[videos/transcripts/commentary]
Sometimes things happen for a reason andGary Payton II’s torn ligament in his left thumb might just be the crackJonathan Kuminga needed to snap out of it and get back to hispre-injury form where he was cutting hard without the ball and not ever standing around, watching.
Granted, back then there were screens being set for him and that may not be the case as much with iso-heavyJimmy Butler now on the team, but the absence of GP2, a key defensive cog in the rotation, might be the path Kuminga needs.
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“It opens up an opportunity for JK to be that defensive stopper, the guy who we've relied on Gary to be,” saidSteve Kerr at practice in New Orleans yesterday. “JK's the obvious guy, put him on the best offensive player, pick up full, harass people like Gary does. I'm gonna ask JK to do that and it definitely opens up more minutes for him if he's effective with that. Then again, it's mix-and-match game-to-game, depending on who's playing well and how we're playing.
“He's got a lot of potential in that regard and I think it's right there for him to — and like I said, we'll give him some tough assignments here coming up, but it's always in the context of the team and team defense, five-man unit. And that applies to everybody. It doesn't matter if you're an on-ball defender or off-ball defender. You gotta be in sync with everyone else. I thought we lacked that the other night. We had some mistakes on our own switching, some coverage mistakes, so a lot of stuff to tighten up.”
Draymond Green andBaron Davis said on their latest podcast episode that the team needed a practice to tighten some things up, brush up on counters, now that teams have plenty of tape on how to defend the Butler iso’s, and we’d seen two straight games where guys were missing simple “who you guarding?” assignments.
So the defense, but also the “stagnant” offense as far as how JK is cutting and if there are nuanced improvements to Jimmy’s iso sets — highly elevated by the return of oneWardell Stephen Curry, to be sure — the offensive sets without Curry, will be of most interest to me tonight.
Interviews and transcripts from practice, whereBuddy Hield jokingly called Jimmy a cheater when it comes to their 1v1 stints, are below, as well as those from the Miami loss. BTS video hasn’t been completed yet on that one. The interview fromErik Spoelstra was a good example of how a struggling team can get through their process…
01:35 Do you remain optimistic that Steph will return? I know you're gonna list him as questionable.
01:39 STEVE KERR: Yeah. He scrimmaged today. We had a great practice. He looked really good. He's gonna go through his individual workout like he did the other day and that's where he can really feel and test certain things, so we'll still list him as questionable, but I am optimistic.
01:56 Full scrimmage today?
01:57 Yeah. I mean, we scrimmaged for probably six minutes or so and he went through everything.
02:02 What do you — what's your focus right now as you try to recorrect whatever's going on? What's — ?
02:09 I am not the slightest bit alarmed, concerned. Even watching the tape, I thought Miami just played an amazing game. I think I'm identifying things we need to work on offensively. Teams are switching against us a lot, so we gotta work on our offense against switches, force some rotations, force teams into mistakes. so I thought we got stagnant the other night. I think we've had some lineups on the floor that lack spacing and that can be an issue, but without Steph, that's gonna be the case. So we have to learn how to play despite that, with certain combos.
02:57 What specifically against switching do you feel like you guys need?
03:01 I thought we got too stagnant the other night, too much iso ball and if you don't have spacing and you're trying to iso, the other team is just at boxes and elbows and the paint is clogged, there's nowhere to go, so you have to get movement and deception and we have stuff built into our offense that handles that, but we needed to practice that, so we did that today. We also have to deal with the top-locking of Steph, which a lot of teams have been doing, so we just need to sharpen up some things, but I feel great about where we are. what we've done over the last month, who our team is now. The obvious concern is we miss Gary. He'll be out at least for the next week and then we will reevaluate, but Gary's been one of our best players for the last month and we will really miss him.
03:50 How do you expect the organization to change with him out? Who might that create opportunity for?
03:55 Well, it opens up an opportunity for JK to be that defensive stopper, the guy who we've relied on Gary to be. JK's the obvious guy, put him on the best offensive player, pick up full, harass people like Gary does. I'm gonna ask JK to do that and it definitely opens up more minutes for him if he's effective with that. Then again, it's mix-and-match game-to-game, depending on who's playing well and how we're playing.
04:27 Regarding JK, he certainly had some reps early, especially early in his return, picking up the ball, ball pressure. What kind of potential do you think he has as a point-of-attack defender?
04:37 He's got a lot of potential in that regard and I think it's right there for him to — and like I said, we'll give him some tough assignments here coming up, but it's always in the context of the team and team defense, five-man unit. And that applies to everybody. It doesn't matter if you're an on-ball defender or off-ball defender. You gotta be in sync with everyone else. I thought we lacked that the other night. We had some mistakes on our own switching, some coverage mistakes, so a lot of stuff to tighten up.
05:16 Why do you think some of the lineups with him and Jimmy together haven't — JK and Jimmy together haven't worked?
05:23 Jimmy is — I've talked about this — he's one of the best iso players in the league and so if you're gonna run iso offense, you need spacing and you need proper cutting, proper movement. Jimmy just got here, obviously, a month ago or so, so we're still adapting to our spacing within those iso's. It requires us to put the right combinations out there and to teach the guys kind of where to be and then how to make the next play and so JK's still adapting to that a little bit.
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05:58 Are you paying attention to the standings at this point in the season?
06:01 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Every day we are.
