DRAYMOND: Zion’s “gotten so much better”; Stackhouse “level of accountability”; Kyle Anderson praise

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00:00 (Draymond, what does it feel like after wrestling back-to-back nights) with Zion? 00:02 DRAYMOND GREEN: Hurts. Bad. Hurts. But it was fun, man. He's gotten so much better. just playing him over the last, what, the first four years of his career? Like, you could tell previous years that he was getting in better shape, that he was starting to take the game more serious and you could just kind of see gradual steps. You can tell now he's been in the gym working and improving to get better. To me, what that looks like is (he was) so worried about weight, everybody talking about weight, and I've struggled with that, so I know that struggle. And so that's just the only focus. And it looks like now he has that so in check, that he can actually focus on his game. And he's gotten so much better. So it was a tough battle. He got the best of me last night and I just wanted to come out and put up a better defensive performance than I did last night. 01:07 Helping limit him to 5-for-20 tonight and you also did a great job - 01:12 I was the main defender. Helping is crazy, but it's cool. 01:17 Limiting him to 5-for-20. You also did a great job on Lauri in Utah. Just how would you evaluate the way you've started this season defensively? 01:25 I wanted to come into this season in great shape. I know when I come into this season in great shape, that is the key to me having a great season. That is the key to this team having a great season. And spend all summer of watching everyone talk about Chet and Wemby and what they're doing defensively. Don't forget about Dray. So I want to be in that conversation as well. And I think I've earned the right to at least be in the conversation. So every game I'm coming out here motivated defensively to get back on the First Team All-Defense. I think I had a really good year last year defensively. I just didn't play enough games. So it's a goal of mine to get on that team and then put myself back in the Defensive Player of the Year category is a goal of mine. So when I'm matching up with these guys, that's my mindset. Like I said, it's not going to work out every night. He had, what, 31 last night, something like that, on a very efficient, what, 12-for-19 or something? And so I just wanted to make him take tougher shots tonight, try to meet force with force. And I was able to get a couple strips and then also my team is helping me. I'm not going to sit here and act like it's just all me. We're shrinking gaps, flying around, getting deflections, showing a crowd. It's always a team effort. No one guy is ever stopping a superstar in this league by yourself. But in saying that, got to meet the force with force and I wanted to do a better job of that tonight than I did. He put a couple moves on me last night. He spin. I was out of bounds somewhere. So I wanted to have a bounce-back game tonight. 03:10 You've won a challenge in the last four straight games, and I say 'you' because often times you're the one calling it. Last year, you guys were bad at challenges. Do you, like, do you feel like the referees are more willing to overturn it right now? Or are you guys just being better at which ones you're deciding? 03:25 I think we've been better. There's - that's probably a, I mean, we all complain about the challenge system. You're like, 'Yo, you're asking people to overturn it as they call it.' And I think that rule changed. But regardless if it changed or not, it is about as transparent of a process as you can have. Like, we all see the replay. We all get to make a judgment. Sometimes you disagree with it, but for the most part, it's right in your face. I think we're just better. Our process is better. I saw that graphic ths summer and it had, like, the head coaches, and it had Steve, like, way somewhere. 04:11 30th, I believe. 04:12 And I'm looking at the graphic like, 'Man, we were awful.' But our process wasn't great. You got me out there crying, you got BP out there crying, like, and everybody's just running up like, 'Challenge, challenge!' And in turn, we weren't able to create a good process. And I think now, like, this year, there's been a couple where Steve's like, 'Yo, Draymond?' I'm like, 'Nah, don't challenge that one.' I seen BP a couple times, so he was like - and he's like, 'Nah, don't challenge.' And I think we're all doing a better job. And it's important because the reality is, it's bigger than just whether you win or lose the challenge or not. Probably means if we're losing challenges the way we are, we all are being over-emotional. We're all being over-consumed with what the referees are calling. And I think it's important for us as leaders to understand, like, use them wisely. They're very important. They can change the outcome of a game. And we're just doing a better job of it, I think, than we were last year. 05:14 It's obviously early and you haven't had Steph for the last couple, and Wiggs the last couple. But do you think this team's identity is becoming clear to you? Do you feel what the identity is and what is it? 05:24 I think our identity is we're going to get into you defensively. We're gonna make it hard. We're gonna fly around. We're gonna push the tempo. We don't want to run sets. We want to get up and down and if we need to get to a set, then we can get to a set. But we really want to push the tempo and not play against a set defense all night. And I feel like that's becoming our identity, getting stops and getting out and running. I think we're becoming a really good defensive team. We've got to continue to build up on that. But I'd say that's becoming our identity. 05:59 Draymond, the starting lineup tonight was you and four guys who don't have a lot of experience starting in this league. Lindy's second start ever and all that stuff. Did you feel more responsibility than ever to kind of lead that group to be the elder statesman out there. 06:12 Yeah, just trying to make sure everybody not worried about me. 06:21 Okay. You guys, opened the game with, like you said, that lineup, but it was pretty clear from your point of view, it looked like you were deliberately trying to maybe pull Zion out a little bit because you were shooting a three - you pulled 4 threes tonight. Is that just something thinking, 'Well, okay, Steph's not here, Wiggs is not here, I need to spread the floor a little bit. Are you just taking advantage of the open shot? 06:43 Well, I spent the Clipper game in my feelings because I was just standing in the corner and so I'm like, 'If you're gonna spend the game in your feelings when you get the opportunity to shoot the ball, you gotta shoot. You can't about something and not do the work to change it. And if there's a possibility they're not take advantage of those opportunities. Also, I think I'm a very good shooter. I spend a lot of time on it. But Steph's not out there, and Wiggs is not out there which means the first open shot you get may be the best look you get. And you get so used to playing with Steph that the first open shot you get is probably not the best shot that you're going to get because the defense is so overreactive to him. They're giving you that shot. When he's not out there, it's a little different. And so I just kind of wanted to make sure I come out with an aggressive mindset and knowing if the shot's there, you have to take the shot. Because it's going to allow this offense to move. With Steph, Steph moves everybody. Like, everyone on the court, he's going to move you. It's different when he's not out there. And so that was kind of my mindset coming into it. It's just, if the shot's there, fire. And make sure I'm taking the good ones. I'm never going to come out and just rush a bunch of bad shots, but make sure I'm taking the good ones and missed the first couple but then I was able to get them to fall. [👇 transcript continues in Reply Comment below👇]

