KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME
  • 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00and let's have some fun with our friend Steve Kerr. Presented by Great Clips and Sports Success
00:04is about team effort and the same is true for your hair. Great Clips, it's going to be great.
00:09Hey Steve, how are you? I'm good. I'm thinking I'm going to need Dibbs' help next week in my
00:14football pool. So if you're hot, send me your your pics, please. Yeah, no doubt. I might actually
00:21be around tomorrow. I tried to pop by today to see it, but you were more focused on improving
00:26your team than you were hanging out with me, which I take offense to that, Steve.
00:31I heard you were in a full official regalia. Is that right? Yeah, I even brought a whistle.
00:37I thought maybe you'd put me in for some scrimmage activity. That way I can kind of,
00:41you know, regulate between Dennis and pods and the fellows and try to keep things in line.
00:46Well, man, we should have. We should have arranged for that. You just you can't just
00:50show up unannounced. You know, we got to we got to set this stuff up. Yeah, I'll do better in
00:54the future. Yeah, I got excited. I saw the stripes this morning in my drawer and my whistle
00:58was there. I said, I'm going to go see Steve. He loves refs. Well, we got to make it happen for
01:05sure. I'm definitely coming out to see you and Miranda on your on your work day. Oh, my gosh,
01:10Steve, if you don't let me know ahead of time, I'm going to be so mad. Yeah, we got to we got to do
01:15this. It would be phenomenal. Hey, Dennis Schroeder, I introduced himself today to everybody. What
01:22are your thoughts on this? You know, it's really exciting just to get him here so quickly. You
01:28know, sometimes when you trade for a guy, it can take a few days, but he wanted to get out here
01:33and get to practice right away. So he flew yesterday, had a physical and had a great
01:39practice today. We'll have another one tomorrow before we fly to Memphis and really exciting
01:45to have him here. And so what would your at least in the immediate what is your plan for him
01:51starting Thursday night? Well, we haven't decided exactly who our starting lineup is yet, but you
02:00can bet he's going to be out there quite a bit. He'll take all the nonstop minutes for sure.
02:06And he'll play with Steph as well. I just think having two point guards, two guys at the point
02:13of attack who can penetrate the paint and get, you know, get get the ball moving. I think that's
02:19important in the modern NBA. So Dennis is going to play a lot for us. And there's a reason we
02:25traded for him. We need him right now. Our last 10 games, our offense has been among the worst in
02:31the league. And we think, you know, he's going to fill the shoes of the Anthony Melton, you know,
02:41who was our starter next to Steph, as you know, and gave us another another point of attack guy.
02:48So we've missed that. And it's exciting to get that because he's a hell of a player.
02:52Does this affect the pods minutes at all? Or is his role
02:56completely indirect as it relates to Schroeder now joining the team?
03:01I actually think this will really help Brandon. You know, a year ago, he played
03:06most of his minutes, like 90% next to either Chris Paul or Steph Curry. So he was he's really
03:13playing the two and what we like about Brandon is his playmaking. But this this year, he's been
03:20playing mostly as the one and that's a different role entirely. And so I think this will be good
03:26for him. He's really good on the backside of a play. You know, when somebody else creates an
03:32advantage and then he gets the ball, he's great at creating the next advantage or or, you know,
03:37the next the next pass that's there. And that's, that's where he thrived last year. And I'm hopeful
03:43that getting him back into that role will will help him get going. Yeah, coach, you actually
03:47said today that you felt it was almost unfair that that you guys have put him in that position
03:52so far. Can you expand on that a little bit? Yeah, well, he you know, he came to us last year
03:58as a combo guard. And, you know, he played next to two Hall of Fame point guards and Chris and
04:05Steph and then to make him the lead ball handler behind Steph this year on a team that, you know,
04:13isn't like really a modern NBA spacing team where you got four or five out. We put him in some
04:21positions where, you know, he's trying to make plays. There's not a ton of spacing. It wasn't
04:27easy on him. And that was a role that was new for him anyway. So I think this will make the
04:32game a little easier for him. I think, you know, anytime you get a new player, you kind of have to
04:37gauge what it does with everybody else's role. And so this will create some opportunity. Obviously,
04:44Dennis will also take up some minutes and there could be some opportunities taken away as well.
04:49But we're just going to do whatever it takes to win. And that's that's the plan. And, you know,
04:55we'll see how it shakes out. Has that been the message to pods with Dennis coming in that,
05:00you know, now he doesn't have to necessarily press as much or try to
05:04make as many things happen when he has the ball on offense?
05:08I told him exactly what I just told you guys about, you know, kind of returning to last year's
05:14role, which he understands that. And he's a great young guy and he's competitive and he's
05:22frustrated with his own play. So he's sometimes with a young guy, you almost need to free him up
05:30from himself. And, you know, that's that's the idea is to, you know, help him along,
05:35make the game a little smoother, a little easier for him and let him let him shine in the areas
05:41where he's really good. Steve Kerr with us, as he is every week, whether in dibs, 95,
05:45seven, the game coach, you guys made this trade literally the first second you could.
