Steve Kerr very angry with his replacements

As we know, Steve Kerr has a wealth problem. He has a rotation of 12 players, and he is looking for the right formula for his “second unit”. How do you get the Warriors to hold the same basketball for 48 minutes?

Clearly, it’s not the narrow victory against the Kings that will reassure him. If his five major does not have much to be ashamed of, and the +/- column confirms it, on the other hand, the substitutes were struggling. With nine minutes remaining, the Warriors led by 17 points, yet Kerr got angry.

“It’s because of the defense on transition” answers the coach of Golden State about his time-out. “The biggest thing was the lack of energy. We have a group of substitutes who should be getting high to be on the pitch, running around and playing with crazy energy. And that’s what pissed me off. There was this defense on transition without any conviction. There was no desire, no life in this group. We will have to find what we are looking for in terms of energy and leadership”.

Who was on the ground at that time? Four substitutes and a starter: Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman. No Stephen Curry or Draymond Green, and ultimately no one to impose his leadership. However, Klay Thompson has the bottle, but he had a complicated evening (3 out of 10 on shots). Poole certainly scored 24 points, but he finished with the worst +/- of the team (-18). As for the other three, they are 20 or 21 years old, and they lack rigor.

” It’s not entirely deserved to put them all together, but it’s a tough championship. It’s do or die, and we have to find solutions continues Kerr.

“We sometimes make it look easy, when it’s been built over a decade of hard work and rehearsal.”

For Stephen Curry, back in the game to secure the victory, his young teammates have to go through it.

“We can talk about it and we said to them, ‘Hey, in 2012, we went through that too.’ But you have to live it” explains Curry about his young teammates. “It’s part of the progression of young people to understand how difficult it is to win in this league. When we look at the team that visits us, they are 0v-2d, but they will fight. They’re going to play with pride to get past the hurdle, and no matter how far ahead they have, they’re going to fight, especially with Mike Brown and what he preaches there. »

In the end, it’s part of learning. Understand that if the Warriors have won four titles in seven years, it is through “work and repetition”.

“It’s a good lesson: sometimes we give the impression that it’s easy, when it was built over a decade of work and repetition. It’s really difficult to win in this league and to maintain it… 48 minutes is a long time. As you said, every detail matters, so you have to feel it and expose yourself a bit to understand what it means to win. »