Patrick Baldwin Jr Interview | Game Analysis | Warriors/Rockets Postgame | Feb 24, 2023

Not a splash but a wave. Clay Thompson this season with three games where he's hit at least 12 or more threes. That's his most career games, excuse me, with 12 or more threes and Clay has done it three times. Steph twice, Zach Levine, Danielle Marshall and the great Kobe Bryant, rest in peace, did it once as well. That was Clay Thompson's fourth 40-point night of the season and he's had four games this season in which he's hit at least four threes, nine overall in his career. So when he gets going you can't do anything to stop him and the Rockets did everything they could to hold him from that record late in the fourth quarter. Take that Charles Barkley. That's what Clay said and you know what I love about it is a few things. One of them is yes he went crazy from the three-point line but he also grabbed seven rebounds and he got to the free throw line six times and so you can see a gradual improvement in his game and it's not just from a shot making standpoint but you see him improving and getting his teammates, well tonight he got one assist, got his teammates involved. They got him involved. Know your job. But Clay was a higher gun tonight. He came in. He knew that he needed to get this win and he said it before the game. This was a game that they had to win and every game right now they have to play with the sense of urgency. Understand that you have to win games moving forward for these last 22 games. And Bonta you said it for guys like Clay Thompson and Steph Curry the defense can't guard them when they get off the basketball. You know you saw the one time he came off a down screen from Ty Jerome and both both defenders jumped out. Ty got an easy layup. Right. So when you single cover him Clay was guarded a lot tonight. He made some hellacious shots when he gets in that rhythm which by the way he's all the way back. We talked about him having one of his best months in January. You know his expectations are so high. He's played at such a high level when he's playing great people compared to what he was but he's all the way back. His shots there, his fitness levels there, the confidence in his body's there and this is another reason why I think the league in general feels like if they get healthy and they get whole and they get this whole team back together. Look what they did tonight without without Steph Wiggins and Draymond. The concern was defensively. They did a good job. They won the rebound battle. Moving the basketball they had 27 assists on 37 main field goals. So the bench has really solidified itself. Now it's really about getting healthy. And now they improved to 30 and 30 and 23 and 7 at Chase Center at Dub Nation on Twitter was going crazy. Look at Andrew Bolgan. He's another Klay three fire emoji. He's in the building. That boy Klay Thompson is on one. Tommy Don. Look at Stephen Curry enjoying the show. You see Dub Nation going crazy. All our Twitter. Do you see this Willie? That's why you got to get on Twitter. I'm good. I don't even know what's going on there. I watched the game. That was enough. So did she on the big screen. She watched the game as well as Klay Thompson went crazy here but it's against the Rockets. By the way Dante DiVincenzo also tied a career high with five made threes tonight. Come on Looney didn't stink on the glass but Klay Thompson coming out like that and you just hope he can carry it over. Now the Sky to report with Minnesota. They're going to say we can't let Klay Thompson. I can't. First of all Houston allowing Klay Thompson to get out 17 three-pointed tips. That is insane without Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. Mully said it. They did not allow him to shoot the threes. He came out there and he shot it over some and a lot of those possessions those were great defensive possessions but great offense, good defense, great offense beats good defense any moment. Smalls beats bigs. Buckets wins championships or defense. Buckets all day. And smalls beat bigs. That's the way it goes. Our Aggie 30 point is actually a bucket not a block shot. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Drew Poole shot a night. Eight assists as well as well as the 15 points. I said that before the game. I said Drew Poole his job as a point guard especially as a starting point guard with Steph Curry out. You got to find a way to incorporate the guys. His job especially having the speed and the quickness that he does. He's got to get into the teeth of the defense against the Houston Rockets and create shots for other people. That's how Klay Thompson got going tonight but they have a lot of shooters. They have Dante DiVincenzo who can make it and now you see PB&J getting out there and making shots. So they have a lot of shooters on this team and a lot of times the offense predicates the defense as well for the Warriors. So they got to create ways to create offense for the