Look at his track record this year:</p> Brandan Wright - He's good enough to play some minutes in the NBA, but stuck on the bench. And he's the guy we traded JRich for and the #1 pick this year</p> Marco Belinelli - After raving about him as the heir to JRich and the shooting guard he always wanted, he's wallowing in self pity. His confidence is shattered</p> Patrick O'Bryant - Has made tremendous progress since last season and would get some minutes from another team, but not Nelson's team. Nellie has done nothing but rag on him when he's been blocking shots, being a presence in the middle and shown some offensive aptitude. Another #1 pick wasted</p> Kosta Perovic - Signed and then sent to Bakersfield</p> Stephane Lasme - Gone</p> Monta Ellis - Most Improved Player last season is struggling this season at PG. He may be better off as a combo guard</p> Andris Biedrins - He needs help manning the middle and he gets Mickael Pietrus at power forward. Pfft</p>
Maybe he's taking advice from George Karl. I mean, look at all the Championships Karl has won. If you're a coach, you would be a fool not to do what he does. Right?</p> </p>
First, if our young players' confidence can be shattered just like that, they probably do not belong to NBA. Because, their confidence will be shaken number of times during their NBA careers. And, we really should not get into summer league or preseason hype. Just because they played very nicely in summer league or preseason, that really doesn't mean the success will be carried to the regular season. Also, Nelson is here to win games, not to develop young players.</p> </p> Wright: I am actually surprised that Wright is getting some playing time. Because, many of us expected him to start at development league in his first year. So far, he is very long, and I can see him contributing next year or even this 2nd half season. And, once he gets used to NBA, he can be a beast. Although, it's a very small sample, in 48 mins scale, Wright gets 24 rebounds with 12.7 offense rebounds (2nd is Biedrins with 13.9), and that's why he is getting some playing time. But, no doubt he is extremely raw enough not to get major minutes.</p> </p> Marco: He seems to have a trouble adjusting NBA speed like many rookies. Nelson actually gave Marco 14 and 15 mins of playing time in first two games. But, Marco only shot 3/11 with 1/5 from 3 pts line. After that, he was benched, and Marco didn't really give any reason to get those playing time back either. If this team is rebuilding and we have tons of old guards, then I can see why Marco should have gotten more playing time. But, all Azu, Monta, and Pietrus are better, and are developing young players with contract years. If Nelson actually gave Marco sizable playing time by sacrificing their playing time, they will go nuts for unjustice. Besides, we are not here to develop Marco.</p> </p> POB: His case is bit puzzling. Because, before talking about his PT, we didn't even extend his 3rd year contract and essentially gave up on him despite his development during preseason. That's why I really don't have any problem with his situation. He is not better than Biedrins, and we can argue whether he is better than Benga or not. He may or may not, but even if he is better, it's a small difference, and it's not like Benga is getting a double digit playing time either. In any case, he is most likely gone after this season. So, what's the point of developing him?</p> </p> Kosta: Do you really want Nelson to give him any playing time? If any, I would rather blame Mullin for spending 1.5 mils per year on him and not extending POB's contract.</p> </p> Lasme: I wonder what made him so hyped up despite he was 46th pick. And, it's not like he has legit NBA body or did anything significant during summer league or preseason.</p> </p> Monta: He can be either Wade or Speedy. So far, it's sad to say that he looks more like Speedy than Wade. If he can shoot from outside, he will be much better player. Right now, he can't shoot from outside, tries to drive every single time (and get blocked half of times), and looks Murphy-like blackhole one too many times. And, the only reason he played the role of 'pg' was because Jackson was suspended. He is already playing over 32 mins, and I really don't know what Nelson can do more for him.</p> </p> Biedrins:</p> Before Nelson</p> 12.8 mins / 3.6 pts / 4.0 rebs /</p> 14.6 mins / 3.8 pts / 4.1 rebs /</p> </p> After Nelson</p> 29 mins / 9.5 pts / 9.3 rebs /</p> 33.4 mins / 11.7 pts / 9.7 rebs /</p> </p> Nelson is more like a gift from above instead of shattering his confidence.</p> </p> Again, we are here to win and make PO instead of developing those young players, and none of our young players (maybe except POB) made a case that they should get more PT than they are getting now by sacrificing current players' PT. And, just because those young players didn't get pampered, that doesn't mean their NBA career would be over. And, if it's over, they probably don't belong in here...</p>
I don't think Nelson's ruined any of the rookies, but he's probably not the ideal coach to develop players. But the problem does lie with the players themselves. I pretty much agree with Kwan's assessment of each of the rookies.</p> In general, I think we bank too much on rookies and the other younger players. Right after the draft, my opinions were that we did a fair job drafting but it was clear that both Wright and Bellinelli were at least a year or two off from being solid rotation players. Give them a bit more time and then say if they're doing poorly or not; it's rare for all rookies, even good ones, to come in and be worthy of minutes.</p> I think that the biggest surprise is with Monta, who's been struggling pretty badly despite many opportunities for him to step up. Nelson has been stressing that he learn to be more of a PG, but at best he's just a penetrator. Just like Kwan mentioned, though, every time he penetrates he looks to score. When he does look to pass, it's easy to read so that doesn't help, either. He just needs to change his whole mentality and develop some range, because he looks hesitant to shoot the ball and thus is entirely too predictable in the half court.</p>
Your being too hard on him. Look around and tell me what coach is actually good at developing rookies and young talent, every coach prefers veteran experience over talent.</p>
I don't think Nelly has ruined anything except preferring Pietrus at PF over Brandan Wright. All the other players like Kwan said haven't really deserved much playing time because of who is ahead in the rotation. Many of the rookies haven't showed much consistently and maybe they do need to learn a few things in practice before being fully trusted. It's really a mental test to check who wants it and who will listen to their coach. The last thing we need is a prima donna who is going away from the team concept.</p> Then Ellis... Ellis being this bad is really Ellis' fault. He never really developed his point guard instincts to at least be a Stephon Marbury or a Steve Francis on some plays. With his shot being a bit off from outside, it makes him a bit more predictable like Kwan pointed out. It's like when Speedy drove, he was going in with his head down and then kicking out to the wing or trying to get fouled. Very few times did he sneak in an interior pass while inside the paint or recognized that the passing lanes are closed and its better to try and finish or draw contact for the foul. Although generally, Speedy was a decent playmaker, there was just very few decisions he could make while on the move because of his limitations offensively and because of size (I think). Monta could be so much better than a healthy Speedy if he can be a better floor general without having to dribble the ball so much. But I don't think Monta is used to that yet. I think Monta could be a suitable playmaker one of these days if he can work on his timing, offensive awareness, and passing accuracy. He's got natural talent to be an all-around combo guard, but its just so unpolished. If Nelson can turn him into one that would be great. I think he can, but I don't trust Nelson and how he develops big players. There's just no point with him in doing so.</p>
