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NBA PLAYOFFS ROUND TWO: GRIZZLIES v WARRIORSMay 5, 2015Steve KerrOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Game Two Grizzlies – 97 Q. Your team hasn't lost here since January. Almost a shock to the system to go through that and end up with a loss after all this time? COACH KERR: Well, I mean, it's obviously been a dream season. I mean, things have fallen into place over and over again. It's not always going to work that way. It's the playoffs and this is kind of how it works. You get outplayed by a really good team, and then you're going to lose whether you're at home or on the road. It's 1‑1, and we move on. Q. Coach, it was obviously a rough night with turnovers. Between games you get the chance to make adjustments and teach. How tough is it during the game when you're bleeding in a shark tank to stop that bleeding with the turnovers? COACH KERR: Yeah, I thought we lost our poise tonight. That was the biggest issue. We were in such a rush. You know, it's a 48‑minute game. It takes an eternity to win an NBA game. I felt like we were in the middle of the second quarter, and it felt like desperation out there. We were too emotional. We were too quick with our intention to score. Instead of just moving the ball and setting good screens, everyone was trying to do everything franticly on their own. I thought there was actually a pretty good stretch the middle of the second quarter where we seemed to get our bearings. Then the last few minutes of that second quarter we sort of lost control again, and that was the key point of the game to me. We had some open shots. We had a weird fast break that should have been a lay‑up that I think would have tied the game. Turned into a traveling call on Shaun, which, you know, it was a weird call, but that shouldn't have mattered. We would have had a lay‑up on that point. We missed a couple of shots, and we didn't handle our business in the last few minutes of the second quarter, and then now all of a sudden we're scrambling again. They deserve to win. They kicked our butts. They controlled the whole game, and we have to learn from this. We were not poised, and we did not play well. Q. How much of that losing your poise was because of Memphis turning up the Heat compared to game one, and similarly the turnovers? How much of that was what Memphis did and how much was your guys just playing sloppy? COACH KERR: Well, it was both. They played a great game. You know, Draymond picked up the two quick fouls early, which hurt us. They scored inside. Zach got going, and so it was a combination. You know, Mike Conley coming back, obviously made a big impact, had a great game. Like I said, this is the playoffs, so this is how it works, and we didn't play well enough to win. Q. Is there anything you guys can do differently against Gasol and Randolph? They're obviously pretty good, but they scored pretty well against you in these first two games? COACH KERR: That's who they are. They're going to get the ball down low and they're going to get their chances. I thought we had our moments against them where we forced them some misses. But we've got to be more consistent with our defensive effort and our schemes. But these guys are good. This is a good team. They've been doing this for a long time. They were in the Western Conference Finals two years ago. They've been in the playoffs year after year. So we knew that coming in. Q. Steve, someone asked you before about all the hoopla, and you said you've been on teams that felt distracted and others that didn't at all. Looking back on this one, was it a factor? COACH KERR: I don't think so. It shouldn't be. But historically in this league you see this kind of stuff once in a while. But it shouldn't matter. You can't do anything about it. You just have to go play. And I didn't think it affected us, but, I mean, what affected us was really was Memphis outplaying us. Q. You turned to that small lineup with Draymond at center. How did you think that group fared overall? COACH KERR: I thought they did great. We just needed to turn up the tempo of the game. They were just controlling the pace, and we needed to do something to try to change the game. I thought that did change it. We made a couple of good runs. We just couldn't quite get there.  We missed some shots. We turned it over. Again, we were a little bit desperate. Mid‑third quarter you go small and you make a run. You're down six or eight, and there is an eternity left, but it felt like every possession we were franticly trying to score. So, as I said, we've got to be more composed. Q. I know you never single out one player, but Klay Thompson clearly looked like he was struggling out there. Can you put your finger on what was going on with him? Was he a guy that was trying to play too fast or something defensively that got him a little gummed up there? COACH KERR: Well, Memphis is good defensively, and what we've talked about is moving the ball. You can't put it on the floor and expect to get to the rim against these guys. They've got size inside and good perimeter defenders. So it has to be a case where we put the ball on the floor, move it on, move it again, set a screen and now we'll be open, because no defense is faster than a pass, and I thought tonight we tried to do too much off the dribble. Q. Your starters were 3 for 22 on threes. Is that more to do with what Memphis did defensively or just an off‑shooting night for you guys? COACH KERR: It was both. We missed some open ones, particularly in the second quarter, and then Memphis played extremely well and pressured us into a lot of misses as well. Q. When you say that Memphis dictated the pace, what enabled them to be able to do that? COACH KERR: Well, I mean, it's what they do. They pound you on the block, and then if you turn the ball over against them and they get some lanes, now they have some confidence. I mean, this is kind of what this series is about. We want to play fast. They want to play slow, and they got the tempo where they needed it tonight. Draymond's two quick fouls didn't help us. But all in all, I thought most of it was our indecision offensively. Not indecision, more just our frantic possessions where we didn't come down and really have good passes, good screens, good cuts where we could kind of get a rhythm to the game. There's pace that comes out of transition, but there's also pace in the half court, and you have to have good pace with your half court offense, and we did not. Q. I think early in the game Mike Conley had nine points really early in the game. It seemed to give them a lift. How surprised were you that he was that effective not only at the beginning of the game but throughout the game? COACH KERR: I didn't know what to expect. I did think he would play, and I obviously haven't been watching him all week. I don't know if he's been practicing or conditioning or whatever. But regardless, he played a great game. I think give credit to him. He's suffered a really tough injury, and to come out with the mask on and after a week off or whatever and surgery to play the way he did was pretty good stuff. Q. One of the few bright spots tonight was Leandro Barbosa, and he was able to get to a lot of different spots that we don't normally see. How do you feel about his performance tonight? COACH KERR: Oh, LB was great. He's been like this all year. He's been a real spark plug for us. The way he gets out in transition and he's making shots, getting to the foul line, and his defense is good too. So I thought Leandro was really good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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