squad, just gonna have to be the next-man-up mentality if he's out Saturday. Gonna have to deal with it. It is what it is. Like I said, you don't want to see anybody go down like that.
00:22 And then what do you think of the way you guys were able to respond afterwards?
00:25 Yeah, I think we just ramped it up a little bit. We were able to kind of fight back and hold the lead there in the fourth quarter. Obviously, they made it close towards the end, but we really locked in on defense and only gave up 22 points and the previous three quarters they had 30-plus, so just locking in on that end.
00:49 The second game back for you and how do you feel?
00:55 Close to 100%. Like I said last game, everything you do on a basketball court goes through your back, so just having that trust factor. I know physically I'm 100%, but the mental hurdle of feeling like you can move how you want to move, I'm still getting there. So hopefully good session tomorrow and on Saturday, I'm kind of back to trusting it 100%.
—
01:20 QUINTEN POST: How y'all doing? Sam (Gordon), what's up?
01:24 Hey, when you are a seven-footer, true seven-footer who can shoot three-pointers, how do you project where your career can go with this kind of skill set?
01:32 Sorry, one more time, how do I — ?
01:34 How do you project as a seven-footer with this kind of three-point shot, where do you hope your career can go?
01:39 Oh, I mean, I just hope to stay in the league for a long time. I hope to stay with the Warriors for a really long time. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of just modern basketball. Everybody has to be able to do a little bit of everything right now. I'm seeing a lot of success with shooting the three-ball, so whatever it takes to win, I'm all for it.
02:02 Quinten, can you speak about just getting so many open shots? I think you had 10 attempts tonight from beyond the arc. I mean, what is that like? Are you expecting to just fire each time you're out there?
02:13 Yeah, basically. I mean, we have some guys that really draw a lot of attention. I think especially with — when I'm out there with Jimmy, he just draws a lot of attention, like I said and that just opens up shots and, like I said before, I feel like I'm doing the team a disservice when I don't take open shots, right? Because I'm trying to create gravity for these other guys, so that's kind of how I look at it. And then when they go in, that's a bonus.
02:47 How do you guys feel going 6-1 on this homestand?
02:50 That it should have been 7-0, to be honest. Right now we just go into every game expecting to win. The Denver game was — I wouldn't say a fluke because we did it to ourselves. We played a really bad game all around the board, but we bounced back. Tonight was a really scrappy team. We kind of went into it knowing that it was gonna be a game like this. They played really hard. They made it really hard on us to get stops, but we stayed poised and we, yeah, we got the W.
03:25 Jimmy was shooting free throws in the third quarter. You're pumping up the crowd. The crowd responds. It roars. What does that feel like for you?
03:31 Awesome. I mean, Steph had just gone down. Our leader, the heart and soul of this organization and, yeah, it kind of felt like we were in the mud and we were wrestling with these guys and at that point we just needed something, some type of juice and at that point, I just kind of asked the crowd, step in for us, help us a little bit. And we have the best fans in the world and they responded and then after that we took care of the rest and win it in the fourth quarter.
04:01 How much fun are you having playing basketball right now?
04:03 Yeah, it's a lot of fun, man. It's, yeah, it's crazy that I'm playing in the NBA and it's crazy that I'm helping the Golden State Warriors win some games. It's unreal still and, yeah, I hope we continue and we make it a very deep run in this playoffs, so, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
04:24 What were you thinking when, when Steph went down?
04:26 Man, I thought that he should have got a foul, first of all, because they kind of tackled him on that, but yeah, the way he's being guarded these last couple of games, it's so tough to see. You almost feel — I wouldn't say bad for the guy, but it's crazy. The type of defenses other teams throw at him and he just has to deal with it and he does a really good job for us. He always stays calm and to see him get hacked like that and to fall on the ground and now him being injured, that really sucks and, like I talked about earlier, at that point, you just need — we still need to win this game, right? Like, for him and for this team and where we gonna go and yeah, then you just try to do it without him and glad we pulled it off and really hope that he's okay and that he'll be back next game.
05:17 When it comes to Draymond, this is the second time during the homestand where he was the leading scorer for you guys and his three-point shot is going, although you had one more than he did, but what do you think about Draymond as a scorer? We often think of Draymond as this defensive mastermind, but as a scoring force as well, he's contributing.
