Thank You Nellie!

By Craig Kwasniewski

CRASH! BAM! BANG! BLAMMO... Down goes the Golden State Warriors bandwagon! The Warriors were officially eliminated from the post season after losing to Phoenix 122-116. So down goes one of the best home court advantages! Down goes one of the most explosive and exciting teams in the NBA! Down goes the most sensitive fan base in all of sports. (Seriously, with all the time you have this summer, you need to get a backbone! Stop whining!) But most importantly... as a Lakers fan, down goes a very scary first round opponent!

And I have Don Nelson to thank for all of this.

Thanks for only going six deep all season! The NBA regular season is a grind and going retro and playing at most eight a game, you wore your team down. One of my favorite coach-speak applies to this team, "fatigue makes cowards of us all." The Warriors were simply gassed for all of April. A team that lived off of heroic late-game rallies were blowing huge early leads. This wasn't the same team that put fear into the rest of the league back in February and March. Nellie needed to look at the big picture and develop a bench.

Thanks for the C-Webb fiasco! Y'all remember that Chris Webber stopped for a cup of coffee with the Warriors? No seriously, a guy who was unemployed for half of the season was picked up off the street AND STARTED for the Warriors. Obviously he was out of shape! Obviously the game passed him by! And obviously it was the worst mid-season acquisition of the year! While the rest of the league was shoring up their rosters for the stretch drive, Nellie gambled on a one-legged, old power forward that is notorious for chocking.

Thanks for trading J-Rich! The same guy that destroyed the legendary RUN-TMC era when he traded Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens was at it again. When the Warriors traded Jason Richardson to Charlotte it looked like they were clearing the way for Yi Jianlian. Nellie loves him some point forwards and with the rumors that Yi wanted out of Milwaukee along with the huge Chinese population in the Bay Area, it looked like a perfect match. But nothing ever happened and the Warriors lost a key player from the 2007 run. Yes Mont-eh stepped up with a brilliant season, but the Warriors sorely missed J-Rich's minutes down the stretch and eventually they wore down. Nellie even candidly admitted last Thursday that the Richardson trade was a mistake. Was he trying to put blame on the front office or was he admitting his own gaffe? All I know is that Don Nelson has a reputation for tinkering with his roster (remember all those Dallas trades?)... he just may have destroyed another Warriors team.

Thanks for sending a message by NOT playing your best player down the stretch in one of the most important games of the season!

(Time to play "Really" with Seth Meyers and Amy Pohler.)

Really? You're sending Baron Davis a message in the 81st game of the season? Really? You chose the Steve Nash-led Suns to bench a top-five point guard? Really? You tighten your rotation from 6 to 5 for an all ready exhausted team? Really? Really? You bench your best clutch player with the playoffs on the line? Really? REALLY??? You benched a player who can opt out of his contract this summer? Really? Really? REALLY???

Thanks again Nellie!

Comments

[J Rock]

Nellie is a basketball god.

[John R.]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the Warriors miss the playoffs by 1 game or less and the Lakers take the first seed by 1 game or less?

That would mean that game between the two that the league fixed would have decided the ultimate fate of both teams.

And they say it all evens out. Doesn't seem that way right now.

[noah h.]

John, you can't point to one game. How about the Warriors loss the T-Wolves at home (late January I think?) or the Hawks and Chicago at home (February) or at Indiana? Every game mattered and the Warriors lost too many games to inferior opponents. They should lose to the Lakers, those aren't the games that kept them out of the playoffs.

[John R.]

Why not? One game is one game. Each game is worth the same. One completely inexplicable call decided that game. Now that's not to say that that game wouldn't have ended the same way without the call, but we will never know.

One fixed game may have decided the fate of both teams. Heck, you really gotta include the fates of the Hornets and Nuggets here too.

The NBA, where fixing happens.

See: Philly last night.

[Craig]

Are we really playing the whole "The NBA is fixed for the Lakers" card? Did they fix the GSW's loss to Denver at home last Thursday? What about that blowout loss to Dallas a few weeks ago? Or the night before that when San Antonio ROLLED the Warriors? Did they fix the Lakers W over New Orleans last Friday?

As impressive as the Warriors were from mid-November to mid-March, the fact remains that two things kept them out of the playoffs: fatigue and Captain Jack's suspension. They have nobody else to blame but themselves. Maybe if Nellie actucally developed a bench and not traded J-Rich, the Warriors would be a 5 or 6 seed, but instead it's always someone else's fault (refs, David Stern, etc.).

COME ON!!!!

[John R.]

Card?

As the facts continue to mount up, continued stubbornness won't change them or make them untrue.

That one call decided the fate of 5 teams.

There is no other reasonable explanation for such a call.

"While the Warriors' Stephen Jackson made sure that his team won the first one in Los Angeles, the referees at the end of last night's game made a horrific call to seal the victory for the Lakers." -- Brett Edwards

[dave]

if everyone, inconsequentially, to make claims of the nba fixing games to favor a spurs championship, i don't see what is so outrageous about john r.'s comments. if anything, fixing games for the lakers makes much more sense financially. no excuse for the spurs horrible offense against the lakers, but there were several questionable illegal defense no calls in that game.

for the record, i don't believe the nba is fixed.

[Ashley]

It's that time of the year when 16 of the 30 NBA teams are geared up for the postseason. Unfortunately for the teams that didn't make the playoffs; they will be forced to watch the playoffs from their homes.
Also, the teams that failed to reach the postseason will most likely make some sort of off-season change(s) to try and improve their team for next season. It doesn’t matter if the team is doing well in the season but people always are attending their games. For ex, Warriors tickets are always in demand and in 2007 season the
Golden State Warriors tickets were sold out so early. This is due to the great number of the team’s fans and this explains that the Golden State Warriors is one of the major NBA teams.

[nike air max 90]

why break from a system if he believe it's the best system for easy offense? He makes excellent in game adjustments and like Craig said, his teams almost never commit dumb mental errors during important playoff games and his teams are generally only beaten by teams with superior talent and mental fortitude (think pistons

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I was in low spirits before,but now i read your writting,i feel a little better!