Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: Just a reminder you can catch me recording this podcast
Speaker 2: live on amp amp is a new live radio app
Speaker 2: that lets you call in and chat with me in
Speaker 2: person while I'm recording. Get the app on Apple's app
Speaker 2: store and make sure to follow me at at Draymond
Speaker 2: Green to get notified when I go live. So what's up, everybody?
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. As you can
Speaker 2: probably see by the title of this podcast, as you
Speaker 2: can see by the promo of this podcast, we were
Speaker 2: too excited to actually like keep the surprise until it
Speaker 2: just popped up in your face.
Speaker 3: Our guest, my guy, coach Kerr. We spoke about.
Speaker 2: Some great things and you will get have the opportunity
Speaker 2: to hear that shortly. But I wanted to get on
Speaker 2: here and mention something that I saw in the first
Speaker 2: quarter before we roll into that. So and then I'll
Speaker 2: let you get Steve got gyms okay, Like he is
Speaker 2: the guy you're talking to, justments, we talk the jutments,
Speaker 2: you're talking mindset nine time champion, like it's not an accident.
Speaker 2: And then people try and say he didn't play much
Speaker 2: with the bulls. It's not an accident. Winners win never
Speaker 2: forget it. And on Champs Only today coach Kerr gave
Speaker 2: some gyms. It was great to hear. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: I know you all will. But one thing that I
Speaker 2: saw before we go into that during the game today,
Speaker 2: and it's unfortunately they didn't win, because this will be
Speaker 2: a much cooler story if they want. But I'm happy
Speaker 2: to see a good series tied up one one at
Speaker 2: the end of the first quarter.
Speaker 3: And remember I'm always watching the game.
Speaker 2: Within the game, I'm always watching other guys' reactions to
Speaker 2: see if I can play on that. Like I'm you know,
Speaker 2: I talk. I like to talk, and I like to
Speaker 2: stir up the pot a little bit. And like you
Speaker 2: watch other guys actions on teams to see if you
Speaker 2: can play on that, like if I can get under skin,
Speaker 2: if I can get them to go against each other.
Speaker 3: All that's a part of it, you know.
Speaker 2: And in the field of war, like you have to
Speaker 2: find your angles when you're out there on that court,
Speaker 2: and that's just that. And one thing I saw at
Speaker 2: the end of the first quarter, Jamal Murray had the
Speaker 2: ball and as you can recall it, maybe you can't,
Speaker 2: but you can go back and check it out. Jamal
Speaker 2: Murray had the ball at the end of the first
Speaker 2: quarter and Jackson's great.
Speaker 3: So Jackson all clipping and short teeth.
Speaker 2: And he started getting his package and Joker popped open,
Speaker 2: and Joker was wild, and Joker like thought he was
Speaker 2: about to get the ball for a wide open three,
Speaker 2: and then he realized Jamal wasn't passing it, and Jamal
Speaker 2: start dancing, dancing and step back, and like, the right
Speaker 2: play would have been to throw the ball to Joker
Speaker 2: and let him shoot it because he was wide open.
Speaker 3: Jamal had drawn two. Did your job.
Speaker 2: But Jamal is also a big shot taker and a
Speaker 2: big shot maker, so he wants that moment when that's
Speaker 2: going on. As you can see down stretch into the game,
Speaker 2: he was taking all of those shots and he got
Speaker 2: them right back in and they had had a chance
Speaker 2: to tie it up and say it overtime, but he
Speaker 2: stepped back, step back, shot the ball and missed it.
Speaker 2: And what you will see in most situations like that
Speaker 2: with a lot of guys is they dropped their head,
Speaker 2: they slumped their shoulders, they say, come on, hold, just
Speaker 2: stand there, hold their hands like this right, like making
Speaker 2: it obvious that they were open by the way I've
Speaker 2: done it, like I've we all do it. Like Joker
Speaker 2: clapped his hand, but it was like a clap, like ah,
Speaker 2: he barely missed, like almost. It wasn't like a clap.
Speaker 2: I should have got the ball. Shoulders did not drop
Speaker 2: a centimeter. Body language did not change, not one bit.
Speaker 2: And that's why they're in the NBA Finals because the
Speaker 2: confidence that that gives coming from Joker to Jamal Murray,
Speaker 2: like take that shot.
Speaker 3: It's no surprise to me.
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray hit those shots late because he know the
Speaker 2: guy isn't gonna slump his shoulders. He know the guy
Speaker 2: isn't gonna say, oh, give me the ball. That's how
Speaker 2: you make guys around you better. And Jamal Murray is
Speaker 2: an incredible player in his own right, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 2: but Joker's Joker. That's how you give guys confidence. And
Speaker 2: I thought that was really interesting to see. It says
Speaker 2: a lot about their chemistry, it says a lot about
Speaker 2: their team and why they are where they are. So
Speaker 2: as you know, I'm always trying to help you guys
Speaker 2: see the game within the game. I think if everyone
Speaker 2: understands this game from a better place, it only makes
Speaker 2: our game that we all love. Fans, players, you name it,
Speaker 2: the basketball community. It only makes the game that we
Speaker 2: all love better. So I like to share those things.
Speaker 2: But now let's get into the guy, My guy Stevie Kerr.
Speaker 2: June is a championship month for sports. Pro basketball, hockey,
Speaker 2: college baseball, and softball championships all underway, and of course
Speaker 2: Pro baseball is in full swing. For last minute amazing
Speaker 2: deals on tickets to whatever your favorite sport may be.
