Nelson commits to coach Warriors in 2008-09

Eleutherios · Post #1 » by **Eleutherios** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 6:38 pm

There's nothing quite like some downtime in Hawaii to brighten one's outlook.

That's how Don Nelson seemed to portray his recent decision to coach the Golden State Warriors for at least one more season.

"I got the chance to rest a little bit, think about it, and wanted to come back," Nelson told the San Francisco Chronicle from the team's practice facility in Oakland. "It wasn't that hard. I just needed to get away for a few weeks. I'm ready for more action."

The Press Democrat of Santa Ana, Calif., reported Nelson's return on Sunday. The league's second winningest coach of all time behind Lenny Wilkens, Nelson and the team set a June 1 deadline for the coach, who turned 68 in May, to make a decision.

Nelson, who lives in Hawaii in the offseason, has one year left on his contract at about $5 million. The Warriors exercised that option in March, when they were on a pace to win 52 games. They finished 48-34, missing what would have been their second consecutive playoff berth by two games.

"If they're happy and I'm happy, we might do it more, you know?" Nelson told the Chronicle. "Larry Brown's older than me and just took a four-year job" with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Nelson also said the franchise will have more on its mind in 2008-09 than just reaching the postseason.

"Last year, we were very single-minded in trying to make the playoffs. It's what the organization wanted to do, to make the playoffs again, and we tried to do that and we failed," he told the Chronicle. "Part of my job next year is to bring [players like 2007-08 rookies Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli] along, and if it costs us some games, which it probably will, then that's what it'll do.

"I'll have to prepare myself mentally for that, but I think it's the right thing to do. They're the future of the team."

TB · Post #2 » by TB » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:05 pm

Well, at the very least, you gotta love those last couple quotes.

nismolos · Post #3 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:17 pm

I still believe in Nellie...and I still believe in Baron. All this team needs is depth. I actually believe smallball CAN win a championship...only if it is done by Nellie though. It would be nice to have some big guys... but we CAN win it all if we add some depth and develop our rooks. If we had 1 solid big man in the draft and sign a backup PG we'll be in a good position. Nellie knows what he's doing now I think.

Chris Cohan · Post #4 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:23 pm

What exactly is it about the last 30 years of NBA basketball enables this breed of blind, baseless faith?

TB · Post #5 » by TB » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:34 pm

IF (big IF) Nelly agrees to develop for the future, he needs to include Monta the PG into his Wright/Marco catagory. For our future we need:

Wright getting 24+

Marco getting enough minutes to see if he has what it takes to be a rotation player.

Monta getting 15+ at the PG spot.

One thing to note, I hate how Nelly throws the backhanded slap by saying we "probably will" lose more games by playing Wright and Marco. No wonder the kids don't develop, Nelly doesn't give them any sort of positive motivation.

EDIT - in actuality, the main thing we need this year is Wright being a big factor, and Monta getting lots of PG play. These are both things that probably won't happen with Nelly/Baron. Its gonna be a long season.

Post #6 » by **FNQ** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:37 pm

And even Nellie's acknowledging we're moving towards the future, and if Baron truly isn't a part of that... wouldnt the FO be shopping Baron?

Just saying...

This was a formality... what's worrying is that he's talking about years down the road... its quite possible :banghead:

LA Warrior · Post #7 » by **LA Warrior** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 8:47 pm

YES!!!!!!!

Chris Cohan · Post #8 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:11 pm

Wright on the block with the 14?

nismolos · Post #9 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:28 pm

ROWELL wrote:What exactly is it about the last 30 years of NBA basketball enables this breed of blind, baseless faith?

You're right. Maybe going based on history would be the wise and traditional way of winning a championship. But this a a freakin game and statistics are BS. We were the biggest underdogs against the Mavs...we werent supposed to do that either but we did. We won 48 games last year with no bench, undeveloped rookies, and and 0-6 losing streak. But when is it that all this talk about having dominant big men really started? When we got eliminated by the Jazz in the playoffs if I recall correctly. Well that team had a superior front-line than we did... but still only managed to barely beat us. Remember, 2 of those losses were nail-biters that could have gone either way. If he had some big men that could rebound, we could have taken both of them and the series. Well...we have Wright now, we have Nellie willing to put him and Marco in the game...we have another first round pick who will hopefully be a big man...and we have another year of growth for Monta and Biedrins. We are better now. I think we have enough to get over the hump if we can sign a couple of solid free-agents. Who gives a S*** about history. Can a run-n-gun team of Garnett,Biedrins,Wright (developed),Monta, Baron win a championship? Uhh hell yeah. Its possible if you have the right combination of players. I think Nellis isn't that dumb. He wnats to play his style and knows he can win...he's just never had the players he's really wanted to take him to the next level. Its a players league, remember?

