Article: Nelson ready to shake up the Warrior

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By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

OAKLAND - ?I thought you had died,? Don Nelson said to me.

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We hadn?t seen each other in several years and now he was Warriors coach again, and I said, ?When I die, you?ll be the first person I tell.?

He led me to his office, which used to belong to Eric Musselman, Mike Montgomery and a cast of thousands I?m leaving out. He sat behind his desk. Nelson is a big man, big-limbed, large head. His hair, which used to be blond, has faded and looks pale ? pale gold. He is imposing and invites respect, in some cases, awe.

He is 66 and he?s survived prostate cancer, and his wife, Joy, has survived breast cancer. He and Joy have rented the whole top floor of an apartment house near Lake Merritt in Oakland. ?My view is 360,? he said. And he also owns a place in Dallas and seven pieces of property in Maui, although he?s in the process of selling one.

He didn?t have to coach, but he needs to coach ? craves the action.

?I?m not a big gambler,? he said, ?but when I?m playing golf, I like to have a wager where I win or lose a hundred bucks. In professional basketball, I can compete at the highest level in an arena full of people, and nobody dies. I?m living life to the fullest at that moment. I didn?t have that for one year.?

As he spoke, he sometimes looked at me. Other times he read notes on his desk about who had called wanting a job on his coaching staff. He has none to give. I asked how good his team will be, and he said he hated that question. No matter how he answers, he leaves himself open to second-guessing. And then, of course, he answered.

?I think the team has to show me why it?s not good.?

He assumes the team is good until proven wrong.

?We are not a title contender,? he said, ?but we can start the process.?

Now he was rolling. He was talking ball and his eyes were blazing and he laid out his plans for specific players. Like power forward Troy Murphy.

?He?s a skill player who rebounds. He?ll achieve career highs for me ? 10 rebounds, 20 points. He?s difficult to guard. I?ll move him to center, and I don?t know which centers can guard him. We?ve got to agree to it ? otherwise it won?t work. If he says ?I?m not a center,? like Chris Webber did, it won?t work.?

I interrupted Nelson, couldn?t help myself.

?Can Murphy guard centers??

?No,? Nelson shot back. ?He can?t guard forwards, either. We?ll give him help.?

He moved on to Mike Dunleavy.

?He?ll have his best years for me. He?s a natural four, not a three.?

Nelson meant he?s a power forward and not a small forward, which is unusual considering Dunleavy has the tensile strength of a feather.

?He won?t have to worry about guarding smaller guys,? Nelson said. ?I see him as a unique piece, a point power forward running my team.?

Running your team?

?Sure. I can?t name another point power forward in the league. He?ll take the ball out of Baron Davis? hands some. Just in the half court. I don?t want Baron giving up the ball and never getting it back. I want Baron to catch.?

And then he was onto Davis himself. It is said Davis didn?t respect Montgomery and would walk by him without saying hello. He also has a tendency to arrive in camp looking like Willie the Whale.

?I haven?t talked to him yet,? Nelson said. ?I want the players to come in 5 pounds lighter than their lightest weight. Adonal Foyle is 27 pounds overweight. He?s immediately gone to the third team. You need to run and move in my system.?

Now that Nelson is coach, Foyle, who has no offensive game, is through. He?ll sit at the end of the bench reading Tolstoy. Nelson got back to Davis, said losing weight will help him avoid injury ? the guy always gets hurt.

?He?ll be All-Star caliber again.?

OK, you get the picture. The Warriors will be a small, fast team. They will be difficult to guard because, like Nelson himself, they will be eccentric. It?s not clear, on the other hand, if they can guard other teams.

I changed the subject. I said everyone calls Nelson ?Nellie.? I asked him to describe the difference between Don Nelson and Nellie. He smiled. He leaned back in his chair and thought a moment.

?Nellie is a fun-loving guy,? he said. ?You?d love to have a drink with him and play golf with him and all that. That side of me carries into my professional life and practices. I am fun-loving, and I like my players relaxed. Don Nelson is a serious guy. He will get into you in a minute if you don?t do what you?re supposed to do. The head coach, that?s Don Nelson. Nellie ain?t the head coach.?

