Warriors Notes: Curry, Kerr, Schedule, Yurtseven, Richard

Stephen Curry has been out since Jan. 3o due to a knee injury but Warriors coach Steve Kerr remains confident his star guard will return before the end of the season, Kevin Borba of NBCSportsBayArea.com relays.

“Well, we expect him back,” Kerr said to NBC’s B0b Costas during the broadcast of the Warriors-Knicks contest on Sunday. “He’s trending in the right direction. It’s been a tricky injury. I think he’ll be back for sure. We just don’t know if it’s going to be a week or two or whatever. It’s a day-to-day process.”

Curry has been working out and will be re-evaluated on March 21. He’ll miss at least the next three games.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

• Despite an injury-marred season, Curry isn’t close to calling it quits, Nick Friedell of The Athletic relays. Curry made his comments during an interview with The Athletic’s Marcus Th0mpson II. “I think your body is the first point of information,” he said. “Just what it takes to get ready for a game is a lot different now than it was a decade ago. When I’m out there on the court right now, I still get lost in the fun. It’s still my happy place. All the work is worth it because I get to go out there and hoop at the highest level. The competition, the camaraderie, the chasing something that matters — that still gets me going. And I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.”
• Kerr has called for shortening the regular season numerous times and he was at it again this weekend, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (Twitter link). “I’m well aware fewer games would mean less revenue which means everybody takes a pay cut and I’m willing to stick my neck out and say I’m all for that because I think the quality of the product is the most important thing,” he said. “So I don’t say these things flippantly. I say these things because I mean them.” Kerr would like to see the schedule reduced by 10 games. “We have incredible people in this league and great fans. I just want to make sure we give our fans the very, very best product we can and try to satisfy all of our corporate partners,” Kerr said. “And I just think there’s probably a way to do that without just completely — I don’t know, ignoring some of the obvious (schedule-related injury) issues we’ve established.”
• Big man Omer Yurtseven says the NBA game is much more free flowing than in the European leagues due to the layout of the court and rules preventing defenders from hanging out in the paint. “In Europe, it’s much more chaotic,” Yurtseven said, per Eurohoops.net. “They will just shrink, be able to recover it back, because the three-point line is closer, because there is no three-second rule in defense. Those kinds of things affect everything.” Yurtseven, signed to a 10-day contract over the weekend, went scoreless in 13 minutes in a three-point loss to the Knicks but did pull down four rebounds.
• Kerr was mad at himself for lambasting rookie Will Richard during Sunday’s nationally-televised game. Kerr ripped Richard for committing a silly turnover in the second quarter. “I kind of regret losing my composure a little bit there,” Kerr said, per Monte Poole of NBCSportsBayArea.com. “It’s my job to keep the guys going, especially when we’re without so many players.”