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00:00or coach kerr presented by great clips in sports success is about team effort and the same is true
00:05for your hair great clips it's going to be great also brought to you by rafael lumber and building
00:09supply serving contractors homeowners and the community in marin for over 50 years visit
00:14their showroom today hello coach how you doing out there in houston i'm doing great how are you guys
00:20we're fantastic hey 100 playoff wins now congratulations and which one was your favorite
00:26uh game six in uh cleveland in 2015 yeah that's uh first championship um you know kind of unexpected
00:39i mean to to to win a title that year and kind of uh felt like we skipped a couple steps you know
00:47like we were we were supposed to maybe go through a little more pain so um but to feel that feeling
00:53as a coach to win the your first championship um pretty special how important is that process and
00:59i'm not trying to get you to dismiss the rockets and what they're trying to do but it feels like
01:03they're a team in need of those steps and this warrior team kind of made those steps before you
01:09got here how important is it to go through that experience before you actually get to where you
01:14can win the larry well you know when i think about my uh nba upbringing i think about teams like the
01:22bulls you know losing to the pistons for a few years before they finally broke through or uh you
01:28know actually the pistons had to break through boston you know to get there for the first time and
01:33there there seems to be a process uh sequence that um you know teams have to go through as they climb to
01:40the top but um it's i just think playoff experience is a big deal i mean you um it's it really is a
01:47different game the officiating is different uh like it's more physical uh more pressure you can
01:53feel uh the importance of every possession and it's hugely helpful uh to have guys on your team
02:00who have been through it and who understand it coach you made a comment uh to the assembled media
02:05in houston earlier today that you thought maybe it was a little bit of a mistake to leave jimmy
02:09butler into the game as long as you did into the third quarter can can you expand on uh as to why
02:16you thought that was a mistake and how you'd like to kind of approach it differently going forward
02:20well it disrupted our rotations you know i mean we generally we bring them out in the middle of
02:26every quarter for a couple of minutes um especially the first three quarters and um and and it allows
02:32us to get to the five-man groupings that we like but what what we did uh in the middle of that third
02:39quarter we were rolling and we just decided we didn't want to disrupt the the momentum and so we
02:45kept him out there then they started making a run while he was out there so it just you know i should
02:51have taken him out earlier um you know he was great in his minutes in the second quarter um yeah it would
02:58have been the perfect time to to get jimmy out for a few minutes and then that allows him to you know
03:04finish the quarter and then start the fourth but because he played the whole third i didn't start him in
03:09the fourth and i thought i thought our just our uh lineup combos were a little disrupted as a result
03:14is it harder to take a guy out of the game when he's rolling or keep a guy on the bench when you
03:20know he needs rest even though you may need him on the floor in that moment i mean it's all uh
03:26difficult um you know during the playoffs you're constantly making decisions that may or may not work
03:33so you're really just going with your gut um i do like to have a set rotation i think players
03:38feel comfortable knowing when they're going to go in and i think it helps them play better
03:43the stars i don't think um you know it matters as much too although you know steph really appreciates
03:49when he's got a consistent rotation pattern so um yeah i mean i i think in the playoffs you you have to
03:55sort of throw everything out the window and do whatever it takes that's why we started steph in the
04:00fourth um you know we felt like it was too dicey to to keep them on the bench to start the fourth
04:06after uh you know everything we were looking at um and and the run that they were making
04:13coach steve kerr with us from houston right here withered and dibs 95 7 the game i'm interested to
04:18know i mean this is always such a cat mouse game when you get into a series what what adjustment do
04:24you think udoka is going to make for game two well i i don't know i mean we'll see we we talked about
04:32it as a staff the last couple of days um they obviously had a lot of success with um you know
04:38the uh the big lineups the physicality you know he may change some lineup combinations around he may
04:44not i mean i i i would say most coaches wait until after two games to make a you know a major adjustment
04:51whether it's a you know rotational addition or you know a scheme change um you know i think um
04:59i i don't expect you know massive changes from from email they know who they are as a team they've
05:04had a great year they have a real identity and uh so we we kind of know you know they're going to be
05:11physical they're going to defend and they're going to rebound and um i don't you know i don't think too
05:15much will change from that philosophy and how about from your side where you come off a game that you
05:21won and mark and i were talking yesterday and i thought it was a b effort maybe b minus b plus
05:27whatever wasn't your best game but it was good enough to get the win when you come off a win
05:31are you more likely to kind of stick with what actually worked or look to make some tweaks and
05:38tinker to see if you can't get that a performance out there yeah well it was an a performance uh through
05:45you know the middle of the third and then uh you know we we watched the tape uh with the team