team and Drew Poole can be the guy to do that. And only one turnover for JP tonight. That was very encouraging for Jordan Poole. Eight assists, one turnover. But to generate that many high quality three-point shots. They go 26 for 54. The ball has to move. The screening has to be on time and that was all in place which is really impressive when you're missing Steph, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. And we always talk about the Warriors offensive attack. Read and react right. But the biggest thing is having the ball move but having the bodies move. And I see Dante DiVincenzo. I know I'm playing with great confidence but his three-point shots a lot of them come when he's relocating in rhythm. Not a lot of standing around. That's a much more high quality shot for a shooter. I think Dante DiVincenzo has really flourished in this Warriors offensive system. And what about Patrick Baldwin Jr. He may join us at the gatehouse. He's already joined us before this season. This is what this is a lot of encouragement for the future of this Warriors organization. Seeing a young guy like Patrick Baldwin Jr. that's been in the G League and just really been refining his skills down there. And now he's up here on the big stage and he's showing what he's got. And this Warriors team right now. I think this time with Draymond out. With Andrew Wiggins out. With Steph Curry out. The bench is the one that's going to benefit the most. Having the time on the court to show what they have. Because when the playoffs come and we got to make it to the playoffs. Yes. But when the playoffs come. These moments right now. The ability to really show your talent. Show Steph Curry what you can do. Will play a big role later down the line. He's an impressive young player. His shot is pure as anything. But he's athletic. You can see him get to the rim. He gets to the rebounds a little bit. I think he needs to probably invite contact a little bit more. But I tell you what. Six foot ten. You can knock down three point shots like that. You're going to have a long career. We discussed this playing time with Monty Paul in the pregame show. And Monty said maybe it's not this year. Maybe it's next year. You know what. Tonight looks like he can help this season. He is helping. He's helping right now. Let's see if he can help on Sunday. But this was a win they had to have going into Sunday's game. And it's encouraging because you love winning. But for this Warriors team. Understand that they're also severely depleted. Basketball is a game of attrition. I said that before. It's not just about the best team winning. You also have to get there healthy. And those are all the things that come into play. Chemistry comes into play. These are all the things that the Warriors are still building. You're going for a fifth championship. There's not really a lot of blueprints. I said this to you earlier, Bonte. There's no blueprint for how this season should go. The Warriors are trying to do something that's kind of unprecedented. Especially in this generation. So everything you're seeing right now is them trying to figure it out. Figure out the pieces. The new pieces coming in. All those things are trying to be figured out right now. But Klay Thompson was incredible. A 26 to 5 run in the second quarter. He led that run. This is why you know that no lead is ever safe when you have the Splash Brothers with them on the court in any moment. If it's one of them, it's two of them. No lead is ever safe. And you see they can extend any lead in any moment as well. It just shows you the power of the three-point shot. So they go plus 45 from the three-point line. Not only do they dominate the three-point line, but it inserts energy into the team. All of a sudden everyone's getting back on defense faster. They're rebounding better. So the three-point shot was huge. Because they lost. The fast breaks was 20 to 7. And points of turn was 24 to 9. So the three-point shot really bailed them out. But to me, it was really impressive the way they were able to function without Steph, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green. Both offensively and defensively. Kavon dominated the boards, which his team is a big-time athletic rebounding team. So they won the rebounding battle. And then the ball movement. That was a concern of mine with Draymond being out. He's so good at organizing things and having Klay run off screens. That was a concern coming in. But the players that filled in, they did a great job moving the ball, getting him open. And once he got hot, they zeroed in on him and made sure he got as many touches as possible. They put on a show in front of Trey Lance. How about Trey Lance in the building here? Could be the United starting quarterback with CJ Holmes of the San Francisco Chronicle. Does a great job covering the Golden State Warriors. Trey Lance and Jordan Poole. Jordan Poole on a night like tonight. Only one turnover, 15 points, 8 assists, a very controlled game. And we showed Jonathan Kaminka's numbers, which were not overly impressive. But the restraint to not try and do too much actually was the strength of the team tonight. Western Conference is about to get real interesting when KD hits the court Wednesday night, Festus. The name of the game is progress. And we went from number 10 to number 9. We're moving our way out of the box. We're moving in the right direction out of the box. You are one of a kind, KD's coming back. We're all curious as to how that's going to work. Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and working that team. Do they have enough depth for that team? Do they have enough defense? I know Mully loves the offense, but are they going to be able to thrive with that system? Are they going to be able to stay healthy for the playoffs? These are all the questions you have for the Phoenix Suns. But for the Warriors, we're waiting for Steph Curry's return, waiting for Gary Payton's return. And for the New Orleans Pelicans, you got Zion Williamson. There's so much good basketball to play the rest of the rest of the way. I'm so excited. There's 22 games left. I need you in my life every day. Forget Joe Saski. I need your optimism. Progress knocks perfection. No question. I'm down with that. But Curious George, about Kevin Durant. Come on, man. Curious George. I said, did you hear everything I said? They're going to miss Mikel Bridges. Or do they have depth? Are they going to be healthy? Yeah, they got Landry Schammett. Yeah, campaign we just saw here. Dee Lee. And Kevin Durant. They scored 124 without Kevin Durant. I'm not curious about that. That's going to work. When the time comes, we'll see. The depth only comes into play when you have a great starting five, right? To me, the fact that they kept the Andre Ayton, they kept shooters, right? I think they kept the core of their team together and added one of the greatest players of all time. That's a good point. DeAndre Ayton and how he's going to, how Kevin Durant is going to help him. You know, he helped, he helped Claxton in Brooklyn. So how they're going to come together. So I'm a little less curious than you, but we'll see how it plays out. But I like the progress from 10th to ninth place. Can we be excited about where we're at? I don't care about what's out of the box. They're still in the box. You want to go to Phoenix? What's going on, man? I'd love to go seven game series with Phoenix. No doubt. Absolutely. I'm a star here at the Gatehouse at Thrive City. Patrick Ballwood Jr., first row pick. Been back and forth from the G League, but he stays ready. And that shot looked good tonight. But however, Klay Thompson overshadowed you with his night. But you had a great night. What was it like being back here at Chase Center playing with the big league club? Yeah, I mean, I'm not a star yet, but it's always great to get back here and get with the big club and get some run. But I thought it was a good effort across all boards tonight. You know, Klay had his big night. Everybody else contributed, and it was a good win tonight. Patrick, we were just talking before you got here how impressed we are the fact that you stay ready, whether you go down the G League. You get some DMPs. Tonight, you check in the game. You knock down your first three-point shot. You've got a beautiful shot. It's automatic. I know you're working on it all the time. What other aspects of the game are you working on? Yeah, I think, you know, I already have a skill that I've established. And, you know, that's productive. But just building all around the game in the paint defensively. You know, just being a three-level scorer, just being, you know, a good play connector, that's what we need. So, you know, whatever I can do to impact winning and, you know, just get better at that, I think that's what will help me go forward. Trying to get a poster tonight. I love that, man. I love the aggression that I saw tonight. I have an interesting question. You know, your first year getting through the cuts, right? They had the trades here a few weeks ago. What was that like? What was it like making it through that deadline and being still here with the team? Yeah, you know, I think, you know, my agent just told me, you know, just stay, you know, just stay kind of level-headed through all this. And, you know, every time, every year it's going to come up and, you know, there's going to be rumors. But I think to be able to just kind of be with the team now and be able to play out the rest of the season, I think that does wonders for a lot of players' confidence. How about this offensive system? Very unique in the NBA. Not many teams, if any, run the same read and react offense the Warriors do. You played for your dad in college, and your dad now is at Georgetown with my good friend Patrick Ewing. How have you adapted to that? Was this something, growing up, you have that good feel for the game? Because it looks