Speaker 2: Check out game Time and it doesn't stop at sports.
Speaker 2: Game Time even has tickets to concerts and comedy shows too.
Speaker 2: Download the game Time app and redeem code green for
Speaker 2: twenty dollars off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Download
Speaker 2: the game Time app and enter code green.
Speaker 3: That's g r.
Speaker 2: N for twenty dollars off. No matter where you live,
Speaker 2: get out and have some fun this week. Download game
Speaker 2: Time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guarantee. I'm very
Speaker 2: thankful for this guy in my life, super important. Has
Speaker 2: helped me grow as a man, has helped me grow
Speaker 2: as a player. And I promised you all a surprise
Speaker 2: guest with him in mind, and he had not confirmed,
Speaker 2: but I just trusted that he would look out for
Speaker 2: me as he always does, and he did. He came
Speaker 2: through for me. So the surprise is here today's episode.
Speaker 2: This is called the Draymond Green Show Champs Only Edition,
Speaker 2: and what that means is we have a guest that's
Speaker 2: going to break this game down. And when you're talking
Speaker 2: playoff adjustments, when you're talking to someone who's not afraid
Speaker 2: to pull a trigger on a lineup, on a defensive scheme,
Speaker 2: you name it. The best in the business here to
Speaker 2: break down the game with us. Today we have nine
Speaker 2: time NBA champion, the best coach in the NBA coach,
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the show, Dre.
Speaker 1: You're too kind. It's good to be with you.
Speaker 3: I'm so excited.
Speaker 2: As I told you and I shared this on here,
Speaker 2: I don't mind telling the world this I learned.
Speaker 3: I have learned so much from you.
Speaker 2: About winning, like simply on how to win, like there's
Speaker 2: no mistake. Last maybe two episodes ago, I was speaking
Speaker 2: on this list of guys who's won all the championships
Speaker 2: and in our lifetime, and you're right at the top.
Speaker 3: Of that list with nine championships.
Speaker 2: I know a couple of years ago, you know, I
Speaker 2: was talking about championship, like, wow, we have three and
Speaker 2: you like, you guys got three. I got eight, and
Speaker 2: you kept that right and you kept that right at
Speaker 2: the top. And now we're at four, you're at nine.
Speaker 2: It's incredible. But number one, I just want to say
Speaker 2: for everything that you've taught me, thank you.
Speaker 1: No and thank you, because I mean people who watch
Speaker 1: us play and follow our team, I think they know
Speaker 1: it really is a collaboration, you know. And that's what
Speaker 1: I learned from my coaches. I mean, I was so
Speaker 1: blessed to play for the greatest coaches ever, you know,
Speaker 1: Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich, Lenny Wilkins, coach Loud Olsen
Speaker 1: in college. I mean all Hall of famers and Len,
Speaker 1: Lenny and uh and Phil and Pop in the NBA
Speaker 1: in particular, we're all collaborators. And and that's really what
Speaker 1: I learned from them was that number one, you're you're
Speaker 1: only as good as your players in the NBA. Number two,
Speaker 1: if you do have players, then uh, you've got to
Speaker 1: collaborate with them and and and and figure it out
Speaker 1: as a group. And that's been really I think what
Speaker 1: has been most fun during our run here, you know,
Speaker 1: during my time with you and Steph and Clay and
Speaker 1: Andrea and the whole group. We do it together and
Speaker 1: we figure it out and we find a way.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I mean especially during the playoffs, and it's
Speaker 2: like during that time of year, it's just like a
Speaker 2: magic it's a buzz. We walk in the room, he's
Speaker 2: just you see your wheels spinning.
Speaker 3: It's like zooding out of you. And we come in,
Speaker 3: we have.
Speaker 2: A few suggestions and whether those suggestions, I think the
Speaker 2: thing that I can always appreciate as a player is
Speaker 2: like whether we go with that suggestion or not. It's heard,
Speaker 2: it's carefully thought out, and it's like, Okay, here's what
Speaker 2: we're going to do, and Hairs, why if this and
Speaker 2: we have an adjustment in the bank if we need
Speaker 2: to go to it and Harri's what it'll be, and
Speaker 2: it's it's just like it's never turned on deaf ears,
Speaker 2: whether it's we go with it or not. And I
Speaker 2: can always appreciate that as a player, especially as you know,
Speaker 2: I always got something to say, so I can always
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Well, We've had we've had a lot of great coaches
Speaker 1: on our staffs, and that's what makes it so fun.
Speaker 1: You're right, I mean, the playoffs are the best time
Speaker 1: of year for sure. And when you go into every
Speaker 1: series and uh, you know, you have an idea of
Speaker 1: what you want to do, and then from game to
Speaker 1: game making these adjustments. It's so different from the regular season.
Speaker 1: You know, regular season, you're you're just trying to get
Speaker 1: to the next game and get through the through the
Speaker 1: year and keep your guys healthy and confident, keep everybody
Speaker 1: you know moving forward and feeling good about themselves. And
Speaker 1: and then the playoffs coming, it's you throw everything out
Speaker 1: the window. It's just when it's just pure basketball, nothing
Speaker 1: else matters, and from one game to the next, like
Speaker 1: you just you just you know, you see stuff that
Speaker 1: you you have to do or that you might want
Speaker 1: to do, and and you make these changes. You hope
Speaker 1: they work, and if they don't, you try something different.
