<hr width="100%" size="2" /> The night practice on Thursday continued to elicit rave reviews from staff members. The team seems to have a hunger and really enjoys practicing, as strange as that sounds. Several players continued to stand out, including Marco Belinelli and his shooting stroke. As we noted earlier this week, Davis and Belinelli spend the end of each practice shooting 35-40 foot jump shots. Belinelli walked away with Thursday night's contest when he nailed five consecutive shots from about 37 feet to end the session. Davis, who led the NBA in steals last season, has his sights set on leading the league in assists this year. Belinelli will certainly add to his total based on what we've seen in camp.</p> <hr width="100%" size="2" /> As the team bus made the drive from the hotel to BYU-Hawaii after the test, assistants Travis Schlenk, Russ Turner and Stephen Silas graded the papers. Prior to the start of practice, the results were in and Nellie addressed the team with the good....and bad news. Kelenna Azubuike and Stephen Jackson, who have both had outstanding training camps on the court, were also the standouts in the classroom. They were the only two players to score 100% on the test. Baron Davis and Austin Croshere each missed 1/2 of a question. Of course, a few players missed more then one question, but we'll protect the guilty parties.</p> <hr width="100%" size="2" /> http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/0708_Trai...pBlog.html#Day4 We know Baron and Sjax are the team leaders, but I think Azu and Bell are going to be studs. I know we can't hype them too much until the real game starts, but I got a good feeling they'll contribute well.</p>
Looks like Azu was the only ace on the test...</p> <hr width="100%" size="2" /> Coach Nelson made a confession on Saturday without visiting a Church. He told the Warriors' two beat writers that he aided Stephen Jackson in his bid to win a bet with Baron Davis during the team's written exam on Friday. As noted earlier, Jackson bet Davis that he would earn a higher score on the test. Upon hearing this, Nellie also bet BD that Jax would have a higher score. What BD did not know was that the second-winningest coach in NBA history had slipped Mr. Jackson a copy of the test the night before. Only Nellie. I guess that explains Jackson's perfect score on the exam.</p> <hr width="100%" size="2" />