?Nellie isn?t the head coach,? I repeated.

?Ain?t,? he corrected me.

Nellie is a hick. Don Nelson is a shrewd operator. Nellie is the appearance. Don Nelson is the reality. The Warriors hope there?s enough Don Nelson left to lead this team to the playoffs.
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http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dl...04/1010/SPORT01

I'm excited by Don Nelson's approach to the team, but at the same time afraid of what could happen. Dunleavy and Murphy at the 4 & 5 seem so wrong... It'll be like scoring on pillows. And theres no way Murphy can average 20-10.

 

The difference between Monty and Nellie should be this.

Convo between Baron before games with Monty:

Baron: Damn, I'm gonna go get me some donuts. See ya before tha game playa hata!

Monty: WHAT? You're already overweight! Donuts will just make you fatter!

Baron: Nigha, donuts just add to my bulk. It makes me stronger going to the rack.

Monty: Whatever you say....

Convo between Baron and Nellie

Baron: I'm getting me some donuts baby!

Nellie: The hell you are you fat fhuck! Go and eat your donuts on the bench for 48 minutes!

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> I interrupted Nelson, couldn’t help myself.

“Can Murphy guard centers?”

“No,” Nelson shot back. “He can’t guard forwards, either. We’ll give him help.”
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LOL, good find AF

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> “He’ll have his best years for me. He’s a natural four, not a three.”

Nelson meant he’s a power forward and not a small forward, which is unusual considering Dunleavy has the tensile strength of a feather.</div>
I thought Dunleavy was a four as well. I mean not a traditional four but the kind like Toni Kukoc. I also agree that Baron needs to get the ball back so he can be set up for better shots. The time we start failing is when guys overdribble and the ball never cycles around to the open spots on the floor. If we also had some more inside presence and ballhandling threats we could create more openings in the other team's defense.

 

I find it hilarious how he indirectly says Foyle sucks. Saying he's 27 lbs overweight is genius, since theres no way Foyle can lose 27 lbs before and during the season.

I guess Biedrins doesn't have to worry about bulking up anymore...

 

I still think Biedrins has to work on his strength, but that doesn't mean that he will be gaining weight.

As for Dunleavy, Kukoc, Divac, or Brad Miller came to mind as well. Yeah, Dunleavy doesn't have nearly the bulk or experience of any of those guys, but if he can provide a different look or make the offense move and open up lanes for the other guys, it's worth a shot.

 

"Adonal Foyle is 27 pounds overweight. He?s immediately gone to the third team. You need to run and move in my system."

Big difference from what Monty said about Foyle. Almost every person on every Warriors basketball board knew it 'cept Monty.

Foyle will just have to get used to having a new hole ripped on him.

 

We'll see how Murphy operates at center. 20/10 coming from him is scary because he doesn't pass and when he puts it on the floor he's going in slow-mo and getting swatted by 6'2 guards.

Even if we get a slightly better rebounder, we still don't have a shooting guy that can block shots like Raef La Frentz or in worst case scenario Shawn Bradley. Dirk Nowitzki can block shots. Dirk Nowitzki was actually a good shooter and could dribble a lot better and pass it. I don't know how well Murphy will work. I'd rather see Biedrins, but the kid has no discipline on fouls. The Ike experiment at center won't work IMO because he isn't very fast when he jumps and all the undersized centers can at least jump very quickly. Ike can jump high, but he is a gather leaper which prevents him from doing the Ben Wallace thing. I prefer Ike at PF like Randolph/Brand and none of that stuff Nelson did with Fortson/Antoine Walker at C.

I guess I shouldn't be complaining because Dallas was a winning team, but still we don't have as many stars in the making IMO.

 

Wow, talk about being brutally honest. Maybe thats what this team needs.

 

Well Foyle certainly can't be the lone scapegoat here, but he's a pretty bad player for the amount of money being spent. We can call it a desperation move that Mullin signed him up, but we could have gone without a such an expensive backup center just fine. One that primarily can rebound, score open layups/dunks, and catch at least as well as Dampier. I never thought Foyle would take away Dampier's title of "Stone Hands".

