<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Warriors coach Don Nelson used the words "nightmare," "embarrassing" and "made me sick" in describing his team's first half against Portland on Tuesday. Never mind that the Warriors actually won 108-96 to stay undefeated in the preseason, or that Baron Davis had by far his best game of the preseason. "Just about the time when you think you're doing well," Nelson said, "somebody hits you with a baseball bat." Nelson was still seething over the efforts of every player aside from Davis and Mike Dunleavy, so he swung away in his postgame interview. Among his targets of concern heading into tonight's exhibition finale: Monta Ellis. For the second time in three games, Nelson ripped his second-year guard for not being ready to play. Ellis received the starting nod over Dajuan Wagner, but committed three turnovers in the first quarter and was benched for the entire second half. He finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field (1-of-3 from the free-throw line). Nelson's frustration appears rooted in the fact that no one has seriously pushed Mickael Pietrus for the final starting spot, despite Pietrus' inconsistency and injury, and extended tryouts because of Jason Richardson's absence. Both Ellis and Wagner have had trouble staying on the practice court and in games at tip-top condition, but it's Ellis whom Nelson has been tougher on, even suggesting Tuesday that Ellis was playing like he wanted to be a sub. Who will spell Davis?: Davis played 40 minutes against the Blazers, a number Nelson specifically mentioned as being too high an average. Yet with Keith McLeod still recovering from a sprained ankle -- and more accustomed to running Utah's half-court sets than Nelson's up-tempo style -- reliable relief might be limited with no other true point guards on the roster. "I don't know about my backup players, if they're strong enough to sub him that much," Nelson said, "So there's a lot of question marks like that that I'm not sure about yet. </div> Source
Exactly why we lost either in the first quarter when guys were injured or down the stretch last year. Our subs are terrible and we played our starters too much to wear them out. It seemed like Derek Fisher was the only guy ready to play off the bench, but he was horrible at times because of the way he is as a player. Shoot shoot shoot. The guys Nelson is getting on seems to be the guys who saw little playing time last year: Zarko, Ellis, Diogu. Biedrins has received ovations, but his free throw shooting must be fixed or it will be hack-a-Latvian.
Well, now they've developed some, but unpredictable is still not good IMO Predictably good is good IMO, but then that's obvious, and they'd probably be labeled starters instead of bench players.
<div class="quote_poster">custodianrules2 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well, now they've developed some, but unpredictable is still not good IMO Predictably good is good IMO, but then that's obvious, and they'd probably be labeled starters instead of bench players.</div> But sometimes there is nothing better than seeing a guy like Andris Biedrins just randomly dominate a game when he finally gets the chance to play off the bench, which puts the other team in total disarray. The same with Diogu and Ellis, with examples from last season. It's like a secret weapon, that totally catches the opponent off guard. However I do agree that having a bench that constantly puts up good production is important. The thing that I like about this bench though is that any player from the bench can take it up another notch on some random given nights, and really explode and push the team up an extra notch. I hope that Wagner, Ellis, Andris, Ike, etc. can provide good consistant production, but everyone knows that Wagner, Ellis, and Ike can go for 20 any night. That is kind of scarey for opponents to think about, I think. Good consistant production from the bench is helpful as well as being more important. Stability is going to be demanded from the bench in rebounding and defense especially.
One thing is for sure. Nelson will not hold back. I mean, why should he? The only reason Nelson came back from the retirement is to help Mullin out. And, it's not like he is worrying about next employment after this job, so that he has to be careful about what he says or hurt others' feeling. And, it has been really interesting to hear a coach ripping his own players when the season didn't even start. I don't know we will make PO, but at least on and off the court, Nelson will not make us bored...
I heard Nelson in an interview mention that the team has a lot of skill, especially the younger players, but they need to learn how to play the transition game. I expect that he was focusing on Ellis and Ike. He said something to the effect of guys push into the wrong spots on the floor. I'm sure they'll get plenty of minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Clif25 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">But sometimes there is nothing better than seeing a guy like Andris Biedrins just randomly dominate a game when he finally gets the chance to play off the bench, which puts the other team in total disarray. The same with Diogu and Ellis, with examples from last season. It's like a secret weapon, that totally catches the opponent off guard. However I do agree that having a bench that constantly puts up good production is important. The thing that I like about this bench though is that any player from the bench can take it up another notch on some random given nights, and really explode and push the team up an extra notch. I hope that Wagner, Ellis, Andris, Ike, etc. can provide good consistant production, but everyone knows that Wagner, Ellis, and Ike can go for 20 any night. That is kind of scarey for opponents to think about, I think. Good consistant production from the bench is helpful as well as being more important. Stability is going to be demanded from the bench in rebounding and defense especially.</div> I dunno. I thought about that, but you know, sometimes the league can start figuring out players. They might know that Luke Walton(?) almost always goes right. They know Pietrus always goes left regardless of fakes. Stuff like that. I'm hoping that one day the Warriors will get a big player that no matter what that guy does, guys can't defend it or even prepare for it. That's like talking about Shaq or Duncan, and that's a taller order. But that is what wins championships. Big presence in the paint that can't be matched. It is unfortunate...
<div class="quote_poster">Kwan1031 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">One thing is for sure. Nelson will not hold back. I mean, why should he? The only reason Nelson came back from the retirement is to help Mullin out. And, it's not like he is worrying about next employment after this job, so that he has to be careful about what he says or hurt others' feeling. And, it has been really interesting to hear a coach ripping his own players when the season didn't even start. I don't know we will make PO, but at least on and off the court, Nelson will not make us bored...</div> That's probably what makes Nelson so important to this franchise. For the first time in a long time, he has the credibility to fully take control, sort of like a GM would if he also coached. I'm glad he is rescuing us from Mullin. I mean handcheck rules will give offense the benefit, but defense will always be important to any team wanting to make a run. But after we reach the playoffs for several years, we'll start thinking championship and how we need to play more defensive oriented game with the proper balance of halfcourt and open court offense.
