There were definitely some takeaways from the Warriors first pre-season game against the Clippers in Hawaii on Saturday and Steve Kerr has addressed some of them.
The Warriors won by one point 91-90, thanks a clutch three from Lindy Waters III in the dying seconds.
One thing Kerr did like was the team’s starting backcourt made up of Stephen Curry De’Anthony Melton.
“They look great together,” Kerr said. “They look for each other. De’Anthony is a really good shooter and also a playmaker. He gets into the mix on everything defensively. I’m a big fan.”
The storied coach was also asked about the starting lineup in general, which consisted of Curry, Melton, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis, and he wasn’t quite as complimentary.
“Not great,” Kerr said. “Not great, but it’s preseason for everybody, so we didn’t have really good rhythm coming out, slow start. Still good to get those five guys on the floor and see what that looked like.”
Before the game, Kerr explained that Golden State’s coaching staff didn’t want to test out the frontcourt combination of Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis during the regular season.
So the pre-season is the time to do it.
“We gotta see, because last year we didn’t feel comfortable going that route,” Kerr said before the game. “We would to have played Draymond at the four. Trayce gives us a shot-blocker next to him. We wanna play JK. If he’s ready for the three, and it works with those guys, we will see. And if not, we’ll adapt. But, now is the time to try these things and see what combinations work.”
It will be interesting to see if coach Kerr tries that front court lineup again during pre-season.
READ MORE: Kawhi Leonard’s Brutally Honest Assessment of New Teammates