Official Warriors Off Season Thread

[vietsta4o8]

i have 2 finals this saturday. the first one is at 8am -_-

 

[mjdalegend]

[h1][/h1]

[h1]Baron Davis' bummer of a summer[/h1]
By Gary Peterson
Staff columnist

Article Launched: 06/05/2008 08:55:01 PM PDT

It's barely June, and already Baron Davis has had a lousy summer.

First, he watched from the bench as the Warriors' bid for a postseason berth crapped out in Phoenix. Then his agent failed to interest the team in a contract extension.

Sure, Davis has spent some quality hangin' time recently with Adam Sandler, and there's no doubt he'll wind up courtside during at least one NBA Finals game in the coming fortnight.

But then Don Nelson returned from his Maui holiday with three proclamations:

• I'm back;
• We're going to start playing young guys, even if it means losing a game here and there; and,
• This shift in organizational emphasis won't impact Baron Davis in the slightest.
  If Davis is smart, he's buying about one-third of what Nelson is selling. Two-thirds, tops.
  
  The part about Nellie coming back to fulfill the final year of his three-year contract? That's not necessarily a bad thing for Davis. Nelson coaches the kind of up-tempo crazyball Davis likes to play. The two have worked reasonably well together the past two seasons.
  
  There is the prickly issue of last season's elimination game, in which Nelson left Davis to assume The Thinker's pose on the bench the entire second half. Believe them if they say that incident is over. Not so much if they say it's forgotten.
  
  The part where the young guys play more? In one respect, such a change would be good for Davis
• who ran himself into the floor last season. But settling for fewer wins? You have to figure Davis would rather belt-sand his lumberjack beard down to a pencil-thin mustache.
  To borrow a line that Barrack Obama borrowed from someone else: This is Baron's time. He's 29, in the prime of his career, a card-carrying difference-maker. He's looking for another handful of playoff skins and playing for his next contract.
  
  The Warriors' new world order suggests he'll have a difficult time achieving either lofty goal here. His play for an extension is dead in the water. As for bailing on the final year of his contract, things have changed since last fall, when Davis was threatening to drop the opt-out hammer.
  
  "In the next two weeks, I'm going to make a decision if I will re-sign, or play the season out and be a free agent," he said 36 weeks ago. The Warriors didn't blink and he didn't re-sign. He still has 24 days in which to opt-out. But given that he would be walking away from a guaranteed $17 million, don't hold your breath.
  
  So the guy who isn't used to being vulnerable to the trap, finds himself trapped. Interestingly, the Warriors stand to benefit short-term, should Davis decide to honor the final year of his contract and dedicate his season to making a case for another whopper of a payday. Long-term? It's easy to imagine the professional relationship between Davis and the Warriors growing frostier by the minute.
  
  But even if it wasn't - or isn't - Davis can't be thrilled to hear that the Warriors now consider player development a priority on par with winning real games.
  
  That suggests Nelson and Chris Mullin have touched heads and decided the Warriors are not a finished product. That would be an astute judgment, by the way. The 48 games they won last season would be beyond top-end as expectations go, and even that didn't get them into the postseason.
  
  In other words, there isn't much percentage in the status quo.
  
  No matter how unassailable the logic, it can't be what a guy who wants to win yesterday wants to hear. But then, that's been a theme for Davis this offseason.
  
  Add this to the theme: Based on the money his peers - Gilbert Arenas and Steve Nash to name two - are making, Davis may be hard-pressed to equal the six-year, $84 million deal that expires this month or at the end of next season, depending.
  
  On the bright side, critics of "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" say Adam Sandler has never been funnier. Hey, in basketball, as in life, you take your jollies where you find them.

 

[livemyreality]

That article is crap IMO. The writer is trying to sway readers saying that he doesn't really agree with what Nellie said. Look, first of all, we knowNellie never keeps his word...Look at Bellinelli, he said he was going to be a starter. Never happened. Baron would be in agreement to play more players, but Iknow Nellie will be smart with who he places on the floor at key times. I need Warrior basketball already =(

 

[daprescription]

Eh, Patrick O'Bryant could be ok, but to say he could be a future all-star?

. . I need what you're smoking, PLEASE!!!!!

