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00:00Hi, coach. How are you? Great. How are you guys doing? We're doing well, but we wanted
00:06to start with this because we just replayed for our audience your press gathering after
00:12the Rockets game on Wednesday night, and when you finished it by saying it was a call that
00:17an elementary school ref wouldn't make, I immediately wondered, do you know that when
00:23you're talking to us that one of us is actually an elementary school referee? I had no idea.
00:31Is that true? Dan Dibley has been doing it for 35 years, so coach, the floor is yours.
00:38You talk to him. Would you have made that call? Steve, I wouldn't have, and I'll tell
00:44you why. I do eight games in a day. I'm kind of the Zach Zarba of Marin County CYO. Not
00:49nearly as good looking. Take it easy. Well, you kind of jumped the bit because I'm both
00:54handsome and efficient with the whistle, but what I like to do, Steve, is I like to let
00:59the kids, in this case, and I do a lot of fourth and fifth grade, I like to let the
01:03players decide it, and because I work alone, I don't have the opportunity to do what Mr.
01:09Kennedy and the crew should have done, which is huddle up, because he bursts in from the
01:13baseline with the fist. Meanwhile, the other two officials are looking at the play, doing
01:18exactly what the dibber does up in the CYO. Is that where your frustration really stems
01:23from? The fact that, you know, Kennedy stole the call from the baseline while the other
01:27two were kind of letting it play out? Well, you know, I, I, I said what I said after the
01:36game, obviously it was a disappointing finish. You know, I just, I just think in general,
01:44those, those plays should not be called. I think Bill Kennedy is a great ref. He's
01:48a great guy. And I, you know, I, I always feel bad after games if, you know, when I
01:55criticize refs, cause I know these guys have the hardest job in sports. I mean, other than
01:59being a quarterback in the, in the NFL, I think they have the hardest job in sports,
02:04but you know, my, my issue is that they're just, there's gotta be field with officiating.
02:11It can't be black and white. And this is, you know, I've said this before, this is not
02:15tennis where you go to Hawkeye, the ball's either in or out and everybody agrees, you
02:21know, that we can, we can have an argument on every single call that happens or non-call
02:27in a, in a basketball game. So these guys have really difficult jobs. I acknowledge
02:31that. And I just think the NBA is best served and, and all of basketball, including elementary
02:39basketball and Marin, you know, it's best served when there's, when there's some feel
02:45like let's, you know, it's that, that, that's just not a call that should be made. And I,
02:49I'm going to leave it at that. So I don't rack up any fines.
02:52I appreciate it, Steven. You know, coaches in our league don't get fined, but if you
02:55need me to don the stripes and get out there when Dallas comes to town, I need to start
03:00stretching now so I can make it the full 48.
03:04Well, we'll, I'll be in touch. Thank you, coach. I will ask you this. I wonder if there,
03:10is there anything that has sort of changed with your thought process on this? And I mean
03:16that with the view from 10,000 feet, because you told us last week that, that what you
03:21say in press conferences, you do think that out that's, that is, that is somewhat strategic
03:26and there has been at least three instances of, of discussing officiating in postgame
03:32press conferences. So why, why has it been more of a topic for you this year?
03:39I'm not sure it has been more of a topic this year. I, I only really remember the, the Denver
03:47and, and this one, what was it? What was the other one?
03:50I'm thinking of Memphis also.
03:52Oh yeah. Yeah. I was a little upset that night. It's true.
03:59Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, fair. I'm not saying it's unfair, but, but anyway.
04:05No, I, like I said, it's, and I'll, I'll, I'll tell you this. I think the game is in
04:12a much better place than it was a year ago where the players were just manipulating their
04:18way to the foul line. We've done a really good job. The league has of kind of eliminating
04:24that dynamic and, and the game, I think the game is way better this year than it was a
04:29year ago. And so I, the one thing I say, the league is always, you know, trying to make
04:36it a better game, trying to improve the, the quality of the flow of the game. And, and
04:42I know that, you know, when I speak publicly, I am speaking to the league too, you know,
04:50and I think they know that. And I, and I think, I actually think that's somewhat appreciated,
04:56you know, as long as you do it in a tactful way and you're not crushing people.
04:59I just think, you know, I just think we're all kind of, you know, working towards a better
05:05game and it's, it's really hard because as I said, the, the NBA, every single call there's,
05:12there's gray area on. And what I think is a foul, you're going to think it's not depending
05:17on, you know, what's, what side we're cheering for, what side we're on. So this is really
05:21difficult stuff.
05:22Yeah. And you were mentioning the benefit that the game has gotten from refs kind of
05:27letting them play and without being critical of the officials that night, do you think
05:31that the rocket game maybe is too far in the other direction in terms of the allowance
05:37of physicality?