 

Actually, if Foyle drops 25 lbs, he'd be an extremely active shot blocker. Let's see what happens

 

This article scares me, it scares me a lot. For now I'll give Nellie the benefit of the doubt because let's face it, any change for the Warriors is better than the same old thing right now, but I'm worried about the implications for Ike based on what was said. I think he could find himself shut out under Nellie's system, which would be a damned shame.

 

Hey what's up CH and hirez.

Actually, I think Ike could be quite an asset if he drops to 240 (I thought Ike was already pretty quick as far as wide 250 lb stocky guys go). I remember last year Don Nelson was praising Ike Diogu draft pick at #9 who could be highly effective without running plays in the nba (just like in college). He's got the skills of some small forward and some center, which is what you want in a power forward and he knows what he had to do as his team's go-to star player.

I don't think Ike will be hampered by Don Nelson's system because we need some tough guys who can shoot and wheel around in the post and tough guys who can also pass and put the ball on the floor. I don't think we can win unless we have one guy like that because throwing in Zarko or Murphy needs to have a inside presence to make up for having nothing in the middle.

 

Here's the old article which talks about Ike and Nelson.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...&type=printable

Remember, Mullin wasn't too athletic for Run and gun, but he was a smart player, he shot from the field accurately and from the line and he could pass and handle the ball. So can Diogu. We could win games with offense if we could just make those damned free throws and get a little something in the paint or from midrange. When our big men Murphy/Diogu shoot better than Baron/Richardson that's just sad.

 

If-as I'd said often-Dunleavy can become a guy who passes in the 10-15 ft zone and shoots efficiently there-he can be much more effective-but I still think Ike is gonna be impact. I don't see Ike dropping from 255 to 240,but recommend some drop 245-250. Bulk is an asset he uses well. We can't go light+ little all the time.

Murphy had plenty of 20/10 games-actually quite a few 20/15 games. realistically- 18/11 would be pretty sweet and very possible.

Nellie..Nelson...whatever..has always been a coach who can communicate. When did Monty ever tell us-straight up-what his view was? You can imagine Nellie's a lot more clear and direct with players.

 

I appreciate the positive-thinking you guys have, but I'm still troubled. Ike losing PT to Stone Hoofs Foyle and Murphy is one thing. I don't like it but I can understand the reasons. But having him lose PT to Dunleavy? Wow, that's going to be rough, very rough. I should just go ahead and sign up early for AA right now if that's the case. And for all Ike's strengths, running up and down the floor is not really one of them.

 

Ike has very soft hands which means that he should be able to be effective if he's fit enough to run the floor

 

That small section about Foyle is classic. Wow. Nothing against Foyle as a person, but it's hard to not chuckle a little as a third objective person at those statements.

But if Foyle is third team, does that mean Murphy and Biedrins represent the first and second teams? I wonder what kind of shape Taft is in. POB could be very helpful with his mobility now. Maybe the team should have kept Montgomery as big man coach? Or maybe his speciality was mainly as a college big man coach?

 

There's going to be quite a logjam at the PF spot this year. Murph will probably still play there a lot, then hopefully Ike will get some big minutes. Now Nellie wants to use Dun there, that's more minutes. If Taft comes back, that's even more. Then, the guy people are forgetting about who could be the secret weapon: Zarko. He's really the perfect Nellie player, a big guy who can run the floor, handle the ball, and finish on the break. I think he wants Dun to fill this role but IMO Zarko may be just as talented (and more reliable if he gets consistent minutes). Way too many guys there to get minutes, something's gotta give.

 

I like Zarko too. Way more than Murphy or Dunleavy. That's probably because I consider all three bench players. lol! Zarko is the more interesting of the three.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">I like Zarko too. Way more than Murphy or Dunleavy. That's probably because I consider all three bench players. lol! Zarko is the more interesting of the three.</div>

I agree, he's just fun to watch. Murph and Dun are just so boring on offense.