<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">October 3, 2006 Morning Practice Update -- 4:30 p.m. Don Nelson stressed defense and the fast break during his first practice. (Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty) While several players said that Media Day on Monday was like the first day back at school, the first day of training camp practice on Tuesday was more like back to work. The team got together at 11:00 a.m. for the first of two scheduled practice sessions with Nellie assembling the squad in the Practice Facility locker room for a meeting. When the Warriors finally hit the floor for the first time as a team in 2006-07, they immediately went to work.........on DEFENSE. The first half of practice was committed entirely to the defensive end, with the coaching staff making the players familiar with their expectations on D. The team was put through a number of drills that allowed the players to work on their defensive rotations, something Nelson has said will be vital to the team's success on the defensive end. From there it was over to the offensive end, and on the first day of practice for these Warriors under Nelson, that meant working on the fastbreak. For about 45 minutes, the Warriors ran fastbreak drill after fastbreak drill. Starting with two players at a time and expanding to three-, four- and five-player drills, the practice court appeared to be one continuous fastbreak drill. Something that became apparent right away was that there will be no standing and looking for a guard to bring the ball up court after a defensive rebound -- if a big rebounds, he pushes...if a small rebounds, he pushes. On several occassions, big men such as Zarko Cabarkapa, Troy Murphy and even Andris Biedrins were grabbing rebounds and "leading" fastbreaks. Following Monday's Media Day, Monta Ellis was forced to watch Tuesday's practice from the sidelines due to a strained right thigh. (warriors.com photo) Nellie has said that for his system to work, he will ask players to do things they are not used to doing and this was a prime example. Nellie would stop the action on occassion to instill some knowledge about how to CORRECTLY run the fastbreak and, when needed, to make those who were not doing it correctly try it again until they got it right. Along with giving the players a sample of the up-tempo style that Nelson is going to demand, the drills also served as a near hour-long conditioning session -- with most players appearing to be in good physical shape and able to endure the running and gunning at this early stage of camp. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back in the evening session that is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. and will probably include some 5-on-5 scrimmages. Fittingly, the day ended with all the players working on free throw shooting for an extended period before addressing the assembled media. Other notes from today's early session: --It was announced that the team had waived Devin Brown prior to the morning practice. --Monta Ellis did not participate due to a strained right thigh (he is listed as day-to-day), joining Jason Richardson, Chris Taft & Patrick O'Bryant on the sidelines watching and observing while they could not participate. Tonight's practice session should be interesting. Per NBA rules, when a team has double-day practice sessions during training camp, one practice must be a non-contact session and the other can be full contact. What that essentially means is that one full session must be dedicated to drills & teaching, while the other "full contact" session can be used for scrimmaging. While the local media is not allowed to cover the evening sessions, warriors.com will be on hand to provide a full report. Check back soon for details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evening Practice Update -- 8:30 p.m. From the "don't always believe what you read on blogs" category, the previously mentioned scrimmages at this evening's practice did not happen. That doesn't mean, however, that there was not a lot of 5-on-5 full court runs and that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of contact going on. It simply means that a scrimmage, in the truest sense, did not happen tonight. Here's a look at what did happen as viewed from warriors.com perch high atop the Practice Facility courts: --Most of the first half of the evening session was focused on transition defense. While the main focus was on the defensive execution, the players were also being harped on about using the lessons learned in fastbreak drills at the morning sessions while on the offensive side of the ball. The spirt was good, as the importance of verbal communication in transition defense was stressed and executed. --There were 5-on-5 sessions, in which Nellie would design a play for the