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08:11 Do you know what your record is when you make (3 threes)? 08:14 A lot to a little. 08:16 53-and-7. 08:17 That's nice 08:19 What Stackhouse adding right now? He's adding a fire and a level of accountability to us on the defensive end. He came in and he came in, kind of implemented some different defensive rules. If you know anything about the NBA, we all run the same stuff. And he's coming back from college, obviously Stack's a vet, legend. 17, 18,000 points in this league, but he spent years in college and he came in with a couple different rules where everybody's like, 'Ah,' but he was so confident and he was so vocal about it. And every time you got it wrong, he's teaching you. That's not it. I know you've done it that way. That's not it. And when someone comes in with that type of force, with that type of confidence and presence. As a player, you have no choice but to believe it. And he's giving guys a level of confidence on the defensive end that we hadn't had. But, like I said, more importantly, a level of accountability that we haven't had over the last couple years. And he's, like, that's all he talk about. He don't say a word about the offensive end. Only defense and he's on guys every single play. He has these defensive grades that he sends out every game and you see guys going up to him like it's competitive now, right? Like, you get dinged for everything, man. One small thing and your points, your grade is dropping and it's like a list of everything you do. Well, you don't want to see that list. And you got a lot of dings on it. And so, there's just a level of accountability that he's brought to that side of the ball for us. And he's created this challenge to where everybody's trying to be at the top of this list. In turn, it's creating a good defense for us. 10:12 Draymond, you guys played against Kyle Anderson something like 45 times in the past, including the playoffs. How nice is it to have him on your guy's side now? And these past two games, did it show all the ways he can impact the game and all the small things? 10:23 100%. He's one of the guys I hated playing against. I told y'all before. He got a steal, either last year or a couple years ago, where I was throwing a pass and like he reached his long-ass arm out and took the ball and I'm like, 'Yo, how did he get the ball?' And then I saw Zion try to take him off the dribble yesterday, then he slid and stopped and I'm like, 'Yep I'm happy. I don't have to face that anymore.' So it's - I've been very vocal about him over the years and just the problems that he creates for teams, every team that he's been on. He creates problems for whoever they're playing against. And to have him on our side is great because he was really our point guard most of the night. I don't know if everybody noticed, but when BP wasn't on the floor, or even at times getting BP off the ball, he was our point guard most of the night. He just have a level of versatility that most guys don't possess in this league, and to have him on our side is absolutely incredible. Because he's one of those guys that you can trust in any situation. He's seen it all. He's been through it all. And he's building a level of trust with this coaching staff that we're going to need. As we continue to try to put this team together and off and hopefully do something special this year. 11:33 Another Stackhouse question. Trayce said that he's kind of - you mentioned into the ball and maybe more, not double teams, but certainly helping you do that all the time. But has he really emphasized, 'Hey, if you see a chance to go get the ball, go chase the ball a little bit.'? 11:48 Yeah, I had a meeting with Stack before the season even started. He told - showed me all his principles. Yeah. And he said to me personally, he said, I'm not going to stop you from being great. I'm not going to stop you from playing off your instinct and doing what you do. Do that. Play off that instinct. But there are some things that I think as a defense we can do better. And believe it or not, Tim, like you said, I am a guy who's always looking to help, who's always in opposition. If I'm a slight bit off, like, if I'm here and help, And he think I should be here, you get dinged for it. And I'm like, 'Stack, come on, man. I'm covering that.' But like I said, there's that level of accountability. So I've appreciated that as well. I absolutely enjoy being coached and I want to get better. And so to have someone that's holding me accountable like that, I love it. Because I like to think I'm a great defender, but you can always get better. To have someone that's on me every second like, 'Yo, man, you ain't doing this. You ain't doing that.' And although I think like, 'Yo, I'm there and I think I'm in a position that's good enough to cover that if I need to, he's like, 'It ain't good enough. You need to get over a step.' And so it's been good. We gotta make sure we keep building on it and keep flying around and bringing that intensity to that side of the ball like we have been.

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