05:34 Yeah, I mean, he's known for his defense, but offensively, he really sees the game in a really advanced and special way. I think we're at our best when Draymond is being aggressive and, yeah, he was hot in the first half and he let them know. And that's how we need him to play and, like you see, it just brings energy and helps us win.
06:02 I got a question. Like you had mentioned coming up, how good does it make you feel? Draymond said he told Joe Lacob during training camp that you were gonna help this team this year. How does that make you feel when a Hall of Famer says something like that?
06:15 That's pretty cool. I didn't know that. I mean, from the moment I got here, like me and Dray, we had — I didn't see Dray all summer and then there was one pickup run where he came in the building and 23 was here, so everybody's kind of on edge trying to play hard. And we were on the same team and we were cooking that day. I don't think we lost a game, so I probably did myself a favor by — I had a really good day that day, so he probably had a good impression of me, maybe. But, yeah, I mean, I guess, he saw it right, so that's awesome to hear. Okay. Thank you guys.
—
07:01 Great all-around game for you tonight. Obviously, not the result that you guys wanted, but what does it speak to how far your team has come and that type of performance you put up against a really great team?
07:14 SCOTTIE BARNES: A game plan that we don't usually do, so it's a different type of scouting and a way for these guys to go out here and be able to execute it as best as possible. That just shows growth and development for our team that we're gonna need for the future, be able to just learn on the fly, continue to play through, even when they make shots. To go on the other end and keep competing just shows resilience and being able to learn on the fly and learning quickly.
07:48 And then I just want to touch it back on the defense. It really made a statement tonight collectively. What was the mindset and even getting the three-point shot away from Steph Curry, even though it went to Draymond, but that way it took them out of rhythm and forced them into another action, basically?
08:04 Like I said, it was a big personnel game, something that was different for us and we just had to go out there and execute. We wanted other people to shoot the ball rather than Steph shoot the ball and that's what happened tonight. At the end of the day, we almost had this game, but we got to live with those results.
00:00 You have a status update on Steph?
00:02 STEVE KERR: Getting an MRI right now. He just kind of fell on pelvic tailbone area, so he was trying to come back. He thought he might be able to come back and we just decided not to risk anything and so hopefully it's not bad, but he's getting imaging right now.
00:24 He had a similar injury. You probably remember a few years ago. Have you talked to him at all?
00:29 I have not seen him. He's — by the time we got down there, he was already gone, getting the imaging.
00:39 When you say he wanted to come back in, after he went back to the locker room, he — ?
00:44 He went down into the training room with Rick (Celebrini) and Mike (Dunleavy, Jr.) just told me just now that Steph thought he'd be okay to come back in and the decision was made not to risk it.
00:55 Steve, after a situation like that, when it initially happens, what is your message to the team over the rest of the game and then, obviously, postgame?
01:05 I didn't even mention it. I mean, there's no time. I think it was late third when it happened or mid-third, so the team knows what's up. He's gonna go down and get checked out and you just keep playing, so I didn't say anything.
01:23 Once Steph went out, it seemed Jimmy Butler got a lot more aggressive. I was wondering, kind of piggybacking off of what Monte (Poole) asked, was that something you had to tell Jimmy, "Hey, be more aggressive," or was that just he understood the moment?
01:34 Nope. He just understands the situation and he wants the ball and he asked for it in different areas and attacks and he did a fantastic job. His shot wasn't going tonight, but he was creating everything for us, triple-double, obviously, defensive play of the game with the block shot at the rim. So it's the beauty of guys like Jimmy, Draymond. They can impact the game at such a high level, regardless of what's happening with their offensive games.
02:11 Steve, these feel like games you should probably win a little bit more comfortably. At least that's what people would say when you see Toronto come in. Is there something to be said about a team having to fight for these wins even though people would think you wouldn't have to fight for them?
02:27 Yeah, I mean, they're — I know that their record's not great, but they play really good defense. They're, over the last 10 games they’re, I think, seventh in the league in defensive rating. They turn you over. They lead the league in fouls and so you're gonna get fouled all game and the refs can only call so many of them and so they have a very aggressive attack mentality and the personnel to do it, the size inside with Poeltl and Barnes is really impressive. And then they got some guards who can get into you with Quickley and Shead and so Darko does a great job. Jama (Mahlalela) knows our team well. They had a game plan that they followed and executed really well. I think the key for us was making threes. I mean, Quinten's a game changer for us because teams have played us like this for a long time. Memphis plays us like this all the time and now that we have a pick-and-pop big. We can counter a lot of that style of defense and, obviously, Draymond was great, too, with his shooting and his aggressiveness.
