I was gonna write a thing about how Steve Kerr (with buy-in over the years from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and — oh btw at the time — Luke Walton, plus Mike Brown) has never called timeout in that type of situation.

But I’m exhausted. By the Sith Lord force lightning. By the whining of fans on social media. So I’ll write about it later, maybe do a video for YouTube. Gonna just try to turn the energy around, as we’ve got another game tonight. Please join us, if you’re not a complainer:

So anyways, I literally have video evidence of Kerr and Walton in 2016 deciding not to call timeouts on live-ball rebounds with one possession left. But it’ll fall on a lot of deaf ears, so I feel the existentialism of such an effort.

It’s pretty sad considering that the toxicity on the last-second loss and return to addictive behaviors of a certain sect of Warriors fans putting complete blame on Steve occurred literally 27 hours after the culmination of Dejan “Deki” Milojevic’s Chase Center tribute. It’s disappointing that I see younger members of the media not get it, either. Nobody really stepped up on the veteran reporting side either, as I think they just forgot — I mean, I’m the guy who can do a search on my own YouTube channel using the keyword “timeout”; they don’t have that resource. And Kerr and Curry were their usual too-honest-for-their-own-good selves on the podium. Sigh…

I’m not gonna talk about it on this post anymore as I’ve got that promised meeting with Brandin Podziemski’s trainer coming up as I type this, and yeah, just don’t know if it’s really helpful to try and teach outraged people basic coaching logic — not a single coach I’ve talked to at the amateur or college level has told me they wouldn’t have called timeout right after the second missed free throw. As I said, I’ll figure out how to deal with it soon and post accordingly.

Just know that how you react to, “Ahem, Steve has never called that timeout,” says a lot about you. Your response to, “They did not call that timeout with the Bang Bang OKC 2016 Mike Breen play,” says a lot about you. Fyi the live ball versus the Kings in preseason on October 18th went out of bounds and there was a review, so that one is not an example of this situation. Talk soon ✌️

Transcript and game notes from SAC-GSW…

JK/STEPH POSTGAME SAC-GSW

0:00 This is going to be a pretty random question, but I am very curious about it. So on the team’s issues this year to close out games, it seems like there’s been different variations of lineups, but in these kind of close situations, the team is still having difficulty closing. I would say so far from the last two games, there haven’t really been a lot of issues.

JONATHAN KUMINGA POSTGAME SAC-GSW: “I feel like we all connected and we’re playing great. I mean, we’re just going to keep building from everything we did great and just trying to go over certain things that we not doing the right way, but I don’t really see that much issue, especially the past two games.”

0:51 So what did you think happened tonight?

“I mean, I know Steph lost his handle on the ball at the end, but leading up to that play on the final play of the game, I mean, things happen. We’re human. We make mistakes, and that’s one of the greatest to ever touch the basketball. I mean, everybody make mistakes. It’s just something that maybe we’re going to work on it to prevent it doesn’t happen next game, but everybody make mistakes.”

1:32 Jonathan, what do you feel like Draymond has unlocked, offensively? How has he impacted the offense these last couple of games? And how, I know you touched on it yesterday, just the impact he has on you personally, but how have you seen him impact the team as a whole since he’s returned?

“I would say just the fire he brings, the energy. He has energy that ain’t nobody out there can’t match it. I mean, if you guys have one guy like that on the floor, everybody might as well match it, and I feel like him just being there, his presence just bringing so much energy to everybody on the team and it just makes us roll. I mean, I’m really happy to see him back and playing at the highest level and just bringing that energy. He was supposed to be starting, but he don’t mind coming off the bench and just still being who he is every other day, I mean. And that’s what we need from pretty much everybody else.”

2:28 Jonathan, you guys have seen the Kings so many times, playoffs, preseason, regular season. Just want to get your thoughts playing this team, competing against the Kings so many times and what’s that competitive level like playing against them?

“I mean, it’s always a good bump … But I’ll just say every time we see them it’s a tough battle. Everybody played hard on both team. Nobody want to lose. We always see them a lot. So things like that is gonna happen. We just always gonna play hard against each other.”

3:19 First time you scored 30. Is that something you’ve kind of been waiting on?

“Yeah. I mean, I never – I don’t really think about it going in the game or even when I’m in a game. I don’t think about it. I just go with the flow and today actually happened. I wasn’t expecting it. It just happened because just go out there and just give all I got and help the team win. We definitely did not win today, but all I do is just go out there every day and just trying to help us win.”

3:19 Is that kind of like a little career bookmark for you, though, to get 30? I mean, is that something special for you?