06:04 What are you looking for in terms of the response tomorrow after the last couple games? Steve said, "Biggest game of the season," tomorrow?
06:10 Yeah, it's just must-win 'cause we're sitting 7th right now, tied with the Clippers. Obviously, they have the head-to-head, so just trying to obviously win as many as you can, but especially the game you're supposed to win. The more games you win that you're supposed to win, the more room for error you have against the harder teams.
06:27 What changes without Gary for you guys?
06:30 Just another guy has to step up defensively, whether it's playing Gui more minutes, Kevin (Knox) plays a lot more, if Pat plays more, just someone else has gotta step up and not do what Gary does, but bring that same intensity that he does.
06:44 How'd Steph look today?
06:44 I mean, he looked fine to me. Obviously, I hope he plays tomorrow. We obviously could use him, obviously, but we'd rather have him be a hundred percent healthy than try to rush it back.
06:58 Is there anything, Brandin, you guys have figured out to maybe the slow starts, a little bit these last two games?
07:04 I just think it's our defensive energy. I think we're starting off slow and we're playing the other three quarters kind of pretty well, but it's just not making other teams feel us and then once that happens, they're already hyped and amped to play the Golden State Warriors and then they get confidence that, like, "Oh, we can compete with them and we can play with them." And that kind of breeds down the line to the role players and the role players come in, start making shots and so it's a domino effect and I think if we just, right away from the jump, are physical and kind of show what we're about from the jump, it affects the whole first quarter, second quarter, third quarter.
07:44 Thank you.
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07:47 How you doing QP? Where do you feel like you guys need to get back on track most tomorrow?
07:53 QUINTEN POST: I think getting Steph Curry back definitely helps and, I mean, this is only me speaking from a rookie experience, but you kind of get in the — you are almost at the end of the regular season ride, you're starting to feel your legs. I feel like some guys are playing through some bumps and bruises and, yeah, we just gotta refocus and I think it's good for us that we had two days in between this last game and tomorrow, but yeah, I think the energy is still really good. Looking at what we've done since the trade deadline has been really good for this organization and we'll be back stronger.
08:32 How'd Steph look today?
08:34 I thought he looked really good. I saw him make shots which I've always seen him do and I think he's moving really well. I don't know exactly how he's feeling. You should probably ask him that, but to me he looks really good.
08:46 What jumped out from the film the other night in Miami?
08:51 Well, first of all, just shot-making. They just made a lot of shots and we didn't. Second of all, I think just our energy just wasn't really good. Mostly I can talk about how I felt. I thought I didn't bring the energy that I usually do and, yeah, we just didn't didn't do the things that we need to do, to win games.
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09:15 They got a lot of guys out tonight, right? Zion, Trey Murphy, pretty much their whole starting unit. How do you avoid — they're gonna come out with energy — how do you avoid a let down against the team that's — ?
09:23 BUDDY HIELD: We just gotta get back the drawing board, be consistent, come out with a lot more pop. We dropped two, what's at stake. We try to avoid that 7th seed, the Play-in game spot, so we know it's lock-in time. We got ten more games to go. It's a fun challenge. I think this group can turn it around and start it off with a win, but come out with a more aggressive mindset and don't worry what's on the other side, just worry about us.
09:49 Steve told us that he views this as the biggest game of the season. Has he told you guys the same thing? What's been his messaging to you?
09:55 He said it's go-time. There's ten games and avoid that Play-in game and you look at the standings, it's possible you can get ahead of it. Just gotta take one game at a time. We're a together group, so we know what's at stake and I expect us to come out and respond tonight.
10:15 How's Steph?
10:15 Huh? How's Steph? Steph looked great, man. I think he could've played Monday. I mean, the last one was, was it Monday?
10:21 Tuesday.
10:21 Tuesday. I think he could've played Tuesday. I just think that he was just trying to rest because of going back-to-back 'cause he had a hard day of practice, but he looks good out there. He's Steph. He's competitor. He's one of the best competitors our league's I ever seen. I don't think he wanted to miss that Monday game, especially for being there for Jimmy, but I think he be ready to go tonight. I saw that when you were playing one-on-one with Jimmy yesterday, you kicked the ball to the stands.
10:45 Yeah. Jimmy be f--ing cheating, that's why. I won the game. He be cheating, man. It's every time. It's every step with him, man. They be letting him have whatever he want around here. Like, the referee wasn't calling a foul, you know? So... and he ended up beating me, of course. That's why I kicked the ball.
00:00 You know what time of year it is and, obviously, the game means a lot in the standings and all that for you guys, but was there a little something extra, did you detect, tonight?
00:10 ERIK SPOELSTRA: I mean, the energy in the building was great. If you're a competitor, you love this kind of environment. We didn't do any kind of extra motivational speech leading up into this. It was more about us just staying the course with our process. I didn't go person-to-person to ask them. We want to kind of just keep it steady right now, more than anything, but defensively that was probably one of our more consistent efforts all the way through, but, look, I'll tell you what, you take out the New York and Memphis games, we've been defending for six weeks pretty hard. That's been definitely something our team has rallied around, defending and doing tough things. We're just continuing to get better, defensively and we kind of had it all together tonight. Obviously, that's a big difference when Curry is not playing. There's no question about that. He creates an offense unto himself, a bunch of overreactions and all that stuff, but I'm just talking about the efforts and, look, we've had guys out, nobody cares. Nobody cares. This league is unforgiving, so it was good to see those kind of inspiring efforts from multiple guys throughout the course of the game.
