So I missed this article/blog entry from last week, but it's pretty interesting. A lot of people have kind of settled into this belief that it was Nelson's deft handling of a young, impatient Randolph that enabled his maturity and blossoming of his skills last year. But that may not be the whole story, or even the right story at all. Now the usual caveat applies, this is Kawakami, but this article has a ring of truth about it. I was never ready to give Nelson much credit for that, and this article doesn't push me in that direction. Story link
I don't really think that story is much different at all from what everyone already assumed. How can we believe TK when he arbitrarily makes the statement that AR's practice habits were fine from the get go? I don't think Nellie "put him on ice" and told him to shape up or GTFO publicly for no reason. As TK concludes, Fegan is perhaps the one who deserves the most credit, but doesn't that only support Nellie's reported stance that AR was being a punk-ass and needed to change how he goes about things? Nellie was telling him all along to work harder or whatever the problem was. AR just refused to do it until he was berated publicly by the coach, benched permanently, told to seek a trade, switched agents, and then the new agent finally told him to just do what Nellie tells him. Obviously it took injuries to create an opportunity for him but is that much different from any other rookie? Especially one who was the youngest player in the league? I think there was a key change in what Nellie was doing when AR started getting minutes over Kurz and when Wright played briefly in March AR was getting similar and even more minutes. Kurz was regularly getting minutes over AR the first 3 months of the season, you can't really complain that much if Wright/Mags/whatever other vet is getting minutes at the 4 over a 19 y/o rookie but the Kurz thing was concerning. When Nellie changed that it was obvious that Randolph was a) pleasing the coaches and Nellie confirmed as much later in the season publicly and b) getting better.
Gotta love the way TK tosses around this stuff as if it's common knowledge fact. Um, excuse me, when did you hear Nelson tell Randolph to find a way out of Golden State? Sorry, I usually don't mind TK, but this article just seems like he's trying to meet a quota/deadline. Afterall, if he doesn't put any words on paper, he won't have a job. *edit: I see it's just his blog (not the paper), but still, it's kind of annoying.
I have a huge problem with him... He blogs freely making up rumors, but hey..it's just his blog, right? I don't think Kawakami has an ounce of integrity. Sure he getis it right every now and again, but just having an opinion on something, doesn't qualify you as a journalist.
Blah. What's the point of this blog? You can credit and discredit a lot of people regarding Randolph's emergence, but the fact remains, he's focused and ready to do some damage. Unlike Webber, Randolph hasn't complained at all about Nellie and I think he's embracing playing for him. Also, don't forget the coaching staff, which I think is pretty good. I really like Keith Smart. He seems to connect with the players and commands a lot of respect.
Although you know... it was pretty damn annoying watching Nellie send Randolph over to Russell Turner every 15 seconds last year. Who the heck is Russell Turner? He never played in the NBA, he was an assistant college coach before coaching in the NBA. I'm sorry but at some point you just have to shut up and let the kid play already. It was pretty lame watching Randolph getting in the game for one 10 second play, and then joining Russell Turner on the bench for a 5-minute private conference about... I don't know... I was going to say a conference about how to be an NBA pro, except, well, Russell Turner wouldn't know anything about that, having never played... so, uh? They were so trying to make it about the head with Randolph, but you can't do that. It's in the body. Just let him get out there and play and make some mistakes already. Save the motion offense and post-play lectures for practice. No amount of Turner showing him abstract X's and O's will prepare Randolph for the NBA... he just needs to be in the game. Once they stopped making it about Russell Turner, and started making it about Anthony Randolph... then we started to see what the kid could do. Thank goodness they finally just let him play.
I don't look at it as being annoying at all. I was frustrated by Randolph's pull up jumpers without moving the ball around first. And his out of control style. He really took a huge step forward after being benched. Sure, Randolph pushed back and won some more playing time after dumping his agent. But I respect that. He believed in his talent and decided to try playing how the coach wanted him to, and he's grown so much. I don't think Nellie made him into something special, but I think he sped up the process.
Turner is pimped as "Tim Duncan's college coach" a lot by Fitzgerald. I gather that his job now ("skills development") was the same as it was back then?
Yeah, I don't know -- I'm sure he's a great guy, I was just saying from the standpoint of being a fan last year, hoping and hoping for AR to get in the game, only to watch him get pulled for another lecture over and over. Obviously the coaching is helping AR, but at the same time that kind of treatment can also hinder a player at times. I mean, give him 4 or 5 minutes and then pull him for a talk. At times, he wasn't even allowed to make one mistake without having to go visit the "big man guru" Russell Turner. In those cases, watching Russell Turner kneel down by Randolph and start telling him all the things he did wrong in the 15 seconds he was on the floor, with Randolph's head still spinning from the adrenaline -- that was a joke.
But you're speculating here. How do you know Turner was telling him all the things he was doing wrong. Maybe he was telling him what he has to do differently. Kids are more responsive to that type of teaching. Hell, even adults. I'm sure the coaching staff was cognizant of that (but that's speculation also). The fact is, Randolph has conquered his rookie year and it should be smooth sailing so long as he works hard.
Sorry, should have been more explicit. No, it's not the same. You can tell a person what they're doing wrong or you can tell them what they should be doing. One is criticizing the negatives while the other is promoting the positives. I guess it can be the same, but there are various ways to communicate criticism to generate better results.
Obviously, a professional athlete should tolerate criticism - negative or positive - and try to learn from it. But the reality is, most of these athletes don't know any better. They're a bunch of kids coming from poverty and instantly given millions of dollars...well, I'm preaching to the choir here, but you get the drift. I'm just glad Randolph was able to overcome this. I may be naive, but he seems more about the game than the money. Knock on wood!!!
I agree, he has the fire that most players don't possess. But I want to say: I don't think there was much to overcome. I disagree with those people who say he had a bad attitude, or like you say, he's not able to take criticism, or so forth. He comes from a military family and he seems to have great work ethic. Yes, he had the agent situation, but honestly that was more basketball politics and I don't think it reflects his coach-ability or work-ethic. What people may get confused on is when they confuse Randolph's "fire" with his "attitude." Yes, he has explosive passion for the game. But I would never want him to overcome or get past that. I don't think Randolph needed to be dog-whipped into being a good player. Yes, I appreciate the way Nellie is hard on players who don't play defense (so Randolph has no problem there) and how he brings young players along slowly. It worked for Belinelli. It worked for Monta. It will work for Randolph. But honestly, I don't think there's anything that Randolph needs to change. He just needs to continue to grow, develop, and get better. He was going to make mistakes last year, no matter what. He needs that experience to get better. So what I was saying above, I don't have any problem with the way Nellie generally brought him along last year. I just didn't like the 15-second stints and the in-game lectures by a guy who has never bounced a ball in an NBA game. I am sure Russell Turner has plenty of b-ball wisdom to impart, but the way they were doing that was kind of annoying after a while, IMO. Sometimes, Randolph would never have have a chance to loosen up and get warm (your best basketball comes once you can tune down your left-brain critical mind and get into the right-brain flow). It just got old after a while (and I am a coach's son, so don't get me wrong). I also teach 4th grade elementary, as well as PE. And trust me, there is only so much teaching I can do about division facts. At some point, the kids just need to pick up their pencils and start solving problems. I also teach Aikido to 7, 8, and 9 year olds. And there is only so much explanation I can give about how to do forward rolls or how to throw a partner. At some point, the kids won't benefit at all from hearing me talking about it. The only way they will grow and develop is for me to stop talking and for them to start moving. I am not trying to defend some big argument here. I am all for discipline and playing the game the right way. It's just that I hear a lot of people (not just here, but everywhere) talk about how Randolph needed to get himself under control and grow up. And my version of growing up is a bit different than some of those critics. Personally, I hope he never puts a lid on the passion. For example: Watch the second dunk on Yao at 35 seconds. That's just raw athleticism. There is no thinking there. There are no X's and O's there. There is no mind there. That is all body. That just comes from being in the flow (and Randolph is left-handed, which some experts say makes it easier for the right side of the brain to take over). That is all doing, not thinking, and that's what Randolph needs to be given a chance to do. Yes, of course he needs to get smarter about the game, about defensive rotations, about shot choices, but that will all come over time. But as far as passion and attitude, I hope he never changes. Because that's what will give him a chance to be a super-star.
