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00:00Here we go. Out to the River Islands guest line for none other than Steve Kerr, presented by Great Clips in Sports.
00:06Success is about team effort, and the same is true for your hair. Great Clips. It's going to be great.
00:12Here it is. Steve Kerr. Hey, Coach, what's going on?
00:16Oh, I'm doing well. How are you guys?
00:18We're doing good. Happy New Year. How was the holiday?
00:23Happy New Year to you guys, too. Yeah, holiday was great.
00:27Anytime you play at home on Christmas, it's a good thing.
00:32And then if you play at 2 o'clock, that means you get both a Christmas morning and a Christmas dinner.
00:38So it kind of worked out perfectly this year for us.
00:41Strong, strong. And speaking of being home, this is kind of the spot in the schedule that I think everyone,
00:48especially you guys, have been waiting for.
00:51So here you go. Eight-game homestand. Get started with a win last night.
00:56What does this mean for the organization as a whole right now?
01:02Well, it's an opportunity to gain some momentum, you know, get some separation from that 500 mark
01:09that we've been hovering around all year.
01:12It's the natural swing of the schedule after the initial month or so was really rough.
01:20So, yeah, it's a great opportunity for us, and it's also coming at a time where we're starting to get healthy.
01:27You know, Al Horford now is stringing together some games, and De'Anthony Melton is back and finding his shooting stroke.
01:33So it feels like a real opportunity for us, but we've got to take advantage of it.
01:38You know, we've got seven more home games, you know, on this homestand.
01:43So, you know, let's get on a run.
01:46And it's probably a little easier to get on a run when you have health, and now you have rotational clarity.
01:51Are you feeling better about the 10 or 11 that you're playing, knowing that if healthy, you kind of have a rotation finally?
01:58Yeah, I mean, I think there's going to be some tweaks every night based on how guys are playing.
02:06I mean, you saw the Clipper game the other night.
02:08We didn't play Guy Santos at all for three quarters, and then we felt like we needed his energy, and he completely flipped the game.
02:16You know, Gary Payton can do the same thing.
02:18And so there are games where Guy or Gary might only play a handful of minutes.
02:23There's games where they might close and play 20 minutes.
02:27But, you know, that's kind of at the end of the rotation where those guys kind of expect that and understand that, you know.
02:37So at the top of the rotation, it's been good to have a regular starting lineup now for a few weeks and basically a rotation for Steph and Draymond and Jimmy that they're used to.
02:50So I think we're in about as good a place as we can be in terms of, you know, starting lineup and rotation-wise.
02:58Steve Kerr with us, Withered and Dibbs.
02:59Coach, I want to ask you a couple of Draymond Green questions, and let's start with just last night.
03:05And there was obviously some energy going back and forth between Draymond and Giannis and some hard fouls in there.
03:11And you've talked recently about how, you know, once again, he needs to stay on the court.
03:17So as you're watching that all play out in real time, what's going through your head?
03:24First of all, Draymond is probably the best possible matchup for Giannis that we could find.
03:33I mean, this is where, you know, his brain, his IQ, his strength, his length, physical strength, all that stuff just comes into play when you're playing a guy like Giannis.
03:46I mean, you need everything, and Draymond has everything.
03:49The battle last night was amazing, and Giannis is so good that he, you know, he still ends up with whatever it was, 34, and I don't know how many boards he had.
03:58But Draymond just made everything difficult.
04:00Giannis hardly got to the line, which was one of the keys to the game going in.
04:06And at the end of the night, you get a win, and you go, yeah, we sure need a Draymond out there tonight.
04:13And that's what he's capable of, you know, against the very best players.
04:18He's still, in my mind, the best option defensively that anybody in the league could have.
04:24We've seen it this year last night, Jokic, Wemby, we've seen it this year.
04:29That said, I know you hear the talk, and you see the analytics of Draymond's plus-minus, which has always been a great strength of his, and it's not been so great this year.
04:40So, A, what are you seeing that's different with him this year?
04:44And, B, is there any thought to, I don't know, lowering his minutes or changing, tweaking the role a little bit?
04:51Well, we look at all that stuff every day.
04:56We watch the tape.