Chris Cohan · Post #10 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:32 pm

We got handled when it counted.
Any idea why?

TB · Post #11 » by TB » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:39 pm

How did we just get Garnett without losing Monta or Goose? And how is that a smallball lineup? And how bad of a 3pnt shooting lineup is that?

regardless, Smallball needs an absolutely unreal scenario to win a championship. We got a gift with the Mavs, and needed the Rockets to advance to give us another gift in the second round. Whats the odds of all this lining up for us again? its not gonna happen.

Chris Cohan · Post #12 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:43 pm

Who is Nellis?

nismolos · Post #13 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:53 pm

TB wrote:How did we just get Garnett without losing Monta or Goose? And how is that a smallball lineup? And how bad of a 3pnt shooting lineup is that?

regardless, Smallball needs an absolutely unreal scenario to win a championship. We got a gift with the Mavs, and needed the Rockets to advance to give us another gift in the second round. Whats the odds of all this lining up for us again? its not gonna happen.

Who called this small-ball? Only the idiots on TNT and us RealGMers labeled Nelson's system as "smallball". His system is to "run,run,run." Whether that is with big players that can or the good small players that he has. THe point I was trying to make is that Nelson's system can win a championship if he had the right players. A dream lineup like that can be accomplished via draft although it is difficult. I didn't try to come up with some phony trade. Just giving you an example of a run-n-gun team that could win a title. We didn't have big players that could run. Now we do (Biedrins and Wright). Maybe we can get Arthur or a project who turns out great that can run (Jordan). Nelson was trying to get us in the playoffs this past season that was his goal and he stated that. Now his goal is to develop the rooks. Isn't that what we all really wanted? Maybe we can throw in this years rookie in there.

One thing I'd like to add is that for us to actually come and post on here and debate about many topics, we are all true fans. Unfortunately, true fans can over-analyze sometimes and I think that is what a lot of posters do here. It IS possible with Nellie. Give him a chance with some long big-men that he can actually work with now.

nismolos · Post #14 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:57 pm

ROWELL wrote:We got handled when it counted.
Any idea why?

a big part of it was monta not showing up to the playoffs. And "handled" isn't quite the term i would use. Baron practically faced that team on his own and came close to making it a series.

nismolos · Post #15 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 9:59 pm

ROWELL wrote:Who is Nellis?

Nellie* are you really going to point out typos?

Chris Cohan · Post #16 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 10:00 pm

Hey, guess what, I'm talking about the terrible play down the stretch THIS year. But if you are in the mood to talk about the year-old distant Dallas series we couldn't luck into this year, be my guest.

Not interested.

Ellis was the team's most consistent, efficient, and productive player this year. Baron was "handled" by Don Nelson in the biggest game of the year this season, if you'll recall.

What planet are you from?!

nismolos · Post #17 » by **nismolos** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 10:12 pm

I bring up the playoffs bc it says a lot more about players than the regular season does. However, Monta has grown a lot since then. I thought you were referring to the Utah series- my mistake. Well, Nelson did "handle" Baron during the phx game... and well...I really don't know what to say about that other than that if we did win we woudln't have made the playoffs either way and would have probably lost to the Lakers even if we did. I think we make too big a deal of that benching really. The real big games were actually against Denver and New Orleans. I don't remember him being benched there. The way I see it is...we moved up 3 spots in the draft and got better picks than Philly and Atlanta (phx).

Thugleavy34 · Post #18 » by **Thugleavy34** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 10:17 pm

"THe point I was trying to make is that Nelson's system can win a championship if he had the right players. A dream lineup like that can be accomplished via draft although it is difficult."

It is very difficult, in fact, it is more difficult than trying to build a traditional contender. So why put yourself behind the 8 ball? If we had the right players, I could understand using run-n-gun to match the players, but why use the players to match run-n-gun?

Chris Cohan · Post #19 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 10:17 pm

Put up a comprehensive account of the Warriors' work against the top-10 teams in the West and we'll talk about it. Until then, you're not putting much effort into backing up a really thin, faith-based argument.

Chris Cohan · Post #20 » by **Chris Cohan** » Tue Jun 3, 2008 10:27 pm

And now you're supporting losing like a-holes to Denver, DALLAS, New Orleans (on national TV), San Antonio, Phoenix, and even Seattle for good measure, because we get the lofty 14 pick to debate crap shoots and unclear values.

3-6 to close April when the playoffs were supposedly the object if you believe Don Nelson's cop-out talkpoints to trusted scribe Janny Hu. Sorry, you're just looking for the easy way out.