Klay Thompson, Gary Payton II x Coach Kerr Previews Warriors Game 2 vs Kings | April 16, 2023

You've often talked about the emotional adjustment from game one to game two when a team loses, but what's the biggest adjustment you think you guys need to make? Is that part of it? Is it the emotional? I think boxing out and making sure we're physical enough on the glass. I thought we played hard in a lot of areas, and then when the shot went up, we let our guard down. As a result, they got 17 offensive boards, I think 9 or 10 additional field goal attempts than we did. You can pick apart the game, and there's always going to be stuff that you can do better here or there, but when it comes down to it, you throw the schemes out the window, throw strategy out the window. It comes down to who's going to get the ball, who's going to get the long rebounds, the loose balls, and they did that much better than we did, and that's why they won. Coach, last night you were kind of concerned about getting those 14 quick throws. What did you see as far as him getting the paint like that and drawing those up? Yeah, he did a great job. He had a hell of a game, and I thought we got out of sorts a little bit in transition a couple of times. That led to some of his free throws, and then just giving him angles that we could have done a better job with, but give him credit. He had a great game, and we've got to make sure we take better care of him tomorrow. What was your impression of the atmosphere last night? It was great. The atmosphere was incredible. It was so loud in there, and the fans were so excited to have the Kings back in the playoffs. I enjoyed it, and it was really fun. Are you impressed with what Coach Berman has done in one season? Mike's been amazing. They've put together a really good roster, and he and his staff have just put the pieces together perfectly. They've got a really good team. They've had a great season, and they were great last night. The last playoff game that Harrison Barnes played in was Game 7 for you guys, so was it weird to see him playing against you? What do you think his legacy for the Warriors team is? Number one, I love Harrison. He's one of my all-time favorites. I think his legacy with the Warriors is that he's one of the foundational figures that started all of this run. Obviously, he helped us win a championship, helped us win 73 games, set a record, but it was much more than that. It was the work ethic, just the identity of what he represented, the versatility defensively, the ability to play with multiple lineups, the high character, great teammate, all of that, I think Harrison really helped establish who this team would become. I haven't talked to Rick yet today. I think he has to look at Wiggs, and he's got to go through some treatment today. I haven't talked to Wiggs either, but I thought he got a little bit tired in the second half yesterday, which was to be expected. 28 minutes is pretty good for his first game back, and we'll assess and see where we are. I know you guys don't tend to go big, but was just the size part of that that they were bigger than you? I would argue we played Loon and Draymond 32 and 34 minutes respectively, so we did stay big for much of the game. Then we alternate those two guys, so it didn't feel like it was a size. When you watch the tape, the shot goes up as you're looking at the ball, and you can't do that. The shot goes up, you have to find the free man and go hit him, go box him out. We didn't do that, so that has nothing to do with size. Beyond the rebounding, when you look at the defense on video, was it mostly schematic? Was it guys just not staying in front of their guys? Overall defense. It started with transition. We made a lot of mistakes there, and that led to some early buckets. I thought we did some great things defensively during the game, and guys played their butts off. But as I said, we let our guard down when the shot went up. If you look at our defense just in terms of forcing misses and getting into our coverages and initial defense, we did a pretty good job. But when you give 17 extra chances, it's really tough. You talked a little bit about shot selection after last night. What did you see from it? You said you weren't completely satisfied. Our team always walks a fine line. We want our guys aggressive and loose and free, and we want them to be uninhibited out there. But at the same time, we want them to recognize that we can go from good to great. We had a lot of good shots. We can get great shots. We know that watching the film, we have to make them guard for longer stretches. We know that when we do that, it doesn't matter who we're playing. When we do that, instead of settle for the first open three, move it again, move it again, get the ball swung side to side, you get a better one. That's something we have to look at. Mike Brown talked about how it only gets harder from here today. How important is Game 2 and being able to even the series at this point? Game 2 is important. Every game is important. I don't ever