GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 18, 2024

Steve Kerr

Media Conference

STEVE KERR: I want to say thanks to all you guys for doing a great job covering us, and I know that your jobs aren't easy and appreciate the relationships that a lot of us have got -- I've gotten to know a lot of you really well over the years, and it's, I don't know, not every coach actually enjoys these. I enjoy these. I enjoy seeing you guys. But I appreciate all the work you put in. We're, you know, I never forget what our business is about, which is connecting our team to our fans. Telling our players' stories. You guys are the ones who do that and you also have difficult jobs because you have to criticize us and criticize players and it puts you in an awkward position at times. So, I just want to tell you, I appreciate the difficulty much your job and you guys do a really good job of covering our team and telling our stories and connecting our fans and all of that is really important. So, thank you. Now you can grill me about not making the playoffs. (Laughing).

Q. Is that a disarm tactic?

STEVE KERR: It's exactly what that was. Can I take you to lunch later, by the way? Anything I can get for you before we start? (Smiling).

Q. Steve, it's very obvious you guys believe, you got some tough decisions to make there's some roster changes you've been working with Mike Dunleavy for years, but in this capacity what do you think about his ability to get in there and do the things you'll have to do?

STEVE KERR: I've just been so impressed with Mike this year. When he got the job I was a hundred percent comfortable because I had gotten to know him and I knew Bob had mentored him and I thought to myself, Mike's going to be good at this. But when you actually see him in action, for me, what that means is when we're blowing games early in the year, and he's coming to me and supporting me and saying, Hey, I get it. This stuff is hard. You can't control everything. You're doing a great job. Like, you don't know how meaningful that is to a coach until you actually sit in this seat. I think that was one of the things I learned as a general manager was I didn't do that well enough, frankly, when I was in Phoenix. I didn't understand how hard everybody's job is in this business. I think Mike's awareness, emotional intelligence, just having been around the game his whole life, seeing his dad in both jobs, coaching and GM, understanding the emotional swings of being in this business. It's just set him up perfectly to be a leader and to help guide people through adversity. That's what we're facing right now. Obviously we didn't make the playoffs, we're all disappointed. Mike's the perfect guy to help lead everybody through the difficult time. But not only emotionally and with people skills, but also with his basketball experience and knowledge. He and I have had great discussions this year about our team. Had a great discussion with Mike yesterday and he said, Look, we have all the evidence we need and all the clarity we need with our team to make really good decisions. I thought that was so well said. So I have, you know, in a nutshell, I have the utmost confidence in Mike's ability to do what you just asked.

Q. Tuesday night after the game had you a moment of self reflection and you said you need to be better, especially with the offense getting what you want out of the offense. What did you mean by that?

STEVE KERR: I think the offense can help the defense. The game has always been connected. I think we've had a unique style for 10 years here that's mainly based on the off ball movement of Steph and Klay, the unique nature of Draymond's being a point center, for lack of a better expression. We have unique players, so we've played a unique style. Some of it planned, some of it simply morphing into a way that, a way that we've done things, a way that we've played. We've been turnover prone for a long time, partly because we freelance quite a bit. I feel like the last couple years our team hasn't been built to withstand some of the mistakes and the turnovers, but also it hasn't been built in away to support some of that freelancing. So, I have to take it on myself to help the players be put in better positions to make better decisions, if that makes sense. One of my most important experiences in basketball was playing in the triangle offense in Chicago. I learned so much basketball from Tex Winter and Phil Jackson, and what Phil used to tell us is, we don't run the triangle for Michael and Scottie, we run it for the rest of you guys. We can run anything for those guys and they will be fine, but we run it for the rest of you guys to help you make decisions, to help simplify the game. And I'm not going to run the triangle so don't put that in a headline, but I need, yeah, but I need to make -- I need to create a simpler format -- we're still going to do a lot of the things that we've done, we can't go away from what has helped make us successful, but I think I need to teach it better, I need to simplify some things, I need to give our guys maybe a little better template for how we're going to accomplish it, because, like I said, when you connect the game and you can make better decisions offensively it translates to the defensive end and you become a better team. So I've got to do a better job of that.