05:51And I get the replacement of Melton and that specific need. But I wonder what else you would
05:57say this sort of says about the urgency that you guys currently have, especially Mike Dunleavy said
06:05with with the the window of Steph, Andre and you. Well, we won 46 games last year and missed the
06:14playoffs, so we know how tough the West is and the longer we waited on this move, the tougher it
06:24would have been to not only to acclimate Dennis, but to win games because we needed his skill set.
06:32And so Mike was really operating with a sense of urgency, got the deal done. I think it's a
06:39hell of a move and we're just excited to get this thing going. Is size a challenge late in games
06:45defensively when you play Dennis and Steph together? And if so, does that change what you're going to
06:51do with the other three players on the floor late in games? It can be, but most often I don't
06:58think it really is in the modern NBA with the game so spread out. To me, it's more about speed and
07:05quickness than it is about about size. And, you know, it all depends on the combinations you put
07:13out there. But again, I like I like having the two pronged point guard attack. Dennis is really good
07:20defensively. You know, he's not a big guy, but he's quick. He's got long arms. He can guard either
07:25spot and he's got a great feel. He's a competitor. So I think those two will end up closing a lot of
07:31games together. Steve, you guys have talked so much about the offense and the struggles there,
07:37but but the defense has kind of been a calling card. And then here comes Dallas and scores 143
07:43points. Were they just on fire or did you see something of concern there?
07:48No, they were they played a game that, you know, they're not going to they're not going to lose
07:53that game the way they played, no matter who they're playing, no matter what scheme we're in.
07:58They they were lights out that night. You know, watching the tape, you always have some regrets.
08:05You think maybe we should have done this. Maybe we should have done that. But I look at the big
08:12picture, 25 games in. That was the exception, not the rule. The rule has been, you know,
08:18we've been a really, really top notch defensive team. And I know that we're going to return to
08:23that. How challenging will it be for you going forward to balance out coming in Draymond playing
08:29together? And I'm asking because if coming is out there playing the four, then Draymond playing the
08:34five. And it seems like there's some reluctance to play him at the five a lot. How are you going
08:38to look to balance that out going forward with coming in Draymond out there together?
08:44Yeah, that's really the challenge. You know, the pieces have to fit. They have to fit in both on
08:51both sides of the floor. And we have to navigate our way through that. So, you know, what we know
08:57about our team is we don't want Draymond to be the full time center. That's too much to ask of him.
09:04He's at his best when he's at the four. We're at our best defensively with Draymond at the four and
09:11either trace or loon at the five. But that does limit some of the minutes JK can play if we're
09:18going that route. So it's tough, but I think each game is going to be different. There will be games
09:25where JK and Draymond close with Draymond at the five and there's going to be games that Draymond
09:31misses and JK will play a lot at the four and every game is different and you just have to
09:37figure your way through it. Coach, I get that this could be a wee bit sensitive. That's not
09:42what I'm going for. I just have to be honest with you. It was it. It caught my attention when Mike
09:47Dunleavy the other day said, hey, we're mindful of this short window that we have with Steph and
09:54Dre and Steve. It caught my attention that he put your name in there as well. I don't know,
10:02how did that grab you and what can we take from that? I wouldn't read into that at all. I think
10:10Mike was just being complimentary of the fact that we've had this amazing run over the last decade
10:17and the three of us have obviously been part of it together and we're trying to maximize this run
10:26for sure. This is the NBA. I'm under no illusion that I'm going to be Greg Popovich and be the
10:35coach of the Warriors for 25 years. I signed a two-year extension this past summer. I'm feeling
10:44great. I love my job. I love working with these guys. I love working with Mike. He's just speaking
10:50the truth. This is a window we've got. We're going for it. When the window's closed or whatever,
10:59we just see where everything is and we all decide what we're going to do. I don't even give
11:07one thought to that comment. You've done really well at staying in the moment and over the course
11:13of the last week worth of moments, you've had just the one game. What's that been like for you
11:18and the other coaches and the team to have a mini all-star break to just regroup and get ready for
11:23the final 57 games of the year? It came at a good time. We've had guys banged up. Wigs missed a
11:31couple games. Steph was really hurting last week. I think getting this time off, we will have had
11:40four practices in a week by the time we get to Memphis Thursday night for the game. That's huge.
11:50We hardly ever practice in the NBA these days anymore. It's just game every other night,
11:55travel. To get four real days of practice, particularly with Dennis joining the team
12:00and getting to acclimate him, I think it's really important for us. Interesting with all the time
12:06off to see that Moses Moody is still listed as doubtful for the game on Thursday. Is this injury
12:12maybe a little bit more than we realized? I don't think so. Rick has assured me that this is not
12:20something they're worried about long term. It's just that we got to use this time to get him
12:25right. Until he's right, it doesn't make sense to throw him out there. He's using this time wisely.
12:33He's been in the training room, the weight room. Didn't scrimmage today, but got a lot of shooting
12:39and conditioning in. I don't think it'll be long. Rick has given me that same indication.
