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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS vs WARRIORS

May 31, 2018

Steve Kerr

Oakland, California: Game One

Q. Could you talk briefly about your experience as both a coach and a player, and how Game 1 in a series can perhaps set a tone?
STEVE KERR: It always feels different. The Finals feel different from the Conference Finals and everything before that. It's just there is just a different vibe. You practice at the arena instead of at your facility. You have a podium instead of a desk with picnic chairs. Just everything's a little different. The logos on the floor are different. So my first experience in The Finals, I noticed all that and it just felt sort of bigger than what it was.

So I think the biggest thing going into Game 1 is just to get everybody settled down. I think both teams are going to be a little hyper, a little on edge, because this is what this moment brings.

Q. You've got a lot of guys who have played in a lot of these, but you have a few guys in The Finals for the first time. Do the other players help usher them into this, or does it just sort of go unstated?
STEVE KERR: No, I think it helps to have the experience. Most of our guys have Finals experience, even our young guys. You know, Looney may not have played much, if at all, but he's been here, he's felt this. So we've got a couple guys, Nick Young, Jordan Bell. So I think the other players can help them with that.

But I think the experience is you feel that first game, you settle in, and then you kind of go from there.

Q. I'm guessing it didn't surprise you at all to find out that Kevin Love was good to go for tonight?
STEVE KERR: It didn't surprise me. I'm glad he's playing. I think we want everybody playing. We want everybody healthy and out there competing. So I'm happy for him.

Q. Just curious, you only had three days between the Conference Finals and this. Do you feel better about that? Because in the past it always seems like there's been a week or six or seven days, you get right back into it.
STEVE KERR: I think I'd rather get right into it even if you're not quite as prepared. Slightly underprepared but in rhythm is better than overprepared and waiting around for eight days.

So when you go through that, and I know Cleveland has been through it many times over the last few years, Ty gets it, too, then you have eight days and you want to keep rhythm. And you feel like, well, we've got to scrimmage, because you never go eight days without a game regular season, then you scrimmage, and you're praying that nobody gets hurt. So that's a weird vibe. This is much better.

But I think it leaves us, and Cleveland a little bit, too, I know they finished the day before us, but it leaves us slightly less prepared in terms of what we can go through. But I prefer it that way.

Q. What do you guys do over the next two days to test Iguodala and determine whether he's ready or not?
STEVE KERR: Just the usual stuff. The training staff will put him through any court work and any type of assessment, and then they'll just tell us if he's ready or not.

Q. You've had some history with this question in previous Finals, but who are you going with tonight starter-wise?
STEVE KERR: Joe, you haven't been around. I know you've been covering the Cavs in the East. But I made a declaration before the playoffs started that I would not be announcing lineups, if only because I felt bad about lying to Tim Kawakami a few years ago. So just to uphold my family's name, I just wanted to establish that standard, so I will not be announcing anything.

Q. Pat McCaw, he had a couple games where he played in the Conference Finals, and with Iggy, how is he coming along, and could he maybe have a bigger role in this series?
STEVE KERR: He could play a few more minutes now that he's gotten his feet wet and he's had a few more days of court work. He had some knee soreness a couple weeks ago that is now gone. So he's feeling healthier. There's no question he could play a bigger role in this series than he did in the last one.

Q. Everybody wants to go to The Finals, but there's a lot of pressure, a lot of second-guessing, a lot of attention. I'm wondering if you can say you have fun doing this?
STEVE KERR: I do, I do. This is fun. It's why you do it. If you can be part of a team that's this good and give yourself a chance, that's what you want. It's devastating when you lose, and it's euphoric when you win.

But that's sports. We're competing for something that's really important. We could all go do something else and live a much more balanced life, but we all kind of like this opportunity to compete. And you have to accept what comes with that.

Q. Fourth straight year entered into The Finals with the Cavs. Last season you guys and the Cavs had an easier road, and this season both teams have been through a lot. Does it make you guys appreciate each other even more?
STEVE KERR: No doubt, no doubt. I think we each have an understanding of what the other has had to go through to get to this point. We understand how difficult it is to get to The Finals four years in a row. It's only happened a handful of times in NBA history.

So to do it in the exact matching pattern with Cleveland is obviously unprecedented. But there is a respect level for what they've gone through, and vice versa.

Q. You mentioned Ty and the respect you have for him over the years. What stands out to you about going up against his teams over the last two years, whether it's technical or any other aspect of that?
STEVE KERR: I think they're really sharp. Their staff is sharp. They've made a lot of adjustments against us over the years as we've played them, as we have against them.

I think there's an awareness that this is a staff that really understands how to kind of change tactics on the fly, in between games, during games. So, yeah, they're really good at what they do.

Q. Not a very serious question, but if you haven't yet, have you had a chance to see LeBron's short suit today? And if you haven't, maybe comment on it after the game perhaps?
STEVE KERR: You got it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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