04:58We have two analytics people in the room with us every day as we watch film.
05:03So, we're all connected as a group.
05:05We hash out what's meaningful, what's not.
05:08You know, one of the big themes from the analytics department is, you know, be careful with small sample sizes.
05:14So, when I hear people say, well, Draymond's been a negative for, you know, the last, you know, 10 games, I'm like, well, he's been a positive for the last 12 years.
05:24So, like, let's settle down here.
05:26Let's give it some time.
05:28But, no, I think you have to allow for all the circumstances that are involved, where the league is, how people are playing.
05:38And, I'm going to keep hammering home, although I don't, I'm not saying it to the team anymore, but I'm going to keep just hammering home that if we take care of the ball and we get offensive rebounds, then we're going to be a really good team.
05:51And, Draymond is going to be on the plus side.
05:54And, it's an adjustment that I think our team has to make, he has to make, we've talked about it, and it comes true.
06:02You know, the last couple games, Draymond's been off the charts good offensively.
06:0619 assists, two turnovers, making really simple decisions, and he's been on the plus side.
06:13So, I don't know, I just think you just, you can't get too carried away with the numbers, you have to study them and take them with a grain of salt, too.
06:22You said you're not going to hammer them over turnovers anymore, is that because it's gotten better, or are you feeling kind of like a broken record?
06:29Yeah, it's more the latter.
06:31I mean, I was hammering it home for so long, and I think the players were feeling really self-conscious, and I think it was actually kind of counterproductive in some ways.
06:44So, the last couple weeks, I, you know, I don't even mention the word turnover.
06:48I just say, let's hit singles, let's make simple decisions, you know, let's go.
06:53And meanwhile, we're also hammering home the point that the league has changed, and it really is a possession league now.
07:02You know, Milwaukee's a great example of that.
07:04They're second best three-point shooting team in the league, but they're middle of the pack in offensive rating.
07:12And, you know, five years ago, if you were such a great three-point shooting team, you'd be near the top of the league automatically in offensive rating.
07:19But they don't get offensive rebounds.
07:21I think they're 30th in the league in offensive rebounds.
07:25And they don't get to the line for easy points.
07:28And as a result, you know, all that shooting is somewhat negated by those other stats.
07:34And these are the kind of things we're trying to teach our team.
07:38As the league changes, our players need to understand it, and we've got to know how to counteract that.
07:44All right, Steve, let's talk about the Clipper game.
07:47Where did that rank on the Steve Kerr anger meter for you?
07:53Well, I read that I've been ejected five times, so I'm just going to say it was top five.
07:58Okay.
07:58Of those ejections, or even just your memory, like, can you ever remember being more angry on a basketball court?
08:09Well, I'm trying to think back to the other ones.
08:11I remember getting ejected in Sacramento, and as I was being let off the floor, DeMarcus Cousins, who was playing for the Kings, was laughing at me.
08:22And so that was – that's never a good sign when DeMarcus is laughing at you because you got kicked out.
08:30That's rare.
08:30Yeah, so I got mad at Kenny Maurer in Portland one year when he called a flagrant foul on Draymond, and I went nuts and got tossed.
08:44So, yeah, I mean, you know, every once in a while I snap, and it's happened a handful of times.
08:49I can't really rank them because I lose my mind, and I, you know, I don't remember much.
08:56I just – sometimes I just feel like I've got to back up the team, and sometimes it's genuine anger and conviction.
09:04I just think you cannot miss an obvious goaltend call.
09:07You just cannot.
09:09And so a lot of that was just principle.
09:11Like, come on, guys.
09:13I'd love to circle back to the actual X's and O's of that rule, but I also have to ask, at any of your previous ejections,
09:21have any of them ever been narrated by an iconic rapper before?
09:28No, nor have they been in front of my mom, who was at the games in L.A.
09:33So that was – yeah, this was the most memorable one for sure because I got the narration from Snoop,
09:39which gives me great street cred, and then I got completely shot down by my mom for my behavior.
09:46So it was like, you know, it was like the full circle, you know.
09:50I got praise, and I got mom's glare.
09:54So I guess I'm back to square one.