Speaker 1: It's so fun. It's it's the best time of year.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I can agree.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of that and getting into a night's game,
Speaker 2: I know you watched the game as soon as we
Speaker 2: hopped on, You're like, man, that game was exciting as hell.
Speaker 2: First time and your coaching career that you're not headed
Speaker 2: to the NBA Finals and you were in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: How how much is it I know it has to
Speaker 2: be burning you because it's burning me, But how much
Speaker 2: is it burning you to be sitting here watching.
Speaker 3: And not us not participating in this game or this series.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's on the one hand, it's burning
Speaker 1: me up. On the other hand, I just sort of,
Speaker 1: you know, count my blessings like I think. You know,
Speaker 1: I've been coaching the team nine years. We missed the
Speaker 1: playoffs twice, and six of the seven years we made
Speaker 1: the finals. So this is the first year, like you said,
Speaker 1: first year we haven't made the finals. But who gets
Speaker 1: to say that? I mean, that's just there's so much
Speaker 1: good fortune, you know, And I'm not trying to be modest.
Speaker 1: You know, we have a great staff and we work
Speaker 1: hard and all that stuff. But you know, so much
Speaker 1: of coaching is just you know, who you get to
Speaker 1: coach and the players, that talent that you have, the competitiveness,
Speaker 1: and we've had such an incredible group. So this year
Speaker 1: was we came up short. It's no fun watching the finals.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, we don't deserve to be there.
Speaker 1: You know, we weren't looking, So you know, I can
Speaker 1: live with that.
Speaker 3: We got to get better, no doubt, no doubt. And
Speaker 3: I think, you know, sometimes you have to lose to win,
Speaker 3: you know. And I think for us, this allows us
Speaker 3: to reset.
Speaker 2: This allows us to go back and say, all right,
Speaker 2: here are some things we didn't do.
Speaker 3: It's great. It's tough to do that.
Speaker 2: It's coming off a championship sometimes, So I think this
Speaker 2: will be great for us and I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2: But and speaking of tonight's game, You've always been a coach,
Speaker 2: I mean, dating back to twenty fifteen, that it's not
Speaker 2: afraid to pull the trigger on an adjustment, whether it's
Speaker 2: a lineup change in the middle of a series, whether
Speaker 2: the it's total going away from a guy because you
Speaker 2: think this just is a serious You've You've been known,
Speaker 2: I mean, you're known for doing that.
Speaker 3: And the Heat did that tonight with Kevin Love.
Speaker 2: They went back to Kevin Love over Cayleb Martin in
Speaker 2: the Star lineup. What is it in coming into your
Speaker 2: coaching career that made you comfortable with making those adjustments
Speaker 2: moving Andre into the Star lineup in the NBA Finals,
Speaker 2: moving Andre to the bench to start a season, Like,
Speaker 2: what is it or where did you learn that coming
Speaker 2: into I mean, you're a rookie coach when you came in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think when I think back to twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: the biggest move we made was in the second round
Speaker 1: when we were playing Memphis and we were down to
Speaker 1: one and Ron Adams suggested that we put Andrew Bogan
Speaker 1: on Tony Allen in Memphis and they were just controlling
Speaker 1: the tempo. And I remember we were on the plane
Speaker 1: when he said it, and I remember thinking, why, you know,
Speaker 1: why would we do that like that? That seems crazy.
Speaker 1: And so the more we watched film, the more I
Speaker 1: could picture it, and then we did it. It was
Speaker 1: like magic. It's like, oh my god, this changed everything.
Speaker 1: And that was my first experience as a coach where
Speaker 1: I realized one matchup change, just one move, can change
Speaker 1: a series dramatically. I didn't really know it at the time,
Speaker 1: but because we had such a great staff and a
Speaker 1: veteran group with Alvin Gentry and and Ron, you know,
Speaker 1: those guys had been through it before, so they taught
Speaker 1: me like, one one lineup change, one one matchup change, Uh,
Speaker 1: it literally can shift everything. And so from then on
Speaker 1: it was like, okay, now now I get it, you know,
Speaker 1: and you can you can really you can really make
Speaker 1: a shift with with some subtle moves.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I remember that like it was yesterday.
Speaker 2: It put Memphis in touch in such a tough spot
Speaker 2: because Tony Allen was so good defensively. Tony Allen's one
Speaker 2: of the best defenders I've ever played against, and he
Speaker 2: wasn't guarding me but just in watching. And we hurt
Speaker 2: them so bad on the offensive end that they end
Speaker 2: up having to take him off the floor, and it
Speaker 2: just opened our offense up to do everything once he
Speaker 2: came off the floor.
Speaker 3: It was huge.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And getting to tonight's game, Uh, you know, Joker,
Speaker 2: another great game. Forty one points, eleven rebounds, but only
Speaker 2: four sists.
Speaker 3: What do you make of that stat?