01:37 Coach, Bam looked as if it seemed like he led that defensive energy, especially on both sides of the floor and even starting him on Jimmy. Can you just kinda talk about his overall performance defensively and all?
01:45 Yeah, I mean, look, that's not even something that we just did for this game, come on. Like, look at the last six weeks. We're starting Kel'el. He usually guards the center, Bam guards whoever the best big wing is, so he's taken on this challenge. It's a new development and chapter in his defensive prowess and, again, we haven't been winning, so no one notices and who cares? But it's the commitment to do a lot of tough things and so, yes, he made some inspiring plays right out of the gate and that just kind of energized everybody else and inspired the next guy to make a play. Then Kel'el started making plays, then you bring in Davion and H (Haywood Highsmith) and they're flying around, playing hard as heck. It becomes contagious.
02:38 I know you say you felt pretty good about the defense in recent weeks, but even a couple weeks ago you were saying you're still trying to get everybody on the same page in terms of the details and tonight the help seemed pretty precise almost everywhere.
02:50 I mean, yeah, the first part is like, let's just get everybody out there, so we're like — I feel like we've been plugging holes for three-plus weeks, but through that we're trying to develop habits and build our process. So I really commend the guys for just coming in every single day just trying to get better. That sounds like a given. It's not in this league. It's really unique how this team approaches every single day. I really commend the group. I admire the group. They inspire me to make sure I'm preparing 'em and that we're doing our part and it's a very resilient group to be able to continue to get up off the mat and tackle the next challenge. When you go through adversity, you have an opportunity. When you're going through something really challenging and tough collectively and not just totally fall apart. I do believe that there's an opportunity for exponential growth from the tough times and hopefully we're getting there and just gotta keep on going because Thursday will be the next challenge and, obviously, that game will mean a lot with the standings.
04:15 Just speaking about the emotions of the night, is using that and figuring out a way to turn that into maybe an advantage, is that some sort of skill that people have, or maybe that's developed over time?
04:28 Well, I think we've been developing this for six weeks. If you really stayed the course on your process and you get more consistent to it, you don't want to become too emotional. I did not feel like we were too hyped up at all. At all. It was more laser-focused on the competition and competing at a high level and playing well. That's the fine line you always need to try to find and team sports, you gotta toe the line of intense competition. You don't want to be totally outta control and you definitely don't want to be flatlined where you're not passionate. I thought we had a really good inspiring energy and balance tonight.
05:18 Coach, Andrew, of course, he had 42 on Sunday leading the charge on offense and to start the game today, he had a couple of steals, a block on Jimmy on a fast break. What can you say about his ability to set the tone on both sides of the court?
05:30 Yeah, it's really important. When he's out there, he just makes us totally different. I mean, this is what we've wanted to see and it was just one of those things that he missed nine games, so we never really got into the kind of flow that we wanted to, right out of the gate, but yeah, you can see how he complements everything we do on both sides of the floor. He is a weapon. You can throw him the ball. He's been a No. 1 option before. He's been a great championship-level No. 3 option. We need him to be something more like the other, like that. That's not better or worse, that's just what we need. And then we need him to take on all these challenges defensively, those steals, deflections, the block. I don't know how he gets the block on threes, but the more games — we don't have a lot of time, but the more games we get together, I think you'll just see some of the continuity just kind of happen naturally. The other thing, too, I think was really important was Tyler, he had a really good defender on him. I told him after the game that that showed really good maturity. He played off the ball. He played as a screener, played like — allowing everybody else to make plays and because they were playing him so aggressively, that opened everything else up and I don't know if he — because of a competitiveness, he wasn't doing that in previous years. He would've wanted to have the pick-and-roll to try to prove it, and he ended up being a plus-33 in a game that he typically doesn't do. And that was great, great growth.
07:16 Coach, this is the first multi-game win streak since the end of last month.
07:23 Judas Priest. Two games.
07:28 But getting back on the winning side of things, especially in the last 10 games, how important do you feel where the team is right now, just to get back in the groove of — ?
07:36 Man, look, three weeks ago I felt like we were really worthy to win. I thought we were playing great. This league can just be totally unforgiving, but that's what you want. You wanna build a team that you feel like is worthy to win. You're building, doing the right things more consistently. Without a doubt we're doing that. Even in some of these losses that we've had, we're playing way more good basketball and borderline really good basketball, than not. So I believe there's something there, but we gotta prove it.
08:13 Spo, that Warriors team has defenders like Draymond and Gary Payton and Jimmy who can just wreck offenses and yet you guys shot 55 (percent overall) and 68 (from three). What did you like in a high motion game from your offense that allowed you to do that?
08:26 The maturity of that — and part of that, what I was explaining about Tyler — but we've really been trying to develop for three months other aspects where it's not just pick-and-roll dominant and it takes a mature team to work on that and then not get the wins and continue to see that that's where we need to go. And tonight we were able to do that, where we're not just going toe-to-toe against those guys, but get 'em on the move, get 'em in closeouts, getting off-ball stuff. I mean, I think you need that anyway, to play against the best teams in the league.
09:04 You've talked about the growth of Kel'el in different areas of his game, but this game he seemed to really be dominant in the dunker spot and just kind of finding the comfort and timing and all that stuff. Where have you seen him grow in that area, just all — ?