09:57Let's play it for everybody.
09:58This is from Peacock.
09:59Here's Snoop calling Steve's ejection.
10:03Back him up.
10:03Back him up, GP.
10:04Back him up.
10:05Steve ready to fire on him.
10:06He's already gone.
10:07Steve banging Englewood right now.
10:10Englewood.
10:10Get him, Steve.
10:12You an Englewood, Steve.
10:14The Arizona Wildcats, he came out and look at him.
10:20Okay.
10:21Any comments, Steve?
10:25I mean, I'm not going to lie.
10:26That's pretty cool.
10:27Snoop Dogg.
10:29Narrate my own ejection.
10:31That's awesome.
10:32I mean, the whole sequence was just mind-boggling.
10:36And you're right, the goaltending.
10:37Last two minutes, you can review it.
10:39And if they called goaltending, you can review it.
10:40But you can't review that.
10:42Was that more angering?
10:43Or was it the delayed call on the Steph not an and one?
10:47Or was it just a collection of all of it?
10:49It was all included.
10:53And I just, I don't know, I don't think Steph, I think Steph is such a different player.
11:00And so much of his game is played off ball.
11:03And I don't think that the officiating accounts for who Steph is and how he plays.
11:10I think we're so attuned to guarding pick and roll and, you know, guys driving.
11:17And then, you know, Steph comes off the ball because he's, you know, he'll come off screens
11:21and guys are bear-hugging him.
11:23You know, I think those are fouls.
11:25And he's not getting those calls.
11:27I think the freedom of movement that the officials were calling a few years ago has kind of gone
11:33out the window.
11:34And I don't know.
11:35I just, I think some of my frustration with watching, you know, Steph get bear-hugged game
11:40after game and, you know, not getting some of the calls I think he deserves, I think that
11:46frustration boiled over for me.
11:49I'd like to ask it to you this way.
11:51I can tell you that a lot of people I talked to when they saw that, they were like, it is
11:58about more than just that moment.
12:01And maybe this is also about just, you've called it a fading dynasty.
12:07You guys are having a hard time stacking wins.
12:10We've got this Kaminga situation over here that you're not hiding from.
12:14Was any of that sort of just an accumulation of all of these things, Steve?
12:20No, I don't think, I don't think some of those things factored in.
12:29You know, I think that it's mostly backing up my guys, you know.
12:35I mean, Steph, Steph gets fouled a few times.
12:39I think he deserves calls.
12:40He doesn't get them.
12:41I'm going to go to bat for him.
12:43And this, you know, this has happened a few games and I can sense Steph's frustration.
12:48So I'm going to back him up.
12:50And that's kind of my job as the coach.
12:53I actually feel really good about where we are as a team.
12:57And, you know, I think the comments that I've made recently, maybe they were taken a little
13:04out of context.
13:04I don't know.
13:05But my point is, we just want a shot because we know we're good enough to beat anybody in
13:13a series.
13:13We know that.
13:14But it's different.
13:15You can't, you can't be 20 and 18 and say, you know, and have your three best players
13:22at 37, 36 and 35 and lie to yourself and say, yeah, we're in the same classes.
13:29Okay.
13:29See, you can't, you can't, you have to, you have to be realistic about this.
13:33But my whole point is if we get, if we get right, which I think we're on the way to doing,
13:39give ourselves a chance.
13:41Anything can happen in the playoffs.
13:43We won a title in 22 and everybody thought we were already past our prime.
13:47So my point is let's, let's get ourselves that chance.
13:51But to do that, you got to make it through the regular season.
13:55You got to have good health.
13:56You've got to find your identity and you got to find your rotations.
14:00And that's what this, this season is really about.
14:04And there's something really cool about that in my mind, just the honor that comes from
14:08competing and competing and staying tough and competitive and gritty, even when you're
14:1437 and 36 and all these young bucks are coming at you.
14:18I, I love it.
14:20I, I, I think the challenge is amazing and I'm excited about it.
14:23And it's a gauntlet.
14:24And I thought your comments on the Tom Tolbert show were maybe too honest.
14:29Was there any backlash that you got?