Q. Moses has had a pretty strange few seasons. I know you're not sitting here want to go guarantee a rotation spot on April 18th or anything, but how much clarity do you guys need with him on playing time next season or just, you know, what has held him back also?

STEVE KERR: I think there's a crowded field of people in Moses's realm, where he is on our roster. There's a lot of other guys. He's a really good player and he's a young player who still has a lot of room for growth. Decision making at both ends needs to improve, quicker decisions, quicker rotations defensively, recognition of patterns. I've told him directly, I want him to get his shot off quicker. I think he should be an excellent three-point shooter. There are times where he's open and he doesn't shoot it, he drives it and we immediately lose the advantage. So these are all things that we're trying to help him with and again, he's in his third year, he hasn't played a ton, so you need reps to improve on this stuff. Yeah, I think next year's a big year for Moses. I would love to get him out there more. But when you look at the roster, hey, there's just a lot of people and we haven't always been able to get him on the floor. We always look at combinations. I think that's the key thing to remember. Any time you think, well so and so needs to play more, if you're making that observation you have to recognize that we make our decisions on combinations. The game's about five players fitting together. Frankly, there are some combinations that have not fit together and that limits our ability to play certain guys. So, those are all factors in Moses's development, in his prospects going forward. I will say it again, he's one of the most high-character young players I've ever been around. The way he handles adversity, he's just very practical, he's been raised so well. He's a wonderful young guy and I'm always pulling for him and I want him to succeed. Frankly, there needs, he needs more opportunity, for sure.

Q. I think maybe it was during media day or somewhere during training camp you said that you felt last season was the exception and that championship year in 2022 was the rule of who you guys are, and Mike was in here and said, we missed the playoffs three out of the last five years, so I was just kind of wondering if you kind of still look at the exception of versus the rule of just where the state of you guys are?

STEVE KERR: I think you always have to be present, understand the circumstances, where you are, where your team is, where each individual is. We're different now. You could feel the difference, I think, this year. I think we are clearly, you know, after not making the playoffs this year, clearly in a different space. I still think we're good. I think our troubles early in the season cost us at the end. If we were down 1-0 in a playoff series right now after that performance the other night, I would be a hundred percent confident that we could win the series. But we put ourselves in a position to lose in an elimination game and we lost. So we have to examine, well why did we put ourselves in that situation, what did we do early in the season that cost us, and where can we get better. So we won 46 games in a loaded conference. That's usually enough. It's not enough. So we have to think about where we are in relation to the rest of the conference. It is way harder now than it was nine years ago to succeed in this conference. So, this summer there's a lot of self reflection, we have to figure out what are we going to do roster wise. Mike and Joe obviously will be in charge of that and I'll offer my input and I've got to do my staff and I have to do the job in terms of making the adjustments to help us where we are right now and understand what that means.

Q. When you talk about improving for next year, as Mike was saying earlier they always say defense wins games, and where do you think you fared in terms of the Warriors defense this last stretch? I know yesterday Brandin said he was pretty proud, he was leading in rebounds, but how do you get the others motivated in clutch games?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, our defense was really good the second half of the season. It was not good the first half. So we are looking at reasons for that. Clearly getting Draymond back in a good place is going to make your defense better immediately. I thought the other night was telling in that Sacramento pressured us everywhere. I thought the play of Mitchell, Ellis, and Fox pressuring the ball was a key to that win for them. Can we pressure the ball better. We missed Gary in that regard, for sure. Do we need more personnel who can pressure the ball, is it something we can do scheme wise, can we be more aggressive, should we blitz more, should we double team more, should we trap more. Those are all things that we're going to be examining, watching the tape, thinking about our personnel. Now that we have Trayce back there as a shot blocker, do we extend our defense out a little further. These are all things that you have to try to figure out and come up with the best plan for going forward and that's what we'll be doing.

