Kerr after beating Houston; ‘Probably not going to play bigger game’

SAN FRANCISCO—Kids start by shooting a ball into a hoop. That’s the essence of basketball, scoring. The numbers part, the fun part.    But in time we learn that keeping the other guy from scoring, defense, while less glamorous, is the winning part.    There were two wonderful examples Christmas Day, in person at Chase Center, where the Warriors did a masterful job of defending the NBA’s leading scorer. James Harden of Houston     Then a couple hours later on TV where Patrick Beverley of the Clippers knocked away the attempt by the Lakers LeBron James for a tying shot.   That Clippers-Lakers game, the Clips winning, 111-106 after trailing by 15 was all that was predicted.    That Warriors game, the Dubs taking it, 111-106, was all no one dared imagine.   Until assistant coach Jarron Collins came up with a plan to limit Harden--borrowing the much-repeated advice, “You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him”—and placed the burden on others.     Who failed to carry it.    Harden, averaging 38.6, did score 30, but where he usually has other teams in foul trouble, and gets a ton of foul shots, took only one free throw. And missed it.   The Warriors, the kids, the few vets, may have figured it out. Hound the ball. Switch quickly. Try not to leave anyone open.   “We’re probably not going to play a bigger game all year,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.    Three wins in a row now, and finally one over a team with a winning record. Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now the Warriors are doing something different.   “I think our defense has really picked up,” said Draymond Green. He would know. He was the guy who preached defense and played it in the championship years.   “We’re doing a better job of following the game plan,” Green said. “It’s been a tough year. We had Jarron take over the defense under tough circumstances. We’re a super young team. He’s been doing a great job. That game plan was phenomenal. It doesn’t get much better than this.”    Kerr reminded that the championship Warrior s teams of the previous five years were composed of players who understood defense, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and played it beautifully.    But even they struggled to halt Harden, who would keep them off balance and grabbing when he stepped back to shoot those three-pointers.   “Harden has basically forced the whole league to reconsider how to defend him in particular,” said Kerr. “But even how to guard pick-and-roll with the amount of three-point shooters people have, I have seen a lot of innovative stuff out there.   “The best thing we did was not foul him. We didn’t foul (Russell) Westbrook either. That kept the game going and allowed us to play in open space, because their (Rockets) defense is really good in the half court. The tempo was right for us.”   The idea and execution is not new for the Warriors, albeit many of the players are. Keep the other team from making shots, grab the rebounds and move the ball to the other end before the opposition gets there was the stuff of Steph, Klay and Kevin. Christmas day it was the stuff of Draymond, Damion Lee and D’Angelo Russell.  “A national TV game against the Rockets,” Kerr said. “We’ve played Houston more times in the last five years because we have seen them in the playoffs so often.”    They won’t this year. The Warriors are thinking about where they’ll be in the draft not the post-season. Still, they showed Christmas Day they can defeat a contender,  Just a great win,” affirmed Kerr. “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for the fans. I think the great thing about this season is the fans can feel our players’ effort.”   But the enthusiasm was tempered when Kerr was asked if this was the best win of the season.   “Yeah,” he confessed, “but there haven’t been many to choose from.”

Kerr after beating Houston; ‘Probably not going to play bigger game’