03:50 Steve, you guys don't see another winning team until April, so during this stretch, when you're facing these kinds of teams, what do you need your team to do? How do you want — what do you want to see from them? How do you want to see them respond when facing games that again, like Marcus (Thompson) said, games that, on paper, you're superior.
04:07 Main thing is play defense and don't turn it over. You always have a chance if you do that. Defense was not there tonight, but I give them credit. I thought they played a great game, shot 56%. They had a lot of guys step up and make big shots. They handled our traps really well. Poeltl, just got free on those traps and scored every time and so we couldn't do much defensively and we never really got any traction on the defensive end all night, so I feel very fortunate to have escaped that game. It didn't feel good at halftime. I didn't like the feel of the game, the vibe of the game and I had a feeling it was gonna be a grind and it was.
04:55 What did you make of Jonathan's production tonight and the way he got to his offense?
05:00 JK made some big plays for us tonight. It's fun to see him kind of get a little rhythm in that second quarter and then he made some big plays for us in the second half as well, so it's good to see him finding his form.
05:14 And then to follow on Quinten for a second, there was a, I think, third quarter late, Jimmy's at the free throw line, Quinten's hyping up the crowd, the crowd reacts and responds. Just what do you make of his, in addition to the three-point shooting, just the moxie, the energy that he plays with? What kind of impact has that had to?
05:30 It's great. I mean, the thing that I look for in players, smart, tough, competitive, like, if you're those things, obviously you gotta have some skill. You have to be able to make an impact in an NBA game, but if you're smart, tough and competitive like QP is, then you figure it out and you find ways to thrive. And that's what he's doing here in his rookie year. It's really fun to see.
06:01 Steve, obviously Draymond had his three-ball going early, but it seemed like him and Steph had their chemistry going, too, as far as finding ways to use to their advantage the top-lock, the face-guard and the inverted pick-and-roll. How have you guys continued to adjust when teams top-lock him for 94 feet like that?
06:17 Yeah, I mean, that's where Steph becomes a screen-setter and it distorts the defense when teams play that way. It takes away a help defender and so you try to run some actions that will expose that. The players have to feel that and see it, but Steph as a screener is able to free up other people when teams guard us like that.
06:41 Steve, not to belabor the Curry issue too much, but — and obviously you've got to wait and see with the MRI — but considering you guys are getting ready to head into that home stretch of the season in the playoffs, might you, regardless of what the MRI says, just might want to give him the night off or if he's cleared the next night, if he's cleared and he's good, is he good to go?
07:00 That'll just be up to Rick and Rick makes all those decisions based on his evaluation and collaboration with Steph, seeing how he's feeling. So at this point, it's all speculation. So it's — we'll see.
07:16 Steve, obviously you guys are a confident team at least especially since Jimmy Butler has been here, but what does this coming — after Tuesday, when you beat a good team without Steph, when he goes down, to what happened on Tuesday, give your team the confidence you need that you can pull it out in the fourth quarter?
07:32 Yeah, I mean, I didn't stop and think about that Milwaukee game tonight. I just feel like we are very confident now and Jimmy has a whole lot to do with that. He just he's a guy who takes over games and you saw it. I mean, we basically ran everything through him after Steph went out and he just kept attacking and creating. And so when you have a guy like that on your team, the whole whole team feels confident. Thank you.
00:00 Have you seen or talk to Steph?
00:06 DRAYMOND GREEN: Neither.
00:09 What, I mean, how scary is that moment when he goes down like that?
00:13 Very. He hit that ground hard. You can hear it. It's crazy. Obviously, a very scary moment for us, for him. Hopefully he's good.
00:26 What was the key to closing it out?
00:29 We just had to get stops. We got a couple stops down the stretch that we needed to get. Jimmy, huge block down the stretch, pissed I didn't come up with that steal, but yeah, we just needed to get stops down the stretch. We did a great job of scoring all night. We scored 117 points, but we was able to get the stops we needed down the stretch.
00:51 Draymond, when Steph goes down like he did tonight, you obviously probably thought he wasn't coming back and he didn't come back. Does the mentality shift in terms of, okay, your message to the other guys — obviously you and Jimmy know what to do — but the other guys, do you change anything with those guys?