Q. You talked about sort of where you stand in the relation to the rest of the West, and you've said I think last week that you feel like this team was better than last year's team. And you made some logical tweaks, adding Chris, the rookies. Does it feel like, given that you finished 10th, given the way you lost the other night, does it feel like a bold major change is needed or realistic? I mean, given where you stand and given who might be available do you see maybe something more significant than just dabbling at the edges?

STEVE KERR: It's just impossible to know exactly what that means. You always have to look at what are your options. The fact that we won 46 games means something. That's not insignificant. By any account in this League if you win 50, you've had a good year. But we should have won 50. I can count right now, I can tell you three or four games that we should have won, and then I take some blame for, you know, we all take some blame for. So, we can't get too out of sorts and say, Oh, my God, this is a disaster, we've got to revamp everything. But we also have to be honest, why did we blow those games, what was keeping us from winning a lot of those close games. For me, my own accountability, that's where I get back to simplifying the offense, teaching it better, making sure I can put our players in a better position to make those decisions that matter at the end of the games. We also have to look at everything. Our schemes, our substitution patterns, and our personnel. Is there a move out there that we can make to make some improvement? Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. But we don't know, we just know that everybody has to look inward and improve.

Q. Having gone through another year with Jonathan how would you assess his growth this season and then what are the next steps for him in order to be more and more of a featured part of the offense?

STEVE KERR: JK had a really good year, a break through year, for sure. I think he got more and more confident with his play. I think one thing that was interesting for us is that when we made the shift in the starting lineup mid season and had Draymond at the 5 and Wiggs and JK at the 4, or at the 3 and the 4 combined, it was very helpful for JK to get the ball with more space, get down hill. I think it unlocked some of the things he can do. Then he got hurt and our defense was at its best with Trayce and Draymond. That meant it was more difficult to play JK at the 3 because you don't have the spacing and he's not a natural 3 at this point, decision making, ball handling. So, we, in the Sacramento game the other night, we went to both lineups. At the first sub we went to that smaller lineup with JK, Wiggs, Draymond. So we were looking at both. So what I think what JK is looking at is how can he make himself more versatile to be available in different lineups, can he be a 3. That's a big question. And I don't know the answer to it. I know that as we continue to help him and he continues to learn how to create spacing and get his shot off a little quicker and be more comfortable catch and shooting, but also making the right reads, because as a 3 you handle the ball more. Can he become a better passer. I think he sees the floor pretty well, but his fundamentals in terms of passing have to improve if he's going to play the 3. We need him to play the 3 if we want to have Trayce out there at the 5 and Draymond -- I mean, that ideally would be a great defensive lineup, athletically and length. But we're not ready for that yet as a team. So those are the areas that would really be helpful for JK and we're going to work with him on that stuff all summer.

Q. This was another kind of microcosm Draymond Green experience season. You didn't have him because of things he did, and then you struggled without him. You can't live with him, can't win without him. You even called something he did recently unforgivable.

STEVE KERR: And yet I forgave him.

