Looking at the stats sheet, you could almost believe that last night’s Blazers – Warriors was still a preseason game. Golden State had a lot of fun in Oregon, with a clear 35-point victory and a large roster overhaul. A question of opportunity, when the match was quickly over? A big no for Steve Kerr, who even revealed his intention to maintain a very wide rotation in future matches.
While his choices as coach of Team USA caused a lot of talk during the Olympic Games, notably with Jayson Tatum at the end of the bench and without playing time, the Warriors coach this time largely rotated. And this, very early in the game. Steve Kerr brought in 11 players in the first half alone, then a twelfth, Moses Moody, from the start of the second act.
The technician had announced that he wanted to do tests throughout the preseason to find his starting five (Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis started on Wednesday), and he intends to take advantage of the start of the season to continue his experiments at the start of the season to its entire roster.
Longest playing time at 25 minutes
“ Yes, we will continue like this » he assured at a press conference. “ I've never played 12 players before but we're going to do it. It's not easy for anyone. We just have to believe in it. From one match to another, we will find the players and combinations that work best. Guys have to understand that some matches will be for them, others won't, and that's normal. As long as we continue to play hard together, I think this is going to be a fun team for our fans to watch. »
With aging executives like Steph Curry – who only needed 25 minutes to approach the triple-double – and Draymond Green, this solution allows the Warriors to maintain rhythm, dynamism and continuous defensive pressure. It was certainly only the Blazers, expected in the depths of the West, opposite, but this first iteration proved convincing. Portland only shot 39.1%, with 11 turnovers in total by the three main ball carriers, Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson and Deni Avdija, and 31 points from Golden State on the counterattack. “ We play on both sides of the floor with a lot of good energy »Steve Kerr emphasized. “ The players like each other, the ball moves well. It was nice to see this evening. »
21 different compositions lined up
In total, the Warriors fielded 21 different groups according to NBA.com – some quite bold with four backs simultaneously to end the first quarter (Melton, Podziemski, Payton II and Hield) – only four of whom spent more than three minutes together. No surprise then to see the bench score 70 points, and the Warriors continue despite the lackluster scoring performances of Jonathan Kuminga (3/9 shooting and four lost balls) or Brandin Podziemski (0 points to 0/5) . A last minute poker move for Steve Kerr.
“ I decided that yesterday, honestly. Two days ago, I told myself that I was going to play with a 10-man rotation and that I had to tell two players that they were going to stay on the bench. I couldn't figure out how to justify it. They all played really well during preparation. I even feel bad not to have played Lindy (Waters III), he had a great training camp, with one of the best +/- ratios on the team. This is the densest squad I have been able to train and we must exploit it. »
He could do it again against an opponent a priori within reach of Golden State, the Jazz, Friday evening, before chaining together four possibly more revealing shocks next week against direct opponents for the playoffs in the West (Clippers , Pelicans back-to-back, Rockets).
