Steve Kerr joked Tuesday that his appreciation of the NBA's play-in tournament will depend entirely upon if and where the Warriors finish among the eligible teams.
"If we're ninth or 10th [in the Western Conference], I would love it," Kerr quipped to reporters in a video conference. "If we're seventh or eighth, I think it's total bullcrap."
The Warriors' goal remains to bypass the play-in entirely, preferring to be one of the conference's top six teams rather than needing to win a game (as the seventh or eighth seed) or two (as the ninth or 10th seed) in order to simply qualify for the first round of the playoffs.
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Golden State entered Tuesday as the No. 7 team in the West, a half-game back of the Denver Nuggets in sixth and a game back of the Portland Trail Blazers in fifth. The Warriors and Blazers play Wednesday night in Portland.
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If Kerr and the Warriors have their way, they'll be able to enjoy the new format from afar. Independent of his team, the Warriors coach truly is a fan of the NBA's changes to the postseason.
"I like the format," Kerr said. "I think the league's done a good job creating more interest for the teams in those last slots, keeping more fan bases engaged. I like the idea that the lower seeds have to win two games [and] the higher seeds only have to win one. I think that's a great compromise."