 

[paul is on tilt]

[h1]Give Nellie one more season[/h1]
By Monte Poole
Staff columnist

Article Launched: 06/04/2008 07:41:02 PM PDT

HAVING RETREATED to the lush comforts of Maui and searched his weary soul, Don Nelson has decided to fulfill the final year of his contractual obligation to coach the Warriors. Great for him, great for the team, great for its fans.

Great, however, wasn't enough for Nellie.

He had to complicate matters by floating the possibility of staying in Oakland for another four years.

Our response? Oh, please, no.

One more year should mean another mercurial 82-game run, another year of teaching and 61/2 months for Nelson's farewell tour.

Anything more, though, and he's getting in the way.

Nelson has been at this coaching gig since 1976, long enough for everybody to know what he offers. Even with zero championships, he is a creative offensive mind, deserving of every accolade he will get upon his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

If I wanted to coach hoops, I'd embrace Nelson as a mentor. He could open my mind to the possibilities, show me tricks I'd never conceive on my own.

And Nellie's weaknesses could show me what kind of traps to avoid. And that's why the Dubs should ride this lame-duck season as far as they can, then hand Nelson a one-way ticket to Maui.

One of the things we have learned from these NBA playoffs is that the Warriors are not close to a championship. They are a good team, with quality players and a strong coach -
far superior to the potted plants on the court and the bench for most of the 14-year Chris Cohan ownership. They are not, however, one of the four best teams in the Western Conference.
They likely won't get there if Nelson is in charge.

See, Nellie has problem with big men. Though he is terrific with guards and small forwards, he either can't or doesn't try to reach players most likely to make an impact in the paint.

You know, the kind of inside warriors required to compete at the highest level.

Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin flourished here under Nelson. As did Steve Nash, Michael Finley and Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. And Brian Winters, Bobby Dandridge, Junior Bridgeman, Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson and Paul Pressey in Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, the true big men followed. The best all-around big man to play for Nelson was Patrick Ewing in New York and the Nelson-Ewing union came apart after 59 games. The next best was Bob Lanier, who spent the final four-plus seasons of his career with the Bucks. Lanier was 31 when he arrived and, more significantly, his knees stayed in Detroit.

Next best? Maybe Swen Nater in Milwaukee. He was traded after one year for a draft pick, after which the Bucks took Kent Benson first overall. Or choose between Alton Lister (Warriors) and Shawn Bradley (Mavericks).

And, no, I'm not forgetting Manute Bol, who under Nelson became the NBA's only 7-foot-7 center known for shooting 3-pointers.

Nelson twice came upon legitimate power forwards with the Warriors. The first was Tyrone Hill. He endured constant criticism yet became the only Warrior to average at least 10 rebounds under Nelson. He was immediately shipped to Cleveland, where he became ... an All-Star.

The second was Chris Webber, who chafed under the criticism, clashed with Nellie, was named Rookie of the Year, then was shipped out of town. C-Webb, you may remember, also became a five-time All-Star once freed from Nellie.

Both young, both big, both athletic. Neither could bond with Nelson.

All of which brings us back to Nellie and the hint that he might pull up a chair and stay beyond the 2008-09 season.

His most skilled big man with these Warriors is Andris Biedrins. Never mind that Nelson seems to accept rather than embrace the 6-foot-11 Latvian, for it's clear Biedrins alone is overmatched in a conference where the better teams are capable of rolling out three or four center/power forward types.

It's one thing for the Dubs to make another run at the playoffs, with Nelson leading the way.

It's quite another for them to leave Nellie in charge as they move into the next phase, behind Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright and Biedrins, as well as the additional big men they're going to need.

The Warriors are urging Nelson to make more of an effort to develop his young players. About time. That's exactly as it should be, for the coach has something to offer.

Can he do it? Especially with the big men?

Thirty years of coaching suggests not. In which case next April would signal the time to hand the job to someone who can.

Contact Monte Poole at [email protected]


Discuss...

 

[offbad]

^i thought he already said this is his last season?

 

[mjdalegend]

He had to complicate matters by floating the possibility of staying in Oakland for another four years.
Coach til he's 72? No.

 

[acidicality]

Nellie's got his strengths but his weaknesses don't bode well long-term for a legitimate chance at a championship which should be our main goal as afranchise.

 

[sriracha hot sauce]

Originally Posted by daprescription

Eh, Patrick O'Bryant could be ok, but to say he could be a future all-star?

. . I need what you're smoking, PLEASE!!!!!

ALL STAR?