offensive team and, if they scored, they would stay on that end and run another play. If they didn't score, the ball was live and going the other way until that play was finished. Then Nellie would huddle up with the other squad and get them into a play. This went back and forth for a quite some time, with good execution leading to open shots and bad execution leading to a "tweet" from the ever-present whistle around Nellie's neck and a call to "DO IT AGAIN." --Another cornerstone of Nellie's philosphy came out in this 5-on-5 action, and that is seeing players at various positions and on various spots on the floor. At one point, the "blue" team consisted of Baron Davis, Dajuan Wagner, Mickael Pietrus, Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. Almost everytime they ran a play, each player would be in a different spot than the previous time and asked to carry-out a different assignment. The ability for every player on this team to know not only their position on the floor but also the assignments of every other position is going to be key for the team's success. --Highlights of the evening practice session included the impressive play of Dajuan Wagner, who showed that he can not only knock down the open shot either in transition or in the set offense, but also an uncanny ability to get into the paint off the dribble and create in tight spaces. On several occassions he showed a stutter-step move while coming down the sidelines with the ball that allowed him to blow by his defender and get to the hole. --Another highlight was the spirted effort from Mickael Pietrus. On one sequence in the 5-on-5, he attempted to draw a charge in the lane when one of his teammates had been beat (there were no refs, so after he was bowled over, play continued) only to pop-up off the floor and beat EVERYONE on the court to the other end and finish a long pass from Baron Davis with a lay-up. The effort drew a round of applause from all the coaches and players who were on the sidelines watching at the time. --Finally, more free throws and conditioning. With all the players on the baseline, each player was called out by Nellie to attempt either a foul shot or three-pointer. For each miss, the whole group had to sprint the length of the floor four times. While we won't call out those who missed, warriors.com can tell you that when Nellie handed Baron the ball almost everyone in the gym got a laugh as coach told the potential runners to "Get Ready." Davis stopped laughing long enough to draw nothing but net on his attempt. Theme for the day was -- run, run, run, run, run some more....and then shoot free throws. The offensive drills involved getting up and down the court. The defensive drills involved getting up and down the court. The conditioning, more of the same. Nellie has made no secret that this team is going to run, and it has started on Day 1. --Check back on Wednesday for exclusive practice photos. http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/06Trainin...ilyJournal.html</div> Sounds good to me.
Yes, thanks for that post, that's some really great info. Wow, Nellie is not waiting around, that sounds like a hell of a workout on Day 1. If nothing else at least these guys should be in better shape than they were last year. Since they had a tendency to die in the 4th quarter, and they lost a ton of games by 3 points or fewer, that could be significant all by itself. Please post more of these reports if you find them, great reading.
The Warrior journals are nice. Definitely worth a daily read. My impression from the first day is that Nelson is showing these guys he means business. I like how the coaching staff is making all the players run the same plays in different positions each time down the court. Knowing where the other players are spaced can be a real advantage while running an uptempo team. I also like how Nelson is taking advantage of the big ball handlers like Zarko and of course Mike D. However, Troy leading the break will be a sight to behold.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YayAreaFanatic:</div><div class="quote_post">However, Troy leading the break will be a sight to behold.</div> It's a turnover waiting to happen. Watching him lead a fast break will be like watching it in slow motion. And since Murph rebounds the most, he may be our fastbreak guy lol.
Hard training camp workouts means the team will be in shape when the season starts. This usually translates to a few cheap wins at the start of the season. I can't wait to see these guys fuse together.
Murphy used to be a guard before he blew up in height. But man does he look pretty ungainly moving around with the 245-250 weight. Maybe he needs to trim down to 235 or 240. It'd give him more spring in his step so he could do those 360 dunks and explode better off the dribble.
