Misunderstanding resolved? Cole and Kuminga meet to resolve differences, can the Golden State generals still have one mind?

原文编译自:The Athletic

作者：Anthony Slater

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

After The Athletic reported that Jonathan Kuminga had lost faith in Steve Kerr's ability to maximize his potential, the Golden State Warriors coach and third-year wing met in Kerr's office ahead of Friday night's 113-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Kuminga's most recent frustration came the night before, when he watched the final 18 minutes of the Warriors off the bench, especially in the harrowing final six minutes, when the Warriors lost another good game after leading the Denver Nuggets by 18 points.

Kerr decided to limit Kuminga's playing time to 19 minutes and zero in the fourth quarter, a decision that was put under a harsh microscope despite his previous 16 points and clearly needing his breakthrough ability. Kuminga's emotions surfaced in public. Cole felt the need for a face-to-face conversation. After the victory over Detroit, Kuminga said the conversation had a positive impact.

"I think the talks went very well," Kuminga said. I think it's just a process of getting to know each other better. More communication. We didn't have a lot of opportunities to sit together and talk about non-basketball matters. We don't have much opportunity to do that. This conversation we had today made me even more comfortable that whenever I had a question to ask, I just walked over to his office. His door is open. Go there and wait for him to come back, and talk to him at any time.

"I think that's the key, if something goes wrong, communicate every time. Communication is key. ”

Kuminga played a season-high 36 minutes against the Pistons. He didn't take a second of rest in the fourth quarter. He had 11 points and six rebounds, and for most of the game, he was the primary defender of Cade Cunningham. It was his 12th consecutive game in the starting lineup, but Kuminga has yet to play more than 30 consecutive minutes in his career. As a result, playing time will continue to be in the spotlight.

Kuminga said: "I never complained about playing time in the meeting. We're just talking about if I'm doing well in something, just go back and remind him, 'Hey, coach, I need to get better at this, what do I need to do to get more trust or more playing time?' like I said, it's more about communication and better understanding on both of us. ”

Kuminga's upset about his own ups and downs — dating back to last season's playoffs, when he went from being an integral part of the rotation for the final two months of the regular season to being a standby on the bench after Andrew Wiggins' return from a long absence — left him questioning his future with the Warriors.

Does he want to stay with the team for the long term? Will he stay with the team after the Feb. 8 trade deadline? How does he feel about his place in the organization and his relationship with Kerr after Friday's meeting?

Kuminga said: "I love it here. I was chosen here. There will always be ups and downs. When you see all the ups and downs, that confuses a lot of people. But I know Steve believes in me. I know he trusts me at the moment. It's just about communication and better understanding. No hatred, nothing to forget what happened. Looking ahead, hopefully we can all work together to help this team and leave everything in the past. ”

What does this better understanding mean?

"There is a better understanding of what I need to do on the pitch to make the team better," Kuminga said. Who will he choose tonight or tomorrow night? Who does he trust the most? As a coach, you talk about the person you trust the most or who is producing results as a coach in the moment. So it's all about these little things. When we sat down and talked about these things, everything was going well. ”

The crux of the matter is that the Warriors can't get Kuminga and Wiggins on the court. Since the beginning of Friday, the duo has played 131 minutes together, accumulating a negative value of -66. The Warriors have an analytics department that is responsible for providing this data to the coaching staff, which drives their roster selection in part. That's why Kerr has been reluctant to play his two big men on the flanks, calling them "redundant" partners.

But against the Pistons, he still struggled to find time for them to play together. They played together on the field for 6 minutes. They win by seven points. But Wiggins struggled with 1-of-5 shooting that night and didn't offer much other help. As a result, his playing time was limited to 19 minutes, while Kuminga was given 36 minutes.

"I'm going to be honest and I'm going to go to the coach and talk about me playing with Wiggins," Kuminga said. I don't want it to look like Wiggins and I are competing for playing time every day. I know Wiggins comes to work every day and doesn't think about it. Me too. I don't think every day about stealing Wiggins' playing time and stealing this guy's playing time.

"We're here to play well, help the team win games and achieve our goals as a team. Champions and so on. Whenever a team wins, everyone is a winner. In moving forward, focus first on what the team needs and then think about other things. ”

In the near future, the Warriors' rotation will have more playing time. Chris Paul suffered a fractured left hand in the game against the Pistons and will undergo surgery next week. He will have an indefinite truce. Cole said it would give more opportunities to Blandin Podemski, Corey Joseph and Moses Moody. But it could also open the door for more attempts by the Kuminga and Wiggins lineups.

Draymond Green's imminent return from an indefinite suspension will recreate another dilemma. However, this is another deep problem.

Curry said: "Kuminga has already had that experience. He wanted to play because he was dissatisfied with the playing time and was not wrong. Probably should play. No...... But in this league, the ultimate challenge for anyone is not to let the narrative take your place, and you can't explain it in your own voice or directly with the coach. We've all been there. We have all gone through the process of Xi. Like I said, it's not wrong for him to be unhappy and frustrated with playing time. I've heard coaches talk about it. He was a bit of a half-joking but serious and said that for 15 years he was always unhappy with playing time. In every locker room in one way or another this topic is discussed. There are ways to express themselves, there are ways to express their opinions, but to protect the team. I'm just proud of him – we talked about it before the game. Go play. Go shoot and become a pro. That's what he did. ”