Q. And yet you forgave him. I mean, are you confident that he's going to be a changed person navigating going forward, I mean, or do you think you could not have him for several games again, I mean, is that just part of the deal?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I think it's a good question. I have so much faith in Draymond because I know him so well as a human being. He's flawed. We're all flawed. But he would be the first to tell you he's probably more flawed than the rest of us, right. I mean, he's the one who has had these transgressions, not the other guys, it's been him. He would be the first to tell you that. But he's one of the most loyal people I've ever met. He's one of the most competitive, he's one of the smartest players I've ever been around. And yet he makes these decisions that hurt the team, that aren't smart. So how do you reconcile all that? It's really difficult. The number one thing I would say is, if we decided he wasn't worth it, you know, then we would have moved off of him years ago. But he's worth it and he's worth it not only because of the banners that are hanging out there, because he really is a wonderful human being. He is somebody who I love deeply, who I care for, and in some ways I love him because of his flaws, because he's so human. What happened over the last year was it went from maybe him yelling at me and us getting into a tiff, or him getting ejected or him running up his technicals or getting a flagrant foul, to a, wait a second, it turned violent, you know, he punched Jordan, you know, he grabbed Rudy Gobert by the neck, he flailed at Nurc, like that stuff, that is, just by basic laws of society, basic norms, like, you can't do that, right. So at that point, you know, when the League suspended him, it was the best thing to happen to Draymond. His career was on the line, and it is on the line every day. So, as someone who loves Draymond and values him so much, I am going to continue to help him any way that I can to live his best life, to be the best version of himself, which he really was for the last two months. I'll be really honest, like during the suspension, I was sitting there, like, can he actually get a few sessions of therapy and change? I don't think that's possible. But whatever he did over the last three months, he was the best version of himself, not just on the court, in the locker room, leading the young guys. His teammates would all tell you how great he was. He had the ejection in Orlando which became a national story. I don't know, maybe it's just because I, you know, I understand him so well, I didn't mind the ejection. I mean, yeah, it was bad timing, but if you want to embrace the fact that Draymond is this insane competitor who is just going to play with so much emotion and passion, which makes our team so much better, then you kind of have to accept, all right, he's going to get kicked out a few games a year. That's my approach. The other stuff, can't happen. You know, the physical acts, that will cost him his career, not only in the NBA but beyond the next career. He knows that. So, that's, you know, Draymond's complex, his relationship with our franchise is complex, but at the core of it is a deep loyalty and passion and love, and we share that with him, and that's really tricky to reconcile, so you almost don't even try to reconcile it. You help him through it and you make sure he's the best version of himself and you keep pushing. Then you say something's unforgivable and then you forgive him for it. I mean, let's be honest. But I think he did cross a line with the stuff that happened early in the season and he knows it. And his, you know, the rest of his career, he knows the League won't allow him to cross, we won't let him allow him to cross that line again, because that was different. That's, I think that's my, you know, my main point. He can yell at me all he wants, you know, he can get ejected, he can get technicals, but that's where it has to stop, and the last three months he was his best self.

Q. Not my original question, but to follow-up on what you just said, do you believe after the last three months that carries on into the next season, that he understands everything you just said?

STEVE KERR: I do. We've had those discussions and I watched him, yeah.

Q. When we talk about Steph and how he's played -- a little bit changing gears here -- about Steph, how many games he played this season and with the, you mentioned how teams play him, and the fatigue that it causes, what do you think about playing 70 plus games when you're Steph Curry at this point in your career?

STEVE KERR: That's a great question. I think there's no doubt and at the end of the year he wasn't as efficient as he had been earlier. Is that a result of playing too many games, is it just natural as you age, you know, those are all good questions. I know that he keeps himself in impeccable shape, both mentally and physically, spiritually. I know he'll do that all of next year and the year after and so we just have to help all of our players through every season, whatever that means. It's a credit to him that he played as many games as he did. Same with Klay. But, yeah, maybe we need to give him a few more games off. I don't know, but we have to examine that for sure.

Q. As this progresses obviously with Steph, Draymond and Klay, knowing that they both, they have all been effective, knowing that though at some point that is going to be different in different ways for each of 'em, do you and Mike and Joe or are you at least discussing, like, how much of this is what's good for the team and how much of this is service to the memories of the dynasty, at least just have that in your mind, like, okay, we're going to do something, but maybe it's because of what happened for these four championships, that's okay, but also other things have to be decided that aren't part of that?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, I think that would be a hard, a really hard dilemma if they weren't still good players. That's where it's like is this just a legacy thing or are we just, you know, keeping them around because of what they have built. I don't think that's the case at all. Now, clearly they're not going to be as productive and as durable as they were five, six years ago, but we have to figure out what that means. I thought Klay really showed that he was agreeable to the sixth man role the second half of the year, even though eventually we put him back in the starting lineup. I think that's got to be an option going forward. I would prefer not to play him 35 minutes. There were games down the stretch, I think the New Orleans game, I think I played him 38 minutes. We've got to be able to play him less, but in order to do that we've got to add more shooting to the roster, frankly. We can add more shooting and limit Klay's minutes, I think he'll be much more effective in a season-long manner, but those are, you know, the discussion of those three is, to me, is a much easier discussion when they're still good, which they are. They all showed that this year. So, maybe in a couple years we'll be having this discussion where, you know, they're not as effective and maybe it becomes more of a ceremonial thing. I do think there's tremendous value in the three of them being Warriors for life. It matters that Kobe was a Laker for life. That's meaningful to the Laker franchise. I think it would be incredible if these three guys could play their whole careers here. That's meaningful. It matters to our fans, it matters to our franchise. So I hope it happens. But, fortunately, right now they're all still good.