really say anything is a must-win until you have three losses. Then it's actually a must-win. But we've been through everything in the last decade with this team. These guys know what it's about, and you take it a day at a time. Today's a day where we watch film and recover and see where we can get better. Come back tomorrow, put our best effort out there. Whatever the result is, we go back to work the next day. You just keep doing that over and over again until the series is over. Everything else is just hyperbole, and you don't worry about any of that. With how much familiar, does it make it easier for you guys coaching or harder because you guys know each other so well? I don't think it makes a huge difference. He knows our team really well. There's a couple things that we saw last night that we probably anticipated. Mike's great. He's a really strategic coach. He's got a great eye for the game, and he knows our players. He's great, and he does a good job. At the same time, the players are out there making plays. If we play that game and we actually finish our defensive possessions with box outs, then we're sitting here up 1-0 and feeling pretty good. But that's how it goes. There's always what-ifs. You watch the tape, and you move forward. We did a pretty good job against Sabonis in the dribble handoffs. We took away some of their pet actions, and then they went to more pick-and-roll with Fox. But these games and these series, it's for everybody. It's whack-a-mole. You take away one thing, and something else pops up. All these guys are great players on both teams. You never stop and think, all right, we solved that problem. Now we've just got to take care of this one. Tomorrow could be totally different, and it probably will be for both teams. You just have to try to take care of the stuff you can take care of and clean up the things that you think you can do better. I thought second half they really went to more pick-and-roll. He got into the middle of the paint and started knocking down his mid-range stuff. I think once he knocked down a few of those, he got confident from the three-point line. As I said, he made four threes in the second half. You kind of have to tip your hat to him on that, because he's a guy who really fears him getting right to the front of the rim. We did a decent job of that, but we could make things harder on him for sure. Does that game sort of show how potent they are offensively? Like you said, you guys played pretty well defensively. Obviously you gave up some boards. You look up and they got 126. Yeah, number one-ranked offense for a reason. What did you think of Jonathan's game last night, and what's sort of the ideal role for him in this series for you guys? Yeah, he did some good things. Jonathan gives us another athletic defender to put on the point of attack, whether it's Fox or Monk. We can utilize him in a number of ways. I'd like to see him rebound. He didn't have a rebound last night, and that's got to be a focal point for him and for our whole team. Like I said, we can keep talking about everything, but it still comes back to rebounds. But I thought J.K. did a really nice job in a lot of ways, and he can get better. How much of that is because he's mostly assigned to perimeter defense, or is there just some time where he's not turning around? He's just a very young player, so he's still learning as he goes. There's stuff on tape where we'll point out certain things to him. He's had a really good year for us. He's gotten dramatically better over this course of the season. The process stays the same. We'll show film and show him areas where he can get better, and he'll continue to work. Is there a sense of, hey, look, we've seen this movie before. We know how to do this. Yeah. I'm not even going to expound on that. Yes, yes. We all watch the nonstop. When it's a playoff game and you feel it, it's six points, eight points, nine points, and he's sitting there, how anxious do you get and start recalibrating whether you should get him back in quicker? No, we played it how we're going to play it last night. 48 hours in between games one and two. I think he played 38 minutes. We just didn't do a very good job while he was out. I don't regret resting him. I think he's a player who has to work so hard at both ends with the ball in his hands, but also defensively. I think playing Steph 40-plus minutes isn't the answer. The answer is handling the non-Steph minutes better, and that's something we've got to do. You mean games two and three? Is the thinking different, I guess, when you have two days in between? Maybe. We'll see once we get there. The way you do it, you do have Steph and Draymond out together just because Draymond does start the second and fourth. Is that something that could be tweaked there? Sure. We look at all that stuff. We've already talked about that this morning as a staff, and those are possible adjustments. Then you watch the tape and you go, all right, a couple of missed free throws and a mistake in transition. It's a five-point swing, and