Steve Kerr on how the "punch" impacted the entire team
Paraphrase from Steve Kerr's end-of-season presser, May 16, 2023: We have a way of doing things as a team. Those things were definitely challenged. Trust was lost for the entire team
I couldn’t even listen to it anymore. Several minutes saying a lot of words that were just coach speak. I learned nothing.
To hell with Steve Kerr. Didn't like him when he played with Jordan and don't like him as a coach. Arrogant SOB. Thinks his shit don't stink.
Weird take.
It is a weird take. I suspect it's the "shut up and coach" crowd gets offended by Kerr.
I'd vote for a Kerr/Popp ticket in '24.
That would be a big hell no for me.
Or the right as he wants gun control.
More accurately, the "shut up and coach/play, unless your opinion agrees with mine" crowd
I'm not a Jordan fan, at all, but I thought most of all the other Bulls were just regular professional athletes trying to win. Except Pippin, he wined way to much. And Rodman was just doing what he did in Detroit, with just a little more public persona!
I did not like the Bulls, but I loathed Pippin. I recall reading somewhere that he has blown most of his NBA fortune. Good for him.
Pippin does have half of the current NBA roster sleeping with his ex wife if that does anything for ya.
You mean Jordan's son.
WTF? Kerr is maybe the most articulate, thoughtful and open NBA coach. He actually voices opinions and speaks candidly. How many other coaches would have admitted that a conflict between players hurt the team? Sorry if his honestly offends you. But I suspect what really bothers you are his political opinions.
Bingo. And that's fine if you disagree with his politics but that's not what he's talking about here. In fact, it's the opposite of coach speak. He addresses the punch candidly and coach speak is the opposite of that. And he doesn't talk about politics, unless you're talking about the politics of a team and what you do when one player, who is important to the team, punches another player. But that's a different kind of politics.
He’s extremely open about his thoughts on gun control.
He doesn't talk about gun control in this exit interview. He talks about the team. And his thoughts on gun control are likely influenced by the fact that his father was shot in the head and killed in Beirut, while he was president of the American University there.
You said “he doesn’t talk about politics.” That is flatly wrong.
Couldn't agree more.
Attitudes reflect leadership. Do nothing to attenuate terrible behavior, terrible behavior continues.
If I were Poole, I would milk them for every cent and do the bare minimum to keep my job - I would never trust or respect a leader who doesn't ensure my safety and continued value.
Not all talent is healthy talent. Dray isn't worth the risk he brings with him and I'm confused how nobody sees this - at least, nobody in the Golden State organization.
Management always reflects the values of ownership. When someone tells you who they are, believe them.
Poole is already doing that. He got a ridiculous contract for a guy who chucks everything he possibly can at the rim and who also has never heard the word defense.
100%.
dray is, truly, a miserable P.O.S. but let's be honest here - watching jordan poole fire up heat-check 28-footers with steph curry waiting to get the ball back in crunch time can't be any big bowl of cherries, either. and that's without even mentioning his...uh...let's call it "indifferent" defense.
A lot of Michigan fans zone in on the 20ppg this season when singing Poole’s praises but leave out that he shot 33.6% from 3 (NBA league average was 36.1%), had the 116th ranked Player Efficiency Rating, had 3.1 turnovers to 4.5 assists a game, and is absolutely nowhere to be seen on the defensive end. His contract is horrendous for an average player (well below average in the playoffs) who was responsible for giving up countless buckets in an elimination playoff game while adding nothing on the offensive end. LeBron kept hunting him on switches and punishing him so badly that GSW tried to switch to a hard hedge (hardly ever used in NBA since it’s so easy to exploit) when the Lakers tried to get a switch but Poole can’t even execute that (3rd video).
I think Golden State fans and management think Draymond is definitely worth the headache. And I would tend to agree with them. He's one of the smartest defenders in the NBA and has been for years. He does alot of little things that add up to a big impact.
Now, he's cost them with some stupidity. But I don't think they have four titles without him. He cost them the one to Cleveland because of his nut kick. But I don't think they would have made it to four straight finals without him. He's a more valuable player for them than Poole.
I don't agree with how they handled the punch and you can definitely argue for harsher consequences within the team.
You're absolutely right about Green. I watch a ton of NBA basketball and Draymond is a guy that you love if he plays for you but you hate if he's anywhere else.
However MGoBlog doesn't believe that and feels that Draymond is the devil.
Draymond has single handedly cost them a title, ran off KD, stymied the potential of young talent with a 4-yr extension. He's also old. He's not talented enough to be the devil. It's a values thing. Some people believe that stars win you games. Some believe teams with unity win you games.
good points, but let's not pretend that KD is "let's stick this out and grow as a team" guy. he's now on team four; i'm guessing the over-under on his final career total of teams played for is 6.5. take the over.
Dennis Rodman was very similar - I hated his play until he joined the Bulls, and then I chuckled as he pulled his antics. But his main contribution was to get the ball for MJ and to deflect the spotlight from Scottie Pippen, so Pippen could just go out and play basketball.
I see what you are saying as far as the comparison but there can be no serious comparison between Rodman and Green. Rodman was one of the greatest players in NBA history and Green is arguably one of the better players on his team.
rodman was a transcendent rebounder, and a brilliant defender before he became obsessed with his rebound numbers and tied a 5-foot rope from his butt to the hoop.
dray has made 2 all-nba teams (same as rodman), 8 all-defense teams (same as rodman), and won a defensive POY award (rodman had two). he'll be in the hall of fame (same as rodman). he's a notch below rodman, but it's not a crazy comparison.
Counterpoint: This fascinating (if you are, like me, a nerd) and incredibly detailed statistical case that Dennis Rodman is definitely the most underrated and possibly the most valuable player in NBA history.
wonderfully nerdy. i can't wait to dive into it.
it sounds like i'm down on rodman, and i'm really not. basketball consists of three "phases" - offense, defense, and rebounding (i know, i know, that's a gross oversimplification, but stay with me). if that's the case, you can legit argue that rodman is one of the two or three best ever at two of those phases.
i've never seen anyone rebound the way he rebounded, including wilt or russell or moses. and he was as good an on- or off-ball wing defender as has ever walked the earth. that's an all-time great player, even on those nights where he didn't make a basket.
What is crazy watching old Bulls games is that, despite how anti-offense Rodman was nearly all the time, he did have a knack for making an unexpected offensive contribution at a crucial time. That what is kind of funny about Rodman. He actually could score, he just did not find it particularly interesting.
yeah, i remember him being an....oh, let's just call him an "opportunistic" offensive player during his early pistons years. most of his offense came off of running the break (my memory is of him being a real burner when running the lane) and offensive rebounds, but still - he did score.
i think you're right that he basically lost interest in offense once he left detroit.
He conserved his energy on offense to focus on rebounds and D. Many more talented players could have had similar impact doing that.
Hold on there about Rodman being one of the greatest in NBA history… While I appreciate what he did with the Pistons & Bulls, and he probably saved humanity with his efforts in North Korea, Rodman was a role player. He new what his job was & did it well, especially for his size.
To call Rodman a "role player" is basically like calling John Stockton a "role player."
John Stockton is 44th all time in points scored in the nba (and 5th all time in steals). He was a fairly well rounded player.
Awful take.
Greatest player in NBA history (that didn’t score very much).
Green makes some brilliant plays, but he also good for about 5 wasted possessions every game. Nothing kills a Golden State run as quickly as Draymond bricking a 3. On balance, I am not sure he is worth the headache.
What bothers me about Draymond is his inability to score at the basket. He regularly passes up layups because he has no lift anymore and is worried about getting his shot blocked.
I was baffled by the Lakers unwillingness to exploit the AD-Draymond size differential. Draymond is a good defender, but he shouldn’t be able to shutdown Davis.
Lakers didn't run too much offense thru AD in the second half of that series because Dray is still good enough to make Davis expend energy to score on him down low and L.A. would rather have him focus his energy on completely shutting off the paint especially when they had enough scoring elsewhere from Reaves, DLo, and that Lebron geezer.
. Also offensively the Lakers wanted to put pressure on Curry to defense to correspondingly reduce his effectiveness on offense, seeing as how he was their only reliable source of scoring, which also means not featuring Davis so much on offense
"MGoBlog doesn't believe that"
who is this MGoBlog you speak of
You haven't met the hive mind? It exists here
yeah I just kind of hate broad summaries. Sometimes, it'll be like 10 people think something, and we all get painted with a broad brush. but sure, I get it. Just being annoying. :)
The Mgoblog hive mind might be more forgiving if he were Draymond Blue.
ECHO - (ECho - Echo - echo) CHAMBER - (CHAMber - Chamber - chamber)
Your just not thinking about it the right way.
Saying he cost them the 2016 title is a cheap excuse. Even after his suspension, GS had two games—including game 7 at home—to win the title. They got blown out in the one and outplayed down the stretch in game 7. Green didn’t cause LeBron’s block on the fast break, Irving’s clutch 3 or Curry’s late miss.