like, you check in the game, your spacing's great. You're ready to catch and shoot. You look like you're really comfortable in this offensive system. Yeah, I think, you know, it just comes with being a coach's son, really. Just sitting in on practices and high-level film sessions with Chris Collins and Brian James for a long time. It just comes with watching and being and playing basketball, really. It's just a feel thing, and I think I'm fortunate to be in my position with a father as a coach. And it's done wonders for me for my career so far. Festus just asked you about sticking through the trade deadline and ignoring everything. How challenging is that? Because you're growing up in the social media era. Everybody's tweeting, everybody's Instagramming. How challenging is it for you and some of the young players to stay away from that stuff, to stay away from the noise on social media? Yeah, I think it's, for a lot of guys, it can be hard. For me, I have a great backbone and a great family and a great people in my circle. They offer me great advice. And, you know, whatever would have happened at that point, I wouldn't have, you know, particularly worried. I would have known there's a new challenge ahead of me. And I think I just have great people in my circle that keep me grounded. Along those same lines, Patrick, if you're assigned to Santa Cruz, there's a lot of talk, how do players handle that? Not only mentally, you know, you've had some days where you were down in Santa Cruz, you came back up in the same day. So how do you manage that mentally as far as, is it demotion? Do you look at just some way to improve? And then physically, staying ready. Obviously, you don't have the same facilities that you have here. Yeah, I mean, to me, it's just more basketball. I just want to play basketball 24-7, if my body would allow it. You know, I still know I have to have my rest and, you know, get proper sleep. But, you know, if I could wake up, crack it on, play basketball, I would do it. And, you know, if I get, quote-unquote, placed in the G League, I think it's just an added challenge to myself. You have succeeded, and you look like a product, somebody who is actually succeeding with this method of going down to the G League and coming back, because you look so comfortable on the floor. What is it like right now for this team playing without Steph and having to weather this storm without Steph, Draymond, and Andrew Wiggins? What's the mood of the team right now? Yeah, I think the mood of the team is great. You know, I think we know we have enough. You know, obviously, with those pieces, it's going to be a big blow to us. But, you know, you always got to watch out for that wounded dog. That's what my father would always tell me. You know, when that dog is wounded, it's going to fight. And I think we're going to fight. So, rumor has it, this season, you had your first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. True. Have you added that to your pregame meal? Yeah. So, it is a pregame special. Really? If we're at home, I make a PB&J sandwich right ahead of the gym. So, you're in double figures now? I am in double figures. What type of jelly? What jelly? You going strawberry? You going grape? You know, I'm more of a raspberry. Oh, okay. I'm not mad at that. Now, probably walking the hallways in Wisconsin or walking the streets of Wisconsin, you're probably the best shooter, probably in the state. You come here. You have Stephen Curry. You have Jordan Poole. And you have Klay Thompson and what he did tonight. What is it like being part of that and seeing these guys shoot the lights out on any given night? Yeah, I think it just pushes me. Because I know I'm no longer the roof. You know, I'm the floor for a shooter in this gym. So, to be able to get to that level takes a lot of work. You know, you see Klay and JP and Steph putting in that work every day. So, it just keeps me grounded. And not only the shot making, which you have down pat, but moving without the basketball. So, you get yourself open to get high quality looks. Yeah. So, I mean, just moving without the ball not only creates shots for myself, but it creates more offense and opportunity for the teammates. And I think that's something that Steph has shown throughout his career, time and time again, as well as Klay. Just the gravity they have. And, you know, if you're a high-level shot maker, it's important to, you know, make sure your teammates are engaged. Well, Mully tried to call me out for calling out your sneakers here. But Mully's really just you, Ed, here. You tell the people what you're wearing. These look like Air Force Ones. I see the Jordan tongue here, the J1s. I mean, last time you came up here, you had some regular hoop shoes. Yeah. Now you're stepping the game up. Yeah, definitely stepped the game up. I got some all-white Jordan 1s. All right. A little trade line acquisition? A little bit. You got to watch out for the window ball.