Billikan Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 The recent upset of the Dallas Mavericks by Golden State is an interesting demonstration of the impact that a great coach can make on a team. Don Nelson came out of "retirement" to coach the Warriors. Many of the pundits said he was too old, out of touch and tht he had some health issues. They said he had a bad team that would do nothing. Yet, he developed a team and a rotation--about 6 players!--that played incredibly well and really embarrassed the supposed best team in the league. In some ways, those comments by the so called experts are similar to those made about Rick M. when he was considering the Bills coaching position. I see these two coaches as similar in that they are both brilliant analytical "experts" on the game of basketball and all of its nuances. In my view, there are not that many coaches that because of their knowledge and ability can truly make a difference in coaching a team. Nelson and Majerus are two who have that ability. We, as basketball fans, will be in for a real treat over the next few years because we will get to watch one of the best, up close and personal. Those tickets in the new arena will be a hot item! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillikenTX Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Don't know if the Warriors would have made it without the trade for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. Baron Davis played the series of his life...some of the shots that the Warriors made were unreal, definately a lot of frustrated fans down here in Cubanville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Did you see that three-pointer that Davis hit off one foot last night? Unreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 GS was lights out from 3 the whole series. I can't stand Jackson, but the guy was nails. I don't think B. Davis was that injured. Dallas played horribly the whole series, A. Johnson coached them horribly and Dirk was a no show. Tough to swallow for a Mavs fan such as myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 It seems to me that having coached most of these players, Nelson knew that if you get physical with them, especially Dirk, they can be stopped. The NBA has turned into a very physical league and Dallas needs a thug. Stack was the only one that really showed up. Dallas should have went with more offense and played Dirk in the post along with Stack, Howard, Terry, and Harris. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 I agree 100% on Dirk. Nelson obviously used his knowledge of Dirk's weaknesses and he really shut him down. It is amazing that during long stretches of those games the Mavs looked like a very ordinary team. My guess is that if Nelson had been coaching the Mavs that the result might have been different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Agreed. I'm still not sold on A. Johnson being the great coach that everyone says he is. Why stay in the zone so long when the opposing team is just burying 3 after 3? And if B. Davis was really hurt, it would have made a man-to-man more effective. It was tough to watch, especially when GS went on an 18 point run last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Billikan, You disappeared rather conveniently and quickly after your last series of fabricated posts. Still waiting for those links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four Seventeen Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 I don't know about Mark Cuban and all his money, but unless there was some sort of internal feud with the coaching staff and a player by the name of Steve Nash, not matching the offer made by Phoenix a few years ago set the Dallas Mavericks franchise back to the old Reunion Arena days and those ugly-##### jerseys. Not having a guy who can distribute the ball killed Dallas in the series. Devin Harris is not a point guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 It is great that Tim is still doing his blog. The best thing the PD has ever done regarding Billiken basketball. With regard to comparison to the Warriors, I noticed that Tim speculated that our starting 5 next year might be Lisch, Liddell, Meyer, Relphorde and Eberhardt. That is almost exactly the type of team that the Warriors have been using to win games late in the season. Players at every position who are versatile and can shoot the three. That might be very interesting and we could then sprinkle in minutes for BH and AK at the 4 and 5 to match up with some very big teams. If we go with the smaller team then we may force teams to match up with smaller players. Very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 I have no idea what you are talking about Bernie but why don't you go back to writing about baseball. I never fabricated anything! I know that you, Bernie, take credit for the hiring of Majerus but I refuse to give you any credit at all. You are the one that has fabricated things because you said that Cheryl wanted to have Brad fired even though I said that I had talked to her and she denied it. You were shown to be a liar when she said publicly that she wanted to give him one more year. You claimed to have all of this inside information but when I talked to all of the real insiders I realized that you did not know what you were talking about. You distort the facts, distort what people say and I have no intention of exchanging even one more word with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 As for the series, this seems like the official Dallas Mavericks Memorial thread. Sometimes you credit the other team for outplaying the team you root for when in fact it happens. And, Golden State didn't shoot well from deep the first 4 games of the series. They won in a variety of ways. Dallas wasn't quick enough to handle Golden State, and doesn't have the interior play to offset that disadvantage. They also received less from go to star players than during regular season, when you need more in the playoffs. Davis has long been a star in the league when healthy. Making the trade with Indy for conroversial character people made a big difference for Golden St as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 >I have no idea what you are talking about Bernie but why >don't you go back to writing about baseball. I never >fabricated anything! I know that you, Bernie, take credit >for the hiring of Majerus but I refuse to give you any >credit at all. You are the one that has fabricated things >because you said that Cheryl wanted to have Brad fired even >though I said that I had talked to her and she denied it. >You were shown to be a liar when she said publicly that she >wanted to give him one more year. You claimed to have all of >this inside information but when I talked to all