Draymond Green said, if he played to his level, the Warriors would have been up 3-0 in the NBA Finals.
But I didn’t think that was good enough. The Cavaliers had done plenty to bother him in Golden State in the first three games, and Green shouldn’t have just assumed he’d magically get back on track.
He didn’t.
Green:I know the amount of work I’ve put in over my life, over the course of the summers, this year. But I just wasn’t feeling confident at all. And I knew coming into this game, I had to be more confident.
We actually had a day off yesterday, and Coach Kerr gave us 30 minutes to shoot if you wanted to shoot. And I took an hour. And I wasn’t leaving this gym until I felt comfortable. And I shot a lot of pull-ups, mid-range jump shots, floaters and 3s. And I just shot until I felt comfortable, and I was able to come out with more confidence.
You can say you’re going to come out more confident, but if you don’t put the work in, it’s hard to come out more confident.
That wasn’t Green’s only change.He was also asked about talking to the referees less in Game 4. Green:
You noticed that?
My mom and my grandma told me I’m crying too much. Leave the officials alone and just play. They got you out there looking like you’re a punk and don’t know how to play basketball.
And then you sit back and watch, that’s what I was doing. The fact that you asked me that question even further lets me know that that’s what I was doing.
So, I just told myself, I’m going to come out and play and whatever happens, happens. Don’t argue the call. It’s not getting overturned, so why continue to argue and waste energy on that? I’ve got to waste, expend enough energy dealing with these guys. Don’t really have time to try to argue with the officials and all that stuff.
However many more games they win this series, the Cavaliers have already accomplished something no other team has: They’re forcing the Warriors to play with supreme energy and focus.
Not that the Warriors have never been challenged before. But they’ve never been pushed like this. That is totally because of Cleveland.
Because the Warriors haven’t had to answer that call previously, there was some doubt whether they could. Green showed that he can.
If and the Warriors continue to do so, they’ll probably win the series. But if they slip at all, the Cavaliers are good enough and tough enough to pounce.