<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">THAT THE WARRIORS and Don Nelson's agent have spent the summer squabbling over the details of a new deal displeases the coach, annoys team officials and irritates those fans not profoundly disgusted. But we know how this is going to end. Nelson, unable to resist the $5.1 million allotted to him, eventually will return, after which the organization will try to thrive despite the disharmony. In the meantime, we have incremental progress toward resolution. And animosity all around. The Warriors can be blamed because one springtime revival is not enough to erase a dozen years of despair. They still have to prove they can survive the worst of themselves, as well as even the slightest signs of prosperity. Nelson can be blamed because he is shamelessly exploiting the slim glimmer of hope he engineered through April and May. Being under contract has not prevented him from threatening to take his whistle and go home. It's no surprise Nelson has his grubby hands out. The one thing he does better than coach is chase a buck. He doesn't stop until his tongue hangs out, never minding that his untempered greed has affected more than a few relationships. Nelson is a brilliant, even diabolical, strategist equally adept at squeezing every ounce from flawed teams and desperate owners. To be anything more he would have to win a championship. So here we are, 24 days before the Warriors are scheduled to open camp, and the coach is firmly entrenched in business mode. Demand for his work is high, and he is no mood to sacrifice, not even for good buddy Chris Mullin.Which puts Warriors owner Chris Cohan in a prickly ? and predictable ? fix. He surely knows Nelson well enough to have anticipated this predicament. There were money grabs last time Nelson was in Oakland, as was the case in New York and then Dallas. Cohan and Co. can hand the contract paperwork to Nelson's agent, John O'Connor, and allow the attorney to fill in the desired terms. Cohan and his partners can sign off and immediately grab pillows to muffle their screams. Or Cohan and Co. can say "a contract is a contract" and dare Nelson to walk away from $5.1 million. While I believe Nelson would get over leaving Mully 10 minutes to find a replacement, I doubt he could live with seeing that kind of loot float away. But the risk might be too big for the Warriors to take. If Cohan and chief negotiator Bobby Rowell were to lose Nelson, they would be advised to sell the team, or leave the Bay Area, or get himself nicked and tucked beyond recognition. Or all three, just to be safe. Not much of an option, is it? It's almost insignificant that Nelson fired the first shot, using his final news conference of the season to point out extreme fatigue, his bulging belly, his spirited battle with gout and the difficulty with deciding whether, at age 67, he wanted to put himself through another year of coaching. </div> Source: Oakland Tribune
This is getting pretty tired. Nelson wants more guaranteed money. He wants two million more that he could conceivably earn anyways. If Cohan is willing to theoretically pay 5 million, why is it an issue to guarantee 5 million? Cohan is essentially saying doesn't want to committ than money without it being tied to results, but the current roster (nothin' but guards and small forwards) is not a roster than works under anybody BUT Nelson. Nelson himself seems to think Keith Smart will take over some day, but does that mean Smart wants to run a Nelson style system? If not, it's important that he stays next year, because we need a year of Wright, Lasme, and Biedrins to see what sticks, and see if there might be a more conventional lineup on this roster somewhere, as well. So, basically, give him the f***ing money.
Yeah, I agree Monta. This is no time to be cheap unless people believe that we can run an inside game using Brandan Wright or Andris Biedrins. I would love to see that happen, but one is a rook and the other is a 220 lb guy that is more Tyson Chandler than he is Eddy Curry when it comes to offensive power and skill. I would love to see us play more isolations down low, but I agree that without the traditional inside game using size, we'd have to play the smaller, speed mismatches, and a lot of pick and roll, dive cuts, and off the dribble kickouts. Ideally, I hope we run more plays inside and out using the center like a playmaker and guards as playmakers. I think we have a good lineup that can pass very well, I just don't think we can shoot free throws or play all-around defense well. I figure if we shoot bad at the line, we at least have to play good defense similar to how the Spurs and Pistons play (minus Billups, Manu, and Rip of course). If we can't do those things well, let's at least score well in transition and take advantage of players too slow to guard us off the dribble or from beyond the arc. Maybe this money situation is attributed to the Warriors brass overspending on guys like Foyle's buyout or Monty's buyout. That would suck to have $2 mil being an issue in this matter... I mean if we think NBA players are rich, look at the guys who pay their salaries. This should be easy for Cohan, but he ain't the richest... so maybe he's trying to penny pinch because of his personal tax situation and team salary/team luxury tax situation.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span><span>OAKLAND -- The apparent logjam in renegotiations between the Warriors and coach Don Nelson has been broken, but progress is still coming very slowly even as the opening day for training camp looms on Oct. 2. After being entrenched in a stalemate for weeks following the team's initial offer, Nelson's camp has come off its stance that all of the coach's 2008-09 salary be guaranteed in an attempt to resolve a situation the coach originally told the media would be settled by July 1.</p> The sides have talked several times this week in hopes of getting the framework for a deal done before the principals on either side -- John O'Connor, Nelson's lawyer, and team president Robert Rowell -- head off on vacation.</p> However, the team is taking its time mulling over the counteroffer made by O'Connor in which at least $2 million would be guaranteed on the final year of the contract.</p> The Warriors had proposed a bump in Nelson's base pay from $3.1 million to $5.1 million over the next two seasons, but with the second year coming at the team's option, rather than being guaranteed money. That would effectively lessen Nelson's guaranteed payout by $1.1 million, a less-than-attractive option for someone who fought for years with the team over $1.56 million in salary after his first stint as Warriors coach ended acrimoniously.