- 7 minutes ago
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joins Willard and Dibs to react to his team's Opening Night-loss to the Lakers, Yaxel Lendeborg's NBA debut, his back-and-forth with Luka Doncic, and more.
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00:00Twenty-two seconds to go.
00:01Now we have a technical foul on Yaxl Lendenborg.
00:06Called by Scott Twardorski.
00:10Dontas has been talking and clapping all first half.
00:14And Scott Twardorski decides now the time is to call a technical on somebody else.
00:20Dev Nation, it's Yaxl Lendenborg.
00:22You're listening to Willard and Dibbs on 95.7 The Game.
00:26And you can watch the show live on YouTube and Twitch right now.
00:29Just search 95.7 The Game and make sure to subscribe.
00:34All right, it's home opener day and we're out here at Splash.
00:38Willard and Dibbs, 95.7 The Game.
00:41And a rare opportunity on a game day to actually sit down and hang out with the coach.
00:45Let's go out to the River Islands guest line.
00:48Time for Steve Kerr.
00:49Brought to you by the Contra Costa County Library.
00:51Unlock free books, e-books, and family events with your Contra Costa County Library card.
00:56Visit ccclib.org today.
01:00Hello, coach.
01:01How are you doing?
01:02I'm great.
01:03How are you guys doing?
01:04We're doing great.
01:05And obviously want to dive into what's been an interesting week.
01:09My goodness, you have an interesting rookie on your hands, Steve.
01:14Yeah, we do, don't we?
01:16He's talented and talkative as well.
01:20He is.
01:22A lot of interesting times ahead.
01:24No question about it.
01:26And I think the fans are excited about that.
01:28At the same time, this is different.
01:30What are your thoughts on what took place at the podium after the game the other night?
01:37Well, I think Steph said it best.
01:42I love it.
01:44You love to see that competitive fire.
01:48You know, one of my assistant coaches said after the game, I'd way rather have to rein
01:54a guy in than kick him in the butt to get him motivated, you know?
01:58So I think everybody loves the competitive fire that Yaxel has.
02:03But what Steph said was true.
02:04It's like, okay, now you got to back it up, you know?
02:06And that's really the lesson for Yaxel.
02:11And we talked about it already with the team, with him.
02:16And we love the competitive fight.
02:18We love the juice that he's bringing.
02:22But now you got to learn from all those little tricks that Luke is going to play on you.
02:28But you also have to learn, you know, that guarding him is really a five-man thing.
02:33It's not just an individual battle.
02:36And we didn't do a good job of that the other night.
02:38So we got to learn from that and move forward.
02:41Is there a sense that maybe there's a target placed on him now as far as, you know, other
02:47stars around the league who would have heard the comments and now they're going to think,
02:50I want to go out there and give Yaxel the business?
02:54Not really.
02:55I'm not concerned about that.
02:56I mean, we play the Lakers again next week.
02:58So it'll be a quick turnaround and another matchup with Luka.
03:03But, you know, I think there's so many guys out there, so many great players.
03:07And there's challenges every single night.
03:10And I don't think this changes anything.
03:13Yaxel just showed that he's not afraid of anything.
03:15And he's going to take on the challenge.
03:17Steve, more so than just whatever took place the other night and on the court and off,
03:23I'm curious which veteran or veterans have kind of taken him under his wing.
03:30We read so much about how Jimmy Butler was kind of handling Jonathan Kaminga in his final
03:36year with the Warriors.
03:37Who's got their arm around Yaxel right now?
03:42Everybody.
03:43You know, we've got Al Horford, who's, I think, an unbelievable mentor and leader.
03:49You know, in a very quiet way.
03:52Steph as well.
03:53And then, well, who do you think really loved the comments more than anybody on our team?
03:57I wonder.
04:00Yeah.
04:01Yeah.
04:01Yeah, he sounded like he liked it.
04:03Care to take a guess?
04:05Yeah.
04:05I'll go Draymond, Steve.
04:07Yeah.
04:07I'm going to go Draymond.
04:08Yeah, yeah.
04:09Good guess.
04:10Yeah, thanks.
04:11Yeah, so he loved it, but, you know, like, we just go back to Steph's comment.
04:17You know, you just got to back it up, and Yaxel's super confident.
04:21I think he's going to be a really good defender and an excellent offensive player.
04:26We're really thrilled about him, but he's got a long way to go, too.
04:30He's got a lot to learn.
04:31And I love the wisdoms you imparted in the game and after about the reality of foul calls
04:36in the league.
04:37What are some of the other learning curve type of things that a rookie has to go out
04:41there and play to discover about the association?
04:47Well, there was 190 feet from the basket where, you know, Yaxel was picking him up full court,
04:55and Luka did what vets do.
04:57He sort of lured him into a little bit of a bump, and I don't think the official should
05:03have called it, but he did, and now Luka's getting two free throws.
05:07So, Luka, you know, kind of baited him into that foul and got two free points.
05:12Those are the kind of plays that you have to be aware of as a rookie.
