Towns went to bat for his coach, saying this loss was on the players for being unable to sustain their effort in the fourth. They played an incredible third quarter, outscoring Memphis 32-24 with Russell (nine points, four assists) leading the way. Then it all fell apart. Towns said one point of emphasis was not to bite on pump fakes from Valanciunas and Anderson, and he took ownership for doing just that in the first quarter. But he said there were too many times the players deviated from the game plan put in place by the coaching staff. “We’ve got to do better as a whole entire team, and that doesn’t fall on the coaches,” Towns said. “They had us well prepared. We were great for three quarters. No one talked about the coaches until the fourth quarter came along. That’s a player-driven loss. We didn’t have the integrity nor the discipline to get it done.”
Coaching Rumors
Connor Letourneau: Steve Kerr on Friday’s game against the Suns being postponed: “You kind of know that stuff like this is going to happen this year, so you just adapt accordingly.”
Drew Shiller: Steve Kerr on the Warriors practicing Saturday and Sunday at home before flying to LA to face the Lakers on Monday: “I’m really excited about it. We haven’t had two straight days of practice in a long time.” (and they didn’t have Draymond and Wiseman in training camp)
Drew Shiller: Steve Kerr: “Jokic is one of the best centers in the league. The main message for James (Wiseman) is don’t bite on the pumpfakes. Very easy for me to tell him that. It’s very difficult for him to absorb that. More than likely, he’ll learn some hard lessons tonight.”
Kevin Chouinard: Lloyd Pierce on road games in 2020-21: “The road has actually been the place where we’ve connected more because of the protocols… We get to see our guys in the morning. We get to converse over breakfast.”
Ohm Youngmisuk: Michael Malone says that Jamal Murray’s elbow could be an issue and that Murray didn’t play up his normal level on the last road trip. “I’m sure it’s bothering him to some extent… we need to help Jamal to be more productive… I don’t think it’s anything he can’t play through.”
Mark Berman: Stephen Silas on @James Harden: “I had an opportunity to coach a Hall of Famer & that’s one of the things I was excited about…It was a rocky start & a rocky midway & a rocky end, but he was nothing but professional to me.He gave me good advice.He was engaged..just didn’t work out”
