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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: PELICANS v WARRIORSApril 18, 2015Draymond GreenOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA Warriors – 106 Q. For the first three quarters or so, you and Bogut were really effective in limiting what Anthony Davis was doing. Can you tell us what you guys were doing together in concert? DRAYMOND GREEN: Just working together like we've done all year. I think we've done a great job working together as a tandem on the defensive end. If he gets beat, I'm there to cover for him. If I get beat, he's there to cover for me. We were able to do that tonight, and we won the game. Q. Obviously, you're happy to get a win in the playoffs. But are you upset given some of that lead back and making it such a close game in the fourth quarter? DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely not. You know, every team in the playoffs is here for a reason. We know that they're a very good team. We made our run, and at some point you have to expect them to make theirs. There are obviously some things that we can clean up, and some things that we will clean up. We look to do better in Game 2. But basketball is a game of runs. At some point, as I said, they're a very good team. They were going to make their run. What is important is we were able to do the necessary things to finish out the game and get the win. Q. People rarely talk about your rebounding. But you kept Davis off the offensive boards. I think they only had one offensive rebound in the first two and a half boards. Can you talk about your rebounding and how you guys are doing with that particularly with Bogut back in? DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, it's something that you want to be a championship team, you have to rebound the basketball. One thing you do know is Anthony Davis can hurt you on the offensive glass and he can change the game that way, keeping him off the offensive board is important, and that's something we'll have to continue to do throughout this series. The fourth quarter he kind of got loose a little bit in that aspect, and it's a little different when guys are flying around and trying to take away the three. You got to kind of get him for offensive rebounds and other guys. So that's something we'll have to continue to focus in on is rebounding the basketball. We know if we're going to win at a high level, we have to do that. Q. The last two years you guys came in as underdogs. This year, what is the different feeling walking out on the floor as favorites? DRAYMOND GREEN: The last two years you're the hunters. Now you're the hunted. You have to go out there with that mindset knowing that they're coming. They're going to give you their best shot. The world expects you to win, so I guess there is a little more pressure. But at the end of the day, what we expect out of ourselves and the extent that we hold ourselves to, nobody's expectations are going to be higher than ours for us. I think as long as we keep that mindset, we'll be just fine. Q. Steph mentioned maybe a weird tension in the building, particularly in the fourth quarter there. Did you feel that? Was that maybe just part of the expectation that this team kind of plays with in front of this home crowd? DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely. You go up 23, and it's like here we go again. This is what everybody expects. Then you're up 7, and everybody's like oh, oh. It's really not what is expected. It's not what everyone's used to anymore. So it was a little weird tension, and to be expected, when a team makes a run like that. But like I said, we expected them to make a run at some point. Obviously, you want to try to keep that lead in double digits. Sometimes it doesn't happen. But we kind of expect that when you're in the position that we're in that a team coming back like that, there is probably going to be a little tension. Q.  As a competitor, how much respect tough for Anthony Davis's resilience? You did a good job on him early and he keeps coming? DRAYMOND GREEN: I definitely have respect for him and that's what made him the player that he's grown into, and one of the young faces of the NBA. Obviously, you don't do that without a competitive nature. He's carried that team all year, through injuries or whatever it was, he's continued to carry that team. So nobody is expecting him to quit now. He's going to give them everything he's got. Q. You spoke about cleaning things up for the next game. Anything in particular come to mind? DRAYMOND GREEN: I think we can clean up our offensive execution. I think that will be important. Just stay in the flow the entire game.  Not have a 12‑minute, one‑quarter run where it's just flowing, and then a six‑minute lapse where it's not flowing. You know, to stay in the flow the entire game and clean up on the defensive lapses that we have. I wouldn't necessarily say lapses, but some of the defensive errors that we make. Q. How do you describe Anthony Davis? He had the four blocks. DRAYMOND GREEN: Very good shot blocker. Q. Draymond, you guys didn't shoot the ball like you normally do, especially from three. Do you feel like if this series goes that way, you're still in the same position that you can beat this team with defense? DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, that's just stigma. There is this expectation and belief that we can't win if we're not making threes, yet we're the number one defensive team in the league. But that's never really talked about. We know if we continue to get stops, no matter how we're shooting the basketball, we can find a way to win the game. We did that tonight. We're 11 for 29 from 3, 21 for 34 from the line. Steph missed three free throws. Klay missed three free throws. That's kind of not normal. But we found a way to win the game. So we know that we're more than what some people may say we are, just a three‑point shooting team. Yet we don't worry about it. We just go out there and play our game. And we know we can do other things. Q. There were high points in individual games as well. Do you feel there is still another level this season for this team that you haven't reached yet? DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely. There is definitely another level. We're going to keep continuing to work to get to that level. Obviously every game matters now. In order to win a championship, which is our ultimate goal, you have to get better each and every time you step on the floor in the playoffs because other teams are. So there is another level that this team could reach, and we look forward to reaching it. Q. Obviously, last year you didn't have Bogut going into the playoffs. Now you've got him.  How valuable is he in these bigger pressure situations? DRAYMOND GREEN: One of the most valuable players on the court, everything that he brings to this team offensively and defensively. I mean, some of the assists he had tonight were incredible, some of the blocks, the rebounds. They scored the ball for us tonight. He's one of the most valuable players on the floor when he's out there. Obviously he brings a different dimension to this team. We've had him, I think 65, 66 games this year, and he's been great for us all season. We don't expect that to change now. Bogut is one of the top centers in the league, and it's an honor and a pleasure to step out there with him on the floor. Q. This team has another level it can get to. What would you grade this? Is would this be a B, B‑plus game? What is it? DRAYMOND GREEN: I'll give it a C‑plus, B‑minus because there are a lot of things we can do better. So I'll give it a B‑plus, C‑minus. I mean, y'all know the grading system. Q. It seems like you hit Curry on one of those back cuts for a lay‑up. It seems you've really developed a communication with him out there on the floor. Has that evolved a lot? DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely. The more you play together, the more you figure out about each other. I didn't even point to anything like that or looked at him, and he knew to go back door. Obviously we've been working together now, we work in practice, and the system that Coach Kerr has implemented, you know if a guy's completely overpressured, you go back door. And he felt the guy on top of me, and he went back door, and I was able to hit it from the back‑up. Part of that is the system that we run as well. Q. There was a point in the game where you were flexing to the crowd and to your teammates. Then there was a timeout. I think Kerr was the first one to meet you off the court, and he kind of pounded you on the chest. Would you be able to share what he said to you? DRAYMOND GREEN: He just gave me a little game plan adjustment. Q.  That lefty finish over Anthony Davis was the play where you did it? DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, if you scored a bucket over Anthony Davis, you better pound on your chest too, because it ain't happening often. You better flex and pound your chest too. He had what, four blocks tonight? You get one over him, take advantage of the situation, because you may not be able to flex next play down. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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