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Jonathan Kuminga meets with Steve Kerr to quell festering Warriors issues: ‘I
 love it here’


https://i.imgur.com/o2DcuYf.jpg


SAN FRANCISCO — In the aftermath of The Athletic’s report that Jonathan Kumi
nga had lost faith in Steve Kerr’s ability to maximize his potential, the Gol
den State Warriors’ head coach and third-year wing met in Kerr’s office befo
re Friday night’s 113-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.




Kuminga’s latest frustration came a night earlier when he watched the final 1
8 minutes from the bench — and particularly the agonizing final six minutes
— as the Warriors let an 18-point lead over the Denver Nuggets slip away into
 another gut-punch lost.

Kuminga前一晚的挫折來自於他在板凳席上觀看最後18分鐘的比賽，尤其是令人痛苦的最
後6分鐘，看著勇士隊讓18分的領先優勢滑落為對丹佛金塊的又一次沮喪的失利。


Kerr’s decision to limit Kuminga to 19 minutes and zero in the fourth quarter
, despite 16 points prior and an obvious need for his downhill skill set, was
placed under a harsh microscope. Kuminga’s boiling feelings surfaced to the p
ublic. Kerr felt a face-to-face conversation necessary. Speaking after the win
 over Detroit, Kuminga said the discussion had a positive impact.




“I think it went really well,” Kuminga said. “I think it was just all about
 better understanding of each other. More communication. We don’t really get
to sit together as much and communicate about pretty much non-basketball thing
s, basketball things. We don’t get to do that as much. Just us having that co
nversation today made me more comfortable that any time I have something to as
k, I should just go up to his office. His door is open. Go up there and chill
and wait for him to come back whenever. I think that’s what it’s all about,
communication every single time if something is going wrong. Communication is
the key.”




Kuminga played a season-high 36 minutes against the Pistons. He didn’t rest a
 single second in the fourth quarter. He had 11 points and six rebounds and sp
ent the majority of crunchtime as the primary defender on Cade Cunningham. It
was his 12th consecutive game in the starting lineup, but Kuminga is still yet
 to play 30-plus minutes in consecutive games in his career. So the playing-ti
me tracker will continue to be monitored.




“I never complained about playing time (during the meeting),” Kuminga said.
“We were just talking about if I do great at something, just go back and remi
nd him, ‘Yo, coach, what do I need to do to get better at this? What do I nee
d to do to gain more trust or more minutes?’ Like I said, it’s more about co
mmunication and better understanding from both of us.”




Kuminga’s uneasiness about his fluctuating role — which dates to the previou
s postseason when he went from an integral part of the rotation the final two
months of the regular season to a bench bystander after Andrew Wiggins returne
d from a long personal absence — has generated questions about his future wit
h the Warriors. Does he want to be with them long-term? Will he still be on th
e roster past the Feb. 8 trade deadline? After Friday’s meeting, how does he
feel about his standing in the organization and with Kerr in general?




“I love it here,” Kuminga said. “I got drafted here. There’s always ups an
d downs. I feel like when you look at all the ups and downs, that will confuse
 a lot of people. But I know Steve believes in me. I know he trusts me at this
 point. It was just more about communication and better understanding. It wasn
’t no beef. None of that. Scratch whatever happens. It’s the past. Move on w
ith better understanding and hoping we all can work with each other and help t
his team and leave everything in the past.”




What does that better understanding entail?

這種更好的理解包括什麼？


“All together a better understanding of certain things on the floor I need to
 do to get the team better,” Kuminga said. “Who is he going with tonight or
the next night? Who he trusts the most? As a coach, you talk about who you tru
st the most or who is producing things as a coach you want at the moment. So i
t was all about those little things. As we sat together and spoke about it, it
 went well.”




The crux of the problem is the Warriors’ inability to fit Kuminga and Wiggins
 on the floor together. Entering Friday, they were a cumulative minus-66 toget
her as a pairing in 131 minutes. The Warriors have an analytics department tha
t feeds the coaching staff these numbers, partly fueling their lineup choices.
 It’s why Kerr has maintained a hesitancy to play his two bigger wings togeth
er, calling them a “redundant” pairing.




But he tried to find time for them together against the Pistons. They were on
the floor for six minutes together. They outscored Detroit by seven points. Bu
t Wiggins struggled to a 1-of-5 shooting night and didn’t provide much else.
So he was limited to 19 minutes and Kuminga received 36.




“I’m gonna keep it real,” Kuminga said. “I went to Coach and talked about
me playing with Wiggs. I don’t want it to seem like me and Wiggs are out here
 fighting every day for minutes. I know Wiggs come to work every day not think
ing about that. Same with me. I don’t come to work every day thinking about t
aking Wiggs’ minutes, taking this guy’s minutes. We come here to play good a
nd help the team win and accomplish things that we all as a team are about. Ch
ampionship and all that. Whenever the team win, everybody win. Just moving for
ward, it’s really all about what the team needs first and concerned about the
 rest after.”




In the immediate future, more minutes are opening up in the Warriors’ rotatio
n. Chris Paul fractured his left hand against the Pistons and will get surgery
 next week. He is out indefinitely. Kerr said that’ll give Brandin Podziemski
, Cory Joseph and Moses Moody a bump in opportunity. But it could also creep o
pen the door to experiment more with Kuminga and Wiggins lineups.




Draymond Green’s impending return from his indefinite suspension will regener
ate another logjam. But that’s another depth problem for another day.

Draymond Green即將從他的無限期停賽中歸來，將再次引發陣容擁擠問題。但那是未來某
一天的另一個深度問題。


“I’ve been there before,” Curry said of Kuminga. “He’s not wrong for bein
g upset and pissed off, wanting to play. Probably should’ve played. Not proba
bly. … But the ultimate challenge for anybody in this league is to not let th
e narrative be told for you and you not be able to address that with your own
voice or directly with Coach or whatever the case is. We all go through our ch
allenges. We all go through our learning lessons. Like I said, he’s not wrong
 for being upset and frustrated. I heard Coach talk about. He was kind of half
-joking but serious about 15 years he was always upset with playing time. That
’s a talking point in every locker room in some way, shape or form. There are
 ways to express it, ways to voice your opinion but protect the team. I’m jus
t proud of the way he — we talked about it before the game. Go out and play.
Go hoop. Be a professional. And that’s what he did.”





https://theathletic.com/5182703/2024/01/06/jonathan-kuminga-steve-kerr-meet/



總結：Kerr靠著嘴遁暫時化解了危機

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※ 作者: XXXaBg 2024-01-06 18:17:53
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