NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: WARRIORS vs KINGS

April 23, 2023

Mike Brown

Media Conference

Golden State Warriors 126, Sacramento Kings 125.

MIKE BROWN: What a game. If I was a fan, shoot, what a game to watch. You know, I thought our guys came out with a purpose tonight, and gave ourselves a chance to win and that's all you can ask for come playoff time. But we made some timely mistakes, especially in the fourth quarter. We gapped -- and this is where our playoff inexperience comes into play because you can't rest out there, or you can't think that you can play something a certain way and the champions are not going to make you pay the price.

One time we got gap versus Steph and he hit a three; huge, another time we gap versus Klay which is huge and you might think it's just one possession.

But those six points right there, not doing what we are supposed to do, again, you know, that shows our playoff inexperience because you have to take pride in playing a certain way for 48 minutes and it ain't going to be easy. You know, at the end of the day, if we didn't do it, it's going to be tough on us.

It was great, obviously, to see the game that we got from Keegan. He was fantastic tonight. I thought Davion was great tonight. Foxy, he was great offensively. He was better than last game and we are going to continue to need him to bring a lot more to the table.

But our guys, like I said, at the end of the day, they fought, and we gave ourselves a chance to win. We had a wide-open look from the three-point line, and you couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Q. Could you just walk us through that last ten seconds, was there any additional action after the first screen plan and how did that all go down? How did the Warriors defend it?

MIKE BROWN: Well, I'm not sure. I think HB just went to set the pick-and-roll. We just wanted to flatten the defense out and say, hey, we are going to live with Fox shooting the ball. HB decided to go set a pick-and-roll with Fox to get the switch. Got the switch and we got a wide-open three. It was just as much on us as it was anything else because we got a great look from one of our veterans and we just ended up missing a shot.

Q. What happened in your mind in the third quarter that allowed them to sort of retake control of the game? And also, what went through your head when you saw Steph Curry call a time-out that they didn't have?

MIKE BROWN: When he called a time-out, I just thought it was a tech, but nothing -- nothing else because I knew they didn't have any more time-outs.

You know, that's what they do, though, the fourth quarter. They knew that they had their backs against the wall a little bit and they were going to come out and hit us in the mouth, and they did. You know, one of the things we have to do, we want to play fast, and we are going to keep playing fast. But all of our guys are driving into two, sometimes three guys in transition, and begging for a call.

We can't continue do that, and you know, it's a great learning experience for our guys to be able to see because we wasted a ton of possessions in transition, just driving and throwing up some crazy stuff. Space the floor. Stop and spray the ball, and if we miss a wide-open three that is way better than driving and throwing up some crazy stuff because at the end of the day, this is what I keep telling our guys: You're not -- you're going to have knock these guys out. You can't rely on the referee, because if I'm a referee, the shots that we are taking at the rim in transition, I'm not calling either because you're begging for a foul. You can't drive to the rim and beg for a foul every single possession and then they run it back at us because they have a numbers advantage. We have to play the right way, and when we're playing fast, and we have to do a good job of that, especially in the second half. We had a lot of guys shoot some tough, tough, tough shots begging for fouls at the rim in transition.

Q. You mentioned some of the rushing in transition and you mentioned in Game 3 how much you wanted to see the team be aggressive and meet the moment in this environment. Is the rushing a byproduct of you're there in aggression but not there in terms of experience of having met with this environment?

MIKE BROWN: There's a lot of firsts for us from a lot of our guys, and like I said, whether it's not having the game plan discipline to do what you need to do in the fourth quarter in order to win. You know what two huge threes that we gap that not one time this whole series have we said we are going to gap against these guys, and we did it.

You know, that probably has to do with you're fatigued, and not only that, you're in an environment that you have not been in before, because it's two guys that were in the playoffs for the first time.

And you know, you have to have a certain will to continue to try to play the right way, especially if you want beat the champions on their home floor. We have to go a better job in transition. We can still play fast and not drive into two bodies or three bodies and throw the ball in the air and begging for a foul. If we play fast, if I see two guys in front of me, I'm going to come to a jump stop because I know somebody is open. I'm going to come to a jump stop just like I did in elementary school and move on to the next guy because somebody is always open. We don't always have to shoot it because we are trying to play fast in transition. We don't always have to shoot at the rim and over bodies because they are doing a great job of coming in and being vertical against us, and so we don't always have to shoot in that situation.

Q. How good was it to see some shots start falling for certain guys? How big is that in this game and going forward?

MIKE BROWN: You always want that. It was great to Keegan play the way he did, and Foxy shot it well. Malik was pretty good. Trey was good. So it was good to see. We're going to have to continue to let that thing fly and hopefully transition when we touch that paint. Especially if they are springing a body over or if they have a body that's bigger than us at the rim, we can't go in there begging for a foul. We have to play the ball and continue to knock down threes.

