Steinmetz: Nelson has his hands full with young nucleus
By: Matt Steinmetz
Special to The Examiner
October 8, 2008
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| Tough road: Don Nelson’s Warriors will likely be hard-pressed to make the playoffs. (AP) |
SAN FRANCISCO — If the Warriors make it to the playoffs this season, it will be right up there at the top of Don Nelson’s greatest coaching achievements.
This is Nelson’s 30th year of NBA coaching, and it is not one of the most talented squads he’s had. To say the least.
The Warriors lost their lone star player in Baron Davis, and they will be without their most explosive scorer, Monta Ellis, for at least the first couple of months of the season.
In Milwaukee, Nelson had players such as Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson and Bob Lanier, among others. In his first go-round with the Warriors, Nelson coached Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Chris Webber as a rookie.
In Dallas, Nelson had Dirk Nowitzki. Forget New York, Nelson didn’t last 60 games there.
The most recent time Nelson has been without a star — or this star-deprived — was back in 1999-2000, with the Mavericks. Michael Finley was the team’s leading scorer, and Nowitzki hadn’t yet broken out.
Nelson coached a team that also included Cedric Ceballos, Gary Trent, Erick Strickland, Robert Pack and a yet-to-arrive Steve Nash to a non-playoff 40-42 record.
Coaxing 40 wins out of the 2008-09 Warriors is going to be difficult enough. Pushing that win total into the mid-40 range, which it will likely take to make it to the postseason, seems downright unrealistic at this point.
The Warriors’ best player is Stephen Jackson, who up until a couple of years ago was thought of as a role player. We know he is more than that, but we also know he’s not a No. 1 option, either.
Davis and Ellis have left the point guard position a mess, and it’s hard to imagine how the Warriors are going to overcome that. Sure, C.J. Watson might surprise and Marcus Williams might deliver at times.
But this is the Western Conference and you’re going up against a Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Deron Williams, Davis, Nash, etc., an awful lot of times.
Nelson is a master at concealing weaknesses, but how in the world is he going to keep the Warriors from paying a price there?
It’s not surprising you’re hearing more and more talk about the Warriors’ future. The team is very high on rookie Anthony Randolph, and with good reason. Ellis and Andris Biedrins, two cornerstones, are still NBA infants.
There’s talk of Marco Belinelli and Brandan Wright contributing.
It makes sense.
The Warriors know they’re a young team and young teams don’t tend to do well. Young teams without a star do even worse.
The only hope is that Nelson is that star.
Matt Steinmetz is the NBA insider for Warriors telecasts on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. E-mail him at msteinmetz@sfexaminer.com.
