FOOTLOOSE
Kerr takes issue with Rondo’s tripping tactics; Green calls it ‘just basketball’
NEW ORLEANS >> After rewatching footage of the Warriors’ Game 3 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, coach Steve Kerr did not just find issues with the team’s shooting accuracy or defensive execution. Just under three minutes into the Warriors’ loss on Friday, Kerr noticed Rajon Rondo planting his right foot intentionally where Warriors guard Stephen Curry might land with his left ankle. It bothered Kerr so much that he said the Warriors will “probably” ask the NBA to review the play.
“You can’t do that,” Kerr said following Saturday’s practice. “I’m all for getting underneath guys’ skin. But you can’t try to step on a guy’s foot or try to swipe a guy underneath his feet when he’s shooting. Those are dangerous plays.”
After rewatching footage of the same game, Warriors forward Draymond Green
became displeased with a number of things. He wished Curry and Kevin Durant played more aggressively. He wished the team played stronger defense. He wished he had started at center as he did in Games 1 and 2. Yet, it hardly bothered Green about Rondo’s tactics, including any efforts to bait Green into a technical foul. Instead, it bothered Green that reporters kept asking him about Rondo, and whether he crossed any line.
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as crossing a line in basketball,” Green said. “People make something about crossing the line. You’re competing. So if you’re competing, you’re doing what you got to do to win.”
Green has often gone to great lengths to win with his defensive intensity and trash talking. He has also received criticism on whether his emotions result in unnecessary technicals or in some chippy play. That dynamic took a different direction, though, in Game 3. Rondo and Green talked trash during the team’s timeout in Game 3. Replays also showed Rondo trying to trip Green later in the game. Though he said he did not see any of the replays, Durant argued, “it’s just basketball.”
“He’s trying to bait me. At the end of the day, I’m still trying to win basketball
games,” Green said. “Ya’ll create these narratives that somebody crosses the line. There is no crossing the line to win. You have to do whatever you have to do to win. I don’t know what crossing the line means. So no, I don’t think he crossed a line. I think he’s trying to win a basketball game.”
To win Game 4, Green sounded more concerned about other things than Rondo’s tactics. Instead, Green harped on the Warriors’ defense. He also challenged Curry and Durant
after the two combined to shoot 14 of 37 from the field. Curry battled rustiness and fatigue in his second game since sitting for 5 ½ weeks with a left knee injury. Durant went 1 of 6 from 3-point range, marking the third time in the past four playoff games he has shot below 30 percent from behind the perimeter.
“I still don’t think KD or Steph were aggressive enough,” Green said. “As I’ve said to both of them, I need them to be aggressive. They’re both our guys. Those are who we need to go get buckets. We need them to be aggressive at all times. They’ll be that way” in Game 4.”
Meanwhile, Rondo might play the same way in Game 4. Kerr’s issues with Rondo’s attempted trip Curry aside, however, the Warriors coach sounded more alarmed with Rondo’s 21 assists than his interactions with Green. After all, Kerr became accustomed to seeing such play when he played with Dennis Rodman on the Chicago Bulls (1995-1998).
“It’s a fairly common tactic,” Kerr said. “I think Draymond’s done a good job in handling his business. Rondo is a competitor. So they’re competing. I don’t see anything wrong with it, except for the tripping.”