Q. The rebounding, did they get the message from the other night as far as rebounding?

MIKE BROWN: They did. They ended up with eight offensive rebounds, and we did a better job on the glass and we have to do that throughout the course of this series to give ourselves a chance to win. It's a physical game. You have to keep putting bodies on bodies and get the ball and our guys did a better job of that tonight.

Q. What's the mental and emotional challenging going back for Game 5?

MIKE BROWN: They are champions. We have to bring it. If we don't bring it, we are going to get beat. They know. I'm telling them the truth, can he wasn't have mental breakdowns like we did in the fourth quarter with our game plan. We can't waste possessions by jumping bodies and begging for fouls and we have to continue to play at the pace that we are playing but making sure that we are smarter in the full court and halfcourt while keeping these guys off the glass.

They are a good team and they are going to make shots. We are not going to be able to stop Steph Curry from making shots. You've just got to make him work as hard as you can to get his looks from the floor.

Q. Really back and forth game, 19 lead changes. How do you think your team fought in this one to keep it close and have a chance at the end?

MIKE BROWN: Great. Like I said great fight. We competed. That's what you can ask for. Now you have to compete the right way in the moment. Said it a million times, they are not going to give this game to us. Steph Curry is not going to miss a shot if you gap it. Klay Thompson is not going to miss a shot if you gap it. You have to go take it from them.

Our guys competed. You love that. You love the fight. But at the end of the day, if we expect to win, we've got to play 48 minutes of good basketball, great basketball against this team the right way, and even as champions, it's going to be hard if we do that.

Q. I counted three different possessions in the fourth quarter, a chance to tie or go ahead, that resulted in turnovers. Before the game you talked about lessons that you sometimes have to go through to experience it in order to figure it out. Is that one of those things, those costly turnovers with a chance to win a playoff game?

MIKE BROWN: 100 percent. The turnovers or shot selection at the rim in transition had a huge impact on the outcome of the game as well as the defensive breakdowns in the fourth quarter. But we go from it and learn from it which we will do and we'll be ready for the next game.

Q. From an outsider's perspective, it seems like a hallmark of this Warriors team, the momentum and ability to build off that. Do you believe in the concept of momentum and the ability to stop it in the middle of a playoff series?

MIKE BROWN: These guys are champions. They don't need momentum. They obviously feed off of making shots and Draymond's energy. So those things get them going. But they have been around a long time. So I think for those guys, yeah, a lot of things happen for those guys to get them going but not just momentum. I believe that they have it when they feed off of made shots and defensive stops and Draymond's energy, but you know, so do a lot of other teams. They just have more experience with it.

Q. I got here a little late so I apologize if you already answered this.

In the pregame news conference, you said jokingly, about cussing Keegan out the last couple days. Do you think it worked and do you think you won't be cussing him out the next couple days?

MIKE BROWN: Hey, look, Keegan is a rookie. He's starting and he's got to understand that he gets no passes. He's got to bring it like everybody else and if he's not bringing it like everybody else, he's going to hear from me. I mean, Keegan has got a chance to be a great player in this league and I thought he stepped up tonight and showed why he's first team all rookie. He's the only rookie I think in a lottery that's still playing and playing a significant role for his team, and he, tonight, almost helped us get over the hump.

So I've got no complaints with the way he played tonight.

Q. The rebound off to Steph missed, down one, you take a time-out; can you take us through the decision-making to call the time-out there?

MIKE BROWN: A lot of times, you go in transition because you don't want them to sub defensive guys on the floor or whatever. At the end of the day, the ball is going to be in Fox's hands. I wanted to make sure we were spaced right and aligned right to be able to get a good look, and you know, again, I felt they were going to keep basically the same guys on the floor because they are veterans and they have won a lot of championships with those guys on the floor.

I thought at the end of the day, we'd be able to get a good look, and we did. We got a good look. I don't know if we really got a bad look in transition than a wide open three from one of your veterans that just didn't go in.

Again that's not where we won or lost the game. I thought there were some other areas where that happened.

Q. For Keegan, it was cursing him out and encouraging him to still shoot the ball when he's open.

MIKE BROWN: I was kind of joking with him when I said that. I have cussed him out. I was joking when I said that. I told him if he didn't shoot the ball I would cuss him out.

Q. For Kevin as he continues to struggle to shoot the ball is there any cussing him out or what's the message or dynamic that you're telling him as he continues to struggle?

MIKE BROWN: Again, it's not about making shots. If Keegan went 0-for-10 tonight, I'd have been okay. I just want him to shoot the ball. I don't want him to hesitate at all. If he can go make a play, make a play. Same with Kevin. Kevin has to shoot the ball but at the end of the day he's got to make shots because right now we are not getting enough stops to have too many guys on the floor that haven't made shots for us.

So we've got to figure out a way to get it done.