In Nelson's Defense

There's Don Nelson dressed up in his k-mart quality Warriors polo and $50 sports coat. You'd hardly know that he's one of the most winningest coaches in NBA history and has been renowned for his creativity. He has also been a lightning rod for controversy this season. From his stubbornness to move away from small ball, to his decision to bench his start players randomly, to his refusal to play Marcus Williams, and even to his handling of Randolph's PT early in the season.

I'd just like to quickly respond to a comment made by a friend about Don Nelson benching his stars. Here's the quote:

you really think that GSW doesn't have the talent to make it? you've got a lot of solid individual pieces and a lot of potential. do you really think another draft pick, especially in a weaker draft class, is going to be the answer?

c'mon. how bout we just start coaching the team, promoting some defense, and utilize the pieces effectively, instead of just throwing them on the court (or the bench) and letting them do whatever the heck they want?

And here's my response:

Because you can't solve a puzzle when none of the pieces fit. Contrary to what many people say or think, our playoff team had a strong defense. By this I mean that we created a ton of turnovers. We had a stopper in SJax, a strong defender at PG, an athletic defender at SG, and versatile big men. Right now we have none of that (SJax doesn't try too hard on D anymore).

Crawford has no idea how to play within a system and doesn't play D. He's a horrible piece for this team as evidenced by how little he has helped our team with Monta sidelined. Speaking of Monta, with him we're a good team and without him we blow. He wasn't ready to come back and is now sidelined again, which means we suck again. Why go all out for the win when you're going to lose anyway and the young guys need PT?

Not to mention we've been plagued with injuries. I don't see the harm in planning for next year already.