In tonight’s game four of the 2015 NBA Finals, Steve Kerr told reporters in his pre-game news conference he was not going to start former Arizona Wildcat Andre’ Igoudala, he lied.
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Andre’ got a new coach this year, his fellow former Arizona Wildcat Steve Kerr. Kerr is an NBA Champion, so when his coached asked him to come off the bench during the season, Igoudala (Iggy) listened and accepted his new role.
Through the last four games, Iggy has been given the responsibility off the bench to guard one the best if not the best player in the world, LeBron James. This is not a dig at Steph Curry, during the season Steph Curry was the MVP and took his team to new heights as a leader and as a leading scorer on the team, he earned it.
Iggy guarded LeBron James very well even though the LeBron’s stats would not lend itself to someone coming to this conclusion. He defended Lebron in the final seconds of game one and game two during regulation and was a significant in sending both games into overtime.
I mentioned in an earlier article that LeBron could not win these games alone, and he needs a team to help him. He confessed tonight that he was “gassed” in the end of the game. You could tell tonight that LeBron ran out of steam, and even though Delladova played hard, he seemed to lose a step or two tonight as well. This game quieted down the fans in Cleveland who were chanting “Della Della” in the streets before the game.
Andre’ did not come off the bench in tonight’s game, he started for the first time this season. The Warriors were behind two games to one against the Cavs when a number of pundits projected Golden State would win the championship in five games. Game four took place in Cleveland and the fans there could finally start to taste a championship, Iggy and his team through some pepper on that dream tonight.
#NBAPlayoffs #AndreIgoudala be like: pic.twitter.com/89YPrkpzLQ
— Cel Therapy (@celtherapy) June 12, 2015
When Igoudala was on the court during the NBA Finals, LeBron’s FG shooting percentage is 35.3%, when he was off the court, Lebron’s shooting percentage was as high as 45.5%. It didn’t help the Cavs that J.R. Smith did not perform well tonight, but LeBron didn’t get on him or blame him. Iggy was feeling it tonight, and he was so confident that he seemed to have made a little fun of LeBron (faking injuries.)
Andre scored 22 points including four 3-pointers, same number of points as his MVP teammate Steph Curry. He also gained a lot of new fans tonight as #AndreIgoudala was trending for a long time, two fans are calling for him to be the MVP of the series.
#AndreIgoudala has been #GSW only hope ... #MVP SO FAR
— Mike ℹG. (@MikeBBN) June 12, 2015
Steve Kerr in the post game press conference, explaining how his team won the game, “It’s our first trip to the finals..it’s not just about playing hard it’s about playing every, single, Possession like it’s your last. And I thought tonight our effort took a step up and that’s why we were able to win.”
What about his small players? “The actual move changes the chessboard so I think it was important to get better spacing, we had five guys out there who could run pretty fast so we got up and down the floor pretty quickly and that helped us get out to a better start.”
Kerr had limited Igoudala’s minutes all along in the season bringing him off the bench, he was asked by an ESPN reporter if that was deliberate knowing he would need him in the finals?
Jun 11, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) reacts after making a three pointer in front of Cleveland Cavaliers forward James Jones (1) during the fourth quarter in game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
“It’s a big part of it, part of it was, the bringing off the bench part was to help Harrison and put Harrison in a better role, and also to solidify our second unit which Andre’ did, but we tried all season long to give Andre’ rests; kept him at I don’t know 29 minutes a game 28 maybe..we just wanted to keep him as fresh as possible. And he looks great out there he’s been our best player through four games. He guards LeBron pretty much every possession that he’s out there and his offense has been terrific!”
“And he looks great out there he’s been our best player through four games.” Coach Steve Kerr
Andre post-game has this humble thing to say in response to his coach’s comments about him, “As far as the series, I think it’s just about playing the game the right way and our team has been really good at just letting it flow, and whoever’s night it is that’s the guys night, but the majority of the time its Steph just because he is who he is.”
LeBron was also asked about Iggy’s impact on the game and guarding him, “He’s one of the X factors and he came to play. He shot the ball extremely really well, he hit four three’s. He was in attack, he got a couple of dunks in transition early on in the game which got him going and he was really good for them. Coach Kerr did a great job of mixing the line-up up. They have so many different interchangeable players where he can kind of decide how he wants to go with his line-ups and of that nature at the start of the night to give them that boost…they doubled me a little more tonight.”
LeBron kind of shrugged off the notion that he may be excited as the fans for the possibility of winning a championship, he responded to Lakers Beat Reporter Ramona Shelbourne, “It’s just basketball.”
The next game is this coming Sunday, the game takes place back in Oakland at Oracle Arena. Igouadala will probably start again since it worked, but who knows, what we do know is, when Iggy is “on” the court, LeBron and the CAVS better step it up!
Here are the Igoudala highlights for game 4:
Bear Down Iggy!