This is some of what our head coach, Don Nelson, had to say after the loss to the Orlando Magic: * The young guys can not carry the load by themselves. * Baron tries to shoulder the scoring when the team is down, but they need him to create. * Nellie doesn't want to write Troy Murphy off yet because of his injuries, but Murph needs to step up. * Dunleavy is what he is. The fans weren't all wrong about him. He hasn't improved for Nellie or for the team since he's been on the Warriors. * Nellie thinks Pietrus can grow into a better player and gives him credit for his rebounding and defense. * He doesn't really pay too much attention to what people write about him or the team. * Foyle has to go after and block every shot, not just a few. * Nellie is mad at Ike Diogu right now and doesn't think he has natural basketball instincts. * This roster is below average hoops IQ. His smart players are the dumbest he's ever seen. Dunleavy is not smart consistently and he does dumb things. http://media.knbr.com/knbr/nelson.mp3 Tell it like it is, Coach. LMAO!!!
If Nellie's not going to make it work with this roster, no body will. Warriors need to blow everything and rebuild again.
The only person they need to keep on this team are Monta and Andris. Andris is a decent player but Monta is the only mentally tough player on our team. When things get tough, he is the only one to hit his FTs or a shot. Blow it all up including Baron. He is right though, Baron needs to create like he did on TNT that one time this season or when he first got here. That is when he is at his best....
I'd have to say Monta has slipped a notch. He's discovered that the scorers get the credit,and making the night's highlights comes off a flashy play and dunk. His D WAS great...now it's inconsistant. He does not thrive in zones...but then I don't see this team playing good zone in general. Monta has to make a few adjustments on his ballhandling,and I'd like to see that start to happen. Biedrins with some generic F's? Some rooks more raw than who we have? Not too keen on that. Biedrins needs some support or he's one 230 lb youngster sandwiched by guys who have 30-40 lb on him. Nellie mentioned Smart as his evenual replacement. That can be a clue he see's retirement after next year? A "blow-it-up" would tend to make Nellie's retirement come quicker. If Nellie's gonna stay,we have to at least seem like a 500 team rising. Becoming the Blazers of a year ago won't cut it. I can see a contract dump of some sort-with the sweetener being a draft pick. The trend in the draft is raw young athletes who can't help much for a year or two. What I DON'T see is a deal where we trade all,or most,veterans and end up younger than most college teams.
The Warriors indeed DO need to get,in the future,smart,savvy types with a knack for D and team ball. The NBA fad has been "athletic" above guys who can just play the game. Guys with a lot of tools get drafted early and raw. Often they see the flashy player,the high scorers,getting the fame and the $. Last year's #1 rebounder...rd 2,the top scorer? Lotto. Best FT %? undrafted. Top shotblocker? undrafted. The draft had quite a few seniors with good fundamentals,strong "team" skills,and those guys tended to slip to rd 2 if drafted at all.
<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The only person they need to keep on this team are Monta and Andris. Andris is a decent player but Monta is the only mentally tough player on our team. When things get tough, he is the only one to hit his FTs or a shot. Blow it all up including Baron. He is right though, Baron needs to create like he did on TNT that one time this season or when he first got here. That is when he is at his best....</div> Yeah, I know. After some games, I want to put a powder keg underneath some of the Warriors and light the fuse. Still, we have Nelson for three years, so we need to keep Baron and JRich (unless he can bring a stud front court player in trade). The goal is to go deep in the playoffs, not just get the #8 seed and blown out in the first round. Maybe we can get a Jermaine O'Neal or Corey Maggette. PG: Baron SG: Monta SF: Maggette (dream trade for Dunleavy), MP (re-signed) PF: O'Neal (dream trade for JRich, Murphy, Ike and future #1) C: AB
Wow, someone associated with the Warriors who says that Dunleavy isn't a smart player. Finally! I have to agree with everything Don Nelson said according to the original post. I didn't actually listen to the interview I was using the cliffsnotes posted before by jason. I think Andris is as tough mentally if not more than Monta or anyone else on the team. As far as rebuilding, I have to fall inbetween agreeing to rebuild and looking to make a few changes. Obviously the vets are letting the team down, in particular Murphy and Dunleavy. On the other hand I kind of lean toward building with Monta and Andris. However I also like Baron and Jason at least for the next two seasons or so. I am also unwilling to give up on Ike, POB, or Azubuike right now. And I wouldn't mind under favorable conditions keeping Pietrus or Barnes. Basically this means that I hope the Warriors can get rid of Murphy, Dunleavy, and Foyle and free some space for more flexibility and options to improve this team in a new and better way, especially with Don Nelson involved with the team. The Warriors are the second youngest team in the NBA so it would be tough to make moves in order to bring younger players to the roster. Additionally since Murphy has struggled, and Dunleavy and Foyle are their normal selves it may be difficult to move them. Maybe Barnes, Pietrus, and Zarko can be added with one of these undesired players for this team to a package to free up some cap space. Anyhow, ideally I would love to end up with jason's starting lineup though
