Golden State coach Don Nelson has been diagnosed with pneumonia and did not accompany the Warriors on their upcoming road trip, which includes games at Dallas on Tuesday and at San Antonio on Wednesday.
Assistant coach Keith Smart will coach the team in Nelson's stead.
The Warriors have been hit hard by injury and illness this season, and needed assistant coaches Russ Turner and Rico Hines to participate in practice on Monday just to give the team eight healthy bodies.
MILWAUKEE -- Four months after Stephen Jackson arrived in Golden State in January 2007, the Warriors won their first playoff series in 16 years. They went 48-34 the following season, their best record in 14 years.
Jackson would like to take plenty of credit for it.
"The Warriors were (garbage) when I got there, so look what happened,'' Jackson said in an interview Friday with FanHouse. "So I love challenges.''
That's why the 10th-year swingman is ecstatic about his trade last Monday from the Warriors to Charlotte. Even though the Bobcats (3-8 entering Friday) never have made the playoffs since entering the NBA as an expansion team in 2004, Jackson believes it's "a great opportunity for me to be part of something great.''
Warriors coach Don Nelson doesn't give a lot up to the media these days. He's acknowledged losing interest in the daily give-and-take with the team's beat writers and looks to end his postgame press conferences as quickly as he can.
Nelson has said, though, that he likes doing radio because it's a way to speak directly to the fans. To that end, Nelson had one of his most open exchanges on Thursday while speaking on his weekly radio show on KNBR.
How could this season get worse for the Warriors? Their coach seemingly has no interest in developing their young talent, teaching defense, fighting for wins or managing the team. Their captain had his captaincy revoked after asking for a trade, which he eventually received. Their star is currently asking for a lifeboat and the nearest emergency exit. They don't have cap space for 2010, they're losing games left and right and they've even been hit with swine flu. How could this possibly get any worse?
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the agent for Monta Ellis will meet with Warriors management Thursday, with the entree allegedly an Ellis desire to be traded away. Just like Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson. In fact, with this latest news, I'm beginning to think something wacky is going on in Oakland!
It's all become a little more ridiculous every single day for Golden State. Kawakami reports that when Ellis attempted to do a leadership schpiel to the team following an embarrassing 28-point home loss to the Clippers, coach Don Nelson (the apparent source of Monta's consternation) told the guard to "be quiet." The pair had an altercation in front of the media a week later. Fun times.
The Warriors and Bobcats reached agreement Monday morning on a trade that will send Jackson and Acie Law to Charlotte for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Jackson had made it clear late in the summer that he "was looking to leave" the Warriors and hadn't relented on that theme through the early regular season.
The Bobcats weren't on Jackson's original "wish list" of teams, however, his agent, Mark Stevens had said about a week ago that his client would be willing to play for any team if it meant getting out of Golden State.
Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, he of the European diversion, created enough hype to fill up the Bradley Center twice during his first six games, with a 20-point per game average earning Rookie of the Year chatter coast to coast. Suffice it to say Jennings's 55-point outburst Saturday night against (yes) the Warriors will ratchet up to volume of those calls to unbelievable levels.
Jennings dropped 29 points in the third quarter against Golden State, and 45 in the second half for a come-from-behind 129-125 win for Milwaukee. He broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Bucks rookie record for points in a game (KAJ, then Lew Alcindor, had 51) and came within a bucket of teammate Michael Redd's single-game franchise record (57). He was three points away from Wilt Chamberlain's NBA rookie record for points in a game.
And of course, Jennings drew rave reviews from his coach Scott Skiles, a former point guard.
SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento Kings coach Paul Westphal and Warriors coach Don Nelson might not know it, but they find themselves in similar situations. Both are experienced coaches trying to guide young teams, each with a few veterans sprinkled in.
The expectations for both teams are low, with few believing either team will sniff the NBA's postseason. Both teams have intriguing rookie point guards (Tyreke Evans/Stephen Curry), talented but flawed shooting guards (Kevin Martin/Monta Ellis) and promising second-year power forwards (Jason Thompson/Anthony Randolph).
But stop right there. That's where the comparison ends.
Hawks buzzard Josh Smith has famously wasted quite a few Atlanta possessions over the years by taking ill-advised three-pointers. That phraseology is actually redundant when it comes to Smith: it would be considered ill to ever advise Smith to take a three.
Thankfully, someone showed Josh the light, and he hasn't attempted a trey all season. He convinces when he tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he hasn't even felt tempted to fire up a bomb. He found Basketball Jesus! Like a good son of the word, he should spread his experience. Which players would most benefit from a Brother Smith knock at the door?
Not much except that, with the per diem paid over the table in NBA instead of under it in college, they