</p> O'Connor offered a compromise in which the coach would be guaranteed a partial payout if the team did not want him back in 2008-09. One source close to the</p>negotiation pegged the total at $2 million even; another said it was worth "a couple million." The ball is in the Warriors' court, and some sort of response will be necessary. Nelson, who could not be reached for comment, has made it clear that he won't accept the team's first offer after being paid among the bottom half of the league's coaches while leading the Warriors back to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.</div></p> http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_...?nclick_check=1</p> Sounds like they may be closing in on a deal. Nice to have more details about this thoug, damn beat writers are finally getting off their azzes and getting some info. </p></span></span>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Run BJM)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span><span>OAKLAND -- The apparent logjam in renegotiations between the Warriors and coach Don Nelson has been broken, but progress is still coming very slowly even as the opening day for training camp looms on Oct. 2. After being entrenched in a stalemate for weeks following the team's initial offer, Nelson's camp has come off its stance that all of the coach's 2008-09 salary be guaranteed in an attempt to resolve a situation the coach originally told the media would be settled by July 1.</p> The sides have talked several times this week in hopes of getting the framework for a deal done before the principals on either side -- John O'Connor, Nelson's lawyer, and team president Robert Rowell -- head off on vacation.</p> However, the team is taking its time mulling over the counteroffer made by O'Connor in which at least $2 million would be guaranteed on the final year of the contract.</p> The Warriors had proposed a bump in Nelson's base pay from $3.1 million to $5.1 million over the next two seasons, but with the second year coming at the team's option, rather than being guaranteed money. That would effectively lessen Nelson's guaranteed payout by $1.1 million, a less-than-attractive option for someone who fought for years with the team over $1.56 million in salary after his first stint as Warriors coach ended acrimoniously.</p> O'Connor offered a compromise in which the coach would be guaranteed a partial payout if the team did not want him back in 2008-09. One source close to the</p>negotiation pegged the total at $2 million even; another said it was worth "a couple million." The ball is in the Warriors' court, and some sort of response will be necessary. Nelson, who could not be reached for comment, has made it clear that he won't accept the team's first offer after being paid among the bottom half of the league's coaches while leading the Warriors back to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.</div></p> http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_...?nclick_check=1</p> Sounds like they may be closing in on a deal. Nice to have more details about this thoug, damn beat writers are finally getting off their azzes and getting some info. </p></span></span></div> About time..I was getting tired of reading these stupid articles and kiddie fights over some money </p>
Well, hopefully things work out because the Warriors made such a mess of things way back when that they need to just pay the man. You don't shaft the guy again after he's the closest thing we have to a guarantee that we make the playoffs again this season. Who else is going to run things when our lineup isn't most the balanced or experienced in terms of what we can do offensively and defensively to win ball games against bigger, physical teams. Somebody has to get these young guys knowing how to play smart, efficient team ball with or without a healthy Baron Davis. </p> I think Nelson is the only guy who could do that because these other guys would have just let Dun and Murph do their thing rather than not playing them. Screw seniority and highest salary pay, play the guy who has a level head and can contribute to a winning score. Dun's a basket case because he can't hit open shots or play any tough D at the wing or be assertive, Murphy is lazy on defense and insists on being a second option offensive player at times when he's an elbow jump shooter with some 3 point range who can occasionally take a big man off the elbow or top of the key, and then we had Foyle who was only good at shotblocking since he lost all his quickness and spring to do anything else. Plus, his hands gotten even worse as well as his propensity to blow open layups and open lane dunks.</p> Nelson was the one guy that said, hey we're playing this system to get high % fastbreak opportunities and if you don't fit or produce, I'm not playing you. This was a lot better than previous coaches who did not stand up to the GM in the way that Nelson could. And Nelson could do it because he is Mullin's friend and his mentor and he's got the clout to make things happen in the front office. He also had the benefit of great timing, since many fans were starting to see how weak our middle and frontcourt was that most warrior fans did not believe Nelson could win with these 3 bozo players in a guard based attack. I never thought we should have guys who are stuck between two different positions and that can't play versatile style of defense. It's because this lack of quickness and lack of strength whether they play bigger or smaller. That's the way Foyle, Murphy, and Dunleavy were regarding the positions of center, power forward, or small forward. Whether we move em up or down they don't match up against their opponents and that's what killed us, especially if we played them together in the same lineup. That's exactly why I think we had some unknown forward going off against us because nobody in those spots can straight up play man to man defense or move together quickly as a team to play a 3-2 zone defense. We get smoked if there's too many liabilities. At least with a smaller lineup we can pick off the passing lanes and be more active with out of position rebounding. It'll work on most teams that don't have the stamina or quickness to match or the size/strength/talent to counteract our ability to outrun opponents. </p>