09:15 Yeah, not just to stand there. So if a team's now more often are gonna put their 5s on Bam, for whatever reason, then they'll have a smaller guy on him. That doesn't mean we're gonna duck you in and post up, but you can create a lot of havoc in that dunker spot. Somebody drives, it's an automatic dunk and then that makes them rethink what they're gonna do with that matchup. Offense, rebounding, his crash percentage has gone up in the last three weeks from emphasis in showing that if you're putting a small guy on there — I think it was LaMelo was on him the first time, three weeks ago and he didn't have any offensive rebounds — well, you gotta really punish guys there. There's a bunch of different ways you can punish them and then also in pick-and-roll and then a bunch of random different stuff. So he's got the IQ where he is starting to see it and he is earning more opportunities, but he's impacting the game. That's the most important thing, impact the game and, as a young guy, he's starting to get there. Okay? Thank you.
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10:19 Is Steph good to go tonight?
10:21 STEVE KERR, PREGAME GSW-MIA: He's not.
10:21 He's not playing? Okay. Speaking of Steph, Steve, obviously you had front row with, at the Olympics, with Coach Spo. What stood out to you, obviously, in terms of Steph playing that gold medal game? What stood out to me in the final gold medal game with Steph?
10:41 Well, the obvious, right? I mean the four threes in the last couple of minutes. I think maybe what stood out was the fact that, even playing with the world's best players, they all looked to him to close the game, so tells you about how his peers feel about him, but I've seen him do that many times in many games. Of course that's a different setting, a different vibe, but he was unfazed and in fact embraced it all. So it's amazing to watch.
11:21 Coach, Andrew Wiggins spoke pretty highly this morning, just of his time with Golden State and his relationship with you and I was just curious, what do you reflect on with your time of coaching him and the relationship that he left Golden State with?
11:33 One of the best human beings I've ever been around. Just an amazing teammate, wonderful to coach. So coachable, so team-oriented, great family man. He and Mychal and have their three kids. That's what I think made the trade the most difficult was that Wiggs had had his little boy, Amari, I think a week or two weeks before the trade and so it — and I know it's the business of the NBA, but when you love a guy like we loved Wiggs, every guy on the team loved Wiggs. When you see him have to uproot his family or leave his family, actually, because of the circumstances, it was tough. It's tough to say goodbye to somebody like that, but it's the nature of the business. We all understand it when we get into it. Wiggs understands that and, yeah, it was very tough to say goodbye to him, but that bond will remain forever. Wiggs is awesome.
12:45 Steve, with Steph, is this just, is he just not fully ready or is it just smart that you have two more full days off after this, just give it — ?
12:54 Yeah, he just wasn't quite there and we just can't risk it. He worked out yesterday and he looked good, but at the very end of the workout, just one movement that he made just didn't quite feel right and, knowing the schedule, knowing we've got the next two days off, I think it'll be a full week when he returns. We expect him to return in New Orleans. We'll see. It'll be — we'll just call it day-by-day, but we're kind of expecting that he'll be able to play then. That'll be a full week off and that could really take care of the injury and regenerate, recharge his batteries, so I think this is a good plan.
13:42 Hi Coach, in the NBA everything goes pretty quick, but how crazy is it to think that you are playing today in March in Miami with Jimmy on your side? How crazy is that? Could you imagine something like that two, three months ago or three months ago?
13:56 Couldn't have imagined. You never know how the NBA works out, but weird things happen. Every team has to handle their own business and what I appreciate is the job Mike Dunleavy has done the last couple years, to prepare for a trade like this. Last summer he signed, I guess, three or four free agents. Kyle, De'Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield, signed all three of those guys to contracts that were very tradable numbers that I think Mike just had a great feel for what might come up — not necessarily Jimmy, but you just don't know. And so we suddenly had tradable contracts that we've never had before because we've had three or four max guys and a lot of guys at minimum. And so I think Mike showed great foresight and the way things shook out, obviously, couldn't have worked out any better for us, to get Jimmy. He's been amazing. Everybody here knows what a great player he is, so we're very lucky to have him.
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15:13 ERIK SPOELSTRA, PREGAME: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, obviously, there's a great storyline for everybody out there. We're trying to focus on everything we've been dealing with for the last three weeks, I think all the emotions were late December and early January, to be frank. They're trying to do what they're trying to do. This is the NBA, so there's a lot of things that'll happen. There's a lot of change in the NBA. I think we're pretty far removed now from that kind of emotion.
00:00 How do you think Jimmy handled just that moment and the emotion of it all?
00:05 DRAYMOND GREEN: I think he was great. I can't — I don't know what it's like to return to a place, so I can't necessarily speak to that, but I can imagine that it's emotional and he was fine. He was into the game. He didn't make it about himself. Unfortunate that we couldn't get the win for him. Played like shit, but thought he handled it well.
00:27 With what happened on the court with the boos, with the video, all those emotional things affected not only Jimmy (but) the whole team, the whole — ?
00:35 We just didn't — you just gotta give 'em credit. They made shots, they played well defensively. I don't think the emotion of it affected anyone. You just gotta give them credit.
00:45 How would you explain what happened in the last six weeks since Jimmy arrived to the team, because the change is huge?