05:50today uh with the staff yesterday uh there were some obvious things that we have to improve upon
05:58uh particularly our offensive execution and so you know in a situation like this you uh
06:05you feel good about the win uh but you uh prepare for the force that's coming
06:10and you tweak some things to try to improve your game steve you know what i want to ask you i mean
06:17we all know obviously how special stuff is but there's something that's like goes beyond basketball
06:22that i really notice especially in a series like this whatever we do in life um when when there are
06:29people or forces that are grabbing at us constantly trying to stop us from where we're going
06:35that really really annoys people and it's a struggle i want to know what tools steph uses
06:41to to be grabbed and shoved and stopped and all of the illegal things that happen
06:47and and not just succeed at basketball but like it keep his cool how does he do it incredible mental
06:57toughness and fortitude um he's well aware of uh everybody's game plan is going to be
07:04uh the same thing it's going to be be physical with him when he's on offense attack him when he's on
07:10defense and um honestly i think steph knows it's the ultimate sign of respect and uh he uh he deals
07:17with it beautifully he um hardly ever complains to the ref he just does his thing and he's such an
07:24incredible athlete that he finds ways to uh to free himself up you know even even through all the
07:29physicality and through the physicality you can advocate for steph and as we've talked
07:34about on this very program before we asked you about complaining and you said complaining doesn't
07:39work yet you do have to kind of get your your two cents in there when you see this going on this
07:44manhandling of your star how do you go about encouraging the officials to adjudicate the
07:51illegality of this contact well you just mentioned it to him during games i mean both coaches i'm sure
07:57you know are talking to the officials and i just try to point out freedom of movement is you know a big
08:03part of the rules and if they're draped around them and they have two arms wrapped around them that's
08:09supposed to be a foul so there's not much else you can do i mean if you want you can send clips into
08:14the league um you know and during the playoffs those clips will be shared with uh you know the other team
08:21so they know what you're sending in and um you know it's uh it's all part of the the song and dance
08:27of the of the playoffs i don't think sending clips in helps to be honest with you but we might do it
08:32once in a while steve it was the first playoff game for brandon podjemski and for quentin post
08:37what did you think in terms of how they handled it i thought they handled it well you know brandon made
08:43some huge plays for us um really played well i think it was great for quentin to get really his first
08:49uh taste of of the nba playoffs brandon you know has you know has played uh two years now so he's
08:57got a lot more experience than quentin played in the play in last year uh but for both guys you know
09:03it felt like the last couple weeks have already been the playoffs you know and the memphis game is
09:10absolutely a playoff game whether they want to call it that or not so um i don't know i just think that
09:16young players need that experience they need to feel that that vibe and these last few games have
09:22been really good for both guys especially moses and not that he was shaky offensively but he didn't
09:28really seem to have his offensive game and then fourth quarter hits that big jumper in the mid range
09:34and then the corner three what is it about moses that allows him to go from a really quiet offensive
09:40night to being able to come through big in the fourth well two massive shots i mean those were
09:47enormous and and uh i just we've always loved moses's uh professionalism his work ethic his poise i mean
09:55he's he's really uh a fantastic young guy and and the process of these last four years has really
10:03uh and been great he's just improved and gotten better and taken on more responsibility
10:09and now he's one of our most important players coach i want to go back to steph for a second he has
10:16referred to himself as the petty king so we know he hears everything and at times uses it for motivation
10:22and there were plenty in the media especially after what happened a little over two weeks ago at chase
10:27center that we're referring to amen thompson as sort of the next steph stopper we've we've seen other
10:34names throughout the history of the league sort of get that title for maybe a day or two and then all
10:40of a sudden it goes away when he has a big performance does he know about those things does he take it to
10:47heart and and and sort of like where where does he go from there when he hears it yeah i mean he said
10:52it himself right but he did he call himself the petty king i think so yeah or did you make or did you make
10:58that up no i didn't make it up that was like when you guys won uh over boston it it that was a big
11:05thing like both he and clay were talking about hearing everything that everybody says he says
11:11nothing gets by him and yeah that that one i won't take credit for that one coach
11:15well he sees everything he hears everything uh he he just has the right uh sense of how to motivate
11:25himself um you know and and how to to to play at the best of his ability when the best is needed
11:34i mean it's uh it's a brilliant quality that only the very best competitors share and um and stuff
11:41has it you played with one of the greatest of all time in michael jordan and just looking back at his
11:46career it was six years in the playoffs before they won the finals i think that was before you got there
11:51but did michael jordan have that same sort of chip on his shoulder that you see in stuff
11:56yeah i mean they're very different people but the competitive gene um is uh is what stands out for