Speaker 1: Yeah? You know, we we talked about this last year
Speaker 1: when when we played Denver. You know, we we just
Speaker 1: felt the same way that Miami felt tonight, like like
Speaker 1: he's just so good as a passer, and I think
Speaker 1: I think that's what he likes to do best. Let's
Speaker 1: makes him go and what makes their team go. And
Speaker 1: they're so much better now than they were a year ago,
Speaker 1: obviously because of Jamal Murray being healthy, Michael Porter being healthy,
Speaker 1: adding KCP and Bruce Brown, they got more size in
Speaker 1: the backcourd. So they're a great, great team. But I
Speaker 1: do think what Miami did tonight, you know, they they said,
Speaker 1: all right, we're going to make Jokic your score. Let's
Speaker 1: take away other people. And then the big one I
Speaker 1: thought was, you know, you mentioned them starting love that
Speaker 1: allowed Jimmy Butler to guard Murray, And to me, it
Speaker 1: was like, I don't you know, I haven't talked to
Speaker 1: Spoe or anything like that, but I can see them
Speaker 1: in their coaches meetings saying Murray's the head of the snake,
Speaker 1: you know, not not Yoka, Like like, if you just
Speaker 1: look at it, you go, well, Jokic is ahead of snake.
Speaker 1: When you play a team, you sort of realize, wait
Speaker 1: a second, like that guy's gonna he's going to dominate
Speaker 1: no matter what we do. So we got this is
Speaker 1: the head of this and I think they just decided
Speaker 1: Murray's the guy we got to stop. So you start love,
Speaker 1: put Jimmy Butler on Murray, and then you saw like
Speaker 1: they were blitzing m Murray quite a bit and really
Speaker 1: trying everything to take him out of the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought I thought that was very interesting because
Speaker 2: it made it extremely tough on Murray.
Speaker 3: It didn't allow for those.
Speaker 2: Pocket There was a point where they like went to
Speaker 2: that matchup zone and they were like switching anyone on
Speaker 2: the Joker.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I thought that was extremely interesting because last game. After
Speaker 2: last game, I spoke about like some of the possible
Speaker 2: justments they can make, and I was saying, put Jimmy
Speaker 2: Butler on Murray, you keep Bam on Joker.
Speaker 3: But now you read that pick and roll with them.
Speaker 2: As you know, having Bam with us in the Olympics,
Speaker 2: Bam can guard anyone and and Jimmy will put up
Speaker 2: a fight, but it keeps those guys in front. And
Speaker 2: now you're not getting the back door cuts, Joker's not
Speaker 2: getting ten assists and it and it forces it buy
Speaker 2: a struggle all of a sudden, k CPS threes weren't
Speaker 2: going in because they didn't get those at the beginning
Speaker 2: of the game.
Speaker 3: And so I thought, uh, that was an interesting one.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I think that against every team. You know,
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, you're you're you're just trying to take
Speaker 1: them out of rhythm. You know, you're you're you just
Speaker 1: want to make them. You know, we always use the
Speaker 1: Belichick line, you know, make them play left handed. You know,
Speaker 1: he's famous for that, like trying to trying to take
Speaker 1: a team's strengths, take that away and make them do
Speaker 1: something different. And I think that's what the playoffs are
Speaker 1: all about. You get these great players like Jokicchen you
Speaker 1: have to figure out, Okay, well, like what are we
Speaker 1: going to possibly do with this guy? And uh and
Speaker 1: it's more, you know, you're not going to stop him,
Speaker 1: So how can we make the team slightly uncomfortable? How
Speaker 1: can we take them out of their patterns that they're
Speaker 1: so used to? And I thought Miami did an amazing
Speaker 1: job of that tonight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely thought they'd as well.
Speaker 3: Miami.
Speaker 2: One thing I noticed I've noticed about their offense, but
Speaker 2: especially it's been showing up as of late really and this.
Speaker 3: Well, this today showed up.
Speaker 2: But also in that Boston series, they run a lot
Speaker 2: of stuff out of the high splits, kind of like
Speaker 2: God of State.
Speaker 3: But I thought it was very interesting.
Speaker 2: Duncan Robinson couldn't get a shot off the first three quarters,
Speaker 2: couldn't get an attempt, and then all of a sudden
Speaker 2: he goes for ten quick points to start the fourth quarter,
Speaker 2: and it changes everything.
Speaker 3: Do you think and watching.
Speaker 2: Them play the Miami heat, that something similar to what
Speaker 2: we were doing against Sack would be beneficial against them
Speaker 2: because they got these guards coming flying off handoffs.
Speaker 3: BAM's a great playmaker.
Speaker 2: Then Bam has the fake keeps or he's just moving
Speaker 2: in and going to the next But they got these
Speaker 2: guards jokers down the floor, but they're letting everything up
Speaker 2: the floor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well, I mean that might be Denver's adjustment.
Speaker 1: And that's the beauty of the playoffs, is you know,
Speaker 1: that's the next thing they got to figure out if
Speaker 1: they want to take away all those drible handoffs. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many how many buckets did Bam get on the
Speaker 1: pocket pass after those dhos? You know, Lowery had several
Speaker 1: beautiful passes to him on the second half down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Both Struce and Robinson made made good passes to him.
Speaker 1: So that that'll be really interesting to see. Does Denver,
Speaker 1: you know, try to just denial those drible handoffs, send
Speaker 1: everything to the rim and have Jokic just sit back
Speaker 1: there and and and that would be you know, one
Speaker 1: way of Denver saying trying to do the same thing
Speaker 1: that Miami did tonight in terms of take away a
Speaker 1: team's pattern, try to make him do something different.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Miami's been going to the zone and and now
Speaker 2: two games in a row it's really stifled Denver in
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter. When when you're going zone as a coach, like,
Speaker 2: obviously that's a new thing in the NBA. It hasn't
Speaker 2: always been a big thing, but like as of late,
Speaker 2: you're starting to see more and more.
