	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: WARRIORS VS SPURS

May 13, 2017

Steph Curry

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. Looks like Steve [Kerr] was around today. How involved is he?
STEPH CURRY: It's obviously great, any time you get to hear his voice, see his face, he's obviously been doing his homework in between, his down times to help us get prepared for the series, and you know he misses being around the day-to-day routine and the atmosphere and practice and locker rooms and games and all that. For him to even just have the energy and the ability to be here means a lot. Hopefully he's feeling better.

Q. Is this the first time you've seen him in a while?
STEPH CURRY: Yeah, since we left for -- yeah, we saw him right before he went to Duke, back to North Carolina.

Q. Did he get up in front of the team or talk or give a scouting report?
STEPH CURRY: He was one of the coaches in our pregame film, just giving his assessment of the series and things we need to do well. Obviously Coach [Mike] Brown led most of it, but he was present.

Q. What are some of the things that you guys need to do well against this team?
STEPH CURRY: Most of the focus is on rebounding. When we went down there the last game -- our last time playing in the regular season -- they jumped on us in that first quarter because they made some shots, but most of them were second, third, fourth opportunities. You've got to be able to win the possession game against them. Very similar to Utah, that mindset of not turning the ball over, not allowing them extra possessions with offensive rebounds and things like that, because the numbers, when we've played well against them, we've either been even or have more field goal attempts than they did and were able to get the tempo up. And when you're taking the ball out of bounds after makes or fouling them and letting them get to the free throw line or having them defend three or four possessions because you're giving up rebounds, then we can't get out and run like we want to, so we really have to focus on that, and team rebounding is going to be huge.

Q. You have to play defense all over again.
STEPH CURRY: For sure.

Q. Is it going to be odd to see David Lee in a playoff series?
STEPH CURRY: No, it'll be the same ol', same ol', just with -- we've seen him in different jerseys since he's left here, and he's a part of that Spurs identity. That is -- I guess saying that is weird, but we'll be ready for what he brings off the bench for them for sure.

Q. Do you stay in touch with him at all?
STEPH CURRY: Yeah, a good amount.

Q. David West just mentioned how playing for the Spurs was a bucket list thing, but then coming here was something he really wanted to experience, as well. What does that mean to you to hear that at this stage, just how much he wanted to play with this group?
STEPH CURRY: It means obviously we're doing good things, and he understands it, from asking people or watching it or playing against us, what kind of culture we have here, what we -- how we try to play every night, how much fun we have doing what we do. We tried to get him here before. He didn't want to have it. Maybe I've got a little chip, took us an extra year to get him on our team. But it's nice that he can bring some experience having played in San Antonio last year, just kind of the way they think and things that they might do, adjustments they might make. At the end of the day, we have to go out and just execute, and he's a part of that, too.

Q. Kevin [Durant] remarked yesterday he thought Utah was a good warm-up for these guys, they do a lot of similar things. Would you agree with that?
STEPH CURRY: Yeah, I mean, they have -- they have the same mindset of, like I said, winning a possession game, grinding and being physical, wearing on the opposing team. They have a whole other animal obviously in low-post scoring with LaMarcus [Aldridge] that Utah didn't really necessarily have. But they execute their sets and the things that they really want to do. They really are -- methodical is not a great word but a great way of explaining their mindset of getting flow and being purposeful about everything that they do. Like I said, they're a team that doesn't necessarily -- rarely ever beats themselves. You have to go in and outplay them, and that's why they're so consistent.

Q. With Tony Parker out, Kawhi Leonard is doing a lot of facilitating. How good is he in that role?
STEPH CURRY: He demands a lot of attention. Obviously he's a proven scorer, gotten much more versatile with the way that he can impact the offensive end, and when you are a guy that demands that much attention, whether you're coming off a pick-and-roll or coming off a screen or even just coming in transition, you are able to open it up for other guys, and he has pretty good court vision. You're going to have to send bodies at him, but we're going to have to rotate around behind whoever is engaged in that defense on the ball, and it's going to take a lot of energy and focus and communication just to know where everybody is and be able to make the right reads at the right times.

Q. In the last series they had a lot of success, San Antonio, leaving their bigs back in the pick-and-roll on James Harden. Do you think you guys can get them out of that with your shooting ability?
STEPH CURRY: I hope they do that for us. Please do it. Do it. That would be -- we have a lot of scorers that can do it a lot of different ways. Obviously you don't want to have -- you don't want to fight their defense and try to keep doing things that they're trying to take away. You kind of want to go to spots where the defense gives you so that you can be able to make those plays and try to make it as easy as possible on yourself, but I feel like we have the versatility to be able to attack those pick-and-rolls, and whether it's the guy with the ball ended up with the basket or if you're able to drive and kick, whatever the case may be, just try to make the right reads.

Q. How much do you remember that draft 10 years ago with KD and just the hype around who was going to be the guy, and how far have you seen Kevin come in 10 years?
STEPH CURRY: Well, we were in the same freshman class in college, so I was always chasing KD's numbers my freshman year. Any time I had a good game, he was always -- like I'll push my game, like really close, and he kind of took off down the stretch that freshman year, but I knew he was pretty much a one-and-done type situation. I didn't follow the draft that much that year, but for somebody that has so much potential and hype around him to actually see it to fruition with that kind of pressure and that kind of spotlight and almost exceed the expectations throughout his career, like that's a mark of a guy that wasn't complacent with where he was at any point and always wanted to get better. He's done that.

Q. Physically at this point in the season, how much better do you feel now than you did a year ago at this time?
STEPH CURRY: I mean, as far as my injury, I feel pretty much the same, but when you don't have to deal with anything like that, then it's obviously helpful, so hopefully that continues.

Q. Gregg Popovich said today in terms of stopping your high-flying offense, he used the word pray --
STEPH CURRY: Gamesmanship (laughter). I love it. I love it.

Q. Does he ever talk to you from the sidelines?
STEPH CURRY: No. He coached the All-Star team, and maybe I'll see him in the tunnel or something like that, but nothing on the sidelines.

Q. Are you surprised at all how David Lee has fit in there?
STEPH CURRY: No, he can play. He's a play maker and great with the ball in his hands. I thought that would be actually a great fit with his style because he always is creating ball movement, and he's really good at kind of playing pick-and-roll and figuring out ways to slice the defense with the amazing finish at the rim like we've always seen. His game really fits their style and how much they move the ball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297