SAN FRANCISCO—Kids start by shooting a ball into a hoop. That’s the essence of basketball, scoring. The numbers part, the fun part.    But in time we learn that keeping the other guy from scoring, defense, while less glamorous, is the winning part.    There were two wonderful examples Christmas Day, in person at Chase Center, where the Warriors did a masterful job of defending the NBA’s leading scorer. James Harden of Houston     Then a couple hours later on TV where Randy Beverley of the Clippers knocked away the attempt by the Lakers LeBron James for a tying shot.   That Clippers-Lakers game, the Clips winning, 111-106 after trailing by 15 was all that was predicted.    That Warriors game, the Dubs taking it, 111-106, was all no one dared imagine.   Until assistant coach Jarron Collins came up with a plan to limit Harden--borrowing the much-repeated advice, “You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him”—and placed the burden on others.     Who failed to carry it.    Harden, averaging 38.6, did score 30, but where he usually has other teams in foul trouble, and gets a ton of foul shots, took only one free throw. And missed it.   The Warriors, the kids, the few vets, may have figured it out. Hound the ball. Switch quickly. Try not to leave anyone open.   “We’re probably not going to play a bigger game all year,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.    Three wins in a row now, and finally one over a team with a winning record. Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now the Warriors are doing something different.   “I think our defense has really picked up,” said Draymond Green. He would know. He was the guy who preached defense and played it in the championship years.   “We’re doing a better job of following the game plan,” Green said. “It’s been a tough year. We had Jarron take over the defense under tough circumstances. We’re a super young team. He’s been doing a great job. That game plan was phenomenal. It doesn’t get much better than this.”    Kerr reminded that the championship Warrior s teams of the previous five years were composed of players who understood defense, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and played it beautifully.    But even they struggled to halt Harden, who would keep them off balance and grabbing when he stepped back to shoot those three-pointers.   “Harden has basically forced the whole league to reconsider how to defend him in particular,” said Kerr. “But even how to guard pick-and-roll with the amount of three-point shooters people have, I have seen a lot of innovative stuff out there.   “The best thing we did was not foul him. We didn’t foul (Russell) Westbrook either. That kept the game going and allowed us to play in open space, because their (Rockets) defense is really good in the half court. The tempo was right for us.”   The idea and execution is not new for the Warriors, albeit many of the players are. Keep the other team from making shots, grab the rebounds and move the ball to the other end before the opposition gets there was the stuff of Steph, Klay and Kevin. Christmas day it was the stuff of Draymond, Damion Lee and D’Angelo Russell.  “A national TV game against the Rockets,” Kerr said. “We’ve played Houston more times in the last five years because we have seen them in the playoffs so often.”    They won’t this year. The Warriors are thinking about where they’ll be in the draft not the post-season. Still, they showed Christmas Day they can defeat a contender,  Just a great win,” affirmed Kerr. “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for the fans. I think the great thing about this season is the fans can feel our players’ effort.”   But the enthusiasm was tempered when Kerr was asked if this was the best win of the season.   “Yeah,” he confessed, “but there haven’t been many to choose from.” -0-

Then Draymond came back in

SAN FRANCISCO — Then Draymond came back in. Alec Burks said it. An All-Star is supposed to make a difference, right? And Draymond Green, All-Star, emotional leader, has made a difference, in games that have become so much a part of the Warriors’ legacy.

Or, as on Monday night, in a game less consequential, other than it was responsible for the first two-game win streak of a season now finding itself.

Yes, two in a row, which compared to those glory days a few seasons past, the 24 straight victories early in the 2015 season, seems almost unworthy of being mentioned.

But that was then, and this is now, the tumult and frustration without the departed (and hurt) Kevin Durant and the still present but equally injured Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.

No Kevin, no Steph, no play. But plenty of Draymond. And with the 113-104 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves, a second win in a row.

Which most likely is as far as it goes, since next under the tree is the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.

“We need this regardless of what is coming next,” said Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ coach. “We just needed to win a couple games in a row to get a little momentum and feel good.”

It was the mediocre Timberwolves, having cut a 24-point third-quarter deficit to six points with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, who had the “mo.”

“Then,” said Burks, “Draymond came back in and got D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) a shot. We were just playing out of character, and they went on a couple of runs, which allowed them to come back.”

But only so far.

Burks, a guy who’s been tossed around the league — the Warriors are his fourth teams in eight seasons — has been making his points, literally (25 Monday night) and symbolically (his observations). He talks quickly and softly, but his words, like his shots, hit the mark.

“I think my teammates are putting me in the right position,” he said about his ability to score, “and Steve (Kerr) is trusting me to have the ball in my hand and make plays for myself and others.”