14:31I know externally people thought that it was soft and it was this, it was that you were very
14:35honest and I think you were spot on, but has anybody come to you inside the building and
14:40said, maybe we want to, you know, dial back on the, we're not good enough stuff.
14:44No, you know, none of the, the players or coaches or, you know, you know, we, we, we
14:51understand what our, what our goal is and, and you know, what, where we are, like, like
14:58I said, I mean, I, I don't, I don't sugarcoat anything.
15:03This is, this is where we are.
15:05I think the real challenge right now is getting through the 82 games and, and, you know, getting
15:10to the point where we are healthy and rolling and going into the playoffs in a good place.
15:16It's so much easier to do that when everyone's 25.
15:19I mean, it's just, I can tell you from experience.
15:23I mean, we, you know, we won 67, 73.
15:26I mean, we, we steamrolled the league for about five years, you know, we were in the upper
15:31sixties and, uh, and then you just go into the playoffs and you hope you don't get any
15:36injuries.
15:36This is totally different.
15:37And, and, uh, this is, you, you've got, we've got to navigate our health.
15:42We've got to pace our team, got to find our way through the marathon and get there.
15:48And like I said, that, that message has been given to our team and they understand it.
15:54And I think we're taking great pride in it.
15:56Um, how many teams can say that they've had a run like we have and, and really just fought
16:04it out till the bitter end and kept competing.
16:06It's there's, there's a lot of honor in that.
16:08And I'm very proud of that.
16:09With all that said, Steve, does the math at a certain point start to concern you at all?
16:15Like I know you guys, every team has their eyes on a top six seed.
16:20You sit four games out of that.
16:22We're approaching the halfway point.
16:24How realistic do you feel it, it currently is to still be in that top six?
16:29Oh, we're, we're right in it.
16:31We're right in it.
16:31I mean, this season is so long, um, you know, we've, we've lost four or five games that we
16:37should have won.
16:37We know that.
16:38So what this means is we've, we've got to win a few that, uh, maybe we're not supposed
16:42to win.
16:43We got to make up for it on the back end, but you just mentioned it at the top of the
16:47show.
16:47The schedule is turning around for us.
16:49We've got a string of home games.
16:50Um, we, we get, we get hot, a couple of other teams could get into a little bit of a rut
16:55and, uh, and we're right there.
16:57I mean, we, we, we literally watched it a year ago, you know, 30 games left in the season
17:03and we trade for Jimmy Butler and, um, we go 23 and eight.
17:08We climbed from 10th to seventh.
17:10We almost got to six.
17:11We took it to the last day of the season.
17:13Then we went to playoff round and, you know, so it's, uh, this is such a long haul.
17:18So, and that's why I say you, you can't worry about the math.
17:22Now you, you, you look at it big picture and you try to try to navigate, uh, the whole
17:27thing with your performance staff, with the players themselves, uh, with the staff watching
17:34tape and finding the right rotations.
17:36That's kind of what makes this fun.
17:38Hard to believe we're three games away from the halfway point.
17:40And, uh, you know, if we did the halfway point awards and I'm going to go Harry high
17:45school on you and say, who would you give the most improved player award to?
17:50Cause you got some guys who are playing better now.
17:54Yeah.
17:54I'm going to leave the award show to you guys.
17:56That's, that's your job.
17:58But, uh, I, uh, I think we've had a lot of guys who, uh, who are, are hitting their stride
18:03right now, um, and, uh, and finding their way through the season and, and, uh, finding their
18:10way with this team.
18:11Um, so we're, we're, we're playing better and, and, um, like I said, finding a, finding
18:17a nice groove and, and I think we're getting where we need to go.
18:20So I can't ask you about least improved then, right?
18:26Yeah.
18:26Again, you guys, you guys handle that and, uh, and your listeners, you guys can have a
18:31poll and, uh, and vote on all that stuff.
18:33And, and, and we do Steve.
18:34Yeah.
18:35So, uh, when, when you mentioned, you mentioned guys hitting their stride, I I'd love to know,
18:40if you see that being the case with D'Anthony Melton, because I bet you'd agree.
18:45If you, if you start seeing performances like last night, that's, that's kind of a game changer
18:50for your roster.
