Anyone getting ticked off with Don Nelson?

Sorry, aren't you like, uhh, younger than us old crotchety dudes?

 

Yeah, I am.

Good to see someone agree with me though.

 

Potential is 1 thing. They lack desire, confidence, physical stature, and their games are both full of holes. Randolph has the chance to be a nice 6th man at best. We'll see later. I have a feeling that I'm right on this one. I wish the kids the best of luck, but I just don't see star when I look at either of them. Rose in Chicago is a star, Gay has star written all over him, Bosh, had it. These kids don't. The grass always looks greener.

 

I can't say with certainty you're wrong, but last time I checked Randolph was top-10 in the NBA in blocks per 48 minutes and rebounds per 48, and he was and I believe still is the youngest player in the entire NBA. If he can start shooting the ball even decently (or just take fewer outside jumpers for now), I already like what I see from him a lot. He's a bit of a mess right now but he always makes an impact, he has that "court presence" in my opinion that is pretty rare. A lot of players can just disappear for long stretches of time but you always know when Randolph is in the game.

EDIT: Checked his stats, he slipped a little, of all players playing over 10 minutes per game, he is #4 in blk/48 and #11 in reb/48. Still...

 

Wright has loads of potential and he's showing it when given the chance. Does he do knuckleheaded things? Yeah, like letting Mike Miller grab a clutch rebound over him when Wright has inside position. But he's got a great attitude and a sweet left hand. His defensive is bad at times, but its not for lack of trying.

Randolph has potential too. He's got a nice handle and can block shots.

They need to play.

Look at the Heat, Chalmers and Beasley get big minutes and contributed nicely to the win last night for a 9 and 9 club. Beasley shot the second to last shot in regulation for the Heat. Yet, we're still bitching about lack of time for the Warriors youngsters on a 5 and 13 team. Could it be coaching? Why Turiaf and 4 guards with SJax trying to handle Haslem for the defensive rebound?

 

If Wright/Randolph can get consistent minutes to build their confidence and keep the game close, I'll be happy. If Turiaf is involved more next a real center or power forward I'll be happy. If Biedrins is a focal point on offense, I'll be happy.

Don Nelson just has to close the game properly using Turiaf more. If Beans ain't in any foul trouble, play Turiaf next to Biedrins. Defensive rebounding issues solved and we clog up the lane on defense. Plus Turiaf is no Adonal Foyle, he can actually score some! Let him score more.

I must admit it's a bit iffy if we use a perimeter of Crawford, Mags, Jax to play PG, SG, SF. That's like turnover city... But the plus side is, they can all hit their free throws 80 to 83% career. I like that. If the 3 can get used to each other, I think this team has a chance to be good. But, we have to compete defensively and utilize more of the halfcourt game and get better, bigger, physical players with presence on both ends of the floor. Wright, Turiaf, Biedrins, and possibly Hendrix or Randolph have a good chance to make that presence felt. They just need more minutes or more physical maturity.

If Hendrix is anything like what Paul Millsap is doing for Utah, call that guy up here now. Send the other PF kid down (I forget his name he's like 12th in the entire rotation).

 

Great read by Scott Ostler at the Chronicle. He says Nellie is strange, and says some fans seriously question whether he's just trying to get fired on purpose and get a buyout...

He makes some awesome points about Morrow, too... where the hell has he been, Nellie? He's your best shooter and looks like the next Ray Allen, and yet you are so stubborn your just going to ride Azibuike and Maggette (*barf*) even though you're losing 7 straight games?

Brilliant coaching, lol. I've always thought Nellie is a genius of the game. Still do. This is why it makes it even more frustrating to see him ignore the young players.

I mean, if you've already come out and said your team has no chance of making POs, then why are you stroking Maggette's ego and feeding him 20+ shots a night?

blah!

 

Nellie is brilliant, but with each year he gets more stubborn and set in his ways (as most of us inevitably do). But in a job like that, that's a death sentence. You have remain innovative and flexible to succeed.

EDIT: Now I'm thinking about agreeing that Nellie is brilliant, but what really makes me angry is his lack of offensive plan. OK, so he has this small-ball "blueprint" that kind of forms the shell of an offense...we can argue about how effective that is. But I'm talking about the details. What should be very clear to anyone who watches more than a few Warriors games is that there simply is no plan on offense. How else can you explain these nightmares we witness over and over again? I don't see how you can claim to have an offensive plan if you never pass or oftentimes even look to pass the ball. If there is a plan and the players are failing to execute it, isn't it Nelson's job to correct that and punish them by sending them to the bench if they won't listen? He never seems to do that, at least to the veterans who are getting the lion's share of the PT anyway.

I would like Nelson to show me some damned set plays every once in a while instead of constant, no-consequence schoolyard basketball, is that too much to ask? People like to say players love playing for Nellie because he gives them freedom. Maybe that's good if you've got KG or Wade or LeBron playing for you, but it's not so good if all you get are a bunch of mediocre, stat-padding scrubs like we have now.

 

If you are running a small ball lineup, wouldn't you use the quickness advantage at times to run a motion/weave offense? Instead of just an isolation based look where everyone on D can stand around and give help?

Watched a bit of the Spurs-Nuggets game last night and there was one sequence where Billups went right past Bonner from the left wing on an isolation and what was impressive was how quickly 2 or 3 Spurs converged to stop Billups and it was so solid he could not get the layup off nor make a pass to an open teammate. That was impressive.

Where are the Warriors rotations like that?

 

What's sad is Greg Popovich was Nellie's asst coach. Add Avery Johnson to that list as well. Who else?

I guess all these guys decide to do exactly opposite of what Nellie does.

 

At least that make me excited for our next coach, who will come as soon as Nellie gets his record.

 

Anyone want to trade Nelson to Philadelphia for Mo Cheeks? I would do it.

 

Ditto.

What about Mark Jackson? Or Bob/Jim that call games on CSN?

 

Theus!

I live in Sac and watch most of their games and that guy is a good coach. He set the bar high last year when he overachieved and now is really hurt by injuries. Plus, look what he's done with Hawes and Thompson- he's doing a great job developing them and they both look like players. He even started Donte Green for a stretch. I would love to see what he'd do with Wright and Randloph. He realistically might play a front line of Beans-Wright-AR, something I've given up on Nellie ever doing.

 

I wish you could do weird stuff like just swap coaches for a few weeks. Say hey, look, it's not working out here in Oakland, and it's not working out up there in Sacto either. Why don't we just try Theus for a few weeks, you guys see what fresh perspective Nelson can bring to your squad and let's see what we want to do after that. Coaches on bad teams would probably welcome a chance to switch it up for a short time, as the players might.

 

That what I've been saying. The sac roster is much better suited to run while GS needs to start playing with some structure.