01:07 I mean, the mentality is just on Steph's side of the game. It is vitally important that we get stops and so you just kind of make that — emphasize that and guys stepped up to the challenge. The offense is never gonna be as smooth when he's not out there. Jimmy's done a great job of the last two games of taking over the game and getting us great looks, but it looks different when Steph isn't out there, so gotta make sure you pick it on defensive — pick it up on the defensive end, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.
01:45 Whether he misses one game or several games, is that still the same message, pretty much, take care of the ball and defend?
01:51 100%. The margin for errors goes way down when he's not out there. We gotta understand that and act accordingly.
02:02 Dray, you guys have played a lot of teams where people will look at the record and say you should blow them out, should be a comfortable win. Are you disappointed when that doesn't happen or do you like the idea of having a battle even against lesser opponents?
02:17 I mean, you always want to get the win convincingly, but in saying that, we're the Golden State Warriors that's dominated this league for the last 10 years. Everybody's gonna have their best game. You got guys in the league now that has watched his team growing up for years and they are ecstatic when they're on the floor playing against us. And so you look at Jamison Battle tonight, like, he had it going, probably best game of his NBA career. You see a lot of that when you're us. Everybody — Coach will always come in, you talk about the expected field goal percentage. Man, they be like, "Yo, they were expected to shoot 44 percent. They shot 52 percent and 54 percent." Like, that's because guys come in and they, like, they play out of their minds when they play against us and it's just always been a thing, so you have to adjust to that and just find a way to get it done.
03:17 What do you guys get out of that, especially with Jimmy and you figuring out how to win these games? What is that teaching?
03:22 Well, I think it's huge for our confidence because we lost a lot of these games early, so I think we're having Jimmy and just kind of proving to ourselves that we're capable of doing it. But then also learning how to do it, learning what we need to do down the stretch, what we're trying to get to. I think all these reps ultimately helps us at the end of the day, so it is what it is. As long as we come out to win, it don't really matter how you do it.
03:46 Draymond, your game behind the arc seems to be improving per game, especially when you shoot the three and you're the first basket with the three going. Is that something that you're working on or is it — ?
03:59 Yeah — I'm sorry.
04:01 That's something that you're progressively working on toward the end of the season or are you just wanting to become more of a shooter as well as your defensive game?
04:08 I think I'm always putting the work in, no matter what, but I just think it's important for me to be aggressive if they're gonna sag and stand in the paint, leave me that open. I put a lot of work in to take those shots confidently and when I'm making those shots, it just makes our team that much tougher to guard. They usually choose to help off me, so I'm knocking those shots down, you have to rethink your game plan. I always find it fun when the guys are looking at their coach like, "Man, you really want us to keep doing this?" It's pretty funny, so just gotta stay aggressive, take what the defense is giving me. But like I said before, it's playoff time, so the mentality has to be a little different for me.
04:52 What have you seen from the young guys, Quinten, Jonathan, without Steph Curry on the floor? What have you seen from them? What do you kind of expect from them?
04:59 I just expect them to play their game. None of those guys are gonna be Steph Curry. Unfortunately, that's just the way it goes, but they can be their best selves. QP's been playing great basketball, 6-for-9 from three tonight, so we just need them to be who they are. Master — be a master in your role and I think everybody is doing a great job of that. No one person is gonna — no one person in the NBA, not just on our team — no one person in the NBA is gonna be Steph Curry, so we gotta collectively try to pick up the slack and it won't look how it looks when Steph's doing it.
05:35 Draymond, can you talk about your back-and-forth with Coach Darko? What was that all about?
05:39 Oh man, he is one of the most intense coaches in the league. I love talking back-and-forth to him when we play against those guys, got a lot of respect for him. He's a great basketball mind in this league. He was really close with Deki (Milojevic), so it's always fun when you get to mix it up a little bit with the coaches about their game plan, but nothing major. Like I said, I got a lot of respect for Darko. I think he's an incredible coach. He got those guys playing hard as hell, so you just tip your cap to him, but it's always fun to jump back and forth a little bit. You see he was smiling, I was smiling. It's a good lighthearted moment, but always fun.
06:24 Draymond, you mentioned Jimmy's block down the stretch. You had a big play, erasing a potential fast break, but Moody before that had a big steal that kept the momentum going. How have you seen Moses develop as a defender?