18:52Yeah.
18:53And I would put Al Horford in that, in that, um, conversation as well.
18:57I thought last night was the first time we've really seen kind of the team that we anticipated
19:03over the summer when we signed these guys, uh, real pros, uh, two way players, guys who
19:09can play in any, any type of game.
19:12Uh, so last night to have melt out there for 24, 25 minutes and Al for 19 or 20, whatever
19:19it was, and to see, see how smooth the game looked for us and how, how improved some of
19:27the combinations were.
19:28I mean, Melton gives you the ball handling and, and passing of a point guard, but the shooting
19:35and defense of a two guard and, and, uh, and Al just gives us a different look with that
19:40shot blocking.
19:41And so it was exciting.
19:43And, and like I said, it feels like things are starting to come into place.
19:46Steve, I, I, you've made it very clear through, uh, all of our, our time chatting and whatnot.
19:52I like, we get that, that trades are, are Mike's job.
19:56I know that you guys, you've said you talk almost every day.
19:59I wonder how you'll go about as a coach preparing your team emotionally, even for trade deadline
20:07season, especially when your team is, is it seems expected to be active.
20:13Yeah, you know, this is a tough time of year, uh, for everybody, but particularly for teams
20:22like ours that, you know, maybe have underachieved a little bit and, you know, maybe we're not
20:28where we want to be.
20:29And, and a lot of names are being thrown around.
20:31These guys all, you know, read, read everything and, and see their names.
20:35And it's a really tough spot to be in.
20:38You know, I was in their spot many times.
20:40You've got, you got family, you got kids in school and you read your name and, uh, boy,
20:46that's, it's not easy.
20:47So I talk to guys individually, um, I check in with them, see how they're doing.
20:52And, and, um, but there's no, there's no getting around it.
20:57It's just, uh, it's a lot easier after the trade deadline when everybody can kind of settle
21:02in.
21:02Yeah.
21:02I was reading Nick Ferdel's piece today and you were quoted about Buddy Heald who, you
21:07know, you had to break his games played streak.
21:09And now he's, he's clocking DNPs yet.
21:12He hasn't changed a bit.
21:13How important is that for you and the entire locker room to have a guy who's basically third
21:18string in it, but still has that big same grin all the time.
21:22Yeah.
21:23He's, uh, he's one of my favorite guys I've ever coached.
21:26Just the professionalism, the work he puts in, uh, the joy that he brings to the building
21:31every day and the perspective of, uh, he's playing in the NBA and yes, things aren't
21:37going his way, but, um, he's, he's living a pretty good life.
21:42And, and I think the guys who are able to maintain that kind of, uh, perspective and approach,
21:49uh, are really beloved in the locker room because the other players see, you know, what's
21:54happening and what's going on.
21:56And he's, uh, that was a guy who had 33 in game seven for us last year, won us a game
22:01seven on the road in Houston.
22:03And now he's out of the rotation.
22:05And, um, and we all know that things can turn for him in a second, but they're just much
22:11more likely to turn when you have an approach like Buddy's and, um, we all appreciate him
22:17so much.
22:18We're lucky to have him.
22:19Steve, uh, on this homestand, Atlanta will be here Sunday.
22:23Any reaction to the Trey young news?
22:27Well, you know, um, Ozzy Sala, their GM was, um, was with us the last couple of years and,
22:34and, um, he's done a great job there, you know, amassing some picks, making some really
22:39good trades, uh, last, uh, last off season, getting a Walker Alexander and Porzingis.
22:45And so he's building the team in his image and, and, um, building the asset base with draft
22:51picks.
22:52So it's, uh, yeah, I mean, Atlanta's doing some interesting things and obviously a new
22:58fresh start for Trey.
23:00So hopefully it's a, it's a deal that works out for both teams.
23:03Um, all right, Steve, great stuff.
23:05Uh, enjoy the homestand and, uh, start racking up some wins and thank you so much.
23:10We'll talk to you next week.
23:12Sounds great.
23:13Thanks guys.
23:13Take care.
23:14All right.
23:14You too.
23:14There it is.
23:15Steve Kerr right here on weathered and dibs 95 at seven, the game.
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