From: zegers@rotowire.com
Subject: Give and Go
Date: March 16, 2009 8:16 AM PDT
To: liss@rotowire.com
At the risk of making this a weekly discussion of the Golden State Warriors … another reader weighed in to respond to last week’s column on the current state of Nellieball. A brief recap:
(It’s) as if he hasn’t been paying attention to the games Nellie plays.
• (Mullin) Warriors trade for Marcus Williams over the summer, after (Baron Davis) bolts and sometime around when Monta signs.
• Summer league: Louis Amundsen, Rob Kurz, DeMarcus Nelson, and Anthony Morrow all shine in both leagues. Warriors sign all except for Amundsen, who ends up with the Suns.
• Warriors resign CJ Watson.
• Nellie announces DeMarcus Nelson the starting pg (over Watson, mainly, and Williams) while Monta is hurt.
• Nelson plays yo-yo with Nelson and Watson starting, barely having Williams ever get off the bench. • Eventually, Nelson waives DeMarcus Nelson and/or moves him to the D- League.
Also, Nelson gushes over how Randolph was always “our guy.” Then why is he still barely playing 20 minutes a game if that? If not for all the injuries, why do I get the feeling he would barely sniff the floor, like (Brandan) Wright last year?
Taken from that perspective, it’s not so hard to see why a guy like Al Harrington wanted out. Nelson – like some other coaches – seems to become disenchanted with players, leaving them to rot on the bench.
From an outsider’s perspective, he seems like a player’s coach because his style is probably a lot of fun to run. But if you’re not one of his guys, watch out.
The reader also astutely pointed out that many of the problems we’re seeing on the court seem to stem from conflict in the front office … there’s a pretty clear “too many cooks” problem in Oakland, with Nelson, team president Robert Rowell, general manager Chris Mullin – reportedly on his way out – and “assistant” general manager Larry Riley – reportedly on his way in. That transition could account for the Warriors’ inconsistent handling of personnel issues, particularly the failure to re-sign Baron Davis and the hard-line approach taken with Monta Ellis. (But to give credit where credit’s due, Ronny Turiaf has been an excellent signing.)
OK, enough with Golden State – let’s talk about some good teams for a change.
via Give and Go: Playing for something – Fantasy – Yahoo! Sports.
