Dub Hub: Steve Kerr has ‘no doubt’ the Warriors can make a big run to finish the season

Rounding up all Warriors and NBA related news for Thursday, March 14th.

Warriors News:

Steve Kerr: “I still have no doubt that this team can get on a great run”

Warriors could be trapped in bottom side of Play-In bracket | The Athletic

The Warriors have 17 games remaining. They face the Lakers twice in Los Angeles. The first of those comes Saturday, with Curry and Green likely back. Both teams have 31 losses. The Warriors can pass the Lakers this weekend and begin to take control of ninth, which would at least give them home-court advantage in a No. 9 versus No. 10 elimination game.

But the Warriors’ target has never been ninth. Exiting the break, it was sixth. But the New Orleans Pelicans have played too well and the Suns and Kings have stabilized enough to distance themselves far enough away. It could still be within reach if the Warriors rattle off something like 13 or 14 wins in their final 17 games, but who is ready to predict that? Here are some of the teams still left on their schedule: Lakers twice, Mavericks twice, at Miami Heat, at Minnesota Timberwolves, at Orlando Magic, vs. Pelicans.

Brandin Podziemski’s confidence drives Warriors vets ‘crazy,’ Steve Kerr jokes | NBC Sports Bay Area

“He’s got great feel for the game; he just sees it before it happens and that’s pretty rare,” Kerr said. “My favorite quality of his is his confidence. He just bounces back after tough nights and quickly. And that’s real confidence and self-assurance. I love that and it drives some of the veterans crazy sometimes, because a rookie isn’t supposed to behave that way.

“Draymond [Green] said it to me years ago; he said rookies have to go take it. Young players have to go carve out their spot, and whatever that means, you’ve got to do. And for Brandin, that means doing what he’s doing all year, connecting the game for our guys with the right cut, the right path, leading the league in charges drawn, making a ton of gritty, loose-ball recoveries, offensive rebounds. The guy is a gamer and there’s a reason he plays as much as he does.”

Former Warriors GM Bob Myers recalls Steph Curry admitting he was wrong about Gary Payton II

Happy 36th birthday to the GOAT Stephen Curry

NBA News:

NBA competition committee’s reported attempts to slow down offense are already working, numbers show | CBS Sports

The NBA’s power brokers have officially had enough of the league’s offensive explosion. On Tuesday, the league’s competition committee held a meeting to discuss ways to empower defenses, both for the remainder of the season and moving forward, according to Shams Charania.

Here’s Charania’s full report:

“I’m told the NBA’s competition committee, which is comprised of league executives, team executives, team officials, team owners, players, the NBA players union, they all met on Tuesday and they discussed ways to incorporate more defensive freedom, evaluating how to potentially allow more physicality, the merits of that and much more.

“They’ll use the next few months and the offseason to strategize how to implement potential changes and allowing more defensive freedom into next season... This is something the league is discussing and a lot of it is because players and all these different stakeholders are bringing it up in these calls.”

D’Angelo Russell’s journey from Lakers trade chip to clutch time hero: ‘I’m ready for it. I studied for this test’ | ESPN

Russell said he honed his tactical approach from a former teammate: Warriors forward Draymond Green.

“When I got around Draymond, I seen him in the film room, like really talking and really creating controversy. Really challenging [teammates] and really doing that on purpose,” Russell said. “And I saw how we grew. We weren’t even a good team, but we grew because of that dialogue in the film room.

“Then I get here and nobody talks but Bron. I was like, ‘What the f---?’ And then I just started being vocal, and that became where my IQ is exposed now.”

Mavs’ center Daniel Gafford is three shots away from breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most consecutive made field goals

In case you missed it at Golden State of Mind:

How the smallest of coverage decisions and mistakes allowed the Mavericks to punish the Warriors

As much of a problem as offense was tonight, I want to focus on defense, specifically on coverage decisions the Warriors made against Dončić and Irving. While the numbers in the first half painted a picture of an elite defensive showing, the Mavs alsoposted great numbers on defense that sort of canceled things out.

When both teams are stopping each other on defense, the minute details become much more important: coverage decisions, advantages created, and help rotations that are forced because of them (or aren’t forced). While both teams did a good job defending each other in the first half, it was the Mavs who did slightly more on offense to get the edge.

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