12:05both of them um you know michael was uh i think you know petty king himself you know like just using
12:13everything um i remember uh i remember jeff van gundy when he was coaching the knicks said something
12:21about uh you know michael uh befriends every player in the league and then he destroys them at night
12:28and um you know and i think somehow michael took that to jeff calling him a fraud you know and it was
12:35like poor jeff he didn't really call him a fraud it was more just michael used that he's like okay
12:41all right here we go and then the next game you know he's he's dominating and talking trash to jeff
12:47and i mean so michael was famous for that stuff um coach uh when you win game one on the road uh
12:53you know where the fan mind goes it's like all right cool we got this series and obviously you
12:59guys can't think that way but but how would you describe the mental approach to a game like tomorrow
13:06night when the rockets are going to be you know totally desperate uh and and and you guys need
13:12to uh find a way to sort of combat that yeah well we've got to prepare our guys to be ready for the
13:20force that they're bringing and the physicality we've got to be ready to play through the bad
13:25stretches because there's always going to be some no matter how well you play there's going to be
13:29adversity the other teams to make runs uh so you just have to take it one minute at a time one
13:36possession at a time and string together good basketball good two-way basketball and and um
13:42but you have to do that with a sense of uh vigilance for what's coming and that's that's kind of what
13:48playoff basketball is about especially in these situations when you know you're um you're up 1-0 on
13:54the road um you just you got to be ready for what's coming you mentioned uh halfway through the
14:00third you had an a grade and then it kind of went down from there part of it for me was the
14:05offensive rebounds that houston was able to accumulate how do you as a staff coach them up
14:11and maybe scheme it different so you don't give up 22 offensive rebounds in game two well they're
14:17going to get some i mean they're massive and um you know they the other night they obviously didn't
14:23shoot well uh so there were a ton of available rebounds so i don't expect them to get 22 again
14:29but uh they're such a good rebounding team that they're going to get plenty um i thought that what
14:35stood out on the table was not so much uh negligence it wasn't like we weren't you know hitting bodies and
14:41we weren't trying to rebound um but i thought we didn't get two hands on a lot of the balls um loose
14:50balls you know jimmy talked about it in the press conference after the game he tried to tip a couple
14:54of rebounds to teammates instead of grabbing grabbing them with two hands i think buddy had
14:59a couple where the ball was on the floor and he instead of grabbing it with two hands he tried to
15:04to uh you know tap it to himself and they're so athletic that that's not going to work so we just
15:10have to be really uh forceful with uh with both hands and uh get every every ball that's close to us
15:17we gotta we gotta get it like our lives depend on coach i think this is overall a good thing
15:22and i wonder if you notice it but but you and your guys um sound like you feel very very confident
15:31and we could go back to for instance draymond all-star weekend he predicts a championship jimmy
15:36butler has kind of spoken that way this week a couple of times sort of predicting a championship
15:43how how does that make you feel what kind of pressure do you feel that that might add
15:48oh i don't feel any pressure from that um i i feel the the normal pressure that the nba playoff spring
15:56because this is what our whole season is uh dependent on this is what determines you know
16:02the success of the season and so we feel the normal pressure but uh i i think we all feel uh confident
16:08and excited because it's also the most fun time of year and really the key is to find that balance
16:15between you know recognizing that uh yes it's important yes it's the playoffs yes there's a lot
16:22on the line and oh by the way it's a basketball game you know nobody nobody's life is on the line
16:28and we tell this on the line this is uh this this should be fun and so you have to uh to find that
16:34balance between the the importance but also the joy that comes with competing and if you can
16:40that's what phil jackson was honestly he was the best i've ever been around in that regard just
16:45finding perspective and finding a really good place in which to to thrive during the playoffs that's
16:52what we're searching for yeah no pressure but uh the more warrior games we have on our station the
16:57better we do as a station and the more i'm able to feed my family so there is that steve
17:04there is that there is that yeah but uh no you know we're all lucky we we do what we love
17:09and uh i think our guys really enjoy this but you know the biggest thing is our young guys all they
17:15have to do is follow the lead of steve draymond and jimmy and loon you know our vets who have been
17:21here a million times uh they're gonna lead us our young guys just have to play as hard as they can
17:27and let it rip and uh i think we're gonna have a lot of success what's the one key thing that you
17:33have to do or you have to avoid not doing in order to allow houston to be able to get the upper
17:39hand in a game two or in any game in this series well we can't turn it over that's the to me that's
17:46the biggest thing um you know if we turn it over their athletes are going to uh get free for easy
17:51baskets and uh we can't afford that we we we've got to be able to contain them and take away the easy
17:58stuff so you know fouls um turnovers those are the things that'll hurt it's obviously the offensive