06:34 He's continued to get better and better and he's really incredible on the ball as an on-ball defender, but he's just learning to read the pictures a lot better and he was 0-for-5 from the field tonight, 0-for-3, but he had an impact on the game and when you can do that, that's when it really starts to change. It's one thing to do it when you're hitting shots, but when you're not hitting shots and you're still able to have an impact, says a lot. Moses played 28 minutes and couldn't even make a shot. Now that says a lot about the trust that coaches — Coach have in him and that he's earned and so just wanna see him continue to grow. He's getting better each and every time he step on the floor, which is what we need.
07:15 When did you first get the sense that Quinten could have the kind of impact that he's had this year?
07:18 In training camp. I told Joe Lacob in training camp, like, "Joe, I'm telling you, this kid can really help us." He shoot the ball well, extremely well. He's a good position defender and he ain't soft at all. I know Joe was looking at me like I was crazy during the year. I told him he was gonna have an impact then he was in the G League, but he made his way up here and now he's been a mainstay in the rotation and a key piece to what we're doing, so yeah, no surprise there. But when I saw him in training camp and even before training camp, I came in and played with the guys a little bit. I used QP to win every game and I knew then, I was like, "Oh, he can really shoot the ball, okay, I can use that." Right? And so, no surprise to me what he's doing. I kind of — I don't want to say I knew, but I knew.
00:00 (Buddy Hield inaudible)
00:02 JIMMY BUTLER: It'd be better if it was B-U-D-D-I-E, but B-U-D-D-Y is kind of boring. Can you go home, man?
00:10 BUDDY HIELD: I'm going home and go pack.
00:11 JONATHAN KUMINGA: Yo, Buddy!
00:12 HIELD: Yes.
00:12 KUMINGA: Buddy!
00:12 HIELD: JK, leave me alone. Jimmy, go upstairs!
00:16 KUMINGA: Buddy!
00:17 HIELD: Yes.
00:17 RAYMOND RIDDER: Fire away.
00:17 How does — whether Steph misses a quarter or a game or two, how does that change what you guys want to do? It's not you and Draymond so much, but with the young guys. I mean, what's your message to those guys?
00:31 BUTLER: I think the message is gonna be, whether he's with us or whether he's not, hopefully he is, but if he isn't that's just more perfect basketball that we're gonna have to play. We can't afford to turn the ball over. We can't afford to foul because we don't have the one individual that can, like, automatically get us back into the game. But we want the guy. We want our guy with us.
00:57 How about the defensive end, though? Tonight, it wasn't there early on, but later down the stretch you guys kind of fouled some.
01:03 I mean, we decided to be physical, the more physical team later on in the game. It's never too late for that and then just putting bodies on bodies and going up and getting to lose balls and getting every rebound, get some steals, get some blocks, and then it turns into good things for us offensively.
01:20 What are you telling Dray about after that block?
01:23 Oh, that I can do that, too. Yeah. I told Dray like, "You're not the only one that got that."
01:28 HIELD: Y'all talk to Jimmy about that fake-ass triple-double that he had today? That fake-ass triple-double?
01:28 You don't pass the ball enough to get a triple-double, so I'm not even worried about you.
01:35 You passed more than me? I got 4 assists. That fake-ass triple-double. What the f-you talking about? Good job, Jimmy!
01:45 Like I always say, I respect Draymond so much. I definitely respect him because he took 14 threes tonight. That's — I love that, but he'll do anything to make sure that this squad gets it done. Whatever you ask him to do, he's willing to do it, so I'm glad I can follow suit in that sometimes.
02:01 I think you fed him for a heat check?
02:03 I'm always going to feed my man for a heat check. If you're open, you better be expecting the ball from me.
02:08 Not that long ago you were talking about how you don't really jump no more and then I've seen you sky for a dunk and now you're getting up for a block. Is this calc — do you know when, "Alright it's to get up," or is it just instinctual?
02:20 It is just instincts at that point in time. I try not to do it, but I can jump a little bit, not like I used to. I'm not JK-jumping, don't — I can jump higher than BP, though. I can do that, but I think there's a time and place for it and there was a time and place for it tonight.
02:35 So it's —
02:37 It's there.
02:37 In the moment, just feeling it?
02:38 Yeah, it's there. It's in — like, I can feel it and then I feel the way that I feel after the game. So, but we won, so it's all for a good cause.
02:46 Given that you had some time off earlier this year, do you feel fresher at this point in the season than you might normally?
02:51 No, no. And I didn't choose to have time off, by the way, so let's just get that out the way. But I do feel good. I'm telling you, winning takes care of everything. Winning makes all the pain go away. Winning is one of the best things in the world and I'm glad that I can be winning here.