05:16Not only who you're playing against, somebody really smart and crafty, but also the bonus
05:20situation.
05:21And the fact that, you know, there's certain plays like that one and others that will be
05:27called in the NBA that you have to get used to.
05:30So, you have to get to know your opponents, but also situational basketball and, you know,
05:38the tricks of the trade that he can be seeing night in and night out.
05:43Steve Kerr with us on Withered and Dibs, 95-7 the game.
05:45Coach, you know how all this works.
05:47Everybody gets so caught up in what happened at the podium that I think, you know, a highly
05:54touted rookie and what he actually did in the game sort of gets lost.
05:58I'd love to know just your evaluation of what he did well and what you want to see him
06:04work on next.
06:07Well, he's obviously very talented.
06:09You know, I thought he did a lot of things well.
06:12He, you know, one-on-one defense was actually really good against Luka.
06:18Team defense, not nearly as good.
06:20You know, help side, things that are much tougher to recognize, you know, unless you're
06:26looking for it.
06:27And then on offense, he's just got to find his way, find his game.
06:31He's really gifted.
06:33He can get downhill.
06:34He can get to the rim.
06:35He can pass.
06:37And it was obviously a difficult night for us.
06:40We didn't play well at all.
06:42But, you know, over the next couple of months, we really have to help him find his way and
06:47find his identity offensively.
06:49So, there was so much talk about the vet versus the rookie.
06:53Tonight, it's kind of the rookie versus the rookie.
06:55He's made no secret.
06:56He wants to go against Cam Boozer.
06:59So, what do you say to him about that part of tonight's game?
07:06Not a whole lot.
07:07You know, just we're going to go through our scouting report before the game.
07:12And, you know, I'm sure he'll find himself matched up against Boozer at times.
07:18But, you know, my message to him the other night was, before the game, was no matter what
07:23happens, we've got 81 more, you know.
07:26And so, we can get wrapped up in tonight in the matchup.
07:30If we do, just remember, we've got Phoenix tomorrow night.
07:33And it just never ends.
07:35And so, really, as a young guy, you've got to find your way, find your balance, compete
07:41every night, and understand this is a long haul.
07:44Walker Kessler, 12 for 12, all at the rim.
07:47You didn't have Chris Stapps, Porzingis.
07:49You probably won't for a while.
07:50So, what's the adjustment in terms of trying to get more rim protection tonight?
07:56Well, to be fair, I think the other night was probably the most difficult sort of matchup
08:05in terms of guarding pick and roll with the lob thread on the back end.
08:11That we're going to see all year.
08:13You know, Austin Reeves and Luka are obviously tremendous one-on-one players.
08:19And there's a reason the Lakers gave up their entire future for Kessler.
08:23You know, two firsts, two pick swaps.
08:25Basically, you know, potentially four, you know, really high picks.
08:31So, that guy's good.
08:32He's really talented.
08:34He's kind of a perfect addition for the Lakers.
08:37And they put a lot of pressure on you.
08:38So, we need to be better in our overall five-man defense.
08:43Not giving up, you know, the backside to so many plays.
08:47But, honestly, we had several plays where we played it perfectly.
08:51And they just put the lob exactly where it needed to be.
08:54And Kessler was so big, he just went up and caught it and finished it.
08:58So, it was a tough night.
09:00And I think we'll be a lot better defensively tonight and going forward.
09:04But a good game to learn from.
09:07Yeah.
09:07So, Steve, I think a lot of Warrior fans would think that's an encouraging statement
09:11if you think that that was sort of circumstantial to that night.
09:15So, when you look at the year ahead and the circumstances with your big people,
09:20you don't see a rim protection problem on the roster?
09:26Well, I'll bet you we don't give up 11 dunks to one player again the rest of the year.
09:31Put it that way.
09:33We better not.
09:34That's an obscene number.
09:36But, look, we have to look at the reality.
09:39You know, no Chris Dobbs.
09:40So, we're looking at, you know, Draymond, who's one of the elite defenders in the game, as we know.
09:47We've got Al Horford, who's a really good defender.
09:50And he's limited to probably 20 minutes a night.
09:53And then we're going to be counting on some young guys.
09:56We saw Graham E.K. at the end of the game, the fourth quarter.
10:01He looked really good.
10:03You know, he's going to get some minutes tonight.
10:05And then Charles Bassey wants he's healthy.
10:07So, we've got some things to experiment with and some people to give minutes to
10:13and try to develop from there.
10:15Just looking back at the Lakers, it looked like the first quarter was great, seamless,
10:20offensive basketball.
10:21But quarters number two and three, the turnovers kind of reared their ugly head again.
10:25What did you see that led to so many turnovers in those middle quarters?
10:30It was really the third quarter.
10:32At halftime, we had five turnovers total.
10:36And the end of the second quarter hurt us, but it was more missing shots.
10:41We had open looks.
10:42And then we had a couple of difficult shots, a half-court shot from Luka at the end of the
10:54half.