of the real >insiders I realized that you did not know what you were >talking about. You distort the facts, distort what people >say and I have no intention of exchanging even one more word >with you. Show me the link where I have said that Levick wanted Brad fired. Go ahead and post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 They will have to make some changes after this series. Nellie gave the whole league a blueprint on how to beat them in any future playoff series. That team will not win a series next year without some major changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 >They will have to make some changes after this series. >Nellie gave the whole league a blueprint on how to beat them >in any future playoff series. That team will not win a >series next year without some major changes. that's what Nelie does...a lot of coaches aren't capable of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 "Sometimes you credit the other team for outplaying the team you root for when in fact it happens." Yes, GS did outplay the mavs. "And, Golden State didn't shoot well from deep the first 4 games of the series." GS shot 39% from the 3 pt. line in game 4 and 33% in game 1. Games 2 and 3, they did not shoot well from 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 How do you think Cuban feels about Nellie now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 >"Sometimes you credit the other team for outplaying the team >you root for when in fact it happens." > >Yes, GS did outplay the mavs. > >"And, Golden State didn't shoot well from deep the first 4 >games of the series." > >GS shot 39% from the 3 pt. line in game 4 and 33% in game 1. > Games 2 and 3, they did not shoot well from 3. And 38-39% would be a top 25-30 shooter in the league. Golden St shot 20% in game two. They won the series because of a variety of ways....they did not shoot out of their minds from 3 the first 4 games of the series. Baron Davis a great player and great players often times rise to the ocasion in post-season. Golden St shot very well from deep in games 5 and 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 "And 38-39% would be a top 25-30 shooter in the league." We're talking about a team, not an individual. 39% over 31 attempts is not too shabby. "Golden St shot 20% in game two." Yea, i recognized that in an earlier post. "They won the series because of a variety of ways...." I don't disagree. I did not assert that they won the series solely because of their 3pt shooting. "Baron Davis a great player and great players often times rise to the ocasion in post-season." He's definitely a great player, i've been a b. davis fan since his UCLA days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 >"And 38-39% would be a top 25-30 shooter in the league." > >We're talking about a team, not an individual. 39% over 31 >attempts is not too shabby. > >"Golden St shot 20% in game two." > >Yea, i recognized that in an earlier post. > >"They won the series because of a variety of ways...." > >I don't disagree. I did not assert that they won the series >solely because of their 3pt shooting. > >"Baron Davis a great player and great players often times >rise to the ocasion in post-season." > >He's definitely a great player, i've been a b. davis fan >since his UCLA days. All I pointed out is that GS was not lights out from 3 the whole series as was posted...38-39 percent isn't bad but it isn't lights out. If you combine that with the other posts....it seemed like this thread was a Mavericks pity party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Yep, you're right. i did say the whole series. I was wrong, it wasn't the whole series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 The difference in the series was clearly Baron Davis' beard. Biedrins may have the ugliest free throw-shooting style I've ever seen. I'm amazed that he can ever get it to go in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Friends, The Bay Area is in a state of almost total euphoria this morning. It seems that everyone is jumping on the Warriors' bandwagon. And you know, that's ok. In all fairness, the Warriors have a large group of loyal, passionate, and long suffering fans. Of course, the celebrities are now coming from everywhere, including Hollywood. After all, they are your Golden State Warriors. Faces seen in the crowd at these playoff games include Kate Hudson (high school classmate of Baron Davis), Jessica Alba, Woody Harrelson, Penny Marshall, and Ronnie Lott. And no crowd is truly complete without the presence of Snoop Dogg! As for the hoops, Don Nelson is an amazing coach. I heard last night that the Warriors have had 8 coaches since they last made the playoffs in 1994, when the price of gas is said to have been $1.21 per gallon in the Bay Area. Sometimes it seems like Nelson is a mad scientist in coaching this team. He has never won the NBA championship as a coach, but his teams are usually competitive and entertaining. And there is some relation to SLU and our Billikens. Rick Majerus served as an assistant coach under Nelson with the Milwaukee Bucks. And the Warriors, in essence, play 4 guards at the same time. Does that sound familiar? I have never been much of an NBA fan, as I much prefer the college game. But I must have had the most fun last night that I've ever had watching an NBA game. See, these Warriors are different than the typical NBA team. This team goes small. This team can shoot, hustles, and is playing defense so far in these playoffs. This GSW team is an 8th seed and was 42-40 in the regular season. One wonders how much longer this run can last. But it is sure fun right now. I do think the Warriors have a decent shot against Utah or Houston in Round 2. I can see three Warrior Lilliputians right now surrounding Yao Ming. And when you watch these Warriors, you can see what might be about to come to SLU. Let's hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 There's no way IMO that the Warriors would have even made the playoffs without that big trade with Indiana for Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. Dunleavy and Murphy were both in the deep recesses of Nelly's doghouse when they were dealt. I liked Murphy's game somewhat, but he wasn't a Center. And Dunleavy was a huge bust for GSW, especially for such a high lottery pick. By the way, I saw Baron Davis play at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion against SLU and Larry Hughes. The Billikens received some good Pauley California cuisine in that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Area Billiken Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Had Don Nelson not been coaching the Warriors, I highly doubt that GSW would have even been in the playoffs at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.