<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Who's your Daddy? That's what Don Nelson was asking Mike Dunleavy on Monday. Nelson has been riding Dunleavy all season. He has been even harder on him than the boo-bird Oakland fans, if that's possible. He called Dunleavy ``a disaster'' in Game 1 and hasn't let up since. Over the weekend, Nelson said that Dunleavy might flourish with a different team -- directly opening up the possibility of a trade. And probably one of the few teams that would be interested was the Warriors' Monday opponent -- the Los Angeles Clippers, who are coached by Dunleavy's father, Mike Sr. Dunleavy's response? He did his talking on the floor Monday afternoon. In the Warriors' 108-93 victory -- their first in four games -- Dunleavy had his best effort of the season. He scored 18 points, pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds and played with an infrequently seen ferocity. ``He must have wanted to impress his father,'' Nelson said. ``I wish he was trying to impress me for the last 40 games.'' Dunleavy certainly wanted to make an impression on his father. He has traditionally played poorly against the Clippers. But Dunleavy has to figure out that Nelson is actually his daddy. Now and for the foreseeable future. So, for his own sake, you have to hope he was being disingenuous when he was asked how he feels about Nelson's criticism. ``I don't pay attention too much to what's said,'' Dunleavy said. ``Either way it doesn't really matter to me. I have no idea what he says. If I don't hear it, it doesn't sting.'' Dunleavy did add that he receives plenty of one-on-one input from his coach. But he needs to be hearing everything that Nelson is saying. When Nelson says, in a crude way, that Dunleavy didn't contribute a drop. When he includes Dunleavy in his group of the ``dumbest bunch of smart players.'' The fascinating and entertaining thing about Nelson is that he doesn't mince words. He is blunt and doesn't care if he tramples on someone's tender feelings. This is a totally refreshing development after more than a decade of hearing Warriors coaches and front-office folks spin their team's shortcomings and pretend that they're just one step from respectability. But it's got to be a shock for a guy like Dunleavy. He has struggled to make an impact in his four-plus years in the league, but none of his coaches ever flat-out called him out before. Now it's happening. And it's got to hurt. Clearly, his father doesn't much like it. Mike Dunleavy Sr. has a solution if the Warriors don't like his son's play. ``Then they should trade him,'' Dunleavy Sr. said -- though it should be noted that Dunleavy's contract situation makes that a difficult task. Dunleavy Sr. also doesn't like hearing the boos that Oakland fans continue to direct at his son. The boos were starting to build in the first half Monday, but were quickly staunched by Dunleavy's all-out effort. ``A player should get booed if he doesn't play hard,'' Dunleavy Sr. said. ``Anything else and you've got bad fans.'' The boos turned to cheers Monday afternoon. And in Nelson's postgame interview, the criticism turned to praise. ``I'm critical of him not stepping up,'' Nelson said. ``That doesn't make him a bad player, but it makes him a different player than the one I need on this team. If he consistently had games like he had tonight, we wouldn't be having this talk.''</div> Source Dem's fighting words!
What would Dunleavy Sr. be like if Clips fans started booing Junior? LOL. Dunleavy just isn't very good at times. If I ever said he "sucks" it's because man I'm just frustrated with him like every other fan hoping he'd be better.
I think many of agree with Sr on this one. I put myself in Jr's shoes. I'd take the money if it were offered, I didn't push anyone to draft me at 3. All you can do in that situation is work as hard as you can to get fit and put forth effort to grow. He's been playing much better this season. How often does a player go from bumbling to star? Shouldn't we be applauding the improvements he's made instead of booing him? The guy was a twig, he's physically worked his butt off. Unfortunately the shooting and attitude aren't there. I'm sure in his own head, he's still the scrawny guy that has to play gimmicky D and Offense in order to succeed. I think Nelly recognizes is that and uses his comments to motivate Jr. Unfortunately the majority of the crowd hates him, and will continue to hate him until he's gone.
Yeah, CH, pretty much I value Dunleavy's teamskill and technical talents, but I just don't like his game much. We're much better off if we spent that much money on a point small forward guy like Mike Miller or somebody capable of starting and being a good sixth man. 48 mil on very limited type of versatility that can't shoot consistently is pretty bad. Like Nelly said, what good is a fluid ballhandling 6'10 if he doesn't drive more aggressively or can't take advantage of his size in the post against smaller players? It's like a sports utility vehicle that can't go offroad, can't carry a lot of stuff, and has terrible power. It's just there for looks.
We're bad fans!!! The W's have some of the best fans in the league, that's why we're there at the games and remain optimistic after 12 years of not just mediocrity but being absolutely horrible. That being said, I've never been one to boo Dun because I never thought he was a star but I can definately understand why people boo him. The way he disappears it really looks like he is not trying. In reality I'm sure that's not the case. I'm sure he is trying as hard as he can to not hurt the team but that is the problem, IMO. If you're a professional basketball player and you're on the court you need to do things to help, not just hide your deficiencies by not letting anyone notice you. It's the coach's job to determine if you are hurting the team and if you are, it's the coach's job to make a change- you have to stay aggressive. I think it's wrong to boo him for not being a good #3 pick or becuase he's getting paid too much but I can see why fans are frustrated when he basically takes himself out of games.