00:51 Just shows who he's been his whole career. Every situation he's gone to, he's made it better and he came to this situation and did the same thing, brought life back to a place that had an extreme amount of success and was kinda in a very weird spot. And he brought life and juice back, a belief that we can continue to do what we've been doing for years, but it's obviously different. It's a completely different team and we know what that looks like. We know what that feels like and he brought that feel back.
01:24 How would you describe the environment tonight, though?
01:27 Oh, they were hyped. The fans were hyped. You hardly ever see all the seats filled in Miami to start a game, right after half. Every seat was filled. Everybody was intense, into the game. I thought it was a great environment.
01:38 What do you guys have to do to deal with these I guess, non-winning teams who seem to play above the scouting report?
01:46 We just gotta make sure that we are approaching every game like we're playing against the best team in the NBA because that's who teams turn into when they play us. They play outta their minds. This team, 17-for-25 from three or something like that? It's crazy. 18-for-25? It's crazy, but in saying that, it's the NBA. Everybody got talent, so whether they have nine — they're not a team with a winning record or not, everybody's got talent that can beat you any given night. We gotta make sure we figure these games out.
02:18 Draymond, what'd you think about seeing Wiggins on the other side?
02:20 Like, it's crazy. We've been teammates now since 2019 — yeah, 2019-20 season — and to see him on the other side, it's weird. You see the moves that you've seen year in and year out. Now they're going against you, but he played well. It was good to see him have a good game for sure.
02:43 Also, I know you mentioned that they played well defensively. How do you think about the way that they had Bam and Highsmith kind of defending Jimmy the whole night and the way they sent the late help and all that?
02:50 Yeah, they sent a lot of double-teams. I don't think we adjusted to it well. We needed to give him more outlets, get to space and capitalize and we didn't do a good job of it.
03:00 Steve said Friday's game's the biggest game of the season. What kind of urgency are you expecting on Friday?
03:04 We gotta come out and play well. Lost two in a row. You don't want it to spiral. It's the wrong time of the year to let something spiral, so we gotta come out, take care of this, get this road trip moving in the right direction. We're 0-2 to start this trip. We need to make sure we right the ship.
03:17 With Steph healthy, do you feel that this team can beat any team in the West?
03:21 I think we can beat in team in the world with Steph healthy.
03:24 As the defensive anchor, how did you get everyone emotionally (involved)?
03:28 Get myself charged. Get myself charged. You gotta lead by example, as well, and so I get myself charged up, everybody else will fall in line.
03:40 Draymond, you and Steve Kerr both mentioned how important and vital the 17 made threes were for the Heat. How much of that do you think was kind of them getting hot or was it you guys giving them open looks to start, and that kind of got them in a rhythm? What do you think about — ?
03:50 I thought they got hot. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively of contesting. Yeah, they got some open ones, that's the NBA. You work to create open shots. That's what happened, but I thought we did a pretty good job of contesting and once the team get confidence, it's the NBA. You're trying to put out a fire and it's tough.
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04:05 A win here, obviously, and especially coming off a the 10-game skid and getting that first win, obviously, Jimmy coming back, was there a little extra energy from the team that you noticed or what did you think about the overall performance there?
04:18 BAM ADEBAYO: Two games ago, we lost 10 straight and to have that breakthrough, that's the energy that you need. It's not against anybody at this point. We're just scrapping for wins. It doesn't matter about who we're playing against.
04:33 Bam, what was it like to start the game on Jimmy? Obviously, a former teammate you've been in the trenches with and how much are you enjoying this challenge of guarding bigger wings now with Kel'el and the starting group?
04:46 I think it's a part of my versatility. I feel like that just adds value to me. Obviously, I've been doing that for quite some time when switching, but to start on primary wings, it's different, but like I said, man, the guy's been through the trenches with us, so it's the utmost respect to him. I'm just glad we got the win, man.
05:09 What can you say about Andrew Wiggins' ability to set the tone on defense? Obviously he carried a scoring load the other night, but tonight he had a couple steals and a block in the first quarter and just how that helps set the defensive tone?
05:20 I mean, it just sets the tone. I feel like that's what really won us the game, setting the tone on the defensive side, getting out, being active, getting layups, everybody seeing the ball go through, so now everybody's getting a chance to touch the rock and when you got all guys playing at that high level, like I said, man, we're tough to beat.
05:39 Whenever I ask you your favorite question about leadership and being a captain, you like to bring it back to leading by example. Was tonight leading by example and could you feel the rest of the team feeding off what you were bringing?
05:53 Yeah. It was a lot of outside emotion around this game. I'm not gonna say for us, 'cause like I said before, we're scrapping for wins, but it was a lot of outside emotion around it and to go out there and have that type of performance, it's just you give guys a vision, you give guys belief. You want guys to play to a higher level than they did tonight.
06:21 Bam, just going back to the first dunk of the game on Jimmy, I'm curious, have you ever done that on him in practice during his time here at the Heat?
06:29 Nah. Nah. Like I said, man, I'm just glad we got the win. I don't care about who he was playing against. It's one of those things. We're scrapping for wins, man, so I'm glad we got the dub.
06:46 Bam, you've always talked about guarding your yard and it felt like a lot of the coverages tonight, it was just single coverage, just whether it was you, Haywood guarding Jimmy or others, it was just kind of guarding your own. How much do you kind of like that style where it's not — you can mix in the doubles, but it's kind of the base of just going out there and defending your own?