Wasn't Dunleavy a guard too and then he blew up in height? At least Murphy can do something like average a double double while Dunleavy just stinks. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">October 4, 2006 Morning Practice Update -- 4:30 p.m. Patrick O'Bryant took part in his first practice on Wednesday. (warriors.com photo) With round one under their belts, all 18 Warriors returned for another marathon day with Coach Nelson Wednesday morning. The team began the proceedings with a meeting in the Practice Facility locker room and emerged 25 minutes later ready to go and prepared for two things ---- learning and running. Nellie begins every practice in the locker room with special instructions, which are delivered from behind his presidential-style podium (a new addition this season). First round pick Patrick O?Bryant saw his first on-court action since fracturing his foot in late August. O?Bryant participated in the circuit of drills, which included high and low pick-and-rolls, drive and kicks and post defense. Athletic Trainer Tom Abdenour indicated that he would be limited to non-contact drills for the immediate future and progress from this point. O?Bryant showed some nice offensive moves, which would be an added bonus for the Warriors since many thought his initial impact would be felt on the defensive end of the court. Mickael Pietrus continued to impress the coaching staff on the second day of training camp practice. (warriors.com photo) Speaking of defense, one player whom the Warriors are going to rely on defensively this season is Mickael Pietrus. Early on Nellie indicated that several Warriors, including Pietrus, were going to have to change their roles if they expected to see quality minutes this year. After the morning session, it appeared at though Pietrus got the message. He had Nellie singing nothing but praises to the local media. Coach told local reporters that other than Baron Davis, no Warrior has impressed him more this training camp. He went on to say that if he keeps this up, he?s going to see a lot of minutes this season. Coming off an up-and-down 2005-06 campaign, Pietrus returned the compliment, saying that he?s feeling re-energized and is really enjoying playing for the new Boss. We?ll see how energized he feels after a couple more of these Nellie two-a-days! Well, that about wraps the morning session here at the Warriors Practice Facility. Warriors.com will be back this evening with, hopefully, a look back at the Warriors first team scrimmage. Evening Practice Update -- 9:30 p.m. While the team spent most the morning working on individual fundamentals, Coach Nelson used the majority of the evening session working as a team, specifically on the offensive end of the floor. One of Nellie?s many coaching strengths has been his ability to create mismatches to exploit other teams' weaknesses. He gave us a glimpse of what we might except to see this upcoming season. During several sets, forward Mike Dunleavy was initiating much of the offense as he fed the ball to guard Baron Davis, who was working on the block. This allowed Davis to post-up a smaller, weaker defender close to the basket and utilize his offensive creativity. It isn?t just Nellie?s out-of-the-box thinking that has allowed him to become the second winningest coach in NBA history; it has been his pursuit of excellence on every single play. On several occasions tonight, the players were not in the right position on the floor and they were required to run through the same set again and again and again until they ran it to perfection. Last week, Nellie told us that his offense would be simple?five plays with three variations to each. He wasn?t kidding. One of the most meticulous coach?s in the NBA, Nellie had the team spend over an hour perfecting several different half-court sets as he critiqued every cut, screen and pass. ?A shot created is a shot that MUST be taken,? he continually yelled tonight. Nellie preaches a team game, but if you create a shot, he expects you to take it. Tonight, when these young Warriors lay down to rest, I can assure you one thing will be dancing through their heads?Nellie?s half court sets! Coach Nelson has ended each practice with team free throws and some motivational ribbing. (warriors.com) To close out the evening, Coach Nelson used one of the oldest forms of motivation as he had the night before. He walked up and down the baseline, looking into the faces of each of his tired players and, methodically, picked different guys out and asked them to step to the foul line. The task was simple: make the free throws and you returned to the baseline; miss the free throw and the entire team runs. Needless to say, not many missed, which is a refreshing sign for many Warrior fans. He did, however, continue to rib and motivate Baron Davis, who missed his initial free throw and subsequently watched three other point guards ? Keith McLeod, Andre Owens and Dajuan Wager ? make their shots from the charity stripe. Nellie?s comment to BD ? ?I guess you?re my fourth string point guard now; I?ll probably only use you when the rest of them foul out!? That elicited a chuckle from everyone. If tonight is any indication, fans can expect to see one thing this season with Nellie?the unexpected. It's only Day Two, but I think his second stint in Oakland is going be as much fun as the first. Its time for warriors.com and the squad to rest up, Day Three of Warriors training camp is just a sunrise away. Check back on Thursday for pictures and more updates.</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AnimeFANatic:</div><div class="quote_post">Wasn't Dunleavy a guard too and then he blew up in height? At least Murphy can do something like average a double double while Dunleavy just stinks.</div> Dunleavy was a lot of things. He was a standout (albeit slightly overrated in a weak draft) ACC college player and then he got drafted in the nba to a perennial losing team. Everyone knows Dunleavy sucks as a starter, but his off-year is making him sound worse than he really is. Murphy is solid, but his ceiling is slow and his solid numbers don't tell the whole picture about him and his value to teamwork and the role his position is supposed to provide for a team at power forward. In other words, he needs to be more than just a rebounder and a 4th option scorer. I don't think he's got the creativity, the intangibles, or the athleticism/strength/skill to be a Duncan or a Pau or a Dirk or a Brand. There's nobody in the draft like that anyway, but we still could use somebody like those guys. For instance Dampier's scoring numbers really sucked even in his contract year compared to Murphy, but Dampier was doing a helluva lot more when he was getting double doubles. That's type of presence our power forward needs to be if we don't have one at center. And there are very few centers that do that, which is why I'm counting on the power forward to be more like a center. Guys like Taft/Biedrins/Ike are way more center than Murphy will ever be. He just doesn't pass, score at close range, or defend like any of the all-star center/forwards that aren't franchise guys like Brad Miller or Ben Wallace or even Rasheed Wallace. If Murphy ain't that guy, I don't see why we would overpay and lock him up like that. Jrich was the only one in '04 worth keeping because he had the upside. Murphy to me, doesn't have that upside. I think we overpaid for solidness and whether it's because Mullin caved into Dan Fegan pressure or the fact the Warriors had to overpay to keep any form of consistent talent, it's really hurt our flexiblity right now. Because to me, what good is an outside shooting power forward that can't defend, if we have no center to score inside and Murphy isn't much of a center to provide what Dampier and Foyle and Clif Robinson have provided these past years. At least all three defend the paint well.