10:54And so, it didn't feel like we should have been down 14, but we were.
10:58And my disappointment was in the third quarter when we started turning it over.
11:04We hung our heads a little bit, got in a rush.
11:07And I think that let us get discombobulated.
11:12And that's what we have to fix tonight.
11:14We've got to stay with it mentally and emotionally throughout the entire game.
11:18Also, Steve, just one game in, and we also were treated to another look at what I feel
11:23are your most pressurized moments in any basketball game.
11:26And that is when Draymond wants a call reviewed.
11:29And you're not necessarily sure if you want to do it.
11:33Can you take us through that third foul that he wanted challenged and what you guys saw?
11:40I thought it was a foul on Theibel when I saw it live.
11:46Draymond immediately signaled for the review.
11:49We have a process.
11:50I turn around, we have three different people looking at it, and all three of them gave me
11:57the thumbs down.
11:58And then when I saw the replay afterwards, I know that we would not have gotten that call
12:03overturned.
12:04And so, we just have to be smart.
12:09And I've talked to Draymond about it.
12:12He knows that there's going to be times where he's mad at us.
12:16There's going to be times where he's mad at the reps.
12:19I wouldn't trade his competitiveness and his passion for anything.
12:24But that's what you also have to live with is his emotion during the game.
12:29And he understands that.
12:30I understand that.
12:31And we made the right call.
12:33We ended up winning two challenges later in the game that we wouldn't have won.
12:36And granted, the game was over.
12:38But we need to keep those challenges and make sure that we have them and that we're winning
12:45a good percentage of them.
12:47When the three second row coaches have a split decision, does somebody have the trump card
12:52or is it a two-to-one vote?
12:54And they go from there.
12:55I'm fascinated by this in real time, Steve.
12:58Yeah.
12:59I mean, we're actually transitioning.
13:01Jacob Rubin has done it the last few years.
13:04So he is helping a couple of our new guys as they do it.
13:10We're going to have two full-time.
13:13One to assess the situation, you know, and one to really take a look.
13:19It's really difficult.
13:21The whole process to me is kind of insane.
13:23I mean, you know, you get a review.
13:26You get maybe 10 seconds or so to look at it.
13:29You're trying to get multiple angles.
13:30Next thing you know, play is resumed.
13:34And you have to do everything in such a quick span.
13:38And it's a tough process, but it's something that's really important.
13:43You can win or lose a game because of it.
13:45And so eventually, it's a two-man job.
13:48But right now, we're having Jacob kind of phase in the other two guys.
13:51Hey, Steve, remember when people used to get mad at you for playing Ty Jerome?
13:58Yeah, I didn't care then.
14:00And I'm not going to, you know, take a victory lap now.
14:03The guy's a hell of a player, okay?
14:06Like, we knew that then.
14:07And I don't care what anybody says.
14:09Yeah, I mean, like, to see what he's doing now,
14:13and obviously the other night was kind of otherworldly.
14:16But, I mean, did you see this in his future at all?
14:23Well, if we had seen, you know, 45-point nights,
14:26we probably would have tried to hang on to him a little bit better.
14:29But, look, we saw a lot.
14:31He's a hell of a pick-and-roll player.
14:33That year, when he was a two-way player, we really needed pick-and-roll play.
14:38And we needed a backup point guard, and he did a great job in that role.
14:43And we really wanted to keep him.
14:45But, you know, he had a great offer elsewhere, a guaranteed offer.
14:50I think it was in Cleveland.
14:52But, yeah, Ty is one of my favorites.
14:55He's a great competitor.
14:57He's a really kind of old-school point guard, never turns it over,
15:01good pick-and-roll player.
15:02And he's a handful.
15:03So, coming in here tonight, averaging 45 points a game,
15:07we're going to have to take care of him.
15:09Oh, man.
15:10Steve Kerr is brought to you by the Contra Costa County Library.
15:15And it jogs my memory.
15:18I used to cover the Lakers when Phil Jackson was there,
15:20and he used to hand out books.
15:22Did he do that with you guys, with the Bulls at all?
15:25Yeah.
15:26Oh, yeah.
15:26Every year we had a long, long West Coast trip,
15:30and he would give different books to everybody based on their interests,
15:36their personality.
15:37And, yeah, so Phil was great with that.
15:40Always kind of keeping perspective and life and big-picture stuff in mind.
15:46What book would he maybe give Yaxel today if he were coaching this team?
15:52Well, that's a good question.
15:54You know, Yaxel has a Dominican background.
15:58He was a baseball player growing up.
16:00We've used some baseball analogies with him, and he jumps at it.
16:04He loves that.
16:05I don't know.
16:06So, maybe a Dominican writer.
16:08Like, Phil was really, really well-read and put a lot of thought into these books
16:12that he would give us.
16:13So, I'm sure he would have found the right one.
16:16Steve, once again, we appreciate it so much on a game day.
16:20Happy home opener.
16:22And go get him tonight.
16:23Best of luck.
16:25Thanks, guys.
16:26Appreciate you having me.