Quinten Post

Kerr pleased by Warriors rookie Post's ‘confident' growth

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Warriors rookie center Quinten Post has burst on the scene recently, giving Golden State a much-needed big with the ability to stretch the floor.

Post's impact isn't going unnoticed by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who detailed where the rookie has improved since the start of the 2024-25 NBA season.

"He's just more familiar with the NBA game. The coverages defensively. What are the patterns he's going to see night after night," Kerr told reporters after Saturday's practice. "He's done a really good job in Santa Cruz improving his pick-and-roll defense, understanding angles, that sort of thing. He's shooting the ball with confidence. I thought his first stint last night was terrific, the first six minutes of the game he knocked down a couple 3s, had a couple assists, a couple more near assists that we just didn't convert.

"But he kept making the right play over and over again, so it was fun to watch him."

While Kerr and Golden State's coaching staff got an extended look at Post during training camp, the rookie's performance still has surprised the Warriors coach.

"A little bit, yeah. We had him in training camp obviously and we liked what we saw," Kerr said. "I like how confident he looks out there. He's coming out there and he's not shy. That's the way to do it. Coming into this league you can't mess around, you got to go for it, and I think he's really going for it."

Kerr isn't the only one impressed with Post's development, as fellow big man Kevon Looney detailed the areas where he believes the rookie has grown the most throughout the 2024-25 NBA season.

"He's a lot more vocal. His defense has improved a lot since training camp," Looney said. "He's always been able to shoot the ball, he always makes good reads in the pocket, but his growth on the defensive end since training camp has been good to see. I think he's been doing a solid job for us starting games, he's still growing, he's still learning. He's only a rookie, he's only played a handful of games but to see that growth is good."

Looney also revealed maintaining confidence will be the key to Post sustaining his rookie success.

"For him it's just going to be his confidence, to be able to continue to take and make shots," Looney said. "That's something that's unique for him, going to make him special and keep him around this league for a long time. We don't have a lot of sets for a guy to going to pop-and-shoot, but if he's going to keep doing it and doing it at a high level, that's going to make him unique and keep him around. I think it's confidence, as long as he keeps his confidence and keeps growing on the defensive end, he'll be OK."

When asked about Post's physicality, Looney lauded his rookie teammate's ability to help set the tone.

"Definitely," Looney said. "I talk to him and Trayce [Jackson-Davis] all the time about, as big man it's our job to set the tone with physicality. Whenever something goes down on the court we got to be the first person there. We got to defend our guards, defend everybody on the court, that's our job and he definitely helps with that. He has a lot of size, he's pretty physical. So, I think he's been doing a good job of that."

Post is averaging 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 12.7 minutes per game, and has started each of the Warriors' last two games.

While it remains to be seen if Golden State makes a significant move ahead of the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, Post's emergence has provided a substantial boost to the Warriors' rotation, where he figures to remain for the foreseeable future.

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