Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is asking his two longest-tenured stars to adjust to something unfamiliar early in training camp.
Kerr on Curry and Green Adjusting to New Concepts
Speaking to reporters after the second day of camp, Kerr explained that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are being pushed outside their usual habits. “Different spacing, different cutting. They’re used to doing something different, and we’re going to ask them to do something new,” Kerr said. “Both guys today, a couple times, like, their heads were kinda spinning.”
Kerr said that reaction is expected this early in camp. “I told Draymond, ‘Don’t worry about it; this is what it’s supposed to look like in the first couple of days of camp when you’re supposed to feel something,'” Kerr said. He added that the team’s young players had a similar experience over the summer. “When we were working on this stuff with our young players in the Summer League, they had the same reaction,” Kerr said. “They were also getting confused the first couple of days. That’s the whole point of camp, the whole point of continuing to drill stuff before it becomes routine.”
Steph Curry + Draymond Green are being asked to do “something new” in camp.
“Both guys today, a couple times, like, their head was kinda spinning.”
Frank Vogel’s Early Impact on the Warriors’ Defense
Much of the new approach traces back to Frank Vogel, who joined Golden State’s staff this summer to run the defense. Kerr said the staff has leaned on Vogel’s past work to shape camp. “Frank is running the defense obviously, so we’re using some of his transition defensive drills, some of his rebounding drills,” Kerr said. “We’ve been watching tape of Dallas’ training camp from last year, the drill work that Frank did with them.”
That approach has already shifted. “Frank said, ‘No more Dallas tape after today’ because guys don’t like watching other teams,” Kerr said. “So now we have enough tape for our shelves to watch our own camp tape, but Frank is awesome.” He praised Vogel’s early impact on the group. “He’s a great, great coach, and he’s doing a really good job getting these guys organized,” Kerr said. “He’s giving them kind of the expectations for how we’re going to defend, our terminology, and I’m very confident we’re going to have a good defense.”
Starting Lineup Spots Still Open for the Warriors
Beyond Curry and Green, Kerr confirmed the rest of Golden State’s starting five remains unsettled. He said those three spots are open. They’ll be decided through competition during camp and into the start of the season. Kerr specifically named Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski as two young players still very much in that mix, though nothing has been finalized.
The competition for those roles matters even more given the circumstances. The Warriors will be without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody for the early part of the season as both continue working back from injury. Whoever wins those starting jobs now will help shape how Golden State opens the year before that duo returns.
Warriors Reveal Major Change for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green Ahead of New Season