05:38Yeah, I do think it was, it got, it got too physical in that game. And I thought, you
05:46know, and that was one of the, one of my comments afterwards was if it's going to be that physical
05:51and how can you possibly call that, you know, that play at the end. And so you, you want
05:56it to be consistent. That's the main thing you want to know what's, what's happening.
05:59But you know, there's, there's always the league is always evolving and we, you know,
06:05the officiating is evolving with it. And as I said, I feel, I feel good about, you know,
06:12the league's handling of, of everything and how they, how they, they, you know, want the
06:18game to go to a good place. And, and, and that just, that changes, that changes from,
06:23you know, era to era from even from year to year. And like I said, they do a good job
06:28of collaborating.
06:29Steve Kerr with us as he is every week, Willard and Dibbs, 95-7 the game. Coach, I look at
06:35what is, and I wonder if you actually would use the word trend, but it feels like a little
06:39bit of a trend because you guys are having a hard time getting buckets in the final two,
06:43three minutes of games when the game is close. Would, what, what do you see as to, as to
06:48what is, is preventing the scoring down the stretch?
06:52Well, I think Steph had great comments after the game. You know, as always, he, he, he
06:58took accountability because that's what Steph does. You know, whether anything is his fault
07:02or not, he's always going to, you know, stand up and say, Hey, I, I take responsibility
07:09for this. But he, you know, what he said was we, we have to be better organized. We have
07:14to get a certain go-to sets. We have to really be comfortable with what we're, you know,
07:20what we're doing with the personnel that we have. And I, I think he's dead on and the
07:24beauty of Steph is that, you know, he's, he's one of the only superstars in sports who can
07:30just say that so authentically, so genuinely, so non-threateningly to anybody.
07:38There's no controversy. Nobody's writing stories today or yesterday about, you know, Steph
07:43Curry calls out his coach. It's, it's, it's just genuine collaboration. It's the beauty
07:48of Steph. He, I mean, along with lots of other stuff, but he is an incredible partner in
07:54all of this. And the reason I'm so confident that we are going to get through this is because
08:01we're, we're going to collaborate. You know, today's practice was, was really dedicated
08:06to situational stuff and, and talking details on, you know, end of game actions and what
08:12we're trying to accomplish and who needs to be where. And, and I have a lot of accountability
08:18in that as a coach, I, I, you know, I've got to make sure that, that we are really efficient
08:25down the stretch in closing games. And so, you know, we, we, Steph and I are aware Draymond's
08:30aware, you know, we have to do this together. We got to figure it out. And that's, that's
08:34the plan.
08:35It looked like most of the offense was Steph and Draymond screen and rolls down the stretch
08:40in that Houston game. Is there more space for Jonathan Kaminga to get the ball and kind
08:46of create on his own late in games in crunch time spots?
08:49Well, we saw that in the last Houston game at home when Steph and Draymond were out and
08:55that was definitely a, you know, a great option and that can still be an option for sure.
09:01But, you know, to be, to be fair, like we're, you know, if we have Steph and Draymond on
09:06the floor, we're going to go to them. I mean, that's, you know, they've, they, they are
09:10our best option. We know that they've run that pick and roll for a decade. They've won
09:14championships doing that. That's, that's the best option. There are other options for sure.
09:21JK in that situation is, is an option there, you know, there are other things we can do,
09:27but our bread and butter is going to be the pick and roll with Steph and Draymond. Everybody
09:31knows that. But we've got to do a better job of building the rhythm within it and making
09:37sure guys are in the right spots around them and then executing from there.
09:40So Steve, let's talk a little bit about Kaminga then with, with what you just said and the
09:45fact that you recently had a couple of games ago, right? Draymond to the bench and Jonathan
09:50into the starting spot. And it feels like the organization is sending the message that
09:55they want to at least feature them a little bit more. Is that true? And, and, and what,
10:00what have you said to him about what that move means?
10:04Yeah, that, that we are giving him, you know, more opportunity for sure. And, and that's,
10:10that's the plan, you know, I mean, I think you guys are well aware. I mean, we've been
10:14experimenting with, we have, I think we've had 13 different starting lineups this year
10:19and, and the tricky part of all this to get cut right to the chase is, you know, Draymond's
10:25best as a four. And if Draymond's the four, it's, it's, it's hard to play JK at the three.
10:35And so, you know, in order to maximize JK, you have to slide Draymond to the five to
10:41give JK the space that he needs. And that means we're taking Draymond out of position.
10:48So we're, we're experimenting with all of this. And, and it's not easy. It doesn't just
10:53fit hand in glove to be able to accomplish both. And so that's, that's part of what we're
10:59experimenting with. And that's part of what we're looking at with different lineups.
