Tag: Bradin Podziemski

Steve Kerr isn’t worried about Brandin Podziemski

Steve Kerr isn’t worried about Brandin Podziemski’s poor performance during the Golden State Warriors loss to the New York Knicks.

Brandin Podziemski has enjoyed a stellar rookie season with the Golden State Warriors.

In 59 games, he’s averaging 9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 44.7% from the field and 37.8% from deep. He’s also started 24 games. Due to his production and professionalism, Podziemski projects as a potential star.

However, Podziemski is still a rookie, which means, on occasion, he’ll struggle to make an impact. He’s still learning the league and working out how to attack different coverages and matchups. That much was evident as he failed to make his presence felt during the Warriors’ loss to the New York Knicks on Monday.

“Yeah he had a tough night, but that’s to be expected,” Steve Kerr said during an appearance on “Willard and Dibs.” “Especially as a rookie and down the stretch of the season. He’s played a lot of minutes this year, but he still plays with a lot of energy. I think the biggest thing is just continuing to show on tape things he can improve upon and remind him of the details of the details that are really important for him.”

Golden State’s younger core has begun to emerge this season. Podzienski, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis have enjoyed breakout seasons.

However, when featuring so much young talent, you have to accept  inconsistent performances will be part of the deal. Still, given the championship core is entering the final stages of their careers, it makes sense to start ushering in the next generation. Podziemski has been solid for most of the season, and a bad night was always inevitable.

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Steve Kerr expects young stars to experience growing pains

The Golden State Warriors head coach understands that his younger players won’t be at their best in every game.

During the Golden State Warriors‘ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, some of the team’s young stars struggled to reach their usual performance levels. Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody had nights they would rather forget, especially on the offensive end.

During his postgame press conference, veteran head coach Steve Kerr sought to ease the pressure on his younger players. He noted it’s normal for young talents to experience growing pains in the league and that not every game will see them perform at their best. After all, inconsistency is part and parcel of developing raw talent.

“I mean, we’re playing a lot of young guys, we started two of them,” Kerr said. “This is all part of it. You have to go through multiple seasons to understand the different games that are gonna happen. The different styles. The different emotional swings. All of that has to be experienced by young guys in order to develop and grow and understand how to win. It’s all part of it.”

For the past few seasons, the Warriors have been straddling two timelines. However, this is the first season that approach has begun to pay dividends. Overall, the young core has been highly encouraging as the future of the franchise. Yet, tough nights are undoubtedly going to occur.

Nevertheless, the Warriors’ future looks exciting based on what we’ve seen from Jonathan Kuminga, Podziemski, Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis this season. If that means the occasional tough night, it will undoubtedly be worth it moving forward. Still, Kerr will likely explore ways to mitigate the risk of those tough nights occurring once the playoffs begin.

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Brandin Podziemski using recent snub as motivation

The Golden State Warriors rookie was snubbed for February’s Rookie of the Month award and now aims to use it as motivation.

Brandin Podziemski was overlooked for February’s Rookie of the Month award. The 21-year-old wing played in all 14 of the Golden State Warriors games that month, starting eight. He averaged 10.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting 42.9% from the field. Overall, he produced complete performances on both ends of the court, helping his team to an 11-3 record.

When speaking to the media following a team practice session on Tuesday, Podzeismki revealed his frustrations at being overlooked. Rather than letting the snub deter him, he’s looking to use it as fuel to continue improving his game and the impact he makes on the court.

“I played every game in February; we went 11-3. Led our team in plus-minus, led all the rookies in plus-minus,” Podzeismki said. “All the stats that look at helping your team win, I led in those categories. That’s what matters most to me, and I think that’s what matters most to a team in term of winning. … I should have at least been in the conversation for sure”

Podziemski has been a big hit with the Warriors this season. He’s outplaying his status as the 19th pick in the draft and projects to be a legitimate star for the Warriors.

Podziemski will undoubtedly have a big role to play for Steve Kerr‘s team moving forward. As such, he will undoubtedly be getting his first taste of postseason basketball in the coming months. For now, though, Podziemski will likely use his snub as motivation, and we could start seeing that during the Warriors’ upcoming game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

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Brandin Podziemski on his ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment

Brandin Podziemski detailed his “welcome to the NBA moment” during his media availability at All-Star weekend.

