Green sticking by his bold convictions
Warriors forward confidently calling for Golden State to wrap up title tonight in Game 5
OAKLAND — Draymond Green may sound to some like he can fly off the handle at times and maybe take things too far.
The Golden State Warriors’ power forward certainly speaks his mind at all times regardless of the presence of microphones and recorders, sometimes because of the presence of microphones and recorders.
But ask Green if he ever wishes he could take something back and the answer is a snapshot into what it means to be Draymond Green.
“Absolutely not,” Green said, sounding insulted anyone would think that would be the case. “Because everything I say, I know what I’m saying. When I say something, I’ve thought about what I’m going to say before I say it. So, no, I never look at something and say, no, I shouldn’t have said that. Because I’m a lot smarter than people think. When I say something, I’ve already thought about how I was going to say it. So absolutely not.”
So he wasn’t about to take back his characterization of the Cleveland fan base as lacking smarts following Friday’s Game 4 in Cleveland.
Green though said he wasn’t bashing the Cleveland fan base, just giving his opinion.
“Well, they boo me and they thought I had a tech that I didn’t have, so that wasn’t sharp,” he pointed out.
Green realizes there are those out there who wish he wouldn’t be so confrontational, but in his mind, he’s got to be true to himself. “I’m just me,” he said. “I’ve kind of always been this way. People tend to want you to change, but being me has got me here. Why change now?”
So it should come as no surprise that Green says he has every intention of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy on his home court Monday night. The Warriors take a 3-1 edge into Monday’s Game 5 in Oakland. If the Cavs extend it to a Game 6, it’ll be back in Cleveland Thursday night.
“I expect us to come out guns blazing,” he said. “You get punched in the face, you want to respond. We know what it takes to win a championship. We know what we have to do in order to win this game. I expect us to come out with a level of focus that we have had this entire series, minus Game 4. I don’t think we came out with the focus level and intensity level that it takes to close out. I expect that (Monday).”
The three ball focus
When a team hits an NBA Finals record 24 threes against you, it’s likely to get one’s attention and the Cavaliers certainly have the Warriors’ attention in that department.
“Some of it was their ball movement and their ability to break us down from the perimeter, and some of it was us just not being ready to play and not ready to rotate, not helping each other fully,” Warriors’ Klay Thompson said of the Cavs three-point barrage in Game 4. “So give Cleveland credit for their offence. They were moving the ball really well and slicing us up. But on the other side of that, we kind of let them.”
Green all but promised there would not be a repeat of that kind of scoring from distance by the Cavs again. “I think they can match the effort they gave,” Green said. “But I think if we raise our level of effort and intensity, they don’t hit 24 threes. I definitely expect them to match that effort, but I expect ours to be a lot better.”
No three on three for LeBron
LeBron James has represented his country at the Olympics three times and come home with three medals, two gold and a bronze, but he draws the line at three-on-three basketball which will be introduced at the next Summer Games.
“First of all, I think it’s great for basketball,” James said. “For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it’s pretty great. I haven’t seen the full layout of how they plan on executing it and are they going to use NBA guys or are they going to use college guys. I’m not quite sure.
“I’m not very good in a three-onthree thing. I’m more of a five-onfive guy. I stay out of the one-onone matchups during our practice, the two-on-twos and the three-onthrees. So probably not. I probably won’t be a part of the three-on-three matchup (at the Olympics).”
Quick hits
The first two games of the NBA Finals gave ABC/ESPN the highest ratings for a basketball game since Michael Jordan was winning championships in the ’90s. According to Forbes magazine the first four games of these Finals are the highest TV ratings since the Bulls-Jazz series of 1998 with an average viewership of nearly 19.4 million ... As of Sunday evening the Warriors were favoured by 8.5 points in Game 5 according to OddsShark. The line opened at 6.5 and jumped to 11 before settling back to 8.5 ... You can always count on Cleveland’s Richard Jefferson for at least one good line every time he sits down in front of the media. Asked Sunday about the mood of his team, Jefferson replied: “We’re in a great mood. We’re always in great moods. We’re the grumpiest, happiest band of idiots that you could ever be around, to tell you the truth. That’s just us.”