© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
On Thursday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joined Tolbert & Lund to discuss the highly anticipated return of All Star big-man Demarcus Cousins, who is scheduled to make his debut vs. the Clippers on Friday.
“It’s going to be great. I’m really excited for him,” Kerr said of Cousins’ return Friday. “It’s going to be a fun challenge for the team to fit him in and utilize his strengths, and make the best of his talent. And for him, the big challenge is to come back from the injury after being out for a year and play for a brand new team. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s something we’re all looking forward to.”
When asked about Cousins’ minutes for Friday’s matchup in Los Angeles against the Clippers, Kerr said they would be very similar to his practice regiment leading up to tonight.
“He’s been scrimmaging now for six weeks, and the scrimmages have basically been four or five minute runs,” Kerr said. “We’ve put four or five minutes on the clock, and he’s sprinted through that and played through, and then we take a break. Then we do it again. He’s been getting through five or six of those blocks, so I think that’s how we’ll use him tomorrow: four or five minute blocks.
“(Cousins will) get tired. The game will be just a little bit faster than when he’s playing the film crew and some of the assistant coaches,” Kerr said jokingly, “But I imagine we’ll give him a lot of short bursts and try and help him along.”
Coach Kerr also commented on possible changes to the offense upon Boogie’s return.
“We have a few sets that we would like to run using him, either on the low block or out at the elbow, places where he has been confident and comfortable throughout his career,” Kerr said. “Our offense already features some of that. We may not throw the ball into score a whole lot, as we usually throw the ball into the post to set up our cuts for our shooters, but we can run very similar actions with the intention of having him score down there. We don’t want to change too much, but we’ve definitely added a few wrinkles here and there.”
The entirety of Dub Nation we be on the edge of their seats for the 7:30 PT tip, and while DeMarcus Cousins likely wont see extended minutes, finally seeing all five all stars on the court together is going to be something special.
To listen to Kerr talking about the DeMarcus Cousins return and more, listen from 7:18