One of those others is Russell, who had 30 points. People knew D-Lo could score and, finally healthy, he is proving people correct. The question now is how D-Lo and Curry, who is supposed to be back in late February, will pair together. Maybe not the Splash Brothers redux, but perhaps there will be a lot of water flying and baskets dropping.  

Curry, his left hand in that cast, and Thompson, recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg, both were at Chase Center with their teammates Monday night, although unable to play.

“Just having their presence, especially for the young guys,” Green said of the contributions from Curry and Thompson at games or practice.

“Those (young) guys haven’t been around as much. I’ve always said when you’re hurt, you’re just not a part of the team. These young guys look up to them. They are legends, superstars, heroes to some of these young guys.”

So too is Green. At the moment, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston and Durant gone, Curry and Thompson rehabbing, Draymond is the only player on the Warriors still active from the teams in five straight NBA finals.

He hectors teammates, yells at officials and keeps believing.

“I think our younger guys are getting some experience,” Green said about the improved defense. “Starting to figure out rotations, and that makes a difference.”

Green was enthusiastic about the inside play of center Willie Cauley-Stein, who had three blocked shots Monday night. “He made several plays tonight at the rim,” Green said of Cauley-Stein, “giving us the spark (on defense) he also gives us on offense. The way he runs the runs the floor, like the play he got the block and then sprinted out and got the dunk.”

So Draymond, how does it feel to win two in a row? “It feels bleeping amazing,” he all but shouted. “I never thought I’d be so excited for two regular season wins in my life.”

Niners defy third-and-16 percentage — and win

By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Third and 16. That’s not field position, that’s an impossibility. Especially on your own 19 with just under two minutes left in a tie game.

“They’re less than 10 percent,” Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers coach, said of going for it on third and 16. “I know that. In the league this year, you watch and it’s like one out of 20.

“Usually you just try and survive the down and get half (the yardage) and punt. But we were in a situation that we didn’t have that, and I think we struggled on third downs most of the day.”

This time Shanahan didn’t play the percentages, he played the opposition. He played to get the victory and what might be looming, a top seed in the playoffs.

According to one numbers man, Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the 49ers had failed the previous 15 times trying to convert on third and 16.

So naturally in this suspenseful and magical season of 2019, they made it, kept the ball on an 18-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne and kept alive a drive that ended with 0:00 on the clock at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday night.

Another one of those waiting-to-exhale results, beating the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on Robbie Gould’s 33-yard field goal.

Such an emotional and tragic day, the Niners receiving word around 3 a.m. that the younger brother of backup quarterback C.J. Beathard had been fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville. Players were notified before the game. That the Niners quickly fell behind was no surprise.

“How horrible it is,” said Shanahan.

That the Niners, trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, rallied to win and raise their season record to 12-3 wasn’t a surprise either.

The Niners are what teams must be in pro football: resilient. First the awful news about a teammate’s sibling; then the Rams, desperate because a defeat would eliminate them from the playoffs, striking quickly; then Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting sacked six times; then the Rams regaining the lead, 28-24, in the third quarter.

But winners have something special. Back in Foxboro, Brady brought the Patriots from behind to take the AFC title for a 11th straight year. Then a few hours later out here on the other coast, Garoppolo, who was the Patriots starter-in-waiting behind Brady — and if the Niners hadn’t traded for him he still would be waiting — brought San Francisco from behind.

Next Sunday the Niners face the Seahawks in Seattle, the winner getting home field advantage and the first-round playoff bye.

Which is a perfect place to mention Richard Sherman, the defensive back who as part of the “Legion of Boom” helped the Seahawks win their only Super Bowl and now would hope to help the Niners win their sixth.

“This is a special team,” Sherman said of the 49ers. “Guys care about each other. Guys care about winning. Guys go out there and execute... It’s not always how you draw it up but if you got guys willing to fight to the last play.”

Four Niners games this season have come down to that last play, and the Niners have won two of them and, of course, lost the other two.

They won this one in part because at halftime San Francisco made changes in its defense. Set up to stop the run, mainly Todd Gurley II, it gave up yards and touchdowns on passes by Jared Goff, the onetime Cal star who was the No. 1 pick three years ago.

