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: Thu, 7 Jan 93 01:46:12 GMT

In article <OLIVER.93Jan5212012@coate.mit.edu>, oliver@athena.mit.edu (James D. Oliver III) writes:
|> 
|> The Spurs lost their first game under John Lucas on Dec. 28 at home against
|> the Golden State Warriors, a game which established once and for all the
|> True Genius of Don Nelson.  It wasn't just the way the Warriors made the
|> Spurs look like they had never seen a pick-and-roll before, especailly on
|> Chris Mullen's shot with 8 seconds left that won the game 106-105.  It
|> wasn't the way the Spurs were dominated on the boards for three quarters as
|> the Warriors held a 10-point lead throughout.  It wasn't the way the Spurs
|> ran out of time-outs at the end of the game and couldn't even get a decent
|> shot off despite plenty of time.  And it wasn't the way that David Robinson
|> received his customary mugging at the hands of a cast of various Warrior
|> stiffs.
|> 
|> No, all of things things, taken together, would make Nelson just another a
|> very good coach making Lucas look like a rookie.  Here is the move that
|> makes him the God of Coaching.  The Spurs finally took a 6-point lead
|> midway through the fourth quarter and Lucas, for God knows what reason,
|> decides to insert Larry Smith into the game for the first (*after* the
|> Spurs had finally pulled even in rebounding).  Golden State calls time-out
|> and Chris Mullen goes around to each official and whispers something.  The
|> next time San Antonio gets the ball, Mullen goes up and gently puts his arm
|> around Smith and gets whistled for the foul.  The Spurs are in the penalty
|> so Smith, a career 50% free-throw shooter, must go to the line.  The
|> Warriors do this every time the Spurs get the ball.
|> 
|> Get the picture?  The Warriors have been gooning it up all game long on
|> Robinson without calls, but when Don Nelson *wants* the refs to call fouls,
|> he simply tells them to blow the whistle every time they do this daintly
|> little dance with Larry Smith, and they go along with it. Meanwhile,
|> Robinson is *still* getting pounded on every play.  Unbelievable.  Only a
|> True Genius could get his little striped-shirt marionettes to perform so
|> perfectly.  Lucas is slow to react and Smith ends up shooting 5 of 12 from
|> the line before finally getting pulled from the game.  (In truth, the
|> Sopurs actually outscore the Warriors during this time, but their momentum
|> is irretrievably slowed, setting them up for the Warrior's comeback.)
|> 
|> This was absurd.  Nelson got to dictate when the refs would swallow their
|> whistles and when they would call touch fouls.  Meanwhile, Robinson misses
|> the next practice with a bruised thigh.  No wonder Nellie doesn't want
|> quality big men.  He wouldn't be able to get away with the stuff he does.

This was truly an amusing episode.  I have a couple of points to add
regarding it.  Nelson said after the game that he got Mullin to talk
to the refs before each foul because he was afraid that they would not
be looking in the right place, otherwise.  Also, it wasn't so much that
Lucas was slow to react -- he was waiting for another stoppage in play
to sub Smith, but unfortunately for the Spurs, each stoppage was by a
foul on Smith.  That meant that Smith had to shoot free throws and could
not be substituted.  Finally, Lucas had to waste a time-out to get Smith
out of the game.  This came back to haunt the Spurs at the end of the
game when they did not have any time-outs with 8 seconds left and the Warriors
ahead by 1.  

Your last shot was riduculous though.  Of course, Nelson wants quality
big men -- to say he doesn't is ludicrous.  Also, you can hardly
characterize the Warriors guarding Robinson as stiffs.  Tyrone Hill
has developed into a premium rebounder in this league (he was 7th in
rpg in the league in the month of December).  Hill had 11 rebounds that game.
The combined center of Victor Alexander and Chris Gatling scored 23 points
and grabbed 13 boards this game.  This is typical of their contributions
of late. Gatling did an especially good defensive job on Robinson,
inducing the Admiral into 3 offensive fouls in the game.
These are hardly the stats of stiffs!  Rather, these guys are
young (Gatling and Alexander are in their 2nd year, while Hill is in his
3rd year) and are still inconsistent and need time to develop.  Your account
makes the Warriors appear to be a bunch of goons.  The opposite is truly
true.  They are the guys who are usually man-handled physically, especially
with the help of the NBA low-post rules which give an unfair advantage
to the offense.

					terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU