Team USA and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has jumped on the New Zealand Warriors bandwagon ahead of tonight’s clash against the Dragons at Mt Smart Stadium.
Kerr, a four-time champion coach of the NBA’s Warriors, has picked up a new phrase to take back to San Francisco after the FIBA World Cup, set to begin tonight.
1News reporter Zion Dayal asked Kerr: “What do you think about the New Zealand Warriors season? Can they win the NRL?”
Keeping it simple, Kerr replied: “Up the Wahs”.
The New Zealand Warriors are currently in third place on the ladder with two games to play in the regular season, behind only the Broncos and the Panthers. It will be their first finals appearance since 2018.
The Warriors aren’t the only New Zealand team on Kerr’s mind, with his US side set to take on the Tall Blacks in their World Cup opener tomorrow night.
“We have great respect for them, they’re very well coached, play really hard and they make you guard difficult actions – cut hard, they screen, look for quick shots – you have to be really well prepared to beat them,” Kerr told 1News.
“We’re in the midst of putting together our game plan for them. some of the things we did in practice were based on how New Zealand plays. So we’re getting ready for them,” Kerr said.
The USA don’t boast the big name stars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry but their roster depth is still very strong, with the likes of NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson.
“There’s winning and losing. What goes into that is effort, the approach, chemistry. I love being part of a team, doing what we’re doing right now trying to build something and have something at stake. The beauty of sports is no-one’s gonna die. We’re gonna compete, we’re gonna play as hard as we can, try win a gold medal. If we don’t, we understand there’ll be plenty of criticism and we’re okay with that,” Kerr said.
