The Golden State Warriors just Tricked EVERYONE

The Golden State Warriors just Tricked EVERYONE

[Music] The Golden State Warriors have the Timberwolves right where they want them. Back at Chase Center after having stolen homecourt advantage. For some extra sauce, Jonathan Kaminga hammers Rudy Gobear into the basket while shooting perfect from the field for most of the night. And Draymond Green goes buck wild. Look like the angry black man. I’m not an angry black man. I’m Anything that could happen in a basketball game did so inside of Target Center in game two of the Warriors versus Timberwolves matchup. Hey, what’s happening everyone? This is Swiss culture. As gloomy as things might look for the Warriors at the moment, best believe that considering the circumstances. What is it with Steph Curry and how long are we looking for him to be missing some games? My understanding is it’s probably not going to be at any point until game six. They could have been much worse. Having lost Steph Curry in game one, the Warriors were easily counted out against the well-rested Timberwolves, only for the Wolves to have their cheeks clapped while Steph got patched up in the locker room. With game two on the line and no set time for Curry’s return, the Warriors had to figure out how to keep the hope alive. And alive it is. Steve Crow once again shows exactly why he’s been coaching the Warriors for the last decade and continues to be rated as one of the best coaches in the league. Going into Minnesota to start the series, the Warriors were hopeful they could get just one win with a healthy Steph Curry. Turns out that they set the bar too low as they were able to achieve that in the first game without Steph. I went into a bit of detail on that in the prior video and noted that there wasn’t a scramble when Curry went down. However, in game two, all hell broke loose. The Timberwolves came out hotter than a spicy Jamaican beef patty. They were up by double figures before Kanye West could say, “Go.” Timberwolf’s coach Chris Finch playing poker and holding the deck looking at Steve Cerr like fold. But all of this seemed to play into Steve Kerr’s hands as he was able to accomplish the mission he set out for game two. If you believe Steve Curry, let’s find out what that mission was and how it impacts the game plan for the Warriors in game three at Chase Center. Just be sure to like the video and subscribe to Switch Culture for the most analytical and entertaining NBA content on the planet. Now, get ready. You’re about to [Applause] get three important details popped out which will explain why the Warriors lost and will be instrumental to them winning this series. In his postgame interview, Steve Cerr made note of two. First, he let it be known that he wasn’t specifically in the business of winning game two. He was buying time. The loss of Steph Curry is such a big deal that the team essentially loses its identity without him. It’s not as simple as, you know, Steph’s out so we just replace him with one person. Um the domino effect of Steph being out um led to Trace playing tonight cuz we need the scoring, we need the finishing. Same thing with JK. We had found a formula over the last couple of months and obviously we’re having a lot of success, but without Steph, the formula is completely goes out the window and we’ve got to figure out the next formula. As such, the coaching staff decided that they were going to put as many players as possible out on the floor to see if they could make up for his scoring. This is actually quite difficult considering Steph is such an efficient scorer. You’ll need guys to play at a much higher level defensively and much more efficiently than they typically are in order to replace his production. But being honest, there’s no real way to replicate that without putting another superstar out there on the floor. Now, while the ceiling is lower without Steph, it doesn’t mean the Warriors can’t win. Steve had an NBA record 14 players on the floor by the halftime buzzer. This gave him a chance to see how these players could contribute. And it also brings up the second detail. Absolutely. I I didn’t want to push it with Draymond or Jimmy. I didn’t want to chase this game unless it was really getable. We went into the game thinking we’re playing a lot of people short burst minutes and try to protect Jimmy and and Draymond. They’ve been playing huge minutes. Kerr didn’t want to push his veterans, Jimmy or Draymond, unless there was a clear indication that the Warriors could win. What counts as a clear indicator, I’m not exactly sure, is they got within seven points in the middle of the third quarter after being down by 20 earlier in the game, and the seemingly haphazard sub patterns continued with scripted guys coming in instead of rolling with the best players. Jimmy ended up playing 34 minutes while Green ended up with 29. I expected the two would have played the same number of minutes if Draymond didn’t go off script and hit Nas Reed with a reverse clothes line. With just under nine minutes remaining in the second quarter, Reed fouls Draymond, who as is typical, flails both arms up in the air as best he could to get the ref’s attention that he was fouled. Except what he does and what we all see is a little bit different for him. He ends up getting his fifth technical, which puts him two away from a oneame suspension. Keep in mind that the Warriors have to win a total of four series to win the championship and the team’s only two games into the second series. He’s got five technicals and two flagrants in nine playoff games. He probably should have more technicals. The restraint showed by the referees. By the way, that’s a big complaint across the league that Draymond gets away with stuff after he commits a flagrant and after he commits a technical and