Speaker 3: Teams, Uh, go zone.
Speaker 2: What are you hoping to accomplish as a coach, Like
Speaker 2: when when you're going to that zone like Miami's did
Speaker 2: both fourth quarters.
Speaker 1: Now, I think again it's it's take away the pattern,
Speaker 1: take away the comfort zone. You know, the Murray Yokics
Speaker 1: two man game down the stretch, you you said it
Speaker 1: already like they were in a kind of a funky
Speaker 1: matchup zone. Miami was, but they just kept switching the
Speaker 1: pick and roll, the high pick and roll, and then
Speaker 1: they were zoned up behind it. And so I think
Speaker 1: Miami's probably the best zone team and the year in
Speaker 1: the league. You probably remember early in the season we
Speaker 1: had a lead down the stretch in Miami and they
Speaker 1: played zone the last five minutes and stifled us. And
Speaker 1: they they run some interesting stuff. It's they they've got
Speaker 1: a couple of different zones that they run. The one
Speaker 1: tonight looked like a matchup zone, like almost like a
Speaker 1: hybrid type thing, like maybe they made it up on
Speaker 1: the fly during the finals. You know. But they are
Speaker 1: they're really good. I mean, they're just they're they're tough minded,
Speaker 1: they're so well coachedos amazing, and they just don't make mistakes,
Speaker 1: you know. I think they had twenty eight assists eleven turnovers.
Speaker 1: They don't beat themselves. You know, they had that one
Speaker 1: stretch early second quarter where they turned it over a
Speaker 1: few times, Denver made their run and got control of
Speaker 1: the game. I'd like to see the number of turnovers
Speaker 1: Miami had in the second half. I'll bet it was,
Speaker 1: you know, three or four. They just don't they don't
Speaker 1: give you anything.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: I thought, that's that's for sure. And on oppositely, and
Speaker 2: Denver couldn't stop.
Speaker 3: Turning it over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought Joker has some uncharacteristic turnovers that he
Speaker 2: don't normally have as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it was because they were taking
Speaker 1: out of those comfort zone patterns that they have. So
Speaker 1: that's the that's the idea with not only the zone,
Speaker 1: but changing up the matchups and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: getting Butler on on Murray so that you you have
Speaker 1: more athleticism and size against them on the pick and roll.
Speaker 1: Like you said, the ability to switch with bam And
Speaker 1: and Jimmy on that pick and roll. So I thought
Speaker 1: Miami was was phenomenal tonight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were great. A couple couple of rotation things.
Speaker 2: Like I said just top of the show, you're one
Speaker 2: of the best at that. Max Streuss comes out fire
Speaker 2: and he's knocking him down. He gets it going, he
Speaker 2: doesn't really play. In the fourth quarter, they go Duncan.
Speaker 3: Robinson who who.
Speaker 2: Again hadn't been able to get a shot off. How
Speaker 2: do you make that decision? Like in that moment, you're like,
Speaker 2: all right, we're going away from Strus who had it
Speaker 2: going early, essentially going to Duncan who hasn't gotten anything going. Like,
Speaker 2: as a coach, how are you making that decision in
Speaker 2: the moment like that on like which one of those
Speaker 2: guys you're going with?
Speaker 1: I think you have to establish that all season long,
Speaker 1: like with with your team, the message has to be
Speaker 1: whoever has it going is going to play, and the
Speaker 1: guys have to be connected enough to not only understand that,
Speaker 1: but to embrace it. You know, Caleb Martin was the
Speaker 1: star of the Boston series. You know, he's hardly been
Speaker 1: a factor in this series. Offensively, didn't play much, but
Speaker 1: he hit a huge three in the you know, in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter tonight. And it's like none of those
Speaker 1: guys on Miami or are are sitting there saying, well,
Speaker 1: I didn't play or man, they put in so and so,
Speaker 1: Like they're just all about winning. And you know this
Speaker 1: from from our our groups that we've had. When when
Speaker 1: you when you have that championship mentality, every guy's bought in.
Speaker 1: Every guy is just trying to win. Nobody nobody cares
Speaker 1: about any of that stuff. You don't go into the
Speaker 1: locker room, you know, saying well I should have played more.
Speaker 1: You just you just want to win. And that's the
Speaker 1: beauty of finding that magic when you have a championship team,
Speaker 1: is that everybody's bought in, and it makes the decisions
Speaker 1: for the coach really simple. You just go with go
Speaker 1: with your gut, and go with whoever's playing.
Speaker 3: Well. Another question.
Speaker 2: Or something that I noticed in this game, and I
Speaker 2: just wonder as I'm sitting here, wondering, Oh, I'm sitting
Speaker 2: here watching. I was wondering, like, at what point do
Speaker 2: you scrap your lineups? Because and so watching this game,
Speaker 2: if you notice, I.
Speaker 3: Know you noticed Miami.
Speaker 2: Miami's lineups with Jimmy on the floor in the first half,
Speaker 2: they couldn't get it. They couldn't get it, like they
Speaker 2: turned the ball over every playing They couldn't even get
Speaker 2: a shot up. And I thought it was interesting to
Speaker 2: see Jimmy off the floor at the same time as Joker,
Speaker 2: and then he was coming back in, Like why not
Speaker 2: take advantage of those like have Jimmy on the floor
Speaker 2: win Jokers not on the floor to take advantage of
Speaker 2: a non Joker minutes. But it also keeps him on
Speaker 2: Murray because in that first half, Murray had eight points.
