Against Nuggets, Warriors will need postseason newbies to get up to speed
Some Golden State Warriors players will get their first taste of NBA
playoff basketball during the team's opening-round series with the
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga dunks against the Denver
Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March
10, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga dunks against the Denver
Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March
10, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
By CURTIS PASHELKA | cpashelka@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 15, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. | UPDATED: April 15, 2022 at 4:42
p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/04/15/against-nuggets-warriors-will-need-postseason-newbies-to-get-up-to-speed/

SAN FRANCISCO – Warriors coach Steve Kerr played his first NBA playoff
game with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990. He was the second player off
the Cavaliers’ bench and played 24 minutes in what became a
series-opening loss to Charles Barkley and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Looking back, one specific thing stood out to Kerr about that experience
32 years ago at The Spectrum.

“What my recollection was of that first playoff game,” the Warriors
coach said Friday, “was just how fast it was.”

Now Kerr needs his own playoff newbies to quickly adapt to a faster
pace, as four or five Warriors players could get their first taste of
NBA playoff basketball at some point during the team’s opening-round
series with the Denver Nuggets. Game 1 is Saturday at Chase Center.

While Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green all
have well over 100 games of playoff experience, others like Jordan
Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Gary Payton II, and Juan
Toscano-Anderson will be starting from scratch.

“There are different levels of NBA games,” Kerr said. “There’s
preseason, there’s opening night, which ramps up, then it settles back
down to a more constant theme over the course of the year. You have a
couple of late-season games that are pickup games because the other team
has either cashed in or they’re not playing anybody. And the playoffs
happen, and it’s way up here.

“Everybody is so dialed into each other’s tendencies and strengths, so
it makes your execution that much more crucial.”

It’s unclear how deep the Warriors’ rotation will be but Poole, with an
18.5 point per game average this season, will no doubt have to play a
significant role, even with Steph Curry’s expected return.

“As long as I’m out there, being able to make an impact and help our
team win and lead us to however far we can go, I’m excited for it,”
Poole said. “Whatever opportunity presents itself, I’m going to be ready
to step up and help the team in any way that they need.”

Poole’s been picking the brain of some of the veteran Warriors about
getting mentally prepared for his first postseason series. Their advice?
Don’t change a thing.

“Just continue to stick to your routine,” Poole said. “Whatever it is
you do during the regular season, continue to do that. Even though it’s
a bigger stage and the magnitude is a little bit higher, just continue
to do what you’ve been doing.”

In all four regular-season games between the Warriors and Nuggets, Kerr
used at least nine players, including the Feb. 16 meeting when Kuminga
played 20 minutes. Kuminga also averaged 13.8 points in four games
against Denver, and Moody averaged 17.5 points in two games.

Regardless of who plays, the Warriors can’t afford to tiptoe into their
series with the Nuggets, who won three of four meetings between the two
teams this season, including both games in Mission Bay.

“I’ve had conversations with guys this week, with individuals and
collectively as a team,” Kerr said. “What to expect, what we’re focused
on. All that stuff.”

>RELATED ARTICLES
Column: Nuggets exposed by Warriors as clown show, too soft and
splintered to contend for NBA title
Warriors’ three-guard lineup proves to be too much for Nuggets
The Warriors’ best defense against Jokic: Draymond Green and a
demoralizing offense
Kurtenbach: The Warriors’ new small-ball lineup could break the NBA.
Andrew Wiggins holds it together
Steph Curry scores 34 points off the bench as Warriors take 2-0
series lead over Nuggets

Kevin Looney didn’t play in any playoff games in his first two seasons
with the Warriors in 2016 and 2017. In his playoff debut on April 14,
2018, against the San Antonio Spurs, he had six points and six rebounds
in just over 20 minutes in a comfortable Warriors win in Game 1.

It wasn’t always pretty for Looney, but at least it was a starting point
— one that was valuable one that other Warriors players could go through
soon.

“My first couple times out there, I probably got pulled immediately for
missing something simple,” Looney said. “So I kind of learned from my
mistakes. I didn’t make a lot of them, but when I did make one, I did
learn from it. Guys would yell at me, get on me and hold me accountable.

“But it made me learn faster and be ready for the next time I got the
opportunity.”

--
Curtis Pashelka | San Jose Sharks reporter
Curtis Pashelka is the San Jose Sharks reporter for the Bay Area News
Group. Prior to covering the Sharks, Curtis served as the high school
sports editor for the East Bay. He also worked as a general assignment
reporter covering motorsports, golf and college basketball, and as a
backup writer on the A's, Giants and Warriors. He started at the
organization in 2000 and spent close to eight years covering high school
sports.