12:47Buddy's been in a little bit of a slump. Buddy healed. I know he's a super gym rat and gets up
12:52shots at all times and all hours. What can he do and you as an offense to get Buddy back to where,
12:58maybe not exactly where he was at the start of the year where he was completely on fire, but
13:02back to what we're used to seeing from Buddy healed? Well, I think shooting comes and goes.
13:09Even the best shooters go through dry spells and Buddy is one of the best shooters in the game.
13:24They're big Buddy fans. I just say, if I had to say one thing for Buddy,
13:33the best thing he does is run the floor in transition. It just helps us and him so much.
13:42The faster our pace is, the better Buddy is. I want to really get back to playing at a fast pace
13:51and free up Buddy in transition. I think that'll help him get going. Steve, did some Amazon packages
13:58just arrive or something? I think my daughter is walking in the house right now. Dogs were excited
14:04to see her. Dibs is over here being hot with his picks and he's taking that as like, you know,
14:12he's going to start picking all the underdogs. No pun intended. None at all and yes, no response
14:20needed from you on that. Steve, since I know you're locked into 95.7 The Game and listening
14:26every single day, you know that this conversation about now versus the future comes up all the time
14:35and here's one thing that fans wonder about and I wonder what you would say about it.
14:39We know Steph can still perform at a very high level, but is it realistic to build
14:45a championship level team around someone who come playoff time will be 37 years old?
14:51I think the answer to that is yes, it's realistic. This is a once in a generation player and athlete.
14:59He's superbly conditioned. We just watched him two and a half years ago, carry us to the title.
15:08You know, it's this is Steph Curry's team and he's still an all-star. You saw him in the Olympics
15:16this past year. It's our job to put him in a position where we're in the playoffs and we give
15:25him a chance with the best group around him, the best schemes, the best coaching, the best
15:31training staff and that's the focus and Warriors fans know really well that guys like Steph don't
15:38come around very often. You know, we went 40 years between titles from 75 to 15.
15:45So we have Steph. He's still playing at an elite level. We have to give him every resource to try
15:53to take us home again because we've watched him do it four times. So that's why we're doing what
15:58we're doing. What can you do to help him late in games? Because one thing Mark and I were talking
16:03about is a lot of screen roll with Draymond and most teams just now trap him and get the ball
16:08out of his hands. Are there other sets or other approaches that you're looking at
16:12to try to find other ways to not only get him more effective late but maybe get other
16:17people involved in the fourth quarter scoring? Yeah, we've spent a good chunk of the last three
16:23practices scoring over late game execution and it's one of the reasons we traded for Dennis,
16:28frankly. He's a guy who can handle the ball under pressure and get Steph off the ball
16:34and those two can play together down the stretch and we can do a lot of things there.
16:39I think Wiggs is having a great year. I've got to do a better job of putting him in a position
16:44to attack in some of those situations and then we've just got to execute better and that comes
16:49with practice and being locked in and executing our stuff and more than anything getting stops
16:57at the other end when you can get three stops in a row late in the game. That's really ultimately
17:02what wins games but all of that stuff combined is the answer and we know we've given a few games
17:09away this year and so we've got to tighten that up for sure and be able to finish games up.
17:15Steve Kerr with us. All right Steve, now to the good stuff. We won't talk to you again before
17:20Christmas and you've mentioned to us that you've struggled in your past as a gift giver and so
17:27strategically how are you going about it this year to see if you can improve?
17:33It's amazing that you just asked that question because I just got home from Christmas shopping
17:40about an hour ago and my wife saw me walk in with packages and she said it's December 17th.
17:48I don't even know who you are anymore. You're a week early. Yeah I got it done today. I'm very
17:59proud of myself I must say and I'm awful at this stuff so I think this year I somehow got it
18:07together. Well where'd you go shopping and how many people are you shopping for? Just immediate
18:14family so my wife kind of handles the rest of it for extended family which is she's very good at
18:21and I'm very blessed that she handles all that. So just my kids and my wife and yeah you know
18:27we're going to keep that quiet because I don't they all listen to this show you know religiously.
18:34They love listening to their dad slash husband talk because they don't get to hear me talk enough
18:40so yeah so I don't want to give away where I went to get their gifts. Okay right and if you're still
18:46thinking about gifts for I don't know your two favorite radio hosts Mark and Dibs I'll take an
18:51autographed Zach Zarma picture if you can come across one. I'll actually take one of those.
18:58Yeah that's a great rep and a handsome man. You said it Steve. Do you know what I'm jealous Steve
19:06that you like you're like I went shopping and and now I'm done. Like did you just do this in a day?
19:12I've been working on this with three kids for a month right now. Well how old are your kids? They
19:17are uh 17, 15, and 10. Yeah way way tougher. Mine are 32, 30, and 26. It gets way easier trust me.
19:28Yeah my kids are 23 and 21 and all it took was a trip to the ATM Steve and that was done. Yeah
19:34there you go give them cash. Cash is always welcome. Hey uh Steve uh happy holidays,
19:41merry Christmas. Get a bunch of wins before we talk to you next too okay. We will. Happy holidays
19:47to you guys too and everybody listening out there and uh yeah we're gonna get things rolling again.
19:52Steve thanks man. All right thanks guys. All right there it is Steve Kerr on 95.7 The Game.