Why Steph taking Kerr’s tirades to heart is important for Warriors

Why Steph taking Kerr’s tirades to heart is important for Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOSTON – What do you think? It’s a statement. If we don’t win, everybody says, ‘Oh, they ain’t played nobody.’ You gotta come make a statement, right?

Playing the defending champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden, the Warriors answered every question about their early-season success with a 118-112 win Wednesday. The win mattered. It was a big deal, as reflected in Buddy Hield’s words above after being asked about the significance of the Warriors’ victory.

Watching how coach Steve Kerr paced the sidelines, it was clear this wasn’t another November game on the Warriors’ schedule. Kerr was animated, focused and intense. His emotions weren’t held back, including at his superstar Steph Curry.

“The beauty with Steph is he lets me yell at him, which sets the tone,” Kerr said. “He accepted it. He knew it.”

The play and interaction Kerr is referring to occurred with five minutes remaining in the first half with the Warriors leading by four points. Curry grabbed a rebound off a missed Derrick White 3-point attempt, turned his shoulders and instantly heaved the ball ahead to the other side of the court. His pass attempt fell way short of his intended target, Kyle Anderson, and landed in the hands of White.

That mental lapse of a turnover then turned into a Jayson Tatum 3-pointer, bringing the Celtics within one point. Kerr called the mistake a five-point swing off one bad decision, immediately calling a timeout.

The second the ball left Curry’s hands, Kerr’s anger wasn’t masked. And he didn’t hold back on Curry walking back to the bench, too. Lip readers commence. There easily are at least a few words that can’t be typed here.

Kerr learned early in his coaching career that Curry can handle yelling when it’s needed, another of the many attributes that remind him of Tim Duncan with how he responded to San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Kerr’s message is simple: The Warriors can’t afford these kinds of mistakes anymore.

For how strong and impressive their 7-1 start has been,…

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Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-11-07 16:54:00

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