then a couple of missed box outs. It's like, all right, was that rotational? Not really. It's like we've got to box out better, and so we've got to get back better. If we do those things, then we're not even talking about rotation patterns right now. You've got to get those guys out at some point. You've got to get them both to rest. They both played great last night. We've just got to clean up the other stuff. How far are you happy? Happy? I mean, yeah. Pace was fine, yeah. It was a really fast game. That's how we like it. That's how they like it. We've just got to do a better job in all the areas that I've talked about. I didn't see it. I was inside. Steve, with Steph's minutes, how do you dictate whether he's going to go 12-6 or go something different? Is it matchup-based? Is it game feel? I mean, how do you dictate when he's going to tip and when he's going to rest? I mean, we've seen different variations over the years. Yeah, yeah. It will depend on how he's feeling, how the game's going, but the one thing that we've settled into, he's going to get one break each half. He's not going to get two breaks each half like he was doing in the middle of the season. That break could come at the end of the first. With two minutes left, it could come at the top of the second. Either way, I think we're going to sit him 10 minutes a game. That's what I think is best for him and for the team. Thanks. Brady, SJS, you were tossing, turning, whatever on last night's game. First and foremost, it was an amazing atmosphere. Rowdy in there last night, but just come back, watch the tape, see if we've got to get better on the rebounding. They hit us on the rebounding pretty hard, so come back, take that in accountability and come back and just continue to work on little things. How did you feel physically? We knew they were going to come out physical. They're on our home floor, so they're hype, energetic. First playoff game in a while, so we just come back in the second game, do what we're supposed to do, hit back, and I think we figure it out. How did you feel physically? You left the game at one point. No, yeah, I was good. Just had to fix something real quick and come right back, but no, I was good. Beyond the rebounding, how do you feel? Yeah, yeah, those second-chance points. Offense rebounds gives them extra possessions and long down, late down the line. I think that's what really made the difference at the end. What was the key to Fox getting rolling in the third quarter? He hit a few threes, got him going, and his mid-range started coming along, so he just built confidence and confidence, and later down the stretch, he just made shots. I realize this isn't a basketball question, but did you see what E-40 and do you have anything? What did you think of him getting ejected? No, I didn't see what happened, but E-40, he's like an uncle to me, so just make sure he was good and everybody, our guys took care of him. Besides that, I don't know what really went down, as long as he's good. Did you talk to him? No, not yet, but I got word that he's fine, so everything's good. Were you kind of surprised because normally he gives Sacramento a lot of love through his records? No, yeah, it's a little weird. I guess it's just the playoff intensity, playoff atmosphere. Fans is going to be fans, so I really didn't expect it, but you never know. Perry, what's the key to limiting those? We just got to hit back. Better yet, hit first and just make sure when the shot goes up, we find guys, we know who's crashing, who's what not, and we just make it an emphasis. Okay. Any questions? I feel wonderful. Were you surprised by anything last night? No. The G1 suit is exactly how you thought it was going to be? Wait, what was the question? The arena? The G1 center, was it exactly how you thought it was going to be? Yeah, I think they probably needed more cowbell. Always need more cowbell. I'm sorry, yeah. No, I was alluding to that SNL skit. I know. No, wait, I know. We'll play it. Good. Let's play it. Good, because that one was funny. That was funny. As you look at the video, what did you get? How do you assess how you played defensively and what can you do differently in game two to slow it down a little bit? Rebound and limit our fouling. You know, when you give that team, who's very talented off of the team, many second chance opportunities are going to convert, so that would be an emphasis within ourselves tomorrow is not getting punked on the glass. With the 17 offensive rebounds, how much is that mental versus kind of physical? Well, it's mental in the case of being mindful about crashing the glass and boxing out your man, and then the physical side is just trying to exceed their force, and I know we're capable. It looks like you stabilized De'Aaron Fox in the first half, and then the second half he's just kind of not moving. What contributes to that second half for him getting around? I mean, he's a great player. He's an all-star. He's their franchise, so he's going to go off at times, but tomorrow I think it will just be about