“I mean, it’s definitely everything in life is, if you accomplish different things that you never accomplished before, it’s definitely something that you should be happy and proud of and just work towards it. And I feel like I’m proud of myself to accomplish things like that. It’s just a matter of fact of me keep going and accomplishing more.”

4:24 Can you, can you take us through the last possession and also whether you thought about yourself calling a timeout or if, if you thought a timeout could’ve helped?

STEPHEN CURRY: “No. We talked about it, before Huerter, before both of his free throws and me and Coach. Good shooter. Kind of agree like we’re gonna take it. Kind of thinking you’re gonna be down three, knowing he’s a good shooter, and he missed the first one. All right, we’re still gonna go, expecting he’s gonna make the second one. Know you’ll be down two and kinda understanding the situation. And then once he missed the second one, Klay got a great rebound, but we’d already committed to going. And at that point, it’s obviously the chaos. Just trying to get over half court, see where the defense was, and once JK gave it to me at that point, that’s probably where the time out either should have seen it or Coach or whoever, just to know there’s like eight people on one side of court and we had a screen, they trapped and I was trying to get the ball back to Draymond and see what could happen. So I would say there probably should have been a time out. Right when I got the ball in turn and saw that the court wasn’t balanced right, and we still have plenty of time. But the chaos of the moment, you’re trying to make a play, and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.”

5:50 Steph, Harrison Barnes, former teammate, he had a career-high 39 points, and the Kings were looking for him tonight. It’s a back to back 30-plus point game. Just want to get your thoughts about him as a professional and as a person as a whole, his name has been saturated in trade rumors for the past few weeks and stuff. But he’s still playing ball. Just want to get your thoughts about him.

“He had a hell of a night, from the jump. He knew he had 30 last game and picked up right where he left off. Made some big or some threes early. It was a different look than they usually had in the past where the ball is usually in – D. Fox hit a couple transition threes in the fourth, but last four minutes, or three minutes, they went to HB in the post. He had those two turnarounds. He just made every play, made every big shot that he took. So, with that said, him having 39, Fox having 29 and the amount of threes that they made, down to the last possession, so it’s kudos to him for doing what he did. And he’s a pro, like, trade rumors and chaos of the league, I don’t think that bothers him. He’s been around the block.”

7:16 After that game in Memphis, Draymond sort of laid into the defensive effort, saying that you guys need to play with more pride. What have you noticed about how the defense has played since his return?

“We gave up 40 in the first quarter tonight and slowly started to find some momentum on that end of the floor. Teams are, for whatever reason, they’re shooting great against us and you have to figure out a way to slow them down. Played some teams that have five threats around the perimeter and the way the league has changed in that respect, you gotta be able to fly around, make multiple efforts, try to defend without fouling and there’s a concerted effort to get better on that end of the floor. We understand that that’s the only way we’re going to win. Besides the first quarter, I thought we played pretty well. Just giving up 40 gives a team confidence and I mean, it comes down to one point, like maybe in the first quarter, you could have done something about it.”

8:25 Since 2013, it’s the first time you will not be the All-Star starter. What do you think about that?

“Yeah. I mean, you got two guys that are playing amazing this year. Luka and Shai. So yeah, I’ve been around doing this for a very long time, and the fact that it’s a talking point, I’m not, and after whatever non-healthy years, like, those two guys are playing amazing, they deserve it. Hopefully I’m there in Indiana, in whatever capacity, but yeah, they’ll still be doing it, at this stage. It’s always a challenge. It’s never – you don’t ever take for granted the fact of how hard it is to be recognized in that way every year.”

9:23 Steph, you and Warriors and Kings of games have become very, very competitive, especially since last year’s playoffs. At what point do you consider games like that to be like a rivalry?

“The NBA said it’s so, because we played this week, right? (Referencing ‘Rivalry Week’) So it’s not up to us.”

9:41 Draymond’s obviously back now. Kuminga is playing the way he is. I know it’s early, but are you kind of seeing the forming of a potential five man group? With Wiggins even out there, you’ve had guys have had success with that in Klay. What’s been your biggest challenge this year?

Yeah, our challenge this whole year’s continuity and figuring out who we are, what our identity is with rotations and understand we’ve had so many injuries and the revolving door there. Guys trying to understand or having an expected role every night, knowing who could be out there with and all that. So it’s been helpful to have certain looks that we’ve been going to and developing a chemistry there. That’s our challenge to continue to kind of self-assess and everybody be aggressive, no matter who’s out there. To the question about our defensive presence and effort, you gotta be able to have each other’s backs, understand everybody’s strengths and weaknesses. And with that particular line, we’re starting to figure out something. So, while we’re out there, we have to make the most of it.”