03:10 Is there anything — you're playing teams that don't have good records. People expect you to blow them out. Do you take that mindset or do you like having these close games that you gotta, you guys gotta figure out how to win?
03:21 I take wins as they come, actually. 'Cause if we lose, then what? You can't say every team doesn't have an opportunity to beat any team in this league, so whether it's by one point or twenty points, a win is a win and we take them as they come and we want to build on it. I'd always much rather learn from a win than a loss.
03:41 Is there, I guess, a danger of that sneaking up on you when you play the next four games or against losing teams? Is there a danger that you can mentally get in your head, like, "We got this"? How do you fight that?
03:54 Go out there and play basketball the right way. Do what we're supposed to be doing and don't play to their record. Don't play to what the wins and loss column. You play to who we are. We're the best version of ourselves, we can beat anybody and I think that's what we're going to take into these next couple games.
04:12 Draymond said that he thinks the teams get up to play the Warriors. Have you noticed that?
04:17 Yeah, you have to. This is a championship-caliber team, no matter what year it is. They've done it. They've been a dominant force for so long now. Everybody wants to beat the Warriors, for sure. I mean, it happens. It happens and everybody would love to hit a shot against the Warriors. I mean, hell, they/we now probably got more national TV games than almost anybody, so if you get your opportunity to score on the Warriors, you're probably pretty happy.
05:01 We talked about before the game of our importance of bringing that spirit that we lacked in last game versus Phoenix. That again was here tonight. We competed from the start. We played really hard in the first half. They got hot. They made 14 threes in the first half. Second half, I think that we did really good job. We kept them to only 50 points in second half. Overall, I thought that we play hard when you play against team like this that has very specific, unique style of play. And you don't have a lot of time to practice and you don't see them often. You really have to be very focused to have great attention to detail to follow the game plan. I think this was very, very important game for our young guys to learn what it looks like to play against team like this and the players like this. Congratulations to Golden State. I felt that they found a way down the stretch to get a win. If we had won, it would not be undeserved tonight, as well.
06:09 Before Steph Curry went down in the first half, you guys really deferred to Draymond. How were you able to do that and limit Steph's looks and kind of create a different offensive flow to take them out of rhythm?
06:24 It's not that Draymond Green cannot make shots, it's not about that. It's just trying to make a team to do something that's not primarily the option and make them do something to use their counters. And Steph Curry is such a player in 25 minutes and the very limited touches that he had and he was able to score 17 points in a short amount of time, kudos to him. Jimmy Butler with his triple-double tonight, he was really assertive during the whole game, finding his teammates, trying to get his teammates going with 12 assists. He had, I believe, seven in the first half. High-level game for him as well.
07:07 And then when you look at the turnovers you guys had, 23 turnovers leading to 30 points. Where do you see the struggle the most on that side?
07:18 It was several situations there. We had some silly ones when we just did not dribble the ball and ball was hitting in our legs and leaving the floor. I think there was a couple of situations that they did a really good job with their aggressiveness, especially Draymond Green, getting into passing lanes and reading what we're trying to do and trying to take that away. Definitely, we have to do much better job of taking care of the ball and that was the biggest reason why we lost today.
07:48 And then just kind of a higher level even, what does a game like tonight speak to how far you guys have come as a group, but then also where you guys are going as well?
08:00 Every game is a story for itself. I think it's much more important than looking at one game, looking at the stretch of the games that we're playing, especially since January. I think that we're playing really good defense. We're trending really well on that side of the floor. I think this group is coming together. There is more and more chemistry that's been created between the guys. They've been really open. They talk to each other. They have honest conversations on the court and I'm really encouraging them to do that, so kudos to my players that put amazing work, hard work every single day and then stay with it every single day.
08:37 Coaches, Savannah (Hamilton) was mentioning, your team is up on the rebound or rebuilding. When you look at a game like tonight, is it a kind of a measuring stick, though, to see how good your team can be when they're able to compete like this against the Warriors?
08:48 For sure. Every time we see a great, talented team with a lot of experience, it's an amazing opportunity for us to see where we're at, what are the areas for us that we need to continue to grow and get better at and it's very important for the confidence of our young players too, so to see the game, to see that they can actually play with those guys and dominate those guys and learn from those situations, I think it's invaluable for us to play against a game like this tonight. Thank you.
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