07:02 I mean, that's what we take pride in. When we don't do it, it's very glaring to us 'cause we know we can do it, so for me, man, I'm always gonna take that challenge one-on-one and then, like I said, guys will follow and then if somebody has to take a challenge one-on-one to start the game, I'm gonna infuse that energy.
07:25 Bam, Spo was talking about the growth Kel'el has shown this month. What'd you think of his performance and the growth you've seen from him?
07:33 The wild layup, I mean, it just shows, I mean, how talented he is when he is locked in. He can be a force in this league. He's only a rookie and he's getting all these double-doubles. He might break my record when he gets to Year 8, but that's what we need from him, energy, flying up and down the court, making the right reads, and then every once in a while the basketball gods bless you, where you make a trick layup like that and you all over social media. So it's good to see him having fun and we enjoyed this win.
08:16 Thank you, Bam.
08:17 Yep.
00:00 Jimmy, I'm sure there were a lot of mixed emotions tonight, but what did it mean to you to see that tribute video and to see the fans cheering for you, at least to start the game?
00:07 JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah, like I always say, I got a lot of love for the city, for the fan base here. Video was nice. I won't say that there's a lot of emotions though. I think I went into this thing level-headed. We wanted to win the game. It didn't go the way we planned, but we'll be all right.
00:24 Was there anything strange about coming in and you're going to the visitor's side after five-and-a-half years here?
00:28 Yeah, the way to get to the game, I guess I was confused a little bit, but then I think I figured it out. Yeah, I haven't been on this side in a minute, haven't pulled into that entrance in a while, but it looks like I'm gonna be doing that for the next couple years.
00:42 Jimmy, you maintain that this is just another game. Now that it is over, how would you assess the return, but also the end of this chapter?
00:49 I mean we all good. We didn't win. Yeah. I don't think we played the style of basketball that we wanted to play, that we talked about playing at the same time, but like I said, it's another one so it didn't go in the win column and went in the loss column. But it's like any other time I'm doing media, we gotta bounce back 'cause we can't let this thing spiral outta control. We gotta go into New Orleans and they've been playing incredibly well, and get that one. Definitely gotta get that one.
01:13 Jimmy, did you have any chance to see any former teammates? I know you guys are playing against each other, but I mean, any conversation, any just reminiscence seeing Spo, anything like that?
01:22 Mm-mmm. Maybe K.Love a little bit, T-Ro (Terry Rozier) a little bit. I mean, I'm going out there and playing basketball. I haven't talked to the guys since. It's not a bad thing and it's been a long time.
01:33 You feel like this is closure? I mean, I know you had said — and all the guys in the other locker room had said too — that this is in the past already...
01:38 yeah.
01:38 ...but do you sense that tonight and coming here, getting the fan response, all that stuff kind of puts it in the past?
01:43 I mean, it was behind me a long time ago, as soon as I ended up a Golden State Warrior. Everything that had went on was dead, so like I always say, I'm always focused on the right now and what's to come. So I'm here as a Golden State Warrior and I got a job to do.
02:01 Jimmy, to go back to the video, there was obviously some of the iconic stuff, you slumped over the wall in the Bubble and stuff like that. Did it take you back to any of those (inaudible), when you're watching it again? (Inaudible.)
02:14 I mean, it take me back to some good times whenever I was wearing a Miami Heat jersey. I'm very appreciative of those times to help me become the player that I am in this league, the individual that I am in this league, the teammate, the leader, all of those things. I don't think I could be who I am today without my opportunity here. I'll tell you that.
02:32 Spo talked about pre-game that maybe down the road, these are things reminisce on. When you're in the middle of NBA season and playing, it's hard. Do you anticipate that as time passes, you'll see this situation with more fondness than maybe the way it ended?
02:44 I mean, I see it for what it is. A chapter has ended, but a new one has begun. But what I will say is, and like I always say, I'm very appreciative for my time here, the bonds that I've built here and when you look down the road, I mean, this was a huge part of my career, so I continue to say that I'm very grateful and I ain't spiteful towards nobody. Like always say, I'm grateful for the opportunity. I love the fan base. It's not bad. It's not all bad.
03:18 Speaking with fan base, what'd you think of their reactions in cheers and booing when you were touching the ball? What'd you think?
03:23 Nah, that don't bother me none. It's gonna happen plenty of places. I guess it's gonna happen here now, too. Get used to it.
03:32 Just glad it's over?
03:33 Huh?
03:33 Are you glad it's over?
03:35 I mean, I don't even know how to answer that one. We didn't win, so like all the other stuff, it really don't matter. When you win, everything seems better, everything seems all right, so I'm on to the next one already.
03:50 Two straight tough losses, Jimmy. What needs to change?
03:53 Probably like the effort coming out at the jump. Gotta guard a little bit better. It seems like, as of late, everybody's been scoring at will at the rim in the mid, at the three, getting to the free throw line. We've gotten away from what got us a couple wins early on.
04:11 How does the sense of urgency kind of — ?
04:13 We've always had that. We've always had that, that sense of urgency. And there's no excuses, never will be. We're expected to win, so we gotta pick it up.
04:21 Jimmy, what about these days in Miami? You have been almost a whole week here in the city.
04:26 I stay with my kids. I don't get the opportunity to see 'em as often as I want to, being on the other side of the United States, so I'm by the pool, playing dominoes, loving all my kids.
04:37 Taking care of Big Face, too?
