From: terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU (Terry Wong)
Subject: Re: I BEE-LEEVE!  Nellie is a JEE-NYOUS!
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 22:44:26 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.181652.21975@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU>, gidi@Hilbert.Stanford.EDU (Gidi Avrahami) writes:
|> rmjr@hpcupt1.cup.hp.com (Rich Maxwell) writes:

|> 
|> >I do believe Nellie is one of the premier head coaches in 
|> >the NBA [...]
|> >However, his larger successes have been as the Warriors G.M.
|> 
|> Yeah, right.  Let me repeat once again, slowly, for the Warriors
|> fans who read too much Glen Dickey -- 
|> 

I certainly don't agree with Rich.  Nellie is a far better coach than
G.M.  He has had mixed results at G.M. and has failed to put together
a team that is capable of competing for a championship and failed to
make the proper moves to solve their "Big Man" problem for a number
of years.

However, I don't understand your reference to Dickey (Chronicle columnist).
The way you wrote this line it sounds like you are saying that Dickey is
a big Nelson supporter.  In fact the opposite is true.  Dickey
last week wrote a column that was one of the harshest yet by any
Bay Area writer about Nelson's moves as G.M.  Interestingly enough,
Ralph Barbieri interviewed Nelson a few days later and asked him about
that column.  Nelson said that he respects Dickey's opinions and
thinks that most of the criticism in that column was justified and right
on the mark.

|> The year before Nelson joined the Warriors, George Karl led the
|> Warriors, with Joe Barry and Sleepy and fat-drunk Mullin, to an upset
|> of Utah in the first round of the playoffs, and a 1-4 exit against the
|> Lakers in the next round.
|> 
|> Since then, with all his hoopla and genius and crafty drafts, Nelson
|> has NOT gone any further than that in the playoffs.  You hear me?
|> Not one step further!
|> 
|> 1988 - drafts Tellis Frank, trades for Sampson, fires Karl, no playoff.
|> 1989 - upset Utah 3-2, lose 1-4 to Phoenix.
|> 1990 - let Larry Smith go, trades for Lister, no playoff.
|> 1991 - upset the Spurs 3-1, lose 1-4 to the Lakers.
|> 1992 - 55-27 regular season, lose 1-3 to Seattle.
|> 
|> So I know what you all say: The team is more exciting, they sell out,
|> you love the personnel and they make you feel all warm and fuzzy.
|> Great.  So Nelson is a P.R. genius and a mass-hypnotist who convinced
|> 10 million Bay Area resiednts to follow him blindly.  But he is NOT
|> a basketball genius, because HE DOESN'T DELIVER PLAYOFF WINS.  Just hype.
|> 
|> 
|> --Gidi
|> 

Those are good criticisms, but at the same time, you fail to mention that
the team that Karl led to the playoffs was a dead-end team.  The Warriors
could never have expected to progress any farther with the team they had
then, and Nelson had no choice but to break it up.  He gambled when
he traded for Sampson and lost that gamble.  Unfortunately, Karl bore
the brunt of that mistake (a point that he is still bitter about today,
although he and Nelson remain good friends).  

Nelson has also made a lot of good moves in acquiring Hardaway, Richmond,
Sprewell, Tyrone Hill, Marciulionis, and Owens.  Without his help, 
Chris Mullin would be out of the game today.  

Bay Area fans remember how bad the Warriors have been for the period
from 1977 to 1987.  They remember how it was when Franklin Mulieu
owned the team and was unwilling to pay the big bucks to the star
players.  They remember year after year of 1st round busts and terrible
coaching.  Nelson's arrival has been like a breath of fresh air
to an oxygen starved patient.  At last, we have someone at the helm
who does at least some things right as a G.M.  The current team is
the best the Bay Area has seen since the Rick Barry championship days.
There are plenty of other cities in which fans have been waiting even
longer for even a portion of the Warriors' current successes.
Given those circumstances, is it any wonder that Nellie has been awarded 
a honeymoon grace period by the fans and press?  Of course, the patience
of fans and media is starting to wear out, and if the Warriors don't
continue to advance, there will be much grumbling.

As for Nelson NOT being a basketball genius, don't forget that he is
the only coach to ever win coach of the year 3 times, that he is 8th
overall in regular season victories, with 736, and won plenty of
playoff games with the Bucks and went to the Eastern finals 3 times in 
11 years.

Bruce Jenkins of the Chronicle had an beautifully written column today entitled
"Stop Analyzing and Enjoy the Warriors".  In it, he makes the point that
only one team can win it all, and that everyone else will be disappointed
and whining at the end at the season.  Here's an excerpt:

"Last night was Airheads Night at the old Three-Dot Lounge.  Gathered up
a few airheads, sat in the no-clue section of the Coliseum Arena and
spent the evening just watching the Warriors.  What a concept.

For once, there was no analysis allowed.  No worrying, no gut-wrenching,
no predictions of first-round playoff doom.  It was either enjoy the
game or get out of the building.  Simple rules.

The Warriors are fast becoming the most over-analyzed team in the league.
Don't misunderstand; the criticism has been right on target.   Lack of
rebounding, lack of the intimidation factor, lack of a big man, and the
usual musings about trades.  That's the thing about Golden State in this
strangely disappointing season:  Everyone is acutely aware of the team's
shortcomings.

But didn't somebody once say, "Only one team wins it all?"  Wasn't it
Charlton Heston in "Soylent Green", or maybe Sonny Parker?  Whatever, that's
the key phrase.  This preoccupation with **getting better** has everyone
in a tizzy around the Coliseum, and it's a shame, because a lot of exciting
ball is going down.

By the time this season is over, fine teams like Portland, Cleveland, the
Knicks, and yes, the Warriors, will be in that soul-searching mood,
wondering where it all went wrong.  One team will be deliriously happy,
the other 26 looking for answers.  So take a tip:  When the Warriors kick
into fourth gear, with Chris Mullin, Billy Ownes, Sarunas Marciulionis, and
Tim Hardaway at full strength, they'll be as exciting as anything in
sports.  Please enjoy it now.  Wait until April for the wrinkled forehead."

					terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU