Jae Crowder went from being out of the league at the beginning of the week to starting for the Kings on Wednesday. After signing with the team earlier in the day, Crowder was immediately inserted into the lineup. The veteran forward played 27 minutes and contributed eight points, four rebounds and a steal as Sacramento defeated Minnesota to snap a four-game losing streak.
“He knows what it takes to win,” coach Mike Brown told Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee. “Not only that, he’s a grown a– man, and he can guard fours, he can guard fives. If somebody gets going that’s in that realm, he ain’t going to back down. He’s going to fight that much harder. You saw it tonight. You’re not going to stop Julius Randle, but you got to fight him.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- Bradley Beal had another injury setback on Wednesday. The Suns wing left their game midway through the fourth quarter with left calf and ankle soreness. Beal was playing just his second game since a five-game absence due to a calf strain. “He had a couple different times where he stepped on somebody’s foot,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said, per David Brandt of The Associated Press. “We’ll hope for the best, but I have no update right now.”
- Warriors second-year guard Brandin Podziemski has been seeking guidance from mental coach Dr. Graig Chow, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Podziemski has been battling a shooting slump, resulting in reduced playing time. He has shown signs of coming out of his funk, including a 12-point, five-assist performance against Oklahoma City on Wednesday. “I think I’ve let the mental piece of it get to me a little bit,” Podziemski said. “Early on, when I was struggling, the first five, 10 games, I thought it was more physical. Like maybe I wasn’t putting enough into it. But everybody around here knows I’m one of, if not, the hardest workers and I put a lot into it. So I just thought outside the box. ‘Mentally, how can I get to where I want to get to?’ … And Dr. (Chow) has helped, obviously, a lot of people around here. And it doesn’t hurt to try and ask him. So he helped me give me a lot of different things that help me be my authentic self.”
- Lakers coach JJ Redick tweaked his lineup on Wednesday, reinserting rookie Dalton Knecht and moving Cam Reddish to the bench. Knecht scored a game-high 20 points as Los Angeles cruised past San Antonio to end a two-game slide. “I’m very proud of our group,” Redick said, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “The response was great. And it’s funny because it’s literally what I talked about with them before the game. It’s just you got to let go of the past. You got to let go of the recent past and you got to get on to the next thing. And like they’ve done already on several occasions, they’ve responded.”
After watching last night’s game versus the Thunder, I am one of the guys who believe you have to have Podski on the floor as much as possible.
You may not see this the same way I do, and that’s ok, but in the same way Marcus Smart effects a game and the same way Kyle Lowry affects a game, it’s these types of guys who make positive things happen out there.
It’s the loose balls, the tips to teammates, the getting the 50/50 balls on the floor, the finding the right open teammate, and all the rest of that blue collar not on the stat sheet stuff.
I just love watching the guy play and another positive part of it is that it’s contagious. I even saw Andrew Wiggins dive for a ball but he might have been tripped in the key, and earlier he tipped a rebound he was not able to gather himself to another teammate.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. May your day be blessed in whatever you do.
Cool. We lost. You enjoy losing basketball then. Couldn’t be me…
I enjoy watching basketball. They didn’t lose until the end when the final score Red 105-101. Up until that point there was probably 40 winning plays that were amazing and awesome to watch.
I enjoyed every minute of it, even watching The Fabulous team from OKC and their talented players.
I loved how the Warriors crawled and scraped to get their way back into the game and really enjoyed Pat Spencer playing well.
Now I can see why they keep him on the roster. The dude is a basketball player. And to watch him and know he doesn’t have a basketball background but rather played a totally different sport in college just attests to the guy’s incredible talent as an athlete.
Yeah we lost and that sucks but wow what a game. I loved it.
Gary, you know Pat Spencer took up hoops like 2 minutes ago, he’s a LACROSSE player. You get rose colored glasses anytime a player comes from nowhere in a loss. I hate losing and anything that causes it. Pat Spencer stealing Moody’s playing time is part of what caused that loss, why does Podz get unlimited minutes to play bad and make a million turnovers, but Moody gets 1 minute to show out or else he’s sitting the rest of the game? Moody gets no time, and no chances. Kerr hates him. Kerr is bad at developing players and Podz hasnt even been developed properly, he has regressed this season in every way.
The game itself was a good one aside from the first quarter when Podz refused to shoot open shots, 100% agree. I wouldn’t be surprised if that final score happened if Steph was there. Losing 3 in a row when you should and could have easily won all those games, is why we are critical of Kerr. It just doesn’t make sense Gary, when you know what works, you go up by 20, then you put in ice cold guys to blow that lead. Why not stick to what works? Kerr is the only HC who refuses to let anyone play over 35 MPG. Just tying your own shoelaces and handicapping yourself for no reason, injuries are going to happen no matter what. Everyone else knows this except Kerr. Its fine to not play Steph a 4Q blowout, but never the other way around? If I were Steve I would view these losses as “well, we gotta go up by 30 next time before I make changes” but he wont. Fire Steve Kerr, GSW needs a guy who can develop young players better.
You can’t play Moody because he can’t move his feet. He’s like Jason Richardson on defense with his size 16 shoes. It’s just not a good fit on defense. His legs are heavy or something.
Moody at best will be a three and NO D player standing in the corner waiting for a pass. That’s his ceiling after 3 years of a job in the NBA where it’s 24/7 hoops.
Shooting and shooting and more shooting. Dribbling dribbling and more dribbling. Video and drills and running and schemes. Yes he’s 22 but he’s not 18 anymore. Ya kind of know what you’re getting by this point after 3 years.
Gary- I think we (finally) agree on the problem with Moody’s defense. It is NOT, as I’ve been saying, a lack of effort; it IS that he has sub-par lateral movement. And, yes, it’s year 4, so that’s not going to change. Moody struggles to prevent penetration. Don’t play him against OKC.
Still, Moody has good size and length, and, as stats show, he defends the 3pt shot better, by far, than Hield, Podz, and, even, GP2 (who is among worst in league at fouling jump shooters). That’s why we used him Moody a lot to defend Klay.
Moody is what he is: a $12M/yr rotation player, 16-20mpg, 38% from deep, used to defend big wings.
You can only say that about Kerr because you have only been a fan of the dubs since he was the headcoach.
the frustrating part is you see other players not doing what Podz and Spencer did last night and dive for lose balls and drive to the hoop. Only thing Podz did wrong in the first half was shooting 3s. he need to go at the basket to open up the 3 pt line.
Podz, Kuminga, Spencer and Buddy had a total of 8 TOs in this game. A game they lost by 4 points. This “dive all over the place” style isn’t what wins basketball games. Our drives get swatted away more than any other team and we miss SO MANY layups or shots from under 3 feet, I am afraid you all are missing the point on this. Especially on a team with Dray and Steph, we cant afford to have anyone else giving up more than 1 TO a game.
After watching yet another “Podz played just ok, not terrible and GSW lose and dummies act like he is the next Lebron” game I am convinced he is the only problem. He did nothing to earn his minutes, he plays bad on both sides and seems to think he is better than he really is. Podz ceiling is GP2. This is fact. Neither of them are 30+ MPG starters in this league, but Kerr sure wants them to be.
Unlike GP2, who’s body is destroyed and he is old, Podz simply is not a high IQ player: he has no offensive identity, he appears scared to shoot, his energy is so unfocused, it messes up so many plays, plus his a horrible shooter in-game now. The best thing we can do for him is put him in the GL for 5 games and play him 40 MPG so he can develop his game more. He is such an unfinished product and idiot Kerr think’s he’s better than Moody, when Moody has flashed solid offense/defense profiles in this league despite Kerr’s mishandling of his development. Aint no way playing Anthony Lamb over Moody was good for anyone on any level. Kerr is also once again, a totally dejected, bored-looking HC with no energy and no direction for his team. GSW’s problem here is Steve. Kenny proves it.
hate to tell you Davey but Moody wasn’t that good last night. 0 for 4. Blame Watters and Payton for being terrible last night.
Moody was bad at shooting in the small sliver of playing time he got, yeah. But leave him in there and he will come right. Moody was playing defense on SGA too when he was out there, who cooked him a couple times – but thats not a slight on Moody, he’s not an all-star defender yet, but he could be if he had the playing time Podz gets in all these losses.
Wiggs and Lindy shot 5 for 23, that’s who lost the game last night. Every time Wiggs gets a chance to show he is Him, he chokes. Same ol story with him…
Also I am convinced SGA is Harden+better defense. He doesnt have to hunt fouls, thats low rent. Super talented guy though.
i have been disappointed in Moody all year long. highly inconsistent like in Monday’s game. had a great 1st half and disappeared in the second half. Its time to trade moody and find consistent players.
He didnt get any minutes in the second half, Steve was too busy playing worse players than Moody. Moody is currently at less MPG than last year, any other HC knows how to develop young players, Kerr can’t at all. Kerr is the problem and always has been. He played Lamb over Moody, that’s malpractice and stupid. At least send him to the GL.
Nope, its not “time” to trade Moody, we will only be able to bring back $4M in salary, if we wait til end of season, that goes to $39M, We will be doing the latter. We should be playing him 30 MPG. Kerr is bad at his job, we have seen it over and over, with Ty and Donte and and and….
What an idiotic response. If Kerr is such a bad coach, how did Ty and Donte get 500% increases on their contract values? They should have gotten worse contracts…Well, with Ty that probably would have meant playing in China
What did you expect from Babey J? Lol
Moody lacks the lateral mobility to be an “All-Star defender”. He’ll never be effective against PG’s.
Moody’s size and length make him an effective defender against outside shooters. He’s also a strong rebounder. He plays the passing lanes well.
“Over-average” is a reasonable goal; “All-Star” is not.
Funny. This one thing that people seem to miss, especially Davey J. You called Moody a “strong rebounder”. Well, Podz has put up better rebounding numbers than Moody. He also distributes the ball better. So, no wonder he gets more playing time. He does more on the floor. Yeah, he needs to work on his shooting. But, it is not something that insurmountable.