04:39 Yeah, I stopped by there a couple times, but more than anything, enjoying the weather a little bit and like I said, being around my babies.
04:47 Jimmy, how nice of a break has it been — it's obviously not break, but Steph gets hurt and you guys have a couple days off before tonight, a couple days off after. Maybe he'll only miss a couple.
04:58 We definitely need 30 back, but we want him to be right and we're still expected to win. We gotta put up a better effort than what we put up the last two games, but if he's back, I think it's a little bit different.
05:09 Does it feel like playoffs have started already?
05:15 Not yet. Not yet. We just realize how important every single game is, the opportunity that we do have in front of us. Just gotta get healthy and get right and knock them down as these games come up.
05:27 Separate from your motivation, Steve Kerr talked about how much Stephen was dying to come back to this game for you. Just what is it like to know that this team just wanted to rally around you?
05:36 Yeah, I said thank you to everybody even before the game and after the game, just knowing how much not only this game means to me, but how much it means to our team and our organization. Not because it's the Miami Heat, but because we need every win that we can get right now for this playoff push that we will be making. Came up short, really short, actually. But we got another one in a couple days.
06:01 Jimmy (inaudible), do you feel that they had a special motivation tonight because you were there?
06:08 Nah, they made some shots. They played some incredible basketball. Tip your hat to that. It's gonna be hard if we don't guard anybody, though. We don't guard anybody. We're stagnant on offense, but we'll be okay. We will. This one's over with. Put it behind us, go eat some food and enjoy the sunshine tomorrow.
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06:26 How it sort of feel like, again, with the energy, obviously Jimmy returning, did it feel like the energy from you guys was maybe a little different tonight?
06:34 TYLER HERRO: I mean, at this point in the season, regardless of who comes in here, we gotta play with that energy, that effort, that type of focus coming in, with this 10 games left, I think, now. So being able to finish this season strong is key and I thought we came out with the right intention of fighting hard, competing hard and just leaving it all out there on the floor.
06:55 Defensively, especially, you guys seemed very connected tonight. We all know that Bam sets the tone with that, but it seemed to be pretty much everybody.
07:03 Yeah, it was. We were on a string covering for each other, so we gotta, again, find consistency in that. That's been our problem all season, but we see what we're capable of and that's why we're always so positive because we know what we can do and we just gotta get to it more.
07:19 Tyler, Spo was just giving you credit for being willing to play off the ball, take the pressure and use it to make openings for everybody else. Was that the idea of coming into the game or did that develop naturally, kind of as you saw with their deployment?
07:31 I forgot they had Gary Payton and then I heard before the game that he was starting or something and then I was like, "Oh yeah, that's right." But he's a great defender. I love competing against him, but just trying to play the game the right way. Not every night I'm gonna be able to score 30 or whatever it is. Like, just trying to impact the game in different ways and the ways I'm getting guarded, trying to learn new ways to be effective.
07:57 What can you say about Andrew Wiggins' ability to set the tone, whether it's on offense on Sunday or defense today where he had a couple steals, and that block in the first quarter?
08:05 Yeah, I mean, that's his versatility. That's why we've been praising Wiggs, is he can impact the game on both sides of the ball. Like you said, the other night he scored 40 and then tonight he was impacting the game on defense, getting steals, rebounds, deflections and just making it tough.
08:23 Tyler, how great was it going against Jimmy Bowl?
08:27 it was my first time playing him, but it was a normal game, it felt like.
08:34 Was there a conversation with him maybe before or after, just kind of reflecting on the time here or — ?
08:39 No, no, no, no, no.
08:42 Tyler, one more. What was your reaction to the Kel'el Ware circus shot?
08:47 Which one? I feel like all his shots are circus shots.
08:49 The one that was caught mid-air.
08:52 Oh yeah. He put it back up? Well, I didn't know if it was the floater or the one he did like that. Nah, he's a — I mean, he's skilled for a seven-footer. He's, if you ask him, that's like what he does and, like, that's just his normal day right there.
00:00 What bothered you more tonight, the offense or the defense?
00:08 STEVE KERR: Both. Both, yeah. I didn't — it wasn't our best stuff, clearly, but we couldn't make a shot, 9-for-38. They go 17-for-25. I just give them credit. We played very poorly, but it's not like we were throwing the ball around the gym. We had some shot clock violations 'cause they played great defense, but we didn't connect the game very well and they just lit it up. Spo had 'em ready to play, as we would expect, given the circumstances with Jimmy coming back and they were ready and they knocked everything down early and we missed everything and we were playing upstream the whole game.
00:57 Beyond just, obviously as you mentioned, just missing shots, what problems do you feel like need to be solved offensively right now?
01:05 Well, we're having to sort of make some decisions based on spacing and without Steph. And so the decision I made tonight was to start Gary in order to guard Herro and I thought he did a really good job on him early and I liked the game was — the way the game went in the first quarter for the most part. We just couldn't make anything, so I'll look at the tape, but I liked a lot of the looks we got early in the game. Some nights they don't go in. I'm very confident with what we're doing because over the last, whatever, 20 games since we've had Jimmy, we're a Top Five offensive team, so tonight wasn't our night, but I'm very confident that we'll be fine Friday.
01:57 You said that you expected a heated environment. What'd you just think about the environment from the pre-game tribute video to throughout the game?
