Nellie to Anthony Randolph: Do as I say, not as everyone else does
Don Nelson’s on-court personnel moves have been all over the place this year, whether it’s randomly benching Jamal Crawford for no reason, or deciding Anthony Morrow’s nightly playing time on a Plinko board.
Last night, though, Nellie showed some admirable forethought when he gave rookie Anthony Randolph the chance to start in front of his hometown fans in Dallas. Randolph played 31 minutes in the Warriors’ loss to the Mavs, finishing with 10 points, six boards and two steals.
But after the game, Nellie wasn’t totally thrilled with the kid. From the Contra Costa Times:
“Because he came home, I wanted to start him,” Nelson said. “I was pretty disappointed when he reverted back to the way he wants to play, which is the way that we had him in training camp — coming down wild and shooting every time. I bent over backwards to make sure he played a lot tonight so he could play in front of his family, and that was a bit of a disappointment.”
Nellie clarified that Randolph “played pretty well most of the game,” but even then, his claims of disappointment are funny given how the Warriors normally play. Coming down wild and shooting every time seemed to be the company line in GS, but maybe there is a method to the madness.
I can just see Nellie lecturing Randolph in the locker room and Randolph with one of those, “But everyone else is doing it!” looks on his face while Corey Maggette is laughing across the room.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Coop says:
I’m pretty convinced that Nelson is trying to get fired.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
D.H. says:
I can’t imagine trying to play for this goof.
March 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
LakeShow84 says:
what #2 said..
March 26th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
AY says:
Randolph can actually be a really good player unlike the rest of that roster, and nelly is trying to get him playing with good habits even if everyone else around him doesn’t. It’s hard, the warriors already gave up on the season and it’s natural for players to just wing it; but it’ll be a detriment to randolph if he developed crawford-trigger and turn into a journeyman forward. Nelly is doing the right thing for once, cut him some slack.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Sanpitch says:
nellie has hit the bottle early this season. pulling all this interchangeable roster ‘ish. man needs to get a clue and retire. i would love to see nellie look like he isn’t drunk while coaching on the sidelines.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
LakeShow84 says:
The Warriors got too much talent to be where they are in the standings.. thats right i said it..
Hence it MUST be coaching.. look at NY.. Monte Ellis is more talented than anyone in NY but lets compare him to Duhon.. Stephen Jackson is your Jeffries/Harrington COMBINED.. Biedrins is your Lee with less O but more D.. Crawford, Magette and Randolph are better than Nate, Chandler, Hughes and Richardson and yet NY is extremely competetive..
it might hurt that they play in the West though..
March 26th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Kermit The Washington says:
This dude looks like Rondo on the South Beach diet
March 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Taj says:
Nellie’s gone and lost his damn mind!
Its seems like this guys been coachin for too long and needs to retire…
March 26th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
KnicksFan84 says:
LakeShow84, thank you for at least acknowledging Knicks competitiveness, minus our 6 game losing streak of course and Al “I get Buckets” Harrington stupidity.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Big Island says:
nellie has gone batshit crazy.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
hearbreaker85 says:
@LakeShow84
the difference between Nelson and D’Antoni’s system is that Nelson preaches isolation plays while D’Antoni’s is more team oriented.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:53 am
thomasmmm says:
deranged. good call heartbreaker.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Shaun says:
Sorry, I’ll go the other way, no offense but if you guys watched that game, Randolph looked like right about where he was in training camp which is sad because he got those 10 and 6 on sheer athleticism alone. I’m gonna have to side with the guy thats been in the league twice as long as Randolph’s been alive. I guess B.J. Armstrong is deranged, a goof, and has hit the bottle as well.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Brown says:
I haven’t seen him play at all this year, so I can’t comment on Randolph. I’m pretty sure every Warriors fan is sick of Nellie and just wishes he would go away. They should bring back Avery Johnson to coach the team.
March 27th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
KimoSutra says:
I completely agree w/ AY, and don’t get me wrong, I think Randolph is a stud, but that was a terrible shot: he ran wildly from court to court, completely ignored Morrow (who was opened on the left wing and had the hot hand all night) and took a crazy ass long jump shot while falling to the ground. It was one of those WTH shots he’s occasionally takes. Nellie knows what he’s doing–you got to use your head to be in his system.