Speaker 2: They were all in transition. Jimmy was into him to
Speaker 2: start that game, and then Jimmy comes out, he gets
Speaker 2: it going and they end up going up like eleven
Speaker 2: points before Jimmy can get back in the game. At
Speaker 2: what point in the series are you looking at that
Speaker 2: and you're like, all right, maybe we need to stifle
Speaker 2: our minutes a bit and get this guy on the floor, Like.
Speaker 3: How how deep in the series. Do you have to
Speaker 3: be to start thinking that way?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it just depends on how you feel
Speaker 1: as a coach, as a staff about the flow of
Speaker 1: the game, you know. And I think Miami left that
Speaker 1: first game not feeling great about the way things went,
Speaker 1: and they said, all right, we got to make our
Speaker 1: adjustments now. We're not going to wait till game three.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, our series against the Lakers, by
Speaker 1: the end, Shrewder was just going to be on Steph
Speaker 1: no matter when Steph was on the floor. So I
Speaker 1: think they started him game six. Whenever Steph came out,
Speaker 1: Shrewder came out. Ever, Steph went back in, Shrouder went
Speaker 1: back in. And I think that's a that's a pretty
Speaker 1: common theme in these playoff series. If there's one guy
Speaker 1: that you know you have to slow down, you just
Speaker 1: put your best defender on him and you just mirror
Speaker 1: the matchup. I think I think Miami did that in
Speaker 1: the second and a half. I don't think they did
Speaker 1: that in the first half, did they? When Rory got
Speaker 1: going a little bit, Butler was not on the floor, right.
Speaker 3: He wasn't on the floor, and that's when they made
Speaker 3: that run.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I think that was the adjustment they made
Speaker 1: in the second half. As soon as soon as Murray
Speaker 1: went to the bench, Jimmy went to the bench. As
Speaker 1: soon as he came back to the scorer's table, Jimmy
Speaker 1: went right.
Speaker 3: Back to another adjustment.
Speaker 2: Thing I talked earlier on here in the playoffs about
Speaker 2: our biggest adjustment. And one thing that you've another thing
Speaker 2: that you've taught me is just always the force that
Speaker 2: you play with. I think anytime we lose a game,
Speaker 2: or almost lose game or anything, you always come in
Speaker 2: and you say, hey, here's our We have some things
Speaker 2: that we're going to work on, I mean, some things
Speaker 2: that we're going to change up. We have some ideas,
Speaker 2: but our biggest adjustment is always going.
Speaker 3: To be forced.
Speaker 2: And you you always say that, why do you think
Speaker 2: it's so important? But also so difficult to that because
Speaker 2: I actually thought coming out today, and I also spoke
Speaker 2: about this last time in Game one, Miami was on
Speaker 2: the verge of getting blown out and they reeled it
Speaker 2: back in a little bit, and I said, listen, if
Speaker 2: I'm the Denver Nuggets, I actually feel great about that
Speaker 2: because we didn't blow them out. So now they're not
Speaker 2: coming in with the added extra fire that you know
Speaker 2: a team comes in with when they've get blown when
Speaker 2: they've gotten blown out. However, I thought at the beginning
Speaker 2: of this game, and I would love to know if
Speaker 2: you saw the same thing, I thought Denver came out
Speaker 2: passive like they they came out lack of aggression. It
Speaker 2: kind of looked like a regular season game. And Miami
Speaker 2: got their footing right away. I think they started off
Speaker 2: the game up ten to two, and it just looked
Speaker 2: like they that Denver lost the force.
Speaker 3: Did you see that same thing? Was that your?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean I thought it was more that Miami
Speaker 1: just brought the force. And that's you know, human nature.
Speaker 1: You're down and oh and you got two off days
Speaker 1: and you're sitting in your hotel room in Denver and
Speaker 1: you're you know, you're pissed off, and all the media
Speaker 1: is saying this is going to be a sweep or
Speaker 1: five games and Miami has no chance. It's just human nature,
Speaker 1: you know, you come out angry and and with Denver
Speaker 1: it's probably probably the flip side of that. It's like
Speaker 1: you don't think you're going to be complacent, but you
Speaker 1: probably are a little bit. And that's all it takes.
Speaker 1: There's such a slight difference between you know, really playing
Speaker 1: with an edge and not playing with an edge. It's
Speaker 1: just a minor thing, but it's there. That's the you know,
Speaker 1: the difference between two great teams in the finals. It's
Speaker 1: just you know, who's going to be a split second
Speaker 1: quicker to the loose ball. Who's going to be you know,
Speaker 1: just a little more forceful with every action. And you
Speaker 1: can see it right away. Miami was they came out,
Speaker 1: they were angry, and they they played with more competitive
Speaker 1: juice and they set the tone early.
Speaker 3: Your Denver.
Speaker 2: One one headed on the road, you just saw the game.
Speaker 2: What's your number one adjustment going into next game? If
Speaker 2: you're Denver on how you're going to get this series
Speaker 2: back under your control.
