{"id":15815,"date":"2024-12-30T07:53:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T07:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15815"},"modified":"2024-12-30T07:53:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T07:53:52","slug":"warriors-hc-steve-kerr-sounds-off-on-jonathan-kuminga-after-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15815","title":{"rendered":"Warriors HC Steve Kerr Sounds off on Jonathan Kuminga After Win.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2191706784-e1735506735127.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2191706784-e1735506735127.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2191706784-e1735506735127.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2191706784-e1735506735127.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Jonathan Kuminga, Kevin Durant Warriors\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"58\" data-dom-ready-time=\"126\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Golden State Warriors\u00a0fourth-year wing\u00a0Jonathan Kuminga\u00a0has turned Steve Kerr into a believer.<\/p>\n<p>Finally.<\/p>\n<p>Kerr couldn\u2019t stop talking about Kuminga after the rising forward powered the Warriors\u2019 109-105 win over\u00a0the\u00a0Phoenix Suns on Saturday, December 29, on the second night of a back-to-back schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just think he\u2019s turning a corner,\u201d\u00a0Kerr told reporters\u00a0after Kuminga made important plays down the stretch. \u201cI just think he\u2019s seeing the picture well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kuminga matched his career-high in scoring with 34 points in consecutive nights. He canned two pressure-packed free throws with 29 seconds left that gave the Warriors a one-point lead. But what stood out to Kerr was one particular play where Kuminga did not score but made the right play that showed him growth from his young forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe made a play late in the game where he swung the ball to\u00a0Draymond [Green], immediately pinned in for\u00a0Steph [Curry]\u00a0and Steph got a three. He didn\u2019t make it, but that\u2019s the play where you have to recognize Steph as your teammate. You see, he\u2019s cutting through the lane. Swing the ball, and go set a screen for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Combine that maturity with his downhill attacks, which led to 6.6 free throw attempts this December, Kerr believes Kuminga is ready to impact winning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow the mix, the blend of Steph, Draymond, JK, now it starts to really get powerful,\u201d Kerr continued. \u201cI\u2019m just so impressed with JK. \u2026 This is exactly what we\u2019re looking for, and it\u2019s fun to see him deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Jonathan Kuminga Playing Starter Minutes Off the Bench<\/h2>\n<p>While Kuminga continues to come off the bench, Kerr has trusted him with starter minutes and played him in closing lineups with Green at center.<\/p>\n<p>Kuminga played 37 minutes the other night against the Los Angeles Clippers and 34 minutes against the Suns. He delivered big time in both games with a pair of 34-point outings on 11-of-19 and 12-of-20 shooting performances. He also grabbed 19 boards and issued eight assists in those two coming-out-party performances.<\/p>\n<p>Kerr also praised Kuminga for his defensive effort against\u00a0Kevin Durant, who scored 31 points but was held to 41.7% shooting night.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Kerr held Kuminga back despite flashing his potential when he got the opportunity. He\u2019s now more open to unleashing him with the strides he made.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis feels different to me,\u201d Kerr told reporters. \u201cIt really does. There\u2019s just a different force to his game. Last night, you saw all the times he ran the floor, ran through the catch and attacked the rim. Nine rebounds tonight. The timely plays he made.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just feels different. It feels like he\u2019s figuring out how to impact winning, which is obviously the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Jonathan Kuminga Acknowledges Steve Kerr\u2019s Role in His Rise<\/h2>\n<p>Kuminga feels his rise is the natural process of his progression as an NBA player. But he also gave credit where it was due.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody in the organization has been a big part of it, helping me throughout every situation,\u201d\u00a0Kuminga told reporters. \u201cIncluding my coaches, including Steve, including my teammates.<\/p>\n<p>Kuminga feels he\u2019s been playing the same way since the season started. It only gets noticed when he produces big numbers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like it\u2019s being like that all season like I always say before, if you play great, they always look at that, but they don\u2019t see it when you just play normal,\u201d Kuminga added. \u201cYou try to win, but I just feel like I\u2019ve just been trying to win. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kuminga\u2019s play and its impact between winning and losing could dictate the Warriors\u2019 next big move between now and the February 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. Golden State Warriors\u00a0fourth-year wing\u00a0Jonathan Kuminga\u00a0has turned Steve Kerr into a&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Warriors HC Steve Kerr Sounds off on Jonathan Kuminga After Win.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15815\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warriors HC Steve Kerr Sounds off on Jonathan Kuminga After Win.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. 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