Warriors Coach Steve Kerr: Patience And Poise Key To Game 5 Victory
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr's instruction to his team before Wednesday's pivotal Game 5 of their NBA playoffs series with the Houston Rockets was rather simple.
Play with patience and poise. Particularly, when it comes to struggling shooting guard Klay Thompson.
"I thought he (Thompson) rushed 4-or-5 shots (in Game 3)," Kerr told reporters. "(He was) almost too anxious to get going. We'll show him some of those clips. We'll show the home team some clips (during Wednesday's pregame film session). Not just of Klay but some other guys too being in a rush. They are trying to get things going almost with too much haste."
"Instead of letting them happen with the proper fundamentals, proper approach," he continued. "It happens, especially on the road. If you've had a little bit of a struggle, you try to hard to get out of a little bit of a rut."
When asked if that meant his offense needed to have more of its typical side-to-side, screen-and-roll flow than shooting quick jump shots, Kerr said that kind of movement is hard to maintain in the playoffs.
"In the playoffs defenses are always locked in and better," he said. "So ball movement is never going to be what it is in the regular season. You still can achieve it though in certain ways. There are few things we have to do better."
Among the Warriors big three, it's Thompson who has been struggling the most during the post-season. While among the leaders in playoff minutes played, Thompson is averaging just 16.5 points a game, well below his 21.5-point average during the regular season. His touch in the fourth quarter has all but disappeared.
Against the Rockets, Thompson is just 6-of-21 from the 3-point line.