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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND TWO: GRIZZLIES v WARRIORSMay 3, 2015Draymond GreenOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game One Warriors – 101 Q. Draymond, after having to deal with Anthony Davis, now you've got this two‑headed monster that these guys throw at you. How much did you feel like they were trying to take you down low every chance they got? DRAYMOND GREEN: They were, and you expect them to do that. That's their game. Kind of got in a little foul trouble, things that I don't want to do in this series, but they're good. That's their game. They play through the post and they've done that for years, so it's not going to change now and I don't expect it to change, but I've got to do a better job of defending without fouling. Q. Marc Gasol just said this game wasn't really physical at all. Would you agree with that assessment? DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, it wasn't as physical as I thought it would be. You know, that's kind of their style of play. I'm not sure if we kind of took them out of what they want to do or whatnot, but it wasn't a very physical basketball game. But we did the necessary things that we needed to do to win this game. Q. Against Memphis it seems like you've gotten into foul trouble early the last few games. What's the key to maybe, I guess, avoiding that while also playing physical and your style of basketball? DRAYMOND GREEN: You know, got to kind of take the cheap ones out. The Tony Allen drive, 11 seconds left in the second quarter, you may have to give up that lay‑up. It's more so being smarter than anything. Just have to play a little smarter and know that that's what they want to do. May have to give up a bucket here and there rather than fouling. So just be a little smarter and choose my‑‑ pick and choose my spots better. Q. Draymond, you obviously went into the Playoffs as the No.1 overall seed, but you get through the first round and now the Spurs are out, you have injuries on some other teams. Do you feel like it's just kind of opened up for you? Do you feel like this is a team that is going to be playing for the title every time? DRAYMOND GREEN: I mean, we thought that from the beginning. No disrespect for the Spurs or anyone else. We have confidence in ourselves, and we've done it throughout the course of the season, and we just don't want it to be a regular season thing. We think we're just as good or better than anybody in this league, and we go out there with that mindset. It's not that other teams got injuries or someone is eliminated. We feel like we can beat anyone, and that's been our mindset the entire year, and it's not going to change now. Q. Steve Kerr said he thought the rest would benefit you in particular. How did you feel, and are you a splash triplet? You came out hitting threes when the other guys weren't? DRAYMOND GREEN: No, every time they try to give him that title I go O‑for the next game. No, I felt pretty good. I was able to get a wide‑open one. Steph found me for that first one, and once you see that first one go in, it's a great feeling. Once I knocked the first one down I was able to get into more of a rhythm. One thing coach did a great job of all week is he kept us in the gym. Obviously, he gave us a couple days off, but they weren't just two‑days‑in‑a‑row off. There was a day off, practice two days, day off, practice three days, so he kept us in a rhythm. We got up‑and‑down quite a bit and were able to stay in a rhythm, so you can go in the gym and shoot all you want, but when it's live‑game action, it's a little different. Well, we were in the gym shooting but we were playing against each other, as well, and that makes a huge difference. Kind of didn't get out of rhythm like we possibly could have. Q. Do you feel healthy? Your ankle feels good? DRAYMOND GREEN: Yeah, it feels fine. The days off definitely helped that, obviously not playing every other day and re‑spraining it. That's what happens, you sprain an ankle and all of a sudden it gets a little weak and you don't have time to really strengthen it back up because there's a game every other day, and all of a sudden it's happening constantly. The days off definitely helped and I was able to do some strengthening with our training staff, and that made a huge difference for me. Q. You mentioned hitting an open three early off of a Steph pass. How important was the team's spacing in the open court and especially Steph's passing and decision making? DRAYMOND GREEN: Well, it's very important, spacing against these guys, because one thing that their strength is they're really good inside. Obviously their two guys, Z‑Bo and Marc, they've held the paint down for years now, so we know that if we can continue to space those guys out, you can probably get some driving lanes and then all of a sudden you make the defense collapse and you kick out for open threes. We've just got to make sure we continue to keep the floor spaced. That's always a key when you're playing against these guys. You're probably not going to just dominate them inside. That's one of our strengths, as well, being able to space the team out, so we have to use our strengths against them, which is one of the few maybe, if you want to call it a weakness that they have. Q. Kerr mentioned that maybe the first round of the Playoffs is kind of like the first game of the NCAA Tournament, you're kind of a little tight, a little nervous but then you get past that and you exhale. Did you feel that you guys did that and maybe did it transform into this game that we saw today? DRAYMOND GREEN: Absolutely. You know, that first round is always a little‑‑ you're jittery and you get that feeling, oh, man, it's the Playoffs, especially Game 1. I think we got past that and were able to kind of settle back in with this week off and really come out firing in this game. It kind of made a difference, the jitters and nervousness weren't there like you kind of get within the first round of the Playoffs, so it definitely was kind of that same feeling as the NCAA Tournament. Q. Just curious about your style of defense sort of setting the tone, and how much do you enjoy going up against a Memphis team that sort of mirrors that? You get to bang with their big guys. DRAYMOND GREEN: You know, I always enjoy the challenge. You're talking two of the best guys when it comes to that style of play in the league in Z‑Bo and Marc and they've done it for years. I watched them do it in college and coming up. It's always fun for me to play against those guys and take on that challenge. They're going to continue to do that. They're not going to change the way they play. They've been playing that way for years. You know, I enjoy guarding the post. It's always fun, and it's like, it's your chance to show your toughness, and you can bang a little bit without getting fouls. So it's fun for me, and I enjoy the challenge. Q. Were you aware of the booing against Tony Allen? Did you see he became public enemy No.1? What did you think of that? DRAYMOND GREEN: It was funny because honestly I don't think he realized he was walking through their dance routine. And all of a sudden he realizes it, and he tried to pick the little kids up, and the fans did not pay any attention. I was just like, come on, man, when he looked up at the thing and saw they had the camera on him, I don't think he meant anything about it, but it was hilarious. I just started laughing the entire time. But I think he'll see some boos for the rest of his time, but it was hilarious. Q. Your increasingly famous mother was in the house today tweeting. Can you just talk about her coming, actually getting a chance to see you? DRAYMOND GREEN: It's always fun to have my mom in town. We sat at the house yesterday, and some of my friends, and just laughed at her. She's hilarious. It's always great to have her around. She's trying to leave tomorrow morning. Y'all can talk her into staying if y'all want some more stories. I definitely would like her to stay for Game 2. But for her to get off work and come out here and to get an opportunity to see me play, especially in this environment, and not every day do you get to play in the conference semifinals of the Playoffs. It was good to have her here, and always appreciative. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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