Brandin Podziemski has quickly established himself within the Golden State Warriors rotation. The 20-year-old has already played in 47 games, averaging 9.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 46.4% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range. He has also been part of Steve Kerr‘s starting lineup on 14 occasions.

Podziemski’s future looks bright. He’s already earning praise from his championship-winning veteran teammates. He’s impressed with how he reads the game and can control the glass as a guard. Yet, all of the momentum he’s acquired didn’t stop him from having a “welcome to the NBA” moment when facing Kawhi Leonard for the first time.

“November 30th, we played the Clippers at home, and I got a foul called on Kawhi Leonard,” Podziemski said during his media availability at All-Star weekend. “I didn’t touch him. Then we reviewed it. We won the challenge. But just to see what kind of calls NBA superstars get, besides Steph.”

Podziemski still has a lot to experience in the NBA. The intensity of the game will ramp up over the final months of the regular season, which will be new for him. Then, the post-season begins, and with it comes a different style of basketball along with enormous pressure.

With so much basketball left to be played, Podziemski will likely have more experiences like he did against Kawhi. It’s all part of the learning process. Nevertheless, he’s been a vital part of Golden State’s rotation this season, and his future in the league looks bright.

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Steve Kerr reveals rookie guard has earned a bigger role

Steve Kerr has admitted that Brandin Podziemski will see an increase in playing time after impressing over the first few weeks of the season.

Brandin Podziemski had a breakout game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. The rookie shooting guard was thrust into a bigger role following Klay Thompson’s ejection from the game in the opening minutes. Podziemski ended the night with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal. He shot 50% from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range.

After the game, Steve Kerr revealed that Podziemski has earned himself a larger role within the Golden State Warriors rotation. Kerr noted how the rookie will likely play in every game and that he’s earned the promotion with his play throughout his first seven games with the team.

“He’s gonna play. He’s gonna play every night. He’s earned that. He was incredible tonight. He’s been great in practice. There’s something unique about him. At that size, he had seven tonight to rebound the way he does; he’s always in the right spot. He’s fearless. And he connects the game. He plays the way we want to play. The ball moves when he’s out there. He’s attacking at the right times. He’s cutting at the right times. Defensively he’s good. He’s a d*** good player. So, he’s going to play.”

Podziemski played 39 minutes against the Timberwolves. He has impressed every time he’s been given the opportunity to participate as part of Golden State’s primary rotation. Now, the rookie will have the chance to continue earning more minutes by being given a bigger opportunity on a nightly basis.

Podziemski was drafted with the 19th pick in the 2023 draft. He’s already proving himself an incredibly shrewd pickup by the Warriors front office and coaching staff.

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Warriors land Santa Clara’s Brandin Podziemski with No. 19 pick in latest mock draft from ESPN

In the latest mock draft from ESPN, the Warriors landed Santa Clara’s Bradin Podziemski at No. 19 overall.

With NBA draft week officially underway, mock drafts are heating up with different projections for Thursday’s first round.

While Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller are all locked in for the first three picks. there’s still mystery surrounding what Mike Dunleavy Jr. will do at No. 19 in his first draft as general manager of the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors will have the chance to select another young prospect to slide in along their core with Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Jordan Poole.

With the No. 19 pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft, Jonathan Givony inked Santa Clara’s Bradin Podziemski to the Warriors. According to Givony, Podziemski has an “intriguing combination of toughness, shooting and passing ability.”

Via ESPN:

Rival teams have pointed to the likes of Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kris Murray — who bring varying degrees of skill, feel, shooting and two-way versatility, as the type of players the Warriors could target instead. Podziemski, an analytics-model favorite, has helped himself in the pre-draft process with the intriguing combination of toughness, shooting and passing ability he has demonstrated in workouts, helping him climb solidly into the first round.

Read Givony’s full mock draft via ESPN here.

After transferring from Illinois, Podziemski broke out with Santa Clara in the WCC, averaging 19.9 points on 48.3% shooting from the field with 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals in 32 games.

Podziemski notched 30 or more points four times in his sophomore season at Santa Clara, scoring a career-high 38 points with six made 3-pointers in a loss to Pacific in January.

The NBA draft is set for Thursday at 5 p.m. PT from Brooklyn, New York.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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