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> While expressing gratitude for Davis' efforts and surely admiring his willingness to be accountable, the coach focused his critical eyes elsewhere — squarely upon mugs of Murphy and Dunleavy. The coach didn't name names, but his targets were obvious. Among the players available, there are no other possibilities. Keenly aware that Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins are talented youngsters, Nelson accepts their highs and lows. He realizes Mickael Pietrus, 24, is just tapping into his upside and that Ike Diogu, 23, is in his second season. Adonal Foyle, 31, is a veteran backup. Those five, along with Davis, are in the clear. As are Barnes and Azubuike, who have been forced into significant minutes. Meanwhile, the Warriors are getting little return on the investments in Murphy and Dunleavy. Both are 26 and should be in their primes. Projecting continued progression, Mullin signed both to long-term contracts that at time were perceived as risky. Given their tepid production under Nelson, their deals are utterly preposterous. Murphy's six-year, $58 million contract is the rough equivalent of what Utah gave Mehmet Okur (six, $55 mil), while Dunleavy's five-year, $44 million deal is in the same neighborhood as what Detroit awarded to Tayshaun Prince (five, $47 mil). Okur has become a very good player on a good team. Prince is a factor on both ends and owns a championship ring. Meanwhile, Nelson's system, loose as it may be, has exposed the various shortcomings of Murphy and Dunleavy. Murphy has lost much of the edge he needs to compete. And Dunleavy is so screwed up he has a hard time dropping a layup. Their play is crippling the Warriors, hurting Mullin's reputation and wearing out Nelson's last nerve. "It's hard to keep Mike Dunleavy on the floor because he has been so inconsistent," the coach said. Murphy likely will start today's game, the first of two this week against the Clippers, but only because injuries have ravaged the Warriors' roster. Dunleavy will come off the bench, again, and it's anybody's guess what he might contribute. Ideally, Murphy, at 6-foot-11, is that power forward who makes himself a presence, inside or outside. Much like Okur. And Dunleavy, through his alleged versatility, finds ways to contribute, much like Boris Diaw in Phoenix or Luke Walton for the Lakers. Then there is the reality, which Mullin concedes and Nelson has to coach around. "I see the same things you're seeing," Nelson said. "The same things the fans are seeing. It's ooh-gly." Nelson was lured back to lift the Warriors to their potential or, at the very least, coax NBA's most playoff-starved team into the postseason. And, boy, was Mullin, the man who did the luring, in need of someone who could work a miracle. Someone who could maximize this roster and right his well-intentioned wrongs. Except it's not working out well. It's early in the Mullin-Nelson reunion, yes, but Nelson may already have exposed Mullin's most apparent weakness as a fledgling general manager: His tendency to play loose with owner Chris Cohan's money. </div> Nelson's Criticisms Reflect Badly On Mullin
Completely agree with Nelson, except I think he's too hard on Ike Diogu. He says he's basketball dumb, but I'd like to think otherwise. Maybe he's the dumbest smart guy on this team because everyone seems to be dumb at times, even Baron sometimes. Everyone's just frustrated and not on the same page. That's what it is. And guys tend to look dumb out there together. I don't think Dunleavy is basketball dumb either, he just sucks. If you suck at basketball, you tend to look dumb. It's like being able to answer questions 1 through 5 on a math exam and being stumped on 6-10 going from high school level to college math. Dunleavy is just in over his head when it comes to pro ball level. He's all mentally distracted. It's like if a guy sucks at math quizzes, but does well on the math homework, you figure it's gotta be a mental thing or a concentration thing. One could easily get labeled the dumbest smart guy for being a whiz on the homeworks and just not being able to do it on a real live test. But yeah, Nelson's got a right to be frustrated. He was put in a position to fail by this organization just like all the other coaches IMO. The constructed the team all wrong and gave no consideration in how they could be flexible around an acquired all-star or set of new rookies. Nelson thought he had the instant midas touch, but this team needs more work from the inside out. That's Mully and company's problem, not Nelson's. Mullin thought players were more than they were and they weren't or they didn't fit the team roles the coaches wanted in small ball or big ball. It's really unfortunate, but I hear the draft is nice.
