Quick Take
As the Golden State Warriors gear up for the playoffs, some names from Santa Cruz’s own Warriors team have seen more minutes in the second half of the NBA season — and prepare to contribute to a postseason run.
In the first quarter of the Santa Cruz Warriors’ March 28 game, forward Jackson Rowe drained a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the left wing. They were his first points in a game that would end in a dominant 150-105 victory for Santa Cruz over the Rip City Remix — the Portland Trail Blazers’ NBA G League affiliate. That victory punched the Warriors’ ticket to the G League playoffs.
The shot looked very similar to Rowe’s first career NBA points, another 3-pointer from the left wing, which came on Feb. 5 in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz during Rowe’s NBA debut with the Golden State Warriors.
“It was super important to me. My mindset was, ‘I gotta score,’ and almost every time I touched the ball I was looking to shoot,” he told Lookout before the Sea Dubs game. “You never know when the next opportunity is [in the NBA], so you gotta take advantage. All the vets were telling me to try to score, because you never know.”
The Santa Cruz Warriors’ season has since ended, after the team just barely lost to the Valley Suns in the first round of the playoffs. However, for some Sea Dubs players from the past couple of seasons, such as Rowe, games are still ongoing — but at the next level.
Warriors forward Gui Santos passes the ball past Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Rowe, along with power forwards Quinten Post and Gui Santos, are Sea Dubs whom you might be seeing on Golden State Warriors broadcasts as the team plays in at least one high-pressure game as it fights for one of the final two spots in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Warriors finished the season with a 23-8 record since the beginning of February, vaulting them into the play-in tournament — a scenario that seemed unlikely even at the time the team’s surge began. The team hoped to secure a spot in the first round, avoiding the play-in, but Sunday’s slim overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers relegated them to the high-stakes tournament. They will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday (7 p.m. PT, TNT), with the winner securing a spot in the first round of playoffs. The loser will have one more chance to keep its season alive in a do-or-die game against the winner of a game Wednesday between the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks. The winner of that game will secure the final spot in the playoffs, with the loser’s season coming to an end.
Santos and Rowe have taken long paths to the NBA that span multiple continents and various professional leagues. Santos, 22, began his professional career in 2018 in Brazil, where he played for four years before the Warriors selected him late in the 2022 NBA draft. He spent time with the Santa Cruz G League team in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, making his NBA debut in the latter.
Rowe, on the other hand, nearly toured Europe on his path to the NBA, playing on teams in France, Sweden and Germany, as well as teams in his home country of Canada. The 28-year-old joined the Santa Cruz Warriors in 2023 after a tryout, and signed with them this season.
Jackson Rowe goes up for a dunk against the Rip City Remix in Santa Cruz. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Post, 24, had the shortest road to the NBA, being selected late in the 2024 NBA draft and playing in just six Sea Dubs games this season. He put up big numbers during those few games, leading to his NBA debut on Dec. 27. Since Jan. 20, he has played in every Golden State Warriors game, averaging 17.5 minutes per game.
Now that he has reached the top, Rowe said that, should he play in games down the final stretch and into the playoffs, simple approaches are key.
“It’s just being able to play at the highest level possible, staying healthy and just enjoying the process. Any day I can wake up and go play basketball is enough for me, and just keeping that mindset has allowed me to grow so much,” Rowe said.
He said no to more money from overseas teams when he opted to sign with the Warriors. But that was OK with him: “You only get one opportunity in your life to make it to the NBA, and you just can’t turn it down.”
Jackson Rowe pregame at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Although G League players are still some of the best basketball players in the world, the NBA court is an entirely different beast, especially during high-intensity pushes toward the postseason, not to mention the playoffs themselves. That means the shift from the G League to the NBA requires players to adjust their play styles. Santos said that he controlled the ball much more in the G League and in Brazil, where he would take on a role as an offensive facilitator more often. Now, he’s working to be effective while his Golden State Warriors teammates have the ball.
“It’s mainly playing without the ball. In Brazil, I was bringing the ball up and dribbling, dribbling, dribbling,” he said. “When I got to Santa Cruz, I was not touching the ball for the entire possession. It’s cutting to the basket and creating shots without even having the ball.”