11:04And does that directly or indirectly affect Trace Jackson Davis, who started a bunch at
11:09five early and then Loon came in and now TJD had a game where he didn't even play it all.
11:14Is it just a case of rotations or is TJD kind of struggling here in year two?
11:19No, no, Trace is playing great. In fact, I thought he was really good the other night.
11:24You know, I didn't play him the previous game against Minnesota, but last game clearly presented
11:30a need for him because of their switching defense and their athleticism. We needed his
11:36finishing ability and, you know, and he got, I got a couple of buckets inside in that first
11:41half that were important for us running the floor was important for us. So it's just the
11:46domino effect of, you know, JK playing the four, Draymond playing the five that, that
11:52leaves fewer minutes for Loon and Trace. And sometimes it's one or the other. And we have
11:59to sort through all that. We also have to sort through what does it mean for Draymond
12:04playing the five heavy minutes? I think it's a lot. I think it's a lot, you know, to, to
12:09have to battle Shen Goon down there, you know, all game on the low block and, and then
12:15handle more responsibility, you know, offensively as the guy at the top of the floor, you know,
12:21running the dribble handoffs and the pick and rolls, it's exhausting doing all of that.
12:26And so these are all factors that we talk about every day organizationally and, and,
12:32and what it means.
12:33Steve, any silver lining to the loss the other night in that it creates a home environment
12:39over this weekend, more rest, no chance of that extra game. That's not in the standings.
12:45Has that thought even crossed your mind a little bit?
12:48Yeah, but it's overwhelmed by the anger that comes from not being in Las Vegas, playing
12:54in the, in the NBA cup tomorrow. I mean, we, we, we were dying to, to win that thing. And,
13:00and we were, you know, we, I thought we, we played well enough to win. We didn't play
13:04great in Houston, obviously, but we battled and played really well defensively and should
13:10have closed that game out. And so that, that makes us pretty angry. Now the flip side,
13:17you're right. We have one game in the next week. We've got, we'll have today we practiced,
13:21we'll have three more practices in the next like five, six days.
13:25It's almost unheard of. So we have a chance to, uh, to really confront, you know, some
13:31of the issues that have been holding us back and have kept us from winning some of these
13:35close games.
13:36Quick aside, Steve, when you go to Vegas, are you a gambler? And if so, what's your
13:41table game that you prefer?
13:43I used to be, I used to love to play blackjack and, uh, and now, um, I'm an old man. I don't
13:49even bother going to the tables. I go right to the room and go to sleep at about eight
13:5430.
13:55I will let you know. That's not a funny answer. No, but I, I just, just so you know, I go
14:01to those tables still sometimes when I'm there and there are plenty of old men there.
14:05All right. Old, boring. I'm an old, boring man. I mean, do you want to weigh in on what
14:12to do when you have 16 and the dealer has a 10 showing, how do you handle it?
14:18Oh, Oh, hit every time.
14:20Every time.
14:21Well, I shouldn't say that. I shouldn't say that. I mean, you know, if you, if, uh, if
14:26you haven't seen any, any face cards in a while, you might hold off, but, uh, I'm generally
14:31a let's go for it guy.
14:33Uh, love that. Steve Kerr with us here on a Willard and dibs as he is every single week.
14:40Okay. Um, what about clay coming back again this weekend and emotionally how that might
14:47compare to, uh, to the first time that he came back?
14:52No hats for clay. Yeah, we're, uh, no, we, uh, we're, we're always going to look forward
15:00to seeing clay for sure. Um, so we're, we're excited to see him, but, uh, it's good to
15:06have the, uh, the emotion of the first game behind us.
15:09No doubt. And you know, part of the, the fun of the NBA season for us anyway, is to talk
15:14about the, what if, and part of that is the trade rumors that are constantly swirling
15:18without addressing any of the ongoing machinations that are out there as a coach. Is it something
15:25that you find distracting or is it something that you even address at all with the team
15:30privately or collectively as we get closer to trade season?
15:35It gets to be a little bit of a distraction in February, but really at this point, um,
15:41there's, there's nothing I know there's, you know, there's, there's plenty of rumors and
15:44all that stuff. But, uh, as far as being a distraction for the team or me, you know,
15:49addressing anything, I don't say anything until February when it gets real. Uh, so it's
15:55not, it's not an issue. Steve, how's Andrew Wiggins doing?