Speaker 1: It's a good question. I mean, I think number one
Speaker 1: that you know, like like we just talked about, your
Speaker 1: first adjustment is the force that you come with the intent,
Speaker 1: that you're playing with the purpose. And then you know,
Speaker 1: as far as any tactical adjustments, that's what the next
Speaker 1: two days or four you know, I always felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, every time we would finish a playoff game,
Speaker 1: I would I'd be reluctant to say anything to you
Speaker 1: guys right afterwards, because I'd always want to look at
Speaker 1: the tape first to confirm any thoughts that I have,
Speaker 1: And sometimes I was, you know, i'd be way off, like,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd want to go in and say one thing,
Speaker 1: and and and I'd watched the tape and I go, no, No,
Speaker 1: that actually wasn't the key to the game. This was,
Speaker 1: you know. So I think that's what the next two
Speaker 1: days are about for Mike Malone and his staff is
Speaker 1: trying to figure out do they want to make some adjustments.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's what you talked about, taking away some of
Speaker 1: those drouble handoffs, you know, top locking the shooters, sending
Speaker 1: them down, maybe something like that. I doubt it's a
Speaker 1: personnel change because I think Denver is really solid with
Speaker 1: their starting group. Uh, they're the favorite in this series.
Speaker 1: I don't think they have to panic or anything. I
Speaker 1: just think it's probably playing with more intent and maybe
Speaker 1: maybe you know, a tactical a slight tactical change somewhere.
Speaker 2: When you're playing, Like like Spostra, as we spoke about,
Speaker 2: sposal is great. He has the experience edge over Mike Malone.
Speaker 2: You're now in a position where I mean almost any
Speaker 2: coach in the league, with the exception of Pop, You're
Speaker 2: going to have the experienced edge over damn near any
Speaker 2: coach in the league. When as a coach, I know
Speaker 2: when I go out there as a player and I'm
Speaker 2: looking at those guys, the one thing I have in
Speaker 2: the back of my mind is that I know how
Speaker 2: like that we've done this, we know how to do it.
Speaker 2: When you're going up against another coach, say supposed to
Speaker 2: against Mike Malone, are you feeling that as a coach
Speaker 2: as well? Like what I know, we've been in this
Speaker 2: situation before that we don't know if he's going to panic,
Speaker 2: you know, because he hasn't been. Like, are you feeling
Speaker 2: that as a coach? And you were a player, so
Speaker 2: you know how it feels as a player. Do you
Speaker 2: get that same feeling as a coach as you do
Speaker 2: as players?
Speaker 1: Think you consider it, and I think in this particular series,
Speaker 1: Mike Malone has a lot of experience, Like the continuity
Speaker 1: of the two organizations is a big reason why they're
Speaker 1: both here. And all you have to do is think back.
Speaker 1: You know two years ago, you know, Denver came back
Speaker 1: twice in the bubble from three to one deficits. They
Speaker 1: won two straight series down three to one. Mike Malons
Speaker 1: a hell of a coach. They have continuity with their players,
Speaker 1: with the staff, so they will come out with resolve
Speaker 1: and with some adjustments, and they have been through these wars. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe not in the finals, and there is a little
Speaker 1: different vibe in the finals, but I think these two
Speaker 1: games now they've kind of felt it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: would ask you you remember our first trip in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: in those first two finals games feel weird, like they're
Speaker 1: so different than a regular game.
Speaker 2: No, they are, I mean, and it was crazy because
Speaker 2: you told us, You're like, all right, guys, it's the Finals.
Speaker 3: Now, all of this is going to be different.
Speaker 2: The practices are different, you got media there, everything's going
Speaker 2: to be different. You now have family in town the
Speaker 2: entire time, and you kind of warned us of all
Speaker 2: of those things. And yet we got into those first
Speaker 2: two games like WHOA like totally different vibe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought, I thought that was very interesting. And
Speaker 3: and then.
Speaker 2: You see like like we had the opportunity to see
Speaker 2: the Celtics and you know, go through that last year,
Speaker 2: and I thought, if you think back to Game one,
Speaker 2: we took We took advantage of it for the first half,
Speaker 2: really the first three quarters, and then it's like they
Speaker 2: found their foot in, they got a little more comfortable,
Speaker 2: guys start hitting the shots, and the game got away
Speaker 2: from Obviously we ended up finishing it, but he saw
Speaker 2: us a little bit of that same thing.
Speaker 1: I think. I always felt like the hardest thing is
Speaker 1: practicing in the arena instead of at your practice facility.
Speaker 1: You know, it's the only time all year where you know, somebody,
Speaker 1: somebody tells you okay, you're not allowed to practice in
Speaker 1: your practice facility. You know, so you practice at the
Speaker 1: arena and like five hundred media members are going to
Speaker 1: come in for the last five minutes, the first five
Speaker 1: minutes of practice or not actually like first twenty minutes. Yes,
Speaker 1: so you have to put on like a fake practice
Speaker 1: in the finals where it's like, all right, guys, do
Speaker 1: three man weave or you know, like what are we doing?
Speaker 1: And it's crazy because you you know, it's like you're
Speaker 1: playing for the biggest prize, you know, the biggest games
Speaker 1: of your life, and you're not allowed to follow your
Speaker 1: routine and you guys, as individual players, can't get your
Speaker 1: usual shooting time that you get on your home floor
Speaker 1: practice floor, because on the practice floor you got six hoops,
Speaker 1: six empty hoops. In the main area there's only two hoops,
Speaker 1: so you can't do the same routine. It's to me,
Speaker 1: it's nuts, but it's all part of the media obligations
Speaker 1: that both teams.