The article seems to forget feuds between Musselman and Dunleavy a few years back (which lead to Muss' firing?). But yeah this is how it should be. These players don't know how to win in the NBA and unlike last year where the coach depended on whatever happened - good or bad - from the starters and his 6 players, this year is different. Nelson is not accepting the bad anymore which again like the article says, is a very good thing. If Dunleavy had really improved into a star player then nobody would be booing him. However he hasn't. Sure he has one of these games once in a while like the one on Monday, or the game where he got 20 points and 20 boards (or was that Murphy). But otherwise he can't take advantage of matchups that the team counts on him to succeed in. Considering Dunleavy's situation with the Warriors' franchise, that is the most dissappointing part about him, along with not making himself part of plays as often as it would be desired. Anyway I thought the boo-birds were going away some, but supposively I missed some.
<div class="quote_poster">ryanfish Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">We're bad fans!!! The W's have some of the best fans in the league, that's why we're there at the games and remain optimistic after 12 years of not just mediocrity but being absolutely horrible. That being said, I've never been one to boo Dun because I never thought he was a star but I can definately understand why people boo him. The way he disappears it really looks like he is not trying. In reality I'm sure that's not the case. I'm sure he is trying as hard as he can to not hurt the team but that is the problem, IMO. If you're a professional basketball player and you're on the court you need to do things to help, not just hide your deficiencies by not letting anyone notice you. It's the coach's job to determine if you are hurting the team and if you are, it's the coach's job to make a change- you have to stay aggressive. I think it's wrong to boo him for not being a good #3 pick or becuase he's getting paid too much but I can see why fans are frustrated when he basically takes himself out of games.</div> We should be considered good fans, and I agree with those who want to be as frustrated as Nelly is with calling Dun out. It's just that I think given Mike Dunleavy Jr.'s position, the amount of hype he had pre-draft, and Mullin willing to bet he'd be a good starter for years to come, really made it hard to like the guy. I think rather than getting angry at the guy who evaluated his talent and gave him the money before market set the price on him, it's just easier to get mad at the player who couldn't help where he got drafted and was given money and all kinds of free opportunities to prove his worth over more aggressive players. I think we're always worry about money because the owner might just decide he wants to dump something that isn't working. It's why some fans felt it was necessary to boo Antwan Jamison because they felt he was holding the franchise back with his contract. Jamison didn't even want to get traded and at least he was valuable as a one time all-star type of player. With Dunleavy, he's not making as much money, but it's a similar thing where he's getting paid to offer all these stats, basketball smarts as a glue guy, and be a mismatch. But he's not a stat filler, a guy who is a mismatch who can also play defensively, and he's got no nba intangibles that are similar to what he did at Duke. He steps up one game and then it's only a matter of time before he starts playing to the level of the rest of the team rather than beyond it. That's why I could never understand why Dunleavy got so much hype until I saw Pietrus try to make decisions with the ball. OMG. My kingdom for a basketball player who has skills, can shoot, is athletic and is smart. We always get extreme opposites and hardly any balance it seems.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The article seems to forget feuds between Musselman and Dunleavy a few years back (which lead to Muss' firing?)</div> If you ask behind the scene Mullin was kicked out of practice by Musselman and that is what sealed his fate. The Dunleavy/Mullin thing was part of it, but Musselman's treatment of Mully is what did him in.
Well I have to say I am guilty of bashing Dunleavy at games in Denver when he under performed or made stupid plays a smart player is not supposed to make. I do that for the rest of the team too like when they go 0/2 from the line. You have to make at least 1/2 in an effort for the team to shoot a respectable percentage from the line. Like Nelson said, if he played like this all the time we would not be having this discussion. Some people need to be motivated by pissing them off. If that is how it works to get Dun started, then so be it. I just hope he does not disappear or else this will be just another fluke game from him where he has 1 good game out of 10...
In large part,Dun Sr is right. It's probably counterproductive to boo a home player who's giving effort. For Dun,too bad we can't find him in the summer and boo him when he's working on his skills. Boooooo run another mile wimpo. ...Booooo my granny shoots 100 3's a day.....Boo...no pain no gain pump that iron, kid.
On the radio today, the Clippers GM was the guest and they asked him what the chances are for Dunleavy Jr. playing for his dad. He said, he's against the idea and wouldn't allow it because it creates an uneasy environment in the locker room. He said it's hard to imagine any professional team allowing it.
Lol, Dun Sr. must have quite a bit of leverage around the NBA, a day after his comments his son is out in Indy.