Q. Just to follow-up on that, you kind of answered it there, but in your mind like as a NBA historian what do you view as a good ending to a dynasty, and is there such a thing as that?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, it is -- rarely is it storybook. Even the '96 or '98 Bulls, you know, the team was broken up and we won the championship in our last year, but there was a documentary about what a disaster the whole thing was (laughing). You guys might want to watch it. Yeah. It's impossible for this stuff to end perfectly. I do think there is a lot of value, as I just said, to having our three guys being Warriors for life. I think there's a lot of value in ending with dignity, where there's a -- like, I'm really proud of the guys this year, even though we didn't make the playoffs, like I loved the effort, I loved the chemistry. People can be disappointed, we're all disappointed, but I loved the turn in Klay and Draymond's seasons. So, for those three really want to see all of them finish their careers here, but also finish, finish out their careers with a sense of pride and dignity in what they're doing and the way they're going about their business.

Q. Then just another follow-up on that last answer, with Klay and maybe moving him to a sixth man role, do you view that option of someone with more shooting to supplant him in the starting lineup, do you view that as someone already on the roster or maybe not?

STEVE KERR: It could very well be somebody on the roster. I think our young guys are going to continue to get better. For a while we started Brandin instead of Klay. So that's a possibility. Maybe Moses moves into the starting lineup. Maybe JK shows that he can play the 3 next to Draymond and Trayce. It could be any one of those guys. Or maybe it's a trade. This is the NBA, we all know what happens in this League. There's a lot that can happen still and we don't know, but it's our job to get the players that we have prepared for next season, which we're committed to, and then it's Mike's job to put the best roster together.

Q. My question is sort of connected to that, I guess, so I wanted to ask you about the rookies, Brandin and Trayce and how you reflect on their impact and they obviously had significant impact, and to your point about Klay and shooting, how much is it realistic for Brandin to -- because as well as he played this year, his outside shooting didn't, I mean, he didn't, sometimes you guys had to encourage him to shoot, he didn't really make the impact there, he didn't spread the floor maybe you would like to really. How realistic is it that he fills that role?

STEVE KERR: I think it's he very realistic. I think shooting is probably the easiest thing to improve, especially when you already have good touch. And, I mean, he shot 38 percent this year. But he wasn't necessarily a shoot-first guy, it was sort of an afterthought. He wants to make a play first. He's a different player from Austin Reaves, but I see similarities in the -- just having coached Austin this past year, in the World Cup -- they're similar sized, they're both a lot stronger and quicker than they look on the floor. Some of it is because their game speed is really high. They may not time well in the 40, but their game speed, because of their reaction or their proactivity on the floor, both guys there's a lot to their games. Austin, I think, shot 32 percent from three his first year and then shot up to around 40. I think most players in their second or third year who are already pretty good shooters make pretty big strides, because the game does slow down. I think one of the things that we'll work with Brandin, I already talked to him about it, is becoming more catch and shoot oriented. If you're open from three, let it go. It's an area of the League where everyone's gotten smarter, shot selection and, you know, open threes are hard to come by. If you get one, you don't want to pass 'em up. I think that our young guys, it's something that they really have to adapt to.

