Ejection a sign of things to come?
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr stomped toward referee Ben Taylor. As assistant coach Mike Brown tried feebly to usher him off the court, Kerr raised his eyebrows and spread his arms wide.
“I don’t want to be here, anyway!” Kerr shouted. “I don’t want to be here!”
It was nine seconds into the third quarter of Golden State’s 117-109 preseason loss to the Suns at Oracle Arena on Monday night, and Kerr had just gotten ejected after protesting an illegal-screen call on Stephen Curry. In that moment, as Kerr waved goodbye to Taylor and turned toward the home locker room, the Warriors faced an important question:
With boredom sure to be an issue for the second straight season, how can Golden State play with necessary bravado without getting overly heated?
It is a query the Warriors struggled to answer last season. Often, they toiled through lapses in focus, only to snap when a call went the wrong way. Draymond Green finished second in the league and Kevin Durant tied for third in technical fouls. It was the NBA champions’ slew of high-profile run-ins with officials that helped make ref-player relations a national talking point last winter.
In July, Golden State signed DeMarcus Cousins — known as an on-court instigator — to a one-year, $5.3 million contract, only amplifying concerns about the team’s ability to rein in its emotions. In just 48 games last season, Cousins tied for the 14th-most technicals in the league with nine. His 115 career technical fouls since
2010-11 easily pace the NBA.
Midway through the second quarter Monday, while a guest on the game’s telecast, Cousins — sidelined by a torn Achilles tendon he sustained in January with the Pelicans — told announcer Bob Fitzgerald that he would “for sure” have fewer technical fouls this season than Green. But Golden State’s concerns in that department aren’t limited to its two most recognized complainers.
Several minutes after Cousins made that statement, Durant picked up a technical foul for arguing a foul call. Curry also was assessed a technical foul for arguing, before Kerr got two and was ejected.
“The ref called a lot of offensive fouls,” Durant said. “That last one he called, I think that got us riled up right there. But that happens. It’s just part of the game.”
The good news for the Warriors was that Kerr getting tossed seemed to provide a jolt of energy that they had lacked much of the game. Up until that point, Golden State had needed little more than 24 minutes to surrender 61 points to the Devin Booker-less Suns. After Kerr disappeared through the tunnel, players were sharper with their defensive reads, working off screens and putting hands on shooters along the perimeter.
Still, the Warriors don’t want to have to rely on runins with referees to play with playoff-level enthusiasm. Opponents, recognizing a talent disadvantage, will try to do whatever they can to irk Golden State and get All-Stars tossed from the game. By feeding into the other team’s aims, the Warriors only hurt their chances of a smooth path to a third consecutive NBA title.
In a meaningless October game, that was Golden State’s biggest lesson. Some players contend, however, that there was a silver lining in their technical fouls Monday.
“It’s that love for the game, whether it’s a Game 7 or it’s a preseason game,” point guard Quinn Cook said. “I always respect how we prepare and how we take every opponent seriously. I think that’s what is going to make us great.”
On-court run-ins weren’t the Warriors’ only noteworthy developments.
Three nights after missing the team’s win over Sacramento because of his wife’s surgery, Curry continued to look poised for a memorable season, needing only 24 minutes and 14 shots to score 23 points. Alfonzo McKinnie, who is vying for a guaranteed roster spot with Patrick McCaw still unsigned, came off the bench for 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
But almost as troubling for fans as Golden State’s rash of technical fouls was its lack of precision. In addition to letting Phoenix shoot 51.2 percent from the field, it committed 18 turnovers and 26 fouls.
“We have had a really good camp,” Kerr said. “Tonight we ran into a team that played harder than we did.”