Shooting slump? You don’t say. 19% from deep, oouch. 15-18 minutes a night energy guy off the bench. Run the offense when Steph rests, that’s podz for me. Not sure what Kerr can see in podz.
Kerr sees a high IQ player. He is just putting to much pressure on himself right now. 3 different offenses in 18 months, adjusting to the speed of the NBA, new players, and huge responsibility placed on him. It will do that to anybody.
Podz shot 43.5% from 3 in college (highest in draft), and 39% his rookie year. It’s the strongest part of his game. This is only 18 games. He’ll recover.
But Moody is far superior than Podz.
-Babey J. 2024
LOL at these warriors fans….
Yes it’s very entertaining over here. Come on over anytime because the posts regarding most other teams in comparison has hardly no action, no interest, and no activity. This is where it’s at good and bad you’ll find it all.
Knecht’s game high was 37 points
“Knecht scored a game-high 20 points”
The GAME high was Knecht’s 20 points.
Knecht’s personal SEASON high is 37 points.
Davey J says Kerr is a terrible coach. This is what Gregg Poppovich says about Kerr..
“He’s one of those guys that every player should be so thankful that they even get to be around him because he’s the most centered, mature teacher I’ve been around in a long time, not super highs, not super lows. Class when you win, grace if you lose, and just teaching the game, participating with the players, high standards, everybody’s accountable, but it’s done with care and with love and with a thought that all we’re trying to do is be our best, do our thing, and then go home. That’s pretty rare, and he does it in spades.”
I guess Davey J thinks Popps knows nothing about “ball”.
Giants74, agreed that it should be obvious to all that Steve Kerr is an excellent coach.
But that doesn’t mean, like all coaches, Kerr doesn’t make big mistakes, as he’s first to admit. Kerr says his openness to admitting errors is a critical to success.
The point: praise from another about Kerr’s teaching and leadership has little bearing on a discussion about specific coaching tactics or player rotations.
Yep, everyone makes mistakes. You can cite a game or two where Kerr has made mistakes that may have cost them a victory. But, overall. He wins more than he loses. The Warriors went through massive changes this off season. It takes time for all that to settle in. You just can’t fire him over a game or two.
> You just can’t fire him over a game or two.
Red herring. We’re not making a blanket judgment about Kerr as a coach. We’re discussing a specific coaching strategy.
> The Warriors went through massive changes this
> off season.
The data says otherwise. The Warriors retained all of their starters from last year, and 10 players in total (see below). Only 4 NBA teams retained more than 10. In Kerr’s 10 year tenure, GSW has never had this much continuity. With Melton gone, we have only 3 new players on the roster: namely: Hield, Anderson, and Waters (replacing Klay, Saric, and CP3.) All 29 other NBA teams currently have more than 3 new players on their roster. (From a broader analytics perspective, in terms of which players on a team contribute to wins, only the Celtics have changed less from last year than GSW.) So, we have changed very little.
Kerr has made ONE significant change relative to last year: the 12 man-rotation. Simply, this means giving lesser-quality greater playing time, and giving higher-quality players less time. The rationale is that it improves team defense. Is it working? Defensively, possibly. However, from a W-L point of view, we’ve been worse in these first 18 games at 12-6 (.667) than we were after Kerr made the big lineup changes in late January of last season (Kuminga starting, Klay to bench, TJD and Podz minutes increased), finishing 27-12 (.700). Moreover, we’ve had a weaker schedule in 2024-25 than in the last 39 games of last year.
Fact: statistically, the data has turned against the advisability of a 12 man rotation. In Jan, 2024, Kerr made the right moves by increasing minutes given to Kuminga, Podz, and TJD, and in reducing minutes given to Klay, Saric, and Looney (with GP2 helping out by getting injured). the 2nd best team
Given that impressive performance by the 2023-24 team in the 2nd half of that season, and given the obviously poor performance of Waters and Payton this season, it’s natural for fans to question whether Kerr should return to last year’s 10 man rotation.
—————-
2023-24 to 2024-25
RETAINED (10): Santos, Payton, Looney, Moody, Kuminga, Podz, TJD, Wiggins, Green, Curry
NEW (3): Waters, Hield, Anderson
Actually, you forgot about the coaching staff. Kerr added Stotts to change the offense. He also added Stackhouse as a fresh voice. Podz basically replaced Chris Paul to run the 2nd unit, that’s probably why he is struggling. They went to Hawaii for a reason.
Giants74, I’ll rest my case: this team’s personnel changed less from the previous year than in any of in Kerr’s previous ten years, and, arguably less than any other NBA team’s. And changing two assistant coaches doesn’t mean the “the team went through massive changes since last season.” The offense is still the same.
The difference to this point is that we are using the same 10 players from.last year differently.
Huh? So, why did Kerr say he was bringing in Stotts to change the offense, and Curry say he was looking forward to learning it? Seems odd to say that and then keep it the same. Don’t you think.