I read the journals and it's like night and day with Nelson versus training camp with Monty. I think we can put it to rest that Monty wasn't ready to be an NBA head coach.
Monty had nba potential IMO, but like all other failed college coaches he wasn't brought along the right way no thx to the poor GMs who were reaching. It's a bit different because in college there's no big money involved and coaches are essentially the GM as well. Mullin and Monty couldn't be further on opposite sides of the spectrum in building a foundation. Montgomery would never allow such a bust of a center or free throw shooting to be this bad in the first place. He wouldn't recruit those type of guys. He could win maybe with unselfish talent with fewer flaws and okay strengths. Maybe a passing center that could also catch and defend, guards who can handle and shoot free throws. Stuff like that. And Dunleavy is very overrated depending on who I'm talking to or talking about (i.e. Barnett or Mullin comments). Other times, he's only slightly overrated for stuff like defense or offense which he's shown improvement in areas. But like all things, he's never going to gain credibility unless he picks off where he was in '04 with shooting, makes open jumpers, and gets more consistent in every single game. He's never going to be great at one thing, but the least he can do is be seamless as a role player...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">One of the most impressive performances in training camp thus far took place late on Thursday, when Mike Dunleavy stepped to the free throw line. Dunleavy, as with all 18 players on the roster, must shoot 100 free throws at the end of every practice. Each player is required to pair up with a teammate and chart the other's progress in increments of 10 (10 x 10). Last season, Mike D. shot a respectable 78% from the charity stripe. On this night, however, he nailed a perfect 100%. Yes, he actually made 100 out of 100 free throws, enough to put a smile on the face of Hal Wissel, who was hired by Coach Nelson to help address the team's free throw problems. As an indication of some of the success enjoyed in camp to date, many players have shot the ball well from the line, including Troy Murphy (98% tonight), Dajuan Wagner (93% tonight), Adonal Foyle (90% tonight) and Andris Biedrins (85% tonight). Wissel indicates that most players will shoot about 10% better in practice then in a game situation. So, we'll expect to see Mike D. shoot 90% from the line this season.</div> Wow...impressive numbers.
"and Andris Biedrins (85% tonight)" Is that right? Wow! If beans can make even 65-70%, I think he'll be really hard to keep off the floor.
<div class="quote_poster">DTKennedy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">"and Andris Biedrins (85% tonight)" Is that right? Wow! If beans can make even 65-70%, I think he'll to be really hard to keep off the floor.</div> You forget he's a fouling machine
<div class="quote_poster">AnimeFANatic Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">You forget he's a fouling machine </div> not toward the end of last season...
In-game situations it's difficult for some. Ask Rudeezy Especially when you get clocked by somebody. I think only Murphy is really good at those free throws where somebody floors him. I remember he shot 2 for 2 or at least made one when he got spilled to the floor by Shawn Bradley and was coughing up blood two seasons ago. Jermaine O'neil hurt his shoulder once and he was able to make 2 for 2 with his offhand.