Rowe said efficiency is the name of the game in the NBA, which is everything from taking smart shots to keeping the other team from stealing the ball away. He added that while this matters at all levels of basketball, the NBA puts every play under a much stronger microscope. Scoring at the highest level is cool and all, but it’s only one aspect of a successful player, he said.
“Being able to shoot the ball consistently with good percentages, taking care of the ball and making the right pass,” he said. “All that stuff that you didn’t think they would see, they value more than just a pure scorer.”
Quinten Post jogs up court with Draymond Green. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Post, even with more than 40 NBA games under his belt, said that his Golden State teammates require more attention from him, but in some ways, bring a host of on-court opportunities. For example, Warriors star Stephen Curry is known for his preposterously good shooting, but his stellar court vision allows him to find open teammates, including Post. Because Curry requires so much attention from opposing defenses, Post said, it allows other Warriors to get open and take advantage of scoring opportunities more easily.
“The players are just better here, obviously, and then playing with a guy like Steph is different because you have to know where he is on the court at all times,” he said. “He also opens up so much for you as a player, because people are always coming towards him. He opens up space for us and for my other teammates and you have to be able to make use of that.”
“It’s fun, but also very tense, because guys like Jimmy Butler and Draymond [Green] are all-time competitors,” said Rowe. “You don’t mess around when it comes to winning with those guys.”
Pace of play and faster play-by-play adjustments are commonly cited as major differences between the NBA and its G League. Santos said that, beside skill level, there are other, perhaps more simple, differences. Those are as basic as players just being bigger and more aware of their surroundings.
Gui Santos looks to pass the ball to forward Jimmy Butler during a game against the Denver Nuggets. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
“Every team we play has a couple of guys that are very long and very athletic,” he said, despite himself standing at 6-foot-8. “You have to defend well, and they’ll be at the rim and make it tougher for you to finish. Even when you drive in, a lot of guys hover in that space and when you pass it out [to another player], he’s already gone and closing out.”
Post added that off the court, even the day-to-day routine is far different in the NBA. He said that while he loves it, the long NBA season is “absolutely draining.” The team is constantly in transit, landing in a different city almost every day, always surrounded by trainers, staff, coaches and the media — and staying in far nicer hotels than their Santa Cruz counterparts.
NBA teams play three to four games each week, compared to the G League, where nearly weeklong breaks aren’t terribly unusual. The G League teams’ staffs are typically considerably smaller with fewer resources, and their facilities are less extensive, too.
“These days off fly by so fast, and even on most off days, you still have some type of responsibility,” Post said of NBA life. “In the G League, you have a little more time off and when you’re off, it’s not as demanding.”
San Francisco’s Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Even though these players have achieved their dreams of racking up minutes on an NBA court, they think about their time in Santa Cruz fondly. Post said that while there is more of a home-court advantage in the NBA due to bigger audiences, Sea Dubs fans can hang with the best of them.
“I do think Santa Cruz is that exception – we have really good crowds and a great home court [advantage],” he said, adding that he connected deeply with the team and its staff. “The organization does a really good job, and we gelled really well. It was almost kind of sad when I got called up, and I was obviously very excited to get my chance, but I also realized I’m not gonna see my dudes on a day-to-day basis. I started really bonding with those guys.”
Santos said Santa Cruz’s coastal landscape made for some great leisure time when he wasn’t on the court.
“Everybody there is so nice and I was biking every day along the ocean on my off days,” he said. “Just the whole time playing there for the fans was such a nice experience.”
And even though each player’s NBA service time is under a full season’s worth of games, the rookies appear to be settling in just fine — and letting everyone know they belong there. On April 3, the day before the team’s showdown with the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets, the Warriors played the Los Angeles Lakers in L.A., and a clip of Post engaging in some trash talk with Lakers stars LeBron James and Luka Dončić made the rounds on social media.
“I don’t even remember what I said, I don’t even know what they said,” Post said with a laugh. “It’s just competitive fire, you know. I’m a rookie trying to make a name for myself, so I can’t back down from anyone.”
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