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Things have been far from perfect for the Golden State Warriors this season and it, unfortunately, seems as if that will continue. Prior to the Warriors’ most recent game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, head coach Steve Kerr emphasized how important the next stretch of games was to the team.
As reported by NBC Sports, the coach said to a group of reporters, “I told our team this morning, ‘The playoffs start now,” Kerr stated. “These next 10 games are the playoffs, in my mind.”
Steve Kerr: “I told our team this morning, ‘The playoffs start now.’ These next 10 games are the playoffs, in my mind.” The goal right now is to get the seven spot.
“We gotta try to, No. 1, qualify for the play-in. And, No. 2, put ourselves in the best position possible. If we could get to seven and have two home games to win one, that would be ideal. In order to get that done, it starts now.”
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Curry Calls Latest Loss “Frustrating”
GettySteph Curry celebrates a playoff win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Warriors once again lost in heartbreaking fashion in a game that, for a while, seemed winnable. Losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves 126 – 114 right after losing to the Dallas Mavericks 133-103 isn’t going to help them keep their coveted play-in playoff spot if this keeps up.
After the game, a disappointed Curry spoke to the media about how upsetting the loss was, and simply talking about doing better isn’t going to be enough moving forward.
“It’s frustrating,” Curry stated to reporters via NBC Sports Bay Area. “At the end of the day, you want to win basketball games. We need to figure out what that is, practice, film, put it together in games. We’re not going to talk our way through it. I’m trying to give you as much as I can in terms of what’s wrong, but at the end of the day, it’s on us to figure it out if we want to make this season mean anything.”
“We do hold ourselves accountable,” Curry said. “Draymond and I try to lead that throughout the season. We had some good talks after the game tonight about what we need to do … And then we come out here and have to not sulk or carry that bad energy from night to night.”
“We can sit here and talk about whatever the problem was, but at the end of the day we either got to fix, or not,” Curry said.
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Kerr Sounds Off on Warriors Woes
GettyHead coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors directs his team against the Cleveland Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena on April 05, 2019 in Oakland, California.
Some of the things that make this Warriors team subpar is their play with one another and inconsistency. At times there is a lot of communication and thus quality shots for the offense.
However, there have been large stretches of over-passing, lack of communication, open gate defense, and little to no rebounding. The last point is one that seems to have significantly gotten under their head coach’s skin. Against the Timberwolves the Warriors were outrebounded by more than 20. That’s not going to cut it for a team barely holding on.
“It signals to me a modern team,” Kerr said following the game via ESPN. “This is the modern NBA; guys don’t box out. It’s just the way it is. Every night on League Pass, I see the same thing. Players let guys come in from the weak side, and they think, ‘I’ll just get the rebound.’ It’s a disease that’s rampant in the NBA. The problem is, if you’re a real small team like us, then it’s going to hurt you more than it will hurt other teams.”
“Most of these guys didn’t have a high school and college coach yelling at them for a combined eight straight years,” Kerr said. “It’s a different world today. And players grow up in a different way in terms of their basketball background. The detail is often the thing that is lacking.”
Hopefully, the Warriors will be able to turn it around and keep their play-in position. If not, they could be in jeopardy of wasting a season of their stars prime and missing out on quality players for the 2021 NBA Draft.
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Steph Curry Calls Timberwolves Loss ‘Frustrating’ While Steve Kerr Sounds Off