Nelson to play Murphy at 5, Dunleavy at 4...

[Kings113]

"What is it exactly you like about these Warriors? Nelson: I think their best team is a small team, and I'm good at coaching small teams. They have a lot of natural ability. They have strengths that other players don't have, like (Mike) Dunleavy, able to handle the ball and be a point forward. And we have a really good point guard (Baron Davis). The big men aren't star players, but they can fill in at that spot."

Nelson: "Mickael Pietrus is one of my mystery guys. He will play for me if he does what I want him to do, emphasizing the defensive end and not to worry about the offensive end. He's a great athlete and he can run. And I'm looking for runners."

Nelson: "I'm going to need (Troy) Murphy to play some center for us. If he can make some adjustments, he'll have his best year. And it will allow me to play Dunleavy at the ``4,'' because he basically struggles at small forward. He can function offensively better against the ``4s'' in the league."

Nelson: "And (Monta) Ellis is a mystery guy. I'm not sure as a high school player (two years ago) if he's ready to play big minutes. I'd like him to, and I'm going to give him the opportunity."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15514466.htm

I know Nellie likes to do this stuff, but - wow.

 

[TheJoker]

LOL! thats comical looks like Nellie is not the only one who wants to go after the Greg Oden Sweepstakes. like i mentioned before the only reason they bought in Nellie is more ticket sells and entertaining basketball.

 

[BMiller52]

Warriors didn't play defense last year anyway. It only makes sense to get the most out of their offensive potential.

 

[Bricklayer]

Absolutely classic Nellie ball. Sees every possible smallballing offensive mismatch, is not even cognizant of the resulting defensive disaster at the other end of the floor.

 

[TheJoker]

Absolutely classic Nellie ball. Sees every possible smallballing offensive mismatch, is not even cognizant of the resulting defensive disaster at the other end of the floor.

What i wanna know is why isn't Ike Diogu starting for them? is it really okay to start 2 soft front-court players? wow i guess Nellie is really looking to blow a devastating Warriors season.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Lol. Some things never change.

And I agree with Joker. If they're going small, at least go small with Ike at the 5.

 

[Bricklayer]

Well Ike is yet another 4'11" "PF" in the Malik Rose mode, so I dunno. Of course that has never stoppped Nellie in the past, and maybe he could be the new "Mr. Mean" Larry Smith for him. Still, at the point that you as a coach are even pondering playing Mike Dunleavy at the 4, you could put Ben Wallace at the 5 and still be pathetically soft.

 

[vladetomiller]

Absolutely classic Nellie ball. Sees every possible smallballing offensive mismatch, is not even cognizant of the resulting defensive disaster at the other end of the floor.

with the new rules small ball wins during the regular season and the suns showed that. All you need are a couple of strong defenders who can take on the other teams best player and make them work. On the other end, shoot, shoot and shoot some more from every where on the court.

 

[Kings113]

Suns weren't a good team after Kurt Thomas went out for the year in February. Also might of lost Barbosa around the same time, not quite sure on that though.

Warriors don't really have anyone who effectively defends a top player/team's top player. Pietrus could be that, but he's been erratic and still unproven so far, in general. Davis I'm pretty sure has the ability to, but haven't seen it from him in awhile (either reading or watching).

Doubt Nelson will be putting significant focus in on defense either.

 

[RaY Z]

i thought nellie would start cabarkapa at center and murphy at his usual 4 spot...

C. Cabarkapa
PF. Murphy
SF. Dunleavy
SG. J-Rich
PG. Davis

i think nellie should give this a go... might give cabarkapa some confidence and mabye at best do for him what nellie did for dirk in dallas...

 

[baiarri]

Does Don Nelson believe in Mike Dunleavy Jr??

 

[SacTownKid]

Dunleavy played a lot at the 4 last year and he was actually a lot better there than I would have thought before. That's probably what this team needed to do anyway.

 

[Bricklayer]

Here's the thing: Nellie's wacky. Becuase he's wacky, he will never win a title. Despite his playing career, somehow he's never figured out the things that really matter in the NBA when it comes to winning big. That said, he is one of that handful of top coaches who WILL win "small". His wackiness will confuse other teams, establish a tone and style for the Warriors, and they will be better. Dangerous even, to a lower rung team. Might take him a year or two, but his track record is sterling. Barring disastrous injuries, he just wins with his wackiness.