10:21 Are you expecting with more continuity now that some of the struggles that have occurred closing out close games like this will improve?

“Yeah, this is different than games we’ve had in the past, the games you’re kind of, I guess, referring to where we’ve lost big leads or just not been able to maintain the momentum in the fourth quarter where we should have won. Tonight’s one of those kind of traditional NBA games where it’s just back and forth. You know the whole game comes out until the last possession. We played extremely well. They just made a lot of big shots that kept us on our heels a little bit, But that’s when a break can kind of go either way and time out, no time out, a shot here, a shot there. It’s just a different vibe than it has been, even though it is a loss. So you just, I mean, we are never a moral victory team, but you take the framework of tonight. Keep doing that. You’ll have more to show for it.”

12:05 Stephen, with Jonathan Kuminga, his ability to attack and just be so explosive, how much does that open things up on the floor? This last stretch you guys have, the passing, the ball movement seems to be coming together these last couple games and a lot of different scores and different contributions.

“That is the formula based on how teams guard us and you know me and Klay out there, you’re gonna have attention on the perimeter because they know what we like to do and JK and Wiggs being able to take advantage of those driving angles, be aggressive every time they touch the ball, decisive with what they’re doing, it’s looked pretty good. So you gotta just keep doing that. And it’s a lot more. Usually we know situations where we have an understanding of how we’re trying to create shots and who’s got the ball in our hands and what sets are running. There’s just a lot more organization out there on the floor. So these last few games have been pretty good on that front. Just gotta keep doing it.”

KERR POSTGAME SAC-GSW

0:00  Can you just take us through the last possession? It looked like you almost called timeout a couple times. Why didn’t you?

STEVE KERR POSTGAME SAC-GSW: “Yeah, I trust these guys have been together for so long. I really prefer the scramble situations at the end of games where a defense can’t get set up and make subs and so this is one that it keeps you up at night, but we got to the picture we wanted. We got the Steph, Draymond pick and roll at the top. We had good spacing. I thought maybe we were going to get Draymond on the roll with the spacing on either side and get a good shot because they doubled Steph but he didn’t. Yeah, could have taken a timeout and it’s always a difficult decision down the stretch, but I’ve seen those guys convert in that situation a million times. And like I said, we got to the picture we wanted eventually, just didn’t pan out.

1:22 Hey, Steve. It seemed like JK caught the ball just crossing half court there and might have had a lane to the rim… It seemed like on that final possession after Huerter missed those two free throws, Klay got the rebound, pitched it ahead to JK, JK caught, passed half court. It seemed like you might have had a lane to the rim as the Kings were getting back. Do you think maybe you guys might have been a little too deferential to getting the ball to Steph there?

“I haven’t seen the play yet. I haven’t watched the replay. But JK, he’s a young player. He had a phenomenal night tonight. Again, this is just a string of great games from him. And so we went to him, the possession before down on the block and so he’s really earning the trust of his teammates and he’s getting better and better. So I haven’t watched that play. There’s always stuff you could have done, this or that, but he was phenomenal tonight.

2:21 And you’re happy with them getting to the 1-5 pick-and-roll, Steph and Draymond?

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve been doing this for a long time, and those guys know exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. Like I said, you get the defense scattered. Maybe the time to take the time out would have been earlier when we didn’t have the spacing, maybe 12, 13 seconds left. But once we got the ball out to Steph and Draymond stepped into the pick and roll, I like that picture. And that’s kind of what we’ve done for a long time. And like I said, they made a good defensive play. And they deserve the win.”

2:54 Looked like Steph wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, step back, pass. Is it odd to watch? I mean, there’s been a lot of games where your star players, your guys have won championships, have made mistakes down the stretch. Is it odd to watch? Do you figure it’ll click at some point like it always has or is something just different about them and maybe this year ,maybe the league or whatever…?

“Honestly, the difference is every game is close now, in the past we had plenty of games like this where we miss a shot at the end or don’t execute and but because every game is tight and our record is what it is, there’s just a spotlight on every single late game situation. And we’ve still played more clutch games than any team in the league. And so when we don’t convert, it’s just exposed because we are where we are and we’re trying to fight our way into the playoffs. But those type of situations in the past, we didn’t always convert. We had plenty of nights where we didn’t execute and came out on the wrong end of things.”