limiting their other guys even more. I mean, we can let De'Aaron do his thing, but if we take away Malik's, cut his free throws in half, and don't let Trey Lyle's go off, I think we're in a good spot. Playing against Harrison Barnes probably brings back some memories. What is his legacy to you with the Warriors? He's a champ. He's the Black Falcon, and without him we don't have the championship in 2015 or the finals appearance in 2016, and HB's a great friend, but right now he's my opposition, so I'm going to do everything I can to hopefully end his season, but I cherish those memories with Harrison. When we were in our early 20s, now we're in our 30s. It happens really fast, but, I mean, he's a great Warrior, and his legacy will live on forever with the Warriors because he's on a banner. How does it feel playing against Coach Brown? It's fun. I mean, we've got a lot of guys over there, whether it's Luke or LB or Coach Brown, but same thing with HB. I'm friends with all of them, but right now I'm trying to do everything I can to not let them win games. There was a time where they were inbounding the ball, Brown was marking out something, you were guarding the guy inbounding the ball, and it just felt like you thought, man, I've heard all this stuff before from Coach Brown. Mm-hmm, that I have. Coach Brown has an endless amount of energy, and you've got to respect that. That's the hardest thing as a coach is bringing it every night because there's no nights off when you're head coach. What do you think about Forte doing talks? Oh, fortunate. I love Forte. He's been our biggest supporter for years, and I hope they right that ---- because he deserves to be there by our bench, and in my time knowing him, he's always been respectful. He's always been considerate of those around him, so it was very weird to see, and I hope it's resolved. How much have you seen his coaching style evolve from when he was with the Warriors to now? I haven't been able to see it on a firsthand basis because he hasn't been with us last year, but before that when Steve was out with medical issues, Coach Brown stepped in and did an incredible job for two playoff runs, and we would not have won the championships without him those years, and he's doing great things with the Kings obviously, but the goal is to beat them. He's a tough guy to prepare for because he studies the game so much, but luckily we have another opportunity to get right tomorrow. Is the E40 thing distracting at all? No. Clay, one thing Mike just said was that as the series goes on, they get harder. Both teams will make major adjustments, and I'm not sure how many games we're going to have in the 120s. The games seem to slow down as the series progresses, so it just gets a little more physical and a little more ugly at times, and it's the playoffs. You've got to win any way you can. Does Andrew look like he's ready to start? I know you don't make that decision. Yeah, Andrew looks incredible. I said it last night. I mean, to cut and defend and block shots and play above the rim and just do what he does after two months of not playing an NBA game is just a testament to his ability and his work ethic. He stayed ready the whole time, and we're so happy to have him back. He elevates us to another level. I don't know. I just play. I just take the open shot or make the open pass, and I don't go out there and think. I just try to get the best shot available. Last night we took some tough ones, but we still had a chance to win, so it's not the worst thing in the world. Is there something to be said for the good shot versus great shot debate in that you guys took good shots, but there were great shots to be had? Yeah. I mean, it's hard to hear from those who don't play what a great shot is, but, you know, we're just going to do what we do. We're going to take tough shots. We're going to make tough shots. Been doing it for ten years, and I'm not going to get discouraged after one bad shooting night. I've been doing this for a long time. How do you feel about the way you, Steph, and Draymond, have been through pretty much everything? That's right. That veteran status you guys have, how can that help you as this series goes on, or can it help you to make a difference? Well, you just stay calm in the face of adversity. You don't panic when it doesn't go your way, and you just be yourself. Do those three things, and I know we'll be great. How do you feel about the looks that you got from three-point range and the way that they defended you? It felt great. Every time I shoot the ball, it feels great, and I'll never have a mindset other than that. Klay, what was mentioned on the broadcast yesterday that you may be seeking a max extension this offseason? Obviously, right now you're trying to focus on the task at hand, which is this series, but is that something you are seeking? I'm seeking a championship, and then everything else after that will play itself out. Did you get any boating or sailing in before you came down here? I did not, but that's the way it gets a little warmer.