(Also should note he might be the best evaluator of skill position talent I have ever seen in the NBA -- Warriors should start drafting well now too, although with a strict cutoff of SF or smaller. The bigs will still all be stiffs.)

 

[Gilles]

Lol. Some things never change.

And I agree with Joker. If they're going small, at least go small with Ike at the 5.

Ike is average defender at PF (Troy is below average) so at C he will be below average or simply bad which means he will be close to Troy at C as a defender. Now Ike is really average rebounder, Troy excels at that, plus Troy can shoot three. Center who shoots threes and Nellie? Match made in heaven.

 

[4cwebb]

(Also should note he might be the best evaluator of skill position talent I have ever seen in the NBA -- Warriors should start drafting well now too, although with a strict cutoff of SF or smaller. The bigs will still all be stiffs.)

I presume there's an exception to the above statement for Dirk...

And you just know that Nellie is going to try to get as much "Dirk" offense out of Dunleavy as he can, running him at the 4 for significant periods of time if for no other reason than to enjoy watching the PFs of the NBA try to get into a defensive stance out past the free throw line. Dunleavy's going to have to start making some of those threes, of course, but I'm sure Nellie will give him the green light for the first half of the season (at least) to try to get his confidence back. Will be interesting to watch to say the least.

 

[Bricklayer]

I presume there's an exception to the above statement for Dirk...

And you just know that Nellie is going to try to get as much "Dirk" offense out of Dunleavy as he can, running him at the 4 for significant periods of time if for no other reason than to enjoy watching the PFs of the NBA try to get into a defensive stance out past the free throw line. Dunleavy's going to have to start making some of those threes, of course, but I'm sure Nellie will give him the green light for the first half of the season (at least) to try to get his confidence back. Will be interesting to watch to say the least.

Well, Dirk basically entered the league as a SF with the types of skills Nellie can "see". Make him a post player and Don probably drafts Paul Pierce instead.

The only true "big" of consequence that I can think of on Nellie's draft resume is Webb actually. And that a) was a no brainer #1 pick; b) involved yet another big with remarkable little manlike skills; and c) of course ended quickly and badly.

Meanwhile he drafted Sidney Moncrief, Paul Pressey, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway (at #14), Sarunas Marciulonis (6th round), Latrell Sprewell (at #24), Josh Howard (at #29) etc. etc.

Of course he also traded Mitch to get his hands on Bill Owens, so he's nto perfect. But still, the resume in that one aspect is amazing -- nobody better.

 

[Wuster]

Here's the thing: Nellie's wacky. Becuase he's wacky, he will never win a title. Despite his playing career, somehow he's never figured out the things that really matter in the NBA when it comes to winning big. That said, he is one of that handful of top coaches who WILL win "small". His wackiness will confuse other teams, establish a tone and style for the Warriors, and they will be better. Dangerous even, to a lower rung team. Might take him a year or two, but his track record is sterling. Barring disastrous injuries, he just wins with his wackiness.

(Also should note he might be the best evaluator of skill position talent I have ever seen in the NBA -- Warriors should start drafting well now too, although with a strict cutoff of SF or smaller. The bigs will still all be stiffs.)

Actually, I think Nellie *could* win a title with his unconventional wacky approach, but only in a lucky perfect storm. There's no arguing with his penchant for regular season success. The elite teams of the league would have to falter in the playoffs due to injuries or other means to afford his team the chance to get it all.

 

[Merdiesel]

This will be interesting...
to tell you the truth i like the way hes going with the team. It might work, it might not. But either way, when your one of the worst teams in the league change is good.

 

[4cwebb]

Actually, I think Nellie *could* win a title with his unconventional wacky approach, but only in a lucky perfect storm. There's no arguing with his penchant for regular season success. The elite teams of the league would have to falter in the playoffs due to injuries or other means to afford his team the chance to get it all.

Last year could've been Nellie's year with Big D, especially if you could put him in the same position (up +10 in the 4th quarter of game 3 to take a 3-0 lead). I think he could've succeeded in that situation (not that I think Avery Johnson did a terrible job). Still, he probably wouldn't have been able to put the Mavs in that position in the first place --- the team's improved defense is what got them to that point, and we all know how much Nellie loves defense.

 

[vladetomiller]

Nellie and the mavs had a 23 point 4th quarter lead against Shaq and the lakers and we all know about that game, so its not a sure thing that he would have won that game in that situation. Champions and stern find a way to win