Trip might help Blake integrate with Warriors
Guard gets quality time tomesh with new teammates
OAKLAND — Steve Blake is really tired of packing bags and getting on airplanes. It was tough enough to be traded midseason, but embarking on a six- game trip just two games after joining the Warriors isn’t exactly a welcome junket.
“I just did a trip like that with L. A.,” said the veteran guard, who was dealt by the Los Angeles Lakers to Golden State on Wednesday. “So I’ve already been to most of these places we’re playing once.”
Indeed, the Warriors will visit Detroit, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Indiana and Boston over the next 10 days, starting Monday against the Pistons. Blake passed through all but two of those cities during a brutal monthlong stretch in which the Lakers played 13 of 16 games on the road, including a seven- game swing through the East in late January.
“I was hurt, too, so I didn’t get to play in any of them even though I made the trip,” he said. “At least this time, I’ll get to play on the East Coast.”
Road- weary as he might be, Blake knows this trip will help fasttrack his integration with the Warriors. Players are together a lot more when they’re away from home, and it can be good for team bonding, particularly for a new player .
“You get to spend a lot of time on planes together and just hang out with the guys,” he said. “Then maybe in a certain city you’ll go out and grab dinner or something and start to feel more comfortable with them personally, and them with you.”
On the court, Blake has gotten a crash course. He played 18 minutes off the bench in his fi rst game against Houston on Thursday and 16 in the Warriors’ 93- 86 victory over Brooklyn on Saturday night, including 6 ½ in the fourth quarter. He made two 3point baskets during that stretch and also had some key assists that helped the Warriors stave off the stubborn Nets.
Blake, who turns 34 this Wednesday, believes he’s already made some assimilation strides.
“You start to figure out the style of play pretty quickly, how pick- androlls are run and defensive concepts,” he said. “When you talk about them off the floor, you understand them, but you don’t really get a feel for them until you get on the court and play. Then it really starts to sink in.
“There are some things that are a little different from L. A. that I’ll have to get used to, but I just hope to make progress from game to game.”
Blake has a checklist of on- court priorities he hopes to achieve on this trip.
“The fi rst thing is understanding the terminology,” he said. “I have to learn that stuff quickly so when coach ( Mark Jackson) calls something out, I know what to do. That’s pretty important. After that, it’s just learning and understanding my teammates — who likes the ball where, what plays different guys like to run the most, what their strengths are. It’ll take a little bit of time.”
It’s not much of a secret that Blake enjoyed his 3 ½ - year stint with the Lakers, and even with the allure of going to a winning team that needed him to help secure a playoff berth, it wasn’t easy emotionally to leave. But he said the rousing reception he received from Warriors fans during his debut made him feel a lot better about it.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I was just tying my shorts, and I heard this roar. I didn’t realize what was going on, and I fi nally looked up and figured it out.”
Blake knows there’s more to be done, though, before he feels fully integrated.
“Changing teams is a learning curve,” he added. “But I’ve done it before, so it’s nothing new to me. Basketball is basketball. I did spend a lot of time ( in L. A.), got used to the area and settled in my family, so that side of it is a little bit harder. But I feel a lot more comfortable than I thought I would.”
Forward David Lee, who missed the Nets game because of the stomach flu, did not accompany the Warriors to Detroit. His status for the Pistons game is uncertain, according to a team spokesman.