02:05 I didn't know what was going on pre-game because there was a video with no sound, so I was wondering what was happening. Miami is, it's a great place to live and so people don't ever seem too amped up around here and they're living the good life, so it really wasn't that rabid of an environment. It was typical Miami and I think the main part of Jimmy's return is that the Heat were ready and Spo had 'em ready and, I mean, you shoot 17-for-25 from three, you're gonna win, but I thought it was how hard they played, how well they competed. They took it to us tonight.
02:54 What were some things that they did defensively that disrupted what you wanted to do on offense?
03:00 Well, they've got Bam down there who's an all-world defender and I thought he controlled much of the game, but, again, I thought early in the game we had five or six wide-open threes and so we were actually getting decent shots. I thought the first part of the second quarter was a key part of the game. We love that lineup that we put out there with Quinten, Draymond, Jimmy. We're down six the end of the quarter when they made the — I think they made a couple shots late to extend it to six, but I thought we could make a push right there with Draymond and Jimmy on the floor, together with Quinten, and I think the opposite happened. I think they pushed it to 12 immediately and we weren't able to kind of capture the momentum of the game.
03:55 Steve, how much nightly angst do you have after a game, scoreboard-watching of where you guys sit?
04:01 Nightly angst?
04:02 Yeah, if any.
04:03 This is the NBA, man. It's — we all have angst, all 30 of us. We have angst, but angst is a good thing. We're living — we are in the fight and we got 10 games to go and I can't wait. I think Friday, Friday's the biggest game of the year for us. We've lost two games in a row, very poor performances. It's time and we gotta bounce back and that's what good teams do. And I'm confident that we'll do that.
04:35 How did you think Jimmy handled this, this whole scene? I thought he — I thought Jimmy handled it great. He was very poised out there. He never seemed too emotional about it. He was talking to the guys on the bench trying to talk them through what we were trying to accomplish. It was their night though. It was just Miami's night and they earned it with the way they played and the way they shot and so you move on. And I don't think Jimmy's gonna spend too much time lamenting anything tonight. These are games that happen in the NBA. It was their night.
05:13 You mentioned Friday is the biggest game of the year. I know pre-game you sound very optimistic Steph can play Friday?
05:19 I hope so, but he's got — we, obviously, we've got a couple days for him to heal, to continue to heal, so I'd be surprised if he didn't play, but it's day-to-day, so we will list him as questionable for a reason. He is questionable, but he's been trending upwards, so I'm hopeful that he'll play.
05:45 Almost a entire week here in Miami, this states that you have been here for five, six days in Miami. It's something that maybe can, relatively to be relaxing today, and how important is to have time with the players, when you are so close to the (inaudible)?
06:05 Yeah, I mean, in this game, again, this was not about us being in Miami for a few days. This game was about the Heat shooting 17-for-25 and playing great defense and competing, so I think the world of Spo, he's one of the great coaches in any sport, a game like this, he is gonna have 'em ready. He always does, but they wanted this one badly. They took it to us. it has nothing to do with us being in Miami for a few days. It has to do with the fact that they just completely outplayed and out-coached us and we gotta be ready for Friday.
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06:44 Andrew, could you just kind of talk about just the general feelings, obviously, facing your former team. I know you said going into it, you were excited, but how did it feel just sort of actually interacting with them?
06:54 ANDREW WIGGINS: I mean, it felt good, it felt good. Like, some friendly competition at the highest level. I spent a lot of years there with the organization. Great organization, loved it there, so it felt good, It felt even better getting the win.
07:14 Andrew, I know you've only been around these guys now for a little less than two months, but did you sense an extra energy, extra motivation entering this game just with everything around it?
07:23 For sure. I mean, you can sense it on both sides, obviously, when you play a former teammate or a former team. There's always that extra little motivation.
07:39 Andrew, Coach Kerr called you one of the best human beings he's ever coached, before the game, and I was just wondering, like, how would you just describe like your relationship with him and the lessons that he taught you as a player that you carry forward?
07:52 I mean, Coach Kerr is a — he is a great guy, great guy. He is a great coach and he just, he put me in position to be successful. I had some great years there, won a championship, was a All-Star and he helped put me in position to do that and, even off the court, he is a great guy.
08:18 Andrew, whenever we ask about Bam, about being a leader, which is something you've kind of taken on the last couple years, he talks about trying to be more vocal, but it always kind of comes back to leading by example. Was that, tonight, leading by example?
08:29 For sure, for sure. He went out there, he set the tone early with his physicality, both sides of the floor.
08:39 Andrew, obviously the two big scoring games for you the last two games, but this game, it seems like you were settled with the playmaking. Just kind of how much has that been asked from you, just to be on the ball playing, get into the middle of the floor? You found Kel'el a couple times. Just how important is that?
08:52 Yeah, I mean, just, trying to take what the defense gives you. They're a team and they were packing the paint. I got in the paint a couple times and tried to go up and I couldn't finish that thing. It was packed. They did a good job of that, but just if the shot's not there, just trying to find the open man and help create and every game it could be a big scoring night or something like that. It is just, you go up there and you do what you can do to help your team win.
09:23 Andrew, can you touch on the energy in the stadium, just the excitement that you heard tonight?
09:28 Yeah, the energy was great. The fans were great. It was a great atmosphere. it was a great arena to play in tonight.
09:35 Alright, thank you Andrew.
09:37 Yeah, thank you guys.
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