Stepping up defense on Warriors’ to-do list
SAN FRANCISCO >> After falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the preseason and Chase Center opener Saturday, the Warriors had plenty of film to review. After five days of practice, Golden State will host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight for their second exhibition.
Here are a few things they will be monitoring.
Defense
The Warriors gave up 123
points to the Lakers in the first exhibition game including, most alarmingly, 66 points in the paint. Granted, a large slice of that came courtesy of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns is no slouch.
Towns offers similar offensive versatility to Davis, and the Warriors will have their hands full
with him. While the Timberwolves’ offense has fewer teeth than the Lakers, the Warriors are looking more at defensive execution. In the first game, rotations were late (or nonexistent) and on-ball defense was sloppy.
As Kerr said: “It’s a process that will not be complete in two weeks from tomorrow. On opening night, it will be far from complete.”
Still, Kerr will want to see progress.
Spellman not hanging out on the perimeter
While centers Kevon Looney (hamstring), Willie Cauley-Stein (foot) and Alen Smailagic (ankle) are sidelined with injuries, Omari Spellman is slotted in as the starting center.
After the preseason opener, Kerr said he thought Spellman was too content to float along the perimeter. The Warriors want to run offense through posted-up bigs this season, and Spellman, a solid passer with ball skills, has an opportunity to be a part of that.
For Spellman to do so, he needs to first get into shape. He’s lost almost 40 pounds since the summer but is still far from his ideal playing weight. The Warriors offense is based on movement, and it’s harder to move for a player who is admittedly out of shape. Conditioning is as big a factor for Spellman as any.
Meanwhile, reserve center Marquese Chriss was impressive in the first game, and could create a tough decision for the Warriors front office.
Will someone stand out at small forward?
While Alec Burks is sidelined with an ankle injury, the competition for the starting small forward spot is between Alfonzo McKinnie and Glen Robinson III.
Neither, frankly, stood out in the first game. McKinnie, a known entity, may have the inside track, despite his precarious contract situation. A free agent addition, Robinson III has a lot more to prove to the coaching staff, but Kerr has been impressed with what he’s seen in practice.
“He comes from a basketball family, and he’s got a good feel,” Kerr said. “So we’re very hopeful he can be a nice defensive wing for us and he can knock down shots.”
Ultimately, that’s what it should take to crack the perimeter rotation: defense and making shots.
While other wings such as Jacob Evans and Jordan Poole had a more impressive preseason opener, neither seems to be an option at small forward, with Kerr looking to maintain some size at the position.
The burgeoning chemistry between Curry and Russell
Whatever chemistry eventually materializes will be a product of patience. Perimeter pairings of ball-dominant players typically take time to crystalize. Think about James and Dwyane Wade in Miami or, more accurately, James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. In that case, James was the established superstar and Irving was the up-and-comer. It took two years for those two to find success.
For Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell, it will take work, time and communication. The first preseason game set the baseline for the work in progress. In fact, the lack of chemistry between Curry and Russell was striking compared to the interaction Curry had with prior teammates.
“He may have felt a little uncomfortable at times in the first preseason game,” Curry said. “I told him, ‘Be you. You don’t have to be anybody else but yourself. So however you see yourself impacting the possession, do it.’”
There’s a reason why Kerr plans to stagger their minutes, but it will also be important to build a rapport, especially for those minutes at the end of games when the two will be on the court together.
“I think any time you have two guys together who understand the game well, they just figure it out. They understand where each other likes the ball, what actions they like, they start to understand how to play together,” Kerr said. “It has to happen organically, it doesn’t happen the first week of camp.”
• It turns out some tickets to Warriors games at their new home in San Francisco actually are affordable. The Warriors announcedg dual programs offering 250 tickets for each game to be sold for just $25.
The Warriors will offer 125 tickets for $25 apiece to each home game through the formation of “Dub Nation Deals.” In order to qualify for those upper tier tickets, fans will need to register at www.warriors.com/tickets/deals, where winners will receive a text message the day before home games offering them a chance to purchase up to four tickets at $25 each. One catch is fans can only purchase the $25 tickets once per month using the Dub Nation Deals.
In addition, there will be 125 other tickets available for $25 a pop and set aside for the rowdiest of fans though the “Splash Zone” fan club section. In order to qualify for a chance to buy tickets in the Splash Zone, fans are asked to send in their own “energetic hype video” to auditions@warriors.com, showing how they’ll bring the energy to Chase Center.