 

[livemyreality]

So what if Nellie coached the W's to a championship? You wouldn't want him back for another year? (THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL, NO BASHING)

 

[acidicality]

Oh hell yeah, I would.

But the problem is, he won't....basically, he's a good coach to "resurrect" a franchise to me, but not a championship coach, because hisphilosophies (smallball) won't cut it trying to make it and win the Finals..

edit-okay never mind i'm going to flip flop here (word to McCain)
he's old....if he wins one at this point he's going to want to go out on top...so i think he'd retire after he won one anyway. so i'd sayprobably not...but because of age.

 

[paul is on tilt]

Originally Posted by LiveMyReality

So what if Nellie coached the W's to a championship? You wouldn't want him back for another year? (THIS IS HYPOTHETICAL, NO BASHING)

Originally Posted by acidicality

Oh hell yeah, I would.

But the problem is, he won't....basically, he's a good coach to "resurrect" a franchise to me, but not a championship coach, because his philosophies (smallball) won't cut it trying to make it and win the Finals..

Agreed for the reasons acid said. In all likelihood, he's not going to get us a championship. It might bepossible but it's highly unlikely. I mean if he did, he proved me wrong and I'd want him back, but yeah, this question was hypothetical... soyeah.

 

[dont be a menace]

I just want Nellie to get the most wins record (I think for regular season?) and move on from him. If we get into the playoffs once again then there'll betalks of bringing him back, but if we have the same problems once again I hope they're considering other options.

 

[enlightened thought]

of course. if nellie wins a chip, why not bring him back? considering how slim those odds are...i'm pretty sure it's safe to say next season will behis last. probably the end of the baron era and the ushering of monta/beans/bwright/bellinelli era.

 

[franchise 55]

I talked to a member of the Warriors organization. According to this person, ESPN.com's report that the Warriors were in hot pursuit of Yi on draft night a year ago provoked "great laughter" throughout the office. Not that they don't like Yi as a player, but they weren't manuevering that day to get Yi. Here's what I was told: No, they weren't trying to get Yi when they traded Jason Richardson during last year's draft. Contra Costa Times
Pretty much what we all thought.

at ESPN writers.

 

[paul is on tilt]

Originally Posted by FRANCHISE 55

I talked to a member of the Warriors organization. According to this person, ESPN.com's report that the Warriors were in hot pursuit of Yi on draft night a year ago provoked "great laughter" throughout the office. Not that they don't like Yi as a player, but they weren't manuevering that day to get Yi. Here's what I was told: No, they weren't trying to get Yi when they traded Jason Richardson during last year's draft. Contra Costa Times

Pretty much what we all thought.

at ESPN writers.


ESPN trying to generate news... How disgusting?

 

[acidicality]

Nothing new though

....

at anyone who believed that at all. Whoever even made up the Wright+#14 for Yi probably hasn't even seen Wright in actionbefore.

 

[daprescription]

Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson announced this week that he will return next season. Sorry, Warriors fans. Nelson, though, is probably only coming back so he can pass Lenny Wilkens' record of coaching victories. He needs 53 victories. That means Nelson will probably stick around another three years so he can break the record. Sorry, Warriors fans.

 

[franchise 55]

3 years to get 53 wins? I sure hope not.

 

[acidicality]

Don Nelson=Eddie Sutton?

 

[livemyreality]

Originally Posted by acidicality

Don Nelson=Eddie Sutton?

Haha, Nellie actually has ties to the organization compared to Sutton who walked on the USF program, called the entire team "the worst talent he'sever coached."

 

[acidicality]

Did Sutton really say that? Wow.

 

[livemyreality]

He sure did, I think it was after the 5th game. KNBR even quoted him on Murph and Mac. It was pretty interesting. How in the world could you play for a coachwho didn't care about the team but to just get his final wins. That's tough. I think a couple of players from USF actually looked to transfer out toanother program.

 

[patrickcakes]

Sutton at USF

EDIT: Back on topic, I haven't read through this thread so I'm not sure if it's already been discussed... but I heard on KNBR that one of theassistant coaches (was it Larry Riley?), is being groomed to replace Nellie when he leaves, like Avery Johnson. Was this just speculation?

 

[enlightened thought]

just saw that nathan jawai clip on youtube, i also caught his highlight mix too. seems like a decent prospect.


i cannot wait til draft day...!!!!!!!