Speaker 2: Have, absolutely, absolutely now Coach, this has been great. As
Speaker 2: you know, I could sit and talk basketball you all right,
Speaker 2: and I want to let you enjoy your Sunday. But
Speaker 2: before we get out of here, due to my love
Speaker 2: for him, and I know your love for him, I'd
Speaker 2: be remiss if we got on here and we didn't
Speaker 2: mention Bob Myers.
Speaker 3: I know what he's meant to me in my career, and.
Speaker 2: Man, I I'm not gonna I was having a conversation
Speaker 2: today with someone and I start talking about some of
Speaker 2: the things that I've gone through, like as a player,
Speaker 2: like and not some of the things that I've gone through.
Speaker 2: You know, all the shit that I've caused myself. It's
Speaker 2: out there like I've gone through something that somebody else
Speaker 2: calls it's self inflicted wounds that I've had over the
Speaker 2: course of your teenure. Here us, you know, us being
Speaker 2: together and we were speaking about it, and he was like, man,
Speaker 2: I forgot all of that shit.
Speaker 3: You've done a lot of shit. I trust me. Not
Speaker 3: for one second do I go home and not think.
Speaker 2: These guys have had my back, like you, Bob, through
Speaker 2: things that I've gone through. I mean, the camera caught
Speaker 2: you one time like I'm sick of Draymond shit, and
Speaker 2: and I was like, that sucks. I can't believe he
Speaker 2: said that. And I had to take a step back,
Speaker 2: like I'd be sick of Draymond shit too, So like,
Speaker 2: and I understand, you know what you've done for me.
Speaker 2: I understand you know what Bob's done for me and
Speaker 2: what you guys have meant to me in my life
Speaker 2: and my career.
Speaker 3: And I just wanted to give you an opportunity.
Speaker 2: You know, Bob's been here, your entire journey, how that
Speaker 2: journey's been with him to see him go, just your
Speaker 2: feelings and your thoughts on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you know I mentioned early in the podcast,
Speaker 1: just the fact that it's a collaboration, and Bob is
Speaker 1: a huge part of the collaboration, and he and I
Speaker 1: have been partners in this thing for nine years. You know,
Speaker 1: he hired me, he was here before. I was I
Speaker 1: don't know what it's going to be like without him.
Speaker 1: There's already like a really hollow feeling just knowing he's
Speaker 1: not going to be in the building every day. There's
Speaker 1: an incredible friendship there, an incredible uh sense of gratitude
Speaker 1: that I have for Bob for everything that we've shared
Speaker 1: and been through together. And I'm just I'm going to
Speaker 1: miss him and we're going to miss him. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's just a huge part of everything there. There's
Speaker 1: so much more that goes into being a general manager
Speaker 1: than just you know, making draft picks and signing free agencies.
Speaker 1: You're literally managing everybody in the organization from day to day.
Speaker 1: And Bob's the master he is.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: He has an incredible way of making people feel good
Speaker 1: about themselves and yet making people feel accountable, uh at
Speaker 1: the same time, and wanting people, you know, making people
Speaker 1: want to do their best not for him, but for
Speaker 1: the group and for yourself. You you know, he's constantly
Speaker 1: challenging all of us to be our best, but without
Speaker 1: sort of putting pressure on it on us, if that
Speaker 1: makes sense. You know, he's got an amazing way about him.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. And last one before we get out of here.
Speaker 2: You and I both have had the honor or I mean,
Speaker 2: not really a pleasure of playing for an ownership group
Speaker 2: that wants to win, that's willing to go the lengths
Speaker 2: that they need to go to win. And listen, Joe
Speaker 2: can be tough at times. And I think you know,
Speaker 2: we all know Joe can be tough at times because
Speaker 2: he has the same thing that me and you have.
Speaker 2: He just hate to lose, and losing for him it
Speaker 2: drives him up a wall, Joe like myself, whereas his
Speaker 2: emotions on his sleeves. But at the end of it,
Speaker 2: you can always turn back and say, I know that
Speaker 2: guy want to win as.
Speaker 3: Bad or more then we want to win.
Speaker 2: And just how important it is having an ownership group
Speaker 2: that's willing to go those lengths to put us in
Speaker 2: the best position we can to win championships.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, when I was a player,
Speaker 1: the Warriors were kind of a laughing stock, to be
Speaker 1: honest with you, and so when Joe bought the team,
Speaker 1: the mentality shifted. The mentality went to, hey, this is
Speaker 1: this is going to be a winning situation, and and
Speaker 1: everything that he's done has been with that thought. In mind.
Speaker 1: He's just win and he's proven that with his checkbook,
Speaker 1: he's proven that with his intentions, you know, over the
Speaker 1: last decade plus and and I know that's never going
Speaker 1: to change. So the collaboration that we've had, we've all had,
Speaker 1: has been amazing and obviously we want to keep it going.
Speaker 1: So hopefully we can we can do that, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're lucky to have been part of
Speaker 1: all this, for sure, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, Coach. I can't thank you enough. The first
Speaker 2: and rightfully so, like the first guess of Champs Only,
Speaker 2: Like for those of you out there listening, champs only
Speaker 2: were coming on here, we're talking about this game, and
Speaker 2: we're talking about championship things. Hence the fact Champs Only.
Speaker 2: If you're not a champion, I love you. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: We gotta have champs and we just had one of
Speaker 2: the greatest champs ever in NBA history, nine time Champs
Speaker 2: Coach Steve Kerr.
Speaker 3: I can't thank you enough, coach coming on the show, Thank.
Speaker 1: You, appreciate you. Dread that was fun.