Q. You mentioned Draymond being next to Trayce a couple times now. How sure are you that Draymond needs a center next to him in the starting lineup and how, I mean, are you of the belief that that is Trayce, that Trayce is now kind of like the starting center on this team?

STEVE KERR: I'm not ready to go that far. I just think we found something late in the year that we felt could translate, so we stayed with it. Obviously we went away from it early in that Sacramento game because it wasn't working. So there's still a lot to examine. We don't even know what our roster's going to look like yet, so I won't commit to anything at this point. But I do have a lot of faith in Trayce. I think he can get a lot better. I think the guy he played against in Sacramento, Sabonis, is somebody he should emulate. Just the aggressiveness, the ability to score around the basket, the left-handed, the DHO game, the ability to handle the ball. Trayce has a lot of those attributes. So I'm excited about his potential and what he can become, but too early to decide who is going to start and what, whether that combination will be the one we go to.

Q. (No microphone.)

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I like that. I like that. But we need shooting and play making around those guys, for sure.

Q. Mike was in here earlier and he said that it would be good to have more size. Not necessarily a big man, but just, as he said, across the board to have more size. You guys leaned on the small lineups a lot this year, does this mean that if the roster changes over the summer that you could come back and be a little longer?

STEVE KERR: I mean, I think everybody wants to draft 6'-8" guys who can guard five positions, and they just don't grow on trees. So, if there's players available that can help us, roster-wise, get bigger, that would be great. It may be that it happens internally, too. We've got guys who we like who can play more, if they continue to improve. So it's always a great aspiration. It's a good thing to have a team with size at every position, but it's another thing to put the roster on the floor.

Q. How quickly do you pivot towards this summer with Team USA and the opportunity to coach Steph on the national level, what does that mean for you guys?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean I'm already thinking about some of that stuff. That's a really unique experience. It's a six-week jaunt, you know, it happens quickly, so you're generally not going to do a lot of complex stuff. So I kind of know what we're going to run and how we're going to operate, but the work is more probably in planning practices and planning drills and putting together thoughts on the difference in the rules and but all of that stuff comes with experience that I've had in FIBA and I've already got a lot of that stuff thought out and it's more about planning, planning practices and logistical stuff.

Q. What did you appreciate most about Chris Paul's presence with everything this team went through, heartbreak and just having that veteran presence with so many young guys and unthinkable loss?

STEVE KERR: Yeah, I mean, with Chris, like everything, everything. He's one of the most professional guys I've ever been around. The sacrifice that he made to come off the bench. The sacrifice to, for the first time in his career, not only come off the bench, but at times play 18 minutes like the other night. For a Hall of Fame guy to do that and not complain, but actually do the opposite and be encouraging to the rest of the guys on the bench, and to the coaches, and to collaborate and go through the entire season and he was incredible. I feel lucky to have coached him and I hope I get to coach him again next year, but we'll see how it all plays out.

Q. A couple questions for you. Clearly the League is, I guess, better because 46 wins gets you a 10 seed. But what really jumped out to you that is different about other teams? Like what was the thing that coming in you probably didn't know and after 83 games you're like, okay, that's different, we've got to adjust to that.

STEVE KERR: Well, I think over my ten years here what's changed is I think the coaching is really good all around the League. Every team we play I feel like is really well prepared. I think scouting has something to do with that. I think years and years of analytics and analytic study, combined with style of play has led to really efficient offense across the League. Teams have been put together really well. It felt like, I mean, you remember my first year the playoff run we decided to put Bogut and Tony Allen and shift things around and that's, it's so much harder to do like gimmicky stuff any more, because everybody's putting together these teams where everybody can shoot and everybody's playing fast. We led the League in pace that year and I'm pretty sure if you took that pace from 2014-2015 it would be 30th in the League now. I think that's true. A good PR guy would have that handy. Next week? After you get back from your -- oh sure. Okay (smiling) It's crazy though. Like, how much everybody has changed and the style. I do think our guys have had some influence on that, too. Like Steph and Klay shooting, you know, the volume of threes and the range of threes. I mean, even I thought it was crazy, and I was their coach 10 years ago. Now you realize like -- I know when I was growing up the coach would say, like, Don't take that -- if you took an early shot, early three -- Don't take that shot. You can always get that shot. It's the opposite. You can't get that shot later on in the NBA. Maybe that's true in high school, but these days if you don't take the early open three, you're going to get a worse shot. I think we've all learned that, the whole League has learned that through this process of the last decade of putting all this information to use and on the floor. So you got all these teams that are really well constructed, really good coaches, really smart players who are taking better shots. You throw it all in the mix and it just means the competition is better than it's ever been.