16:00He's uh, he's, he's feeling pretty well. He'll, uh, be questionable for Sunday. We had a light
16:07practice today that he took part in, but it was mostly walk through and, uh, and shooting
16:12and, and kind of five on O stuff. So we'll, we'll see how he's doing. I mean, if, if,
16:17uh, if we feel like it makes sense to give him, you know, that Sunday off, because that'll
16:22mean a whole week or nine days rest, then we'll do that. But that'll be up to the training
16:27staff. Pods has kind of had an up and down year and especially scoring the basketball,
16:32but everything else in his game has been pretty rock solid. Where is he at right now
16:37in his year two development, especially when it comes to his outside shot?
16:42Well, the shot starting to fall a little bit more, as you can see. And that's exactly what
16:47I expected. Um, you know, he's a good shooter and I think over the course of his career,
16:52he's going to shoot a good percentage. I think Brandon is, is a hell of a player. He's tough.
16:58He's physical. Uh, he's someone who we really trust, uh, you know, with the game on the line,
17:05I had him inbound the ball the other night at the end of the game. Cause I know he's going to make
17:08a good decision. I think Brandon is in a typical place for a second year guy where he's, he's still
17:16figuring out who he is as a player and, you know, his place on the team, his place in the league.
17:21It takes time. You know, you have to experiment, you have to take risks, you have to make mistakes.
17:27And, uh, so he's going through all of that stuff and, you know, kind of processing, um,
17:33where he is and, and what, what, what kind of player he's going to be.
17:36Steve, this is totally off subject, but, but we wanted to ask you,
17:40and if memory and the internet serve correctly, famously, when, when Scotty Pippen wouldn't go
17:46into a playoff game there at the end, when a play was being drawn up for Tony Kukoc,
17:50you were on that team, right? I was, yeah.
17:54What do you remember about that night?
17:58I remember that, uh, Phil Jackson walked into the locker room and basically, um,
18:06address the team briefly. And he said, uh, Bill Cartwright is going to address you guys. Bill was
18:13in his 16th year, I think, um, one of our captains and, uh, and Bill addressed it.
18:20And, uh, it was one of the most powerful moments, um, I've ever experienced because Scotty
18:27was a champion and beloved and everybody's favorite teammate.
18:33And he just kind of lost his, his mind for a second. And, um, it was, it was a bizarre moment.
18:40I think Scotty had so much equity that, um, we forgave him because, um, we knew who he was,
18:47what kind of heart he had, what kind of competitor he was. We recognize the fact that he, uh,
18:53frankly just kind of, you know, lost, lost his, uh, his cool and made him made a huge mistake.
19:00So Steve, the reason I'm asking, and I don't know if you're aware of it, but the 49ers last night
19:05in Thursday night football had one of their linebackers, uh, just walk off the field and
19:10tell the coaches he did not feel like playing when there were other linebackers playing through
19:15injury out on the field and others who had been knocked out of the game and they really needed
19:19him. So that's kind of why the subject is fresh for us. And, and, and we as fans and media are,
19:26are sort of working through what that does to a teammate when, when, when one of your teammates
19:31won't go in there for, for their brothers. So thought it'd be interesting to get your reaction
19:36to that. Yeah. I just think that so much of it is based on, um, you know, the player's history
19:44with the team, you know, in our case with, with Scotty Pippen, we knew what, we knew what Scotty
19:50was about and we recognized, uh, it was just an awful mistake. Um, but one that we were willing
19:58to forgive because of who he was and what he had meant to the team and what kind of teammate he had
20:04been his entire career. So I just think it's a, it's, it's, it's one thing if it's a, you know,
20:12one-time deal, a guy had a bad night, you know, having a bad day at home, whatever, or is it a,
20:17you know, is it a pattern? Is it a, you know, so it's really up to every, every team to figure
20:22that stuff out. All right. So Steve, just to recap, no issue with elementary school refs, right?
20:30No, actually I'm a big fan because I, I hear they let the kids play ball.
20:34Yeah. Steven, if you want to come out and, uh, then if you're feeling any frustration,
20:38I'll be at, uh, St. Vincent's in Marinwood every Saturday in January and February. I'll give you,
20:44I'll give you a good seat down low and you can just let it rip. We got good tickets. Yeah.
20:49I'm going to come out and heckle you so bad. It's going to be so fun. Oh my gosh,
20:54coach. If you actually do, please, please. I like, I, I will, uh, I don't know, whatever.
21:01I don't even know what I could do for you, but, uh, I'm, I'm willing to negotiate that. If you
21:05would do that to get you ready. I call traveling about as often as the NBA refs do. So don't ask
21:11for a travel call because we don't believe in traveling in the fourth grade. I'll tell you
21:15what I can offer coach. I'll do, I'll make swordfish stir fry for you. I can do that on my
21:22own. That's a good point. I'll keep trying. Thank you, coach. All right.