Goff got the Rams to the Super Bowl last season. Garoppolo might be able to get the Niners there this year.

“Usually,” said Shanahan about his quarterback, “you’re not feeling great in those (third and very long) situations. He had two this game. Play calling, offense defense, everything was up and down this game. But each individual kept coming back.”

Raiders' home finale: A loss on the board, boos in the stands

By Art Spander

OAKLAND — So it is over now. The Raiders are done in Oakland. Finished. They walked off the Coliseum field Sunday with a defeat on the scoreboard and booing in the stands.

We’re told that love never ends happily, and certainly the affair between the city and the team it held so dear is yet another example.

A last dance, a time to mourn as much as to celebrate, a day the music — the soul beat and the salsa that flood the pregame tailgates — died. There will be silence in the parking lots in Oakland before future Raider home games.

The team is moving. To Nevada, to become the Las Vegas Raiders, shifting away from the aging, weathered half-century-old Coliseum to a $2 billion stadium in a city that may not care about pro football but has the wherewithal to grab a team from a town that cares too much.

Maybe it was appropriate on a bittersweet afternoon that the Raiders would allow two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes 15 seconds to the sad-sack Jacksonville Jaguars and lose 20-16.

Or maybe the game meant little. Other than it was a last hurrah, another kick in the gut, one more reminder that the sports we watch and support and agonize over, in fact, belong to the wealthy.

To those who are willing and able to build expensive palaces for their teams, the new Vegas stadium, the under-construction $5 billion stadium down in Inglewood, or to pay Gerrit Cole $324 million to pitch for the Yankees.

Yes, it’s history, irreversible. Owners get the arenas and stadiums they demand. Fans get the shaft — and some weak apologies.

You want the football? The Raiders couldn’t find a way to hold a 13-point second-quarter lead. For a second straight game, the Raiders couldn’t score in the second half. The Raiders dropped to 6-8 and out of playoff contention.

That’s the way this era ends, with neither a bang or a whimper but a lot of could-haves and should-haves.

“I’d like to say we could have sent the Raider fans off with a lot better finish than that,” agreed head coach Jon Gruden. “I think importantly, before we talk about the game, I’d like to thank the fans. I’d like to thank city of Oakland for supporting the Raiders and being faithful in all kinds of seasons. I’ll miss them.”

It’s not Gruden’s fault the Raiders are getting the heck out of town. He coached them 20 years ago, was traded — for draft picks, no less — to Tampa Bay by the late Oakland owner Al Davis, went to work for ESPN and then a year ago returned to the Raiders.

You believe he’s genuinely understanding and compassionate about what is known as Raider Nation. He’s been seen to plunge into that most aggressive and loyal group, the Black Hole, exchanging handshakes and joy.

Not Sunday, of course. The fans were angry and vocal, the immediate disgust with the result — losing the game — coupled with the residual frustration of losing the franchise.

“It’s not really the result today,” Gruden said, trying to deal with the big picture, “it’s the results of the Raiders over the years. It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty that these fans have had for the Raiders, We’re going to miss them.”

Hey Jon, we know you’re not to blame, but it’s the Raiders who are hitting the road, not those loyal fans.

Raiders management did its best to put a happy face on an unhappy occasion, bringing back many of the heroes of old — Jim Otto read a line from “Autumn Wind,” the team’s manifesto; Tim Brown ignited the memorial flame to Al Davis.

A ton of nostalgia, a spate of memories, and the undeniable fact that the team that put Oakland into the datelines, if not on the map, is being taken away.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (he was 22 of 36 for 267 yards, 1 TD, sacked 4 times) went over to the Black Hole before heading to the locker room.

“I saw a couple of people, a little kid, I’ve seen over the years,” said Carr. “I just said thanks. When I’m done playing, they can get mad as somebody else. That’s the quarterback. You know what I mean?

“There are too many fun memories I’ve had with especially those certain people. It’s our last time there. Such a cool moment to say thank you.”

Why don’t we let it go at that?