18:05boards as well but uh like i said they're going to get plenty of those um it's all you know it's kind
18:10of all part of the package so we just have to check as many boxes as possible uh coach i don't know if
18:17this is just kind of a layman's thing but like a lot of people look at a 95 85 nba basketball game
18:23and they're like whoa right that that's been a long time since that's a normal final score
18:28are are you comfortable in that area or in a perfect world would you rather this matchup does
18:34end up uh in the hundreds oh i don't care what the score is as long as we have more points
18:40i mean it doesn't matter it's just um you know we want to run so we're not trying to keep it under
18:47a hundred uh we want to we want to score 115 if we can um and i do think we can be much better
18:55offensively um so it's really about the process and uh just getting enough things done to to get
19:02the win um want to throw this at you too the athletic today released an nba players poll so this
19:08is anonymous voting by actual nba players and they had the most underrated players in the league they
19:15also had the most overrated players in the league and in the top six both jimmy butler and draymond
19:23green are in the most overrated player list what would you say to to to another player who's voting
19:31those guys as among the most overrated players in the league well first of all i don't really care
19:37um so i haven't given that any thoughts um but all i know is um we're really lucky to have both
19:46guys i mean draymond is a four-time champ and um jimmy's carried a team to the finals twice so
19:53uh they're winners and and we all see that here and that's the only thing that matters and feels a
19:58little bit to me like haterade is being consumed in other quarters and that's okay that's natural
20:03it's funny steve you mentioned 1997 in your post-game commentary about that game 95 85 and
20:11i'm just looking at 1997 where the jazz beat you in game four 78 73 do you miss those old rock fights
20:19kind of like game one honestly that's exactly what i was thinking of um was uh those those scores you
20:28know um you know that that that finals i you know there was a finals between the knicks and houston
20:35in 95 i think 94 um just felt like a wrestling match um so that was the era i was thinking of and
20:42and uh no i don't miss that at all um i think the game is much better when it's um you know played at a
20:49faster pace with more um you know more more scoring but um playoffs are different and whatever it takes
20:56um you know you you have to do and i read that uh every single uh game of the first eight uh except
21:04for the memphis okc game which was a blowout obviously but the other seven were uh all in the
21:11in the 80s or 90s from a pace standpoint which is extremely low so no coincidence it's just you know
21:17playoffs take on a different uh complexion speaking of those other series coach uh we know you watch all
21:24all the all the games did anything else catch your eye from from around the league over the first
21:29weekend well clipper uh clipper denver series is uh pretty compelling stuff to watch um you know that
21:38was uh that was high level stuff both games um i think they're two of the best teams in the league
21:44and they're you know they're playing right away but the whole west is really loaded um you know it's
21:49i think the uh the depth of the conference uh means that uh you got a lot of amazing teams um high
21:58level teams and uh it's going to be really competitive stuff can you take our listeners
22:03through kind of what the experience the team has has been having since since sunday like you know you
22:09guys are you're cherishing these these days off how much practicing what what are the guys kind of
22:15doing to pass the time over these 48 hours well yesterday was off um for the entirely for the
22:22team i know steph went and played golf the young guys went in and and played um you know played pick
22:28up to keep their conditioning and their rhythm but the vets were all off and they all did their own
22:33thing um coaches we we gathered and met and watched the game and um you know kind of plotted our
22:41strategy for for tomorrow and then today was practice we had a very light practice a really
22:45good film session and uh you know this is um this is kind of how it goes especially in the first
22:52round where you have all these days between games um it's fine with us you know the rest is good for
22:58us uh but it is a lot of downtime in the hotel for sure i'm contractually obligated to ask one
23:04jonathan kaminga question uh was he a part of that little uh pickup scrimmage and how's he doing
23:10in this trip jonathan has been fantastic i mean his his attitude um his energy on the bench cheering
23:18guys on um staying ready um he's a great great young guy and um you know this has been tough on
23:25him but he is uh doing exactly what he should be doing which is staying ready because uh you know as
23:31i've told him and our coaches have told him uh things can change uh in a heartbeat in in in the
23:39nba and uh he's got to just be ready for when his time comes and that's exactly what he's doing so
23:45um he's uh he's staying staying ready and and i i would be surprised if at some point i mean
23:51you know it's his his time doesn't come because um i've just seen this too too many times but when
23:57you're in a good groove you know you kind of keep doing what you're doing and then you adjust as
24:02you go uh there it is okay game two tomorrow night coach we can't wait thank you so much for your
24:08time today thanks guys take care have a good week all right you too there it is that's coach
24:13kerr presented by great clips in sports success is about team effort and the same is true for your
24:18hair great clips it's going to be great and brought to you by rafael lumber and building supplies
24:23serving contractors homeowners and the community in marin for over 50 years visit their showroom
24:27today