Q. I know you try to butter us up early, but I have to ask you about three-point defense. It felt like you had a lot of players who regularly and perennially were not near the shooters. Watching that, was that game plan thing, is that one of the adjustments maybe that needs to be made is how you think about protecting the paint first, like why was it team seemed so available to shoot and make a lot of threes?

STEVE KERR: I think the egregious ones were usually transition. I will always believe that you got to protect the paint first and then the three-point line second. And that's not going to change. So, I think a lot of it was transition, our transition defense was poor this year and it's one of the things we're really going to study this year. Now we purposely went after more offensive rebounds this year, because it was our thinking that that would not hurt our transition. If it did, we need to, you know, we need to rethink that. I'm still not convinced that it was our offensive rebounding pursuit that hurt our transition defense. I think it was more turnovers and poor decision making when we were retreating, not sprinting, you know, too many stay, we call 'em stay. You don't go in for the rebound, you don't sprint back, you just stay. We had a million of those this year. So that's on us as coaches to coach transition defense better. Then the other stuff, you know, philosophically, I don't think we need a huge schematic shift, but we've got to do what we do better. We've got to make sure we are teaching our players to, if we're going to protect the paint we have to be on point with our rotations and we've got to do a better job of that.

Q. I think on the other end of transition defense I think you guys ranked near the bottom of the League in fast break points, fast break frequency. Is there a need to play a little bit more up tempo like some of those other teams are, and is that kind of a, could that be a way to simplify things a little bit more?

STEVE KERR: Well, you know, it's interesting, last year we were top 3 in the League in pace and 29th in points per possession in transition. That's a really bad combination. So, I came into this year actually want to go pull back pace-wise, hoping that it would improve our offense and that it would improve our offensive efficiency. And it didn't really translate. We got a little better in transition, but we've got to find the happy medium, but I really think that transition efficiency is more related to passing than anything. I think our passing was poor this year and I think our fundamentals were poor. I think our decision making was poor. I think overall, over the years, we have always played a pretty fast pace, but we've generally had good passing teams. So one of the individual improvements that we're going to be working on with every guy is just passing. We got to, we can't turn the ball over in transition and give up those great opportunities, and then be vulnerable at the other end and that's got to be an area of improvement.

Q. I know the financials and the roster is kind of a Joe and a Mike question, but you guys are being pretty transparent that you're probably going to have to throttle back some of the spending, while also still trying to compete for titles next year. Do you guys almost have to enter somewhat of a transitional phase if you're trying to trim salary yet, you know, I mean I know get better, but how is that done.

STEVE KERR: It's hard to predict that stuff. I do believe that. I mean, Joe is so committed to spending whatever it takes to be great, and it didn't make sense, in hindsight this year, to spend this much on a team that didn't make the playoffs. Obviously, I thought we would do better. But if there's ever a time to throttle back it would seem to be now. I think we need to make sure we're making sound decisions financially. But you just don't know what's available, what that means. I mean, we just added two rotation players in Trayce and Brandin on really small contract, rookie deals. I mean, that's a big help, right. Can we do that again somehow, you know, with a second round pick? It would be tough, but we did it with Trayce. You would have to be, you would have to make a really savvy trade, if you're Mike, to be able to accomplish both of those things. So it's not easy, but it is possible to go bargain hunting and find guys. We've done it before, but not easy.