sometimes even after he gets five fouls. There’s a belief that Draymond actually gets too much leeway. This is not my words. This is what people tell me. At this rate, he’ll have two or three suspensions by the time the Warriors get to the finals. That being said, Jimmy is most definitely not playing at 100%. He’s noticeably avoiding contact on his drives, which indicate that he’s playing through discomfort. Are you still feeling the the foam? Yeah, for sure. But, um, believe it or not, Domino coffees and kids make it all better. While this clearly isn’t impacting the minutes that Steve Cerr will keep Jimmy on the floor, it’s most definitely lowering his impact as a player. If the Warriors can’t rely on Jimmy to score at a high level, despite the fact that he’s such a great facilitator, it might be difficult to win games without Steph. This leads us to the third detail. In the scramble following Minnesota’s early lead, somehow JK leaked out and got onto the floor. And between him and Trace, the Warriors had what looked like a fighting chance to win the game. two players who were out of the Warriors rotation, dominating the Timberwolves and clawing their way back. While we know specifically the type of role that Trace can play for the Warriors, and considering he put up 15 points and six rebounds while going six of six from the field in 19 minutes, Steve’s going to have to get another look at him in game three. It’s likely that there’s no game plan for Trace specifically because he was out. But in the same way that Pat Spencer was neutralized in game two, we want to be wary of that happening to Trace in game three. But trace isn’t the real story here. Jonathan Kaminga finished with a team high 18 points and five boards in 26 minutes, hitting his first eight shots and finishing with eight of 11 from the field, including one of three from distance. Once I came out uh for the first couple minutes and I went back and I feel like, you know, the confidence just came back, especially knowing us the the way we started wasn’t uh that great. You said early in this press conference that your confidence came back. How important is that for a basketball player? It’s very important. As long as the confidence is there, you know, it don’t matter even if the ball is going through the net. You know, you can still do other things besides score. You can still go out there and attack. Who would have thought confidence was so important? After watching player after player struggle to guard Anthony Edwards, including GP2 Jonathan Kaminga introduced the Ant-Man to the facilities at Guantanamo Bay while showing him top tier accommodation. JK was the one test that Edwards was unable to pass possession after possession. It became clear that Kaminga was the defender that the Warriors needed. This makes two straight series within which JK would clearly be an impactful player for Golden State in hindsight. This leaves one hurdle for Golden State. With Jimmy such a big part of the Warriors on both ends of the floor, how do you integrate a guy like Jonathan Kaminga, especially without Steph Curry? You and Jay came, the minutes weren’t real good, but you mentioned attacking. Would it work with two attackers? I mean, he’s a a great basketball player. I mean, he’s a a great basketball player, a great basketball player. I can play with anybody. He can play with anybody. He can play with anybody. Me and JK could thrive, can, and will thrive together on the basketball floor. For me, it’s quite simple. Honestly, Jimmy is more of a passer. And while he can get his own shot, if he’s surrounded by players that can play off of him and shoot, as he said, he can be successful with anyone. I believe Jimmy. If the Warriors run through Jimmy, there should be no issue as he likes to get in the paint. He likes to kick out for the three. So you get in the corner, either pause or buddy and either hit the immediate look or if they get a close out, hit JK on the quick pass for the second look. They do respect JK’s shot enough such that he can get downhill and drive for the layup or kick it to the guy in the adjacent corner for the three or if we have trace he can get a lob from the dunker spot. That’s just one of many plays that I could think of with regards to how the Warriors could utilize a Butler Kaminga duo on the floor. If you give these guys two shooters and a lob threat, they can become devastating. Otherwise, use JK as the lob threat and play alongside Draymond and the team’s two biggest perimeter threats. This still functions with the return of Steph Curry. However, the guys have to build chemistry in order for it to work, and there’s only one way to do that. And that’s how Steve Cerr had his mission accomplished. Steve was able to get all the data he needed from game two to make games three and four competitive enough to possibly win both. He found players and lineups that can score efficiently against the Timberwolves in Steph’s absence. If he uses such a lineup in Curry Returns, it’s a wrap. But let me know if you guys agree. JK’s been sitting pretty much since injury and finally having his confidence back. Is this the development the Warriors need to get to the next level? Do you believe Steve Crow was just experimenting? Crazy thing to do in the playoffs, of course, or was he just lost in terms of what to do? And lastly, could the Warriors have won game two? What do you think kept them from winning? Some folks say the hockey substitution in the third quarter after the Warriors went on a run did them in, but let me know what you think. Post your thoughts in the comments below. Before that, however, be sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and turn on all your notifications so you don’t miss any of my latest uploads. Thanks for watching. Till next time. [Music]

Crazy Steve Kerr