Hawaii
Warriors took their preseason training camp to Hawaii. But they’re not here to vacation.
LAIE, Hawaii — The Warriors spent their first morning of training camp doing yoga overlooking the Pacific Ocean’s kaleidoscopic blue. They’re staying at the property where the hit 2008 comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was filmed. Following their first practice, Gary Payton II shot videos on an old-school, handheld camcorder.
After a fairly subdued Media Day at the Chase Center, the vibes are high. On the island of O’ahu, finding peace and serenity isn’t difficult.
But the Warriors aren’t here for mai tais and luaus. They have too much on their plate.
Golden State wants to implement more structure into their offensive system, striking a middle-ground between organized chaos and more set plays to feature younger players. They want to shoot more 3s while figuring out life without Klay Thompson. They want to return to an elite defense and improve in transition on both sides of the ball. They want to fold in three new veterans and hold competitions for, potentially, three spots in the starting lineup — establishing what Steve Kerr calls a “feisty” identity in the process.
“Last year, we spent a lot of the year unable to find certain combinations that fit,” Kerr said after the team’s first practice at BYU Hawaii. “The starting lineup is going to have to be dependent on the first five, but also the second five. I think we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
With how rarely NBA teams, especially the Warriors, practice during the season, training camp and the preseason is a major point in the team’s development. Golden State has five days in Hawaii, so not only is their training camp to-do list long, it must be expedited.
Steph Curry has said repeatedly that he’s open to change to the offensive system. Part of that is due to Thompson’s departure, but also the harsh reality of finishing 10th in the Western Conference last year. The way Golden State has played for years may not maximize this roster’s strengths as much as it had in the past; the personnel’s different.
“This feels like a new beginning for us in a lot of ways,” Kerr said. “Last year felt like an extension of what we already knew. Part of that is the way that Steph and Klay had each been a part of our heart and soul…it’s a pretty dramatic change. So we have to turn that into a positive.”
In years past, the Warriors had the advantage of rare continuity. Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green were teammates for 12 years, and the rest of the team orbited around them. They didn’t have to reinvent themselves, only tweak things and make some additional installations on top of what they were already running.
This team, with Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski rising, and Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield entering the mix, calls for more experimenting.
Kuminga in particular is expected to be a focal point. Outside of Curry, he’s the team’s most natural scorer as a downhill threat and terror in transition. Pushing the pace should help him, and running more set plays to put him in advantageous spots could juice the offense, too.
But Kuminga is one of the players mired in a competition for a starting spot. Unless the Warriors start Draymond Green at center, the spacing gets clunky with both Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins on the floor. Defense is a primary priority for Kerr, and Kuminga hasn’t always been the most consistent defender.
“It’s definitely more challenging because we’ve got new guys and everyone, of course, wants to start,” Kuminga said. “It’s great, it’s actually great going at each other every day. That’s just going to give us that mentality of going out there and playing hard.”
Kuminga could also be a player to increase his 3-point shooting volume. Podziemski has said he wants to get upwards of eight triples up per game — an admittedly ambitious goal. But Kerr hopes to empower him, as well as Wiggins, Moses Moody and Melton, to let it fly.
“I want to be a high-volume 3-point shooting team,” Kerr said. “I think that’s important for us. The big shift is Klay’s not here. So, we were fourth in the league in 3-point attempts last year, but Klay probably shot eight or 10 of them himself every game. So we’re going to have to fill that void, and that’s going to have to come from multiple people.”
Melton and Podziemski are in the mix to start in the back court next to Curry. When asked what his ideal backcourt partner would be, Curry said he likes the options the team has. Melton the defensive-minded ball hawk, Podziemski the connector who developed some chemistry starting with Curry last year, and Buddy Hield the new movement shooter.
Whatever the combinations, it’s clear the Warriors are committed to some shake-ups. Last year, Curry said you can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect the same results. So, Golden State is going to try out some new looks.
“I’ve said it plenty of times, we need to evolve,” Curry said. “How we’re featuring the talent that we have on this team, this is the roster that we have and I think we have enough, just by putting guys in the right places, to be successful. And leveraging what’s worked with our system over the years. So there’s a fine balance there.”
It’ll be tough to find that balance in a week in Hawaii. But building the foundation in paradise has to be the start.
Notable
– Buddy Hield spent much of the first practice period open to the media shooting with assistant coach Chris DeMarco, who helped recruit him to the Warriors while he coached Hield on the Bahamian National Team. Hield was the last player shooting on the court after practice wrapped up.
– Andrew Wiggins didn’t practice on Tuesday because he was under the weather. Everyone else participated.
– Kyle Anderson’s retooled jumper looks much better than it did last season, particularly off the dribble. He’s never going to have a fast release, but a more fluid motion could help him keep defenses honest from the outside; two seasons ago, he shot a career-best 41% from deep on low-volume.
– Steph Curry brought his Olympic gold medal to training camp. “I keep it on me,” he said.
Three convicted sex offenders were arrested on Hawaii Island last week for allegedly failing to comply with sex offender registry requirements.
Multiple law-enforcement agencies conducted checks in Kona on registered sex offenders who had been identified as potentially out of compliance with the state’s Sex Offender Registry laws, according the Department of the Attorney General.
As a result of the three-day operation, several individuals were brought back into compliance, and three West Hawaii men were arrested for allegedly failing to comply with the requirements.
The three men who were arrested are Joseph Debus, 56, of Kailua-Kona, Garth Coleman, 53, of Holualoa and Alexsandr Skelcey, 34, of Kailua-Kona.
Debus was convicted of second-degree sex assault in Hawaii in 1993 and sentenced to five years probation with a year in jail. Coleman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree assault in 2000 after a jury trial in Hawaii. And Skelcey was convicted in Michigan in 2012 of assault with intent to commit sex assault.
“Sex offender registration requirements exist to protect our communities and ensure law enforcement knows where convicted offenders are living,” Tom Alipio, chief of the AG department’s Investigations Division, said in a press release. “Compliance operations like this send a clear message that we will actively monitor the registry, investigate violations and work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations.”
HPD Chief Reed Mahuna said, “Operations like this allow us to verify that offenders are maintaining strict compliance with registration laws and those who aren’t will be addressed immediately. We will continue to leverage these multi-agency partnerships to keep our island communities safe,”
Members of the public can look up publicly available offender information and subscribe to notifications at sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov/coveredoffender/.
Anyone with information regarding a registered sex offender who may be violating registration requirements is encouraged to contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigation Division at (808) 586-1240 or their local law enforcement.
A brush in North Kona, near the Ulu Wini Apartments, has closed a portion of Hina Lani Street, between Route 190 and Ane Keokalole Highway.
According to Hawai‘i Island police, the road is expected to be closed for the next three hours and motorists are advised to avoid the area.
Hawai‘i Fire Assistant Chief Chris Carvalho confirmed at least two engines, two brush trucks, Chopper 2 and a medic vehicle responded to the blaze that started in some bushes.
No evacuations or injuries have been reported at this time.
At 11:09 a.m., an AlertWest camera, installed by Hawaiian Electric in wildfire-prone areas, showed smoke billowing above the Keahuolu Courthouse. As of 12:06 p.m., that smoke appears to have dissipated.
This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
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