4:14 Steve, what do you think about the way JK has been earning his teammates’ trust? You don’t have a new career high without guys wanting to get the ball to you, knowing that you’re a player who’s going to attack, and then maybe earning your trust as well, having him in that closing unit.

“Yeah, JK’s, like I said, he’s been fantastic the last couple of weeks, the best I’ve seen him. It’s the most calm I’ve seen him out on the floor. He’s limiting his defensive mistakes that he was making earlier in the year, and because of all that, he’s earning all these minutes and it’s really exciting to see, to see JK continue to get better and better.”

4:56 How big a problem was or what do you guys think of Harrison Barnes tonight, and what could you guys have done better?

“Harrison was great. He got off to a good start. I thought their start and they scored 40 in the first quarter was the key to the game because they really executed. They got some open looks. Harrison got a couple wide open threes. And so once he got rolling and he’s coming off a 30 point game last game, so he’s hot right now, but he was the key to the game for them.”

5:25 Yeah, there was even a couple of possessions that look like Dario went under a screen, Kuminga, late end of the third quarter, left Barnes, it seems like there’s still kind of those defensive breakdowns. Obviously, their point total is high, but are you still kind of seeing that with this team, even though Draymond is back?

“Yeah, what I told the team at halftime was that this is the modern NBA, everybody’s scoring 120 to 140 points every night, it seems like. And so the mistakes that you make now are exposed because everybody’s scoring so much, that you just have to limit the mistakes. You’re not going to get away with missing a rotation, not boxing out, getting back cut. You gotta eliminate every easy point possible. And I didn’t think we did that in the first half, but those same mistakes five years ago in the NBA, it’s not nearly as penalizing. It’s the way the game is played, the way everybody shoots it and spaces the floor, the way it’s officiated, you just cannot afford to make defensive mistakes.”

6:33 31 minutes for Draymond tonight. Just what is he unlocking on that end of the floor? Time for him to return to the starting lineup?

“Oh, he changes our defense for sure. When he’s out there, he’s causing havoc and guarding pick and roll. And he’s a dominant defensive player. And obviously, we need that desperately. Our defense the last few weeks has really struggled. So it’s great to have him back.”

7:03 Coach, you had a few different lineups out there, and at one point, kind of got a lead, and it seemed like Podz, Kuminga, Dray, Steph were all out there together. At one point it was Cory, at one point it was Wiggs with them. Which lineup did you like the most out of the entire game? Which lineup, you said you wanted to kind of shape up with the version of yourself that you’re going forward with this year. When you think back outside of the loss, what lineup did you like the most?

“Well, I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing with JK and Wiggs together. They struggled together earlier in the season, but we’re trying to streamline some things and getting them out there with Draymond, Steph and then either BP, Klay, Dario so that we have the extra shooter and playmaking. That lineup was good tonight. It was good last night, too.”

8:01 Wiggins, this is going to be a pretty random question, but I am very curious about it. So Steph Curry shot one free throw tonight. Why do you think that is? And what does he need to do?

ANDREW WIGGINS: “Shoot, I couldn’t tell you. I feel like he was being aggressive all night getting to the rim. I feel like there was a bunch of plays that should have been called a foul, for sure. But they might miss some, but we just gotta keep it going and he’s going to keep attacking. I know eventually he’ll get those calls.”

8:41 Andrew, Steve was in here talking about the defense, and that’s been an issue for you guys for a while now. From your perspective, is it the same mistakes, the same issues happening over and over again, or is it something new, kind of every night kind of thing?

“I feel like sometimes the same thing, but I feel like as long as we keep our shell tight, we play connected. And even having Draymond back is amazing for us. He’s a big part of everything we do, especially defensively, he’s a mastermind. So I know we just gotta keep looking out for one another, have each other’s back out there and I feel like we will get to where we want to go.”

9:41 Andrew, Steve was talking about you and Kuminga playing together now, how it’s improved. What has changed that in your mind that makes it better now that you two are when you guys are both on the court together?

“I feel like we’re playing free. We’re both being aggressive, trying to attack the rim and make plays for our teammates and just try and play our game without thinking too much. And just playing within the flow of offense and trying to get after it defensively.”

10:17 What difference is Draymond making for you two in that line up? Because that seems to be one of the major changes with his addition to that lineup with you two that it’s working better.

“Yeah, I mean, the one thing about Draymond is that he’s gonna make everyone around him better. He helps the flow of the game. He helps find guys, gets guys easy baskets, gets everyone in the rhythm. Draymond, he’s a big part for sure.”