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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 23, 2019Steve KerrOakland, California Q. What do you make of the newest update with Kevin and DeMarcus? STEVE KERR: I had the update before it came out, so, yeah. So nothing new to me. We have known all along, it's just how he responds and so there's never been a point during this process where we have been able to say he's going to play on such and such date and there still isn't. So just keep going, keep moving forward. Q. The update says that Kevin hasn't progressed to the on-court stuff, but has shown good progress. Where has he progressed in terms of the on-court? STEVE KERR: In the training room, his response to treatment, his ability to do some things in the weight room. So Rick feels good about his progress, but again, he hasn't spent any time on the court with us, hasn't gone through an individual shooting workout or anything like that. So still some work ahead. Q. Does the report say he won't be on the court at all during the week or is there a possibility he could get on the court? STEVE KERR: I suppose there's a possibility he could get on the court. This week meaning by Sunday or this week meaning by... Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: Yeah, yeah, I think there's a chance before. Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: I would say we feel like he's going to be back at some point during the series. That's our thought, that's our gut. But again it's, there's nothing clear cut. So we leave it up in the air and if he keeps doing what he's doing and we hope for the best. Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: Good. DeMarcus is good, he went through the whole practice and his, he doesn't have any more pain, strength in his quad is good. Now it's about conditioning, getting shots up, playing five-on-five, playing basketball. Q. Any expectation he could be available by the first game, DeMarcus? STEVE KERR: Up in the air. Yeah, it's up in the air. Q. Every season is different but does this feel very different starting in the East, no Cleveland? I mean it's a -- STEVE KERR: Yeah, it is very different. And waiting this long. I guess we had to do that a couple years ago. Q. But not last year. STEVE KERR: Not last year. It's a different vibe, but I think there's an excitement about playing somebody other than Cleveland. I mean, there was always excitement about playing them too, but it's a different vibe, a different city, different group of players, different style, so we have got a big challenge ahead, I think everybody's excited about it, regardless of who wins that series. Q. How vital is Rick Celebrini to your entire operation this year, with all the injuries you're dealing with and all of that? STEVE KERR: Rick and his staff have done an amazing job. They're really, really top notch and we have had a lot of challenges this year with, not only with injuries, but with the run that we have been on, this being year five of these long, long playoff runs, trying to rest guys, trying to manage them, so he has been a huge key for us in this process. Q. Do you pretty much defer to him when it comes to decisions, is it pretty much whatever he says goes? STEVE KERR: Yup. It's his area. Q. Is Andre cleared? STEVE KERR: Andre didn't practice today, but we expect him to be okay by Game 1. Q. News came out with the all-defensive teams and Klay got on there. What is it about his defense you think that maybe is not as clearly noticed to the casual fan? STEVE KERR: Well, when you factor in what he does offensively, I think he probably covers more ground than anybody in the League. And I know you can look that up these days with the tracking system that we have now in all the arenas, but the guy's a machine. It's incredible how he moves offensively and then pursues his man defensively. Usually plays on the ball defensively, does a lot of switching, guards post men after the switch, the physical stamina that Klay displays is amazing. Leads us in minutes, minutes played, so he's just a machine out there. Q. Second team for Draymond a surprise? STEVE KERR: I don't pay a whole lot of attention to those awards, but Draymond, like all of our guys, has had to navigate his way through this season and try to bring his best now and he's done a great job of that. He's playing his best right now. So the regular season, he wasn't playing at this level, and he would be the first to admit it, but where we are now in our journey and in Draymond's journey, I think this is how it should be. It would be humanly impossible to play the way he's playing right now for a hundred plus games for five straight years. So I think, I'm glad he got recognized for his defense, I think he's the best defender in the League, but we have played more games than anybody over the last five years by far and I think the voting probably reflects that. Q. How do you balance rest versus getting enough work in with such a long layoff? Are you guys going to practice both days this weekend or are you going to give them another day? STEVE KERR: We'll have Sunday off, so we'll practice the next two days, we'll get a couple scrimmages in before Game 1, probably tomorrow we'll scrimmage. You hate to risk injury, but you also don't want to go into Game 1 without any rhythm. And fortunately we have done this a few times so we have a feel for it. And our players understand too that they have to get their own individual work in based on what they need, whether it's in the training room or on the floor. Q. I couldn't hear your answer about DeMarcus. Do you think he could potentially could be available? STEVE KERR: Yeah, potentially. But it's up in the air. Q. You've been asked this, I think, I couldn't really hear back here, but is there any change in preparation from your guys' point of view on the outcome of the Eastern Conference Finals or do you just wait and see? STEVE KERR: We won't prepare for either team until there's a series winner. So we'll just prepare ourselves and get our own team ready and then once we have an opponent, then we'll go to work there. Q. How different a challenge would either of the teams be compared to what you've gone through in the West, from what either of the teams bring. They have got really good small forwards and just different rosters. STEVE KERR: Yeah, right. Every team presents a different challenge and both Milwaukee and Toronto are pretty unique. They have superstar small forwards who everything revolves around, but they have, they both have great role players who play hard, play a versatile game. So it's two great teams, so no matter which one wins we got a big challenge. Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: Moving them up? Q. Yeah, as far as the time. STEVE KERR: The only thing that I care about is getting rid of the 8:30 starts. Those usually happen in the Midwest or the Mountain Time. And those are brutal when you start at 8:30, 8:45, because it's the second game of a double header, so that's no fun. I would like to see them eliminate those if possible. I don't know if it's possible though because we left Seattle and Vancouver, we left two West Coast time slots, TV wise, and added two Central Time Zone slots. So it's, the League has a difficult kind of TV schedule to put together, but I like starting at 7 or 7:30 at home and I would think our fans do too, but I haven't heard that. Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: Yeah, 9 or 8. It would be 9 in Toronto, 8 in Milwaukee. Q. (No microphone.) STEVE KERR: Yeah, you don't get out of arena until like 1 a.m. it's kind of crazy but, again, it's TV purposes and that's what pays the bills, a lot of the bills, so just do whatever they say. Q. Damian Jones had a start in the last series. The minutes were short, but how do you see him progressing to the next series, where does he stand right now, how is his body, how is his mind and how prepared is he for The Finals? STEVE KERR: With DeMarcus potentially coming back I would push Damian back further, but he's not going to have a big role in The Finals. I mean when we started him the other night it was the whole idea was to get to our rotation, to allow Looney to come off the bench at his usual time. And we were hoping for just his athleticism to factor in with our defensive coverages. And I probably threw a little too much at him, he hadn't played in a long time, and to cover Portland's guards on traps and blitzes is really difficult. But I was glad he got the experience, but on a veteran team, with everybody healthy, he's probably not going to play a whole lot, but you never know. Q. Is DeMarcus, obviously you adjusted pretty quickly after Durant went out. When he comes back, if and when he comes back, do you expect that adjustment to go forward? STEVE KERR: Yeah, the adjustment will be very quick. We have been together for three years with Kevin and our guys know him well and vice versa and the adjustment would not take long at all. Q. You made it pretty clear the first time around when DeMarcus came back he was the starter from day one. Is that similar to this time around? STEVE KERR: I wouldn't say so, it all depends on how everything is going. It depends on matchup, it depends on health. I got to see how well he's moving, so I think everything's up in the air at this point. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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