Warriors notebook: Donte DiVincenzo likely to return Friday. Plus, what
happened to the bench celebrations?
Golden State Warriors will get key bench player back. Moody, DiVincenzo,
Kerr explain the subdued bench celebration
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 11: Golden State Warriors’ Donte
DiVincenzo (0) dribbles against the Portland Trailblazers in the first
quarter of their NBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 9, 2022 at 2:45 p.m. | UPDATED: November 9, 2022 at
4:31 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/11/09/warriors-notebook-donte-divincenzo-likely-to-return-friday-plus-what-happened-to-the-bench-celebrations/

SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors are in desperate need of some experience
off the bench. That makes Donte DiVincenzo’s likely return for Friday’s
game against the Cleveland Cavaliers a potential turning point.

DiVincenzo won’t solve all the Warriors’ problems, but the team’s bench
woes call for some veteran know-how on both ends.

Two-way players Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome have been getting more
minutes than expected because they don’t make as many mistakes as the
younger players that populate the rest of the bench. The margin for
error is far too thin and the stakes of this season are too high to
allow a long leash for young players to learn from their mistakes.

DiVincenzo played the Warriors’ first three games before straining his
left hamstring during the Warriors’ win against the Kings on Oct. 23. He
watched the Warriors’ 0-5 road trip from his couch home in the Bay Area,
texting with his teammates in their group chat about how he best
contribute upon his return.

“It was frustrating not being with the guys,” DiVincenzo said. “I knew,
selfishly, it was the best thing for me getting back on the court. But
I’m all about everyone being together. That was frustrating.”

Yet, watching the Warriors on TV might have helped him learn how to play
within the system.

“When you watch the game on TV, film, it’s a lot easier to see things
than when you’re in the game and things are moving quick,” he said. “It
slowed down for me watching it. I get to see where guys like the ball
and where I can take opportunities to be aggressive. Seeing certain
breakdowns on the defensive end stand out more on TV.”

DiVincenzo could help loosen up the scoring and tighten up the defense
in the bench rotations. He’ll take over for Jerome’s minutes — he’s
playing 15 minutes per game — with hopes of unlocking Jordan Poole and
creating for his teammates. Poole is shooting 30 percent from 3 and
struggling to create for himself on offense; some cold numbers impacted
by opposing teams’ best defenders on him this year more than last year,
Kerr said. But it’s imperative for the Warriors that Poole get out of
his funk.

“Not going to come here and try to be a hero on Friday. Just coming in
with that second unit and letting Jordan get back to his, letting his
mind go free and letting him do his thing,” DiVincenzo said of his role.
“For me, to keep the offense moving, facilitate everything. So when it
comes back to JP, he doesn’t have so much pressure to initiate
everything and try to be aggressive scoring the ball. Take a little bit
of that load off him.”

- Speaking of the bench…

Steph Curry’s heroic fourth-quarter performance against the Kings on
Monday night brought the house down. But a video clip that went viral
showed a surprisingly subdued bench celebrating Curry’s go-ahead shot.

--
warriorsworld
@warriorsworld ·Follow
Bench Vibes Non-Existent
[video]

10:47 PM · Nov 7, 2022
3.9K Reply Share
--

Last year, Damion Lee, Juan Toscano-Anderson and the rest of the bench
made an art of the bench celebration. They’d be out of their seats,
almost performing together after thunderous dunks, buzzer-beaters, big
3-pointers and comeback flurries.

So the quiet bench reaction to Curry almost single-handedly winning the
Warriors a comeback win was shocking.

“It adds to the atmosphere. We had some really good role models with
that last year,” Moses Moody said. “We have to keep that going, how that
can effect the team. That was an eye-opening thing for me my first year
coming in. That was the only thing I was exposed to, to see how
effective that can be.

“We had a really good group last year that could carry the torch there,
but if anything we have to step up and compete and be better than last
year. I can lead that a little bit.

DiVincenzo noted that the NBA rules that prohibit players from standing
up too long and entering the playing court as a way to prevent
distractions could contribute to quieter benches. But noted that those
celebrations are key.

“You push the limits a little bit,” he said. “You can show that energy,
show that enthusiasm, show that support for your teammates because when
you’re on the court, swing, swing, swing, whole bench stands up on a
shot, there’s an energy thing to it. I think we should get back to that.
I think guys on the bench will get back to that.”

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Kerr attributed the quiet bench to the state of the team.

“We’re still trying to find ourselves as a team,” Kerr said. “We’ve been
losing, we’re 4-7, not where we want to be. Guys are trying to find a
way. We’re trying to find a way with our combinations. We haven’t found
the momentum we’re looking for and a little bit of the chicken and egg
conversation, here. You generally see more energy and more joy when the
team is winning. On the other hand, if you can bring that it tends to
lead to winning as well.”

--
Shayna Rubin | General Assignment Sports Reporter
Shayna covers Bay Area sports for the Bay Area News Group. She covered
the Oakland A's from 2019 to 2021 and, most recently, the Golden State
Warriors' championship run in 2022. Shayna is a San Francisco native.