August 29, 2006
Do You Know Who Else Loves the 90s? The Warriors Do!
Look, we love the 90s as much as anyone. We loved the Smashing Pumpkins and the whole grunge thing and we loved Pubic Enemy and watching "BH 9'er" and "Melrose Place" back-to-back and we loved being in our twenties and partying all night in our tiny apartment in North Beach and actually being able to dream of a Democratic President. But as much as we love the idea of those days, we also realize we can't go back to them. Among other things, it's pretty much near impossible as we don't have a space ship we can slingshot around the sun with. And second of all, we're old enough to realize that, as a wise man once said, you can't go home again.
Which brings us back to the Warriors who this morning fired Mike Montgomery and re-hired Don Nelson. That Don Nelson. You know, crazy, eccentric, mad-genius basketball coach known for employing smallish lineups with an emphasis on scoring and well-known inability to go anywhere in the playoffs. That Don Nelson. The Don Nelson who helmed the last hey-day of the Warriors, the RUN-TMC Warriors. The one who accidentally started the whole free-fall downfall of the franchise when he got into it with Chris Webber. And yes, the one who coached the Mavs and couldn't take them to the Finals until he retired and handed the team over to Avery Johnson.
This has to be considered a bit of a shock and that's an understatement. Nelson seemed to be happily enjoying his retirement in Hawaii and going to the Oscars with Mark Cuban. And Mully seemed to be happy with Montgomery. Then there were all those Larry Brown rumors out there (say this for Larry, his teams do make it to the Finals). This is probably the last thing anyone expected. But on the other hand, Mullin seems to be kind of building a Warriors team that resembles Run-TMC as if it's the only style of play he knows.
Has anyone checked the water around here lately because something seems to be going around.
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"and well-known inability to go anywhere in the playoffs"
Jon, I'd be thrilled if the Warriors made it to the g.d. playoffs. First things first; it's not like expectations for this team are exactly high right now.
best case: Don takes 'em to the playoffs in his second season back, retires gracefully, more free agents are interested due to the franchise's upswing, Donnn or Donnnnnnn or another Avery or someone else takes over from Don and takes 'em to the big game . . .
I know, wishful thinking. But, in the short-term, if this stunt gets 'em back to post-season play, I think that's good enough for now.
Ugh. Although Webber was the one getting boo-ed every time he came back to Oakland, I still blame Nelson more for the franchise's self-destruction. After all, Webber was just a kid and was going to make mistakes. Nelson was the adult who should have known better (and also you need talented players to win in the NBA). But Nelson is like Larry Brown and George Karl, coaches with big egos who need to make everyting about THEM.
Although Nelson shouldn't be any worse than Montgomery, it's hard to see the Warriors getting any better. Goodbye, defense. And it was obvious that Nelson was totally burnt out and had lost his zest for coaching a couple years before he left Dallas. Will he really have the desire to put in the tough work to push the players to the next level? Will he really be able to relate to Baron and J-Rich? Or will he just let them run and hope that a high-octane offense is the best chance for coach-player harmony?
Hey, if we're going back to 1994, I hear that Spree is still available!
Man do I feel sorry for the Warriors. I have one sentence for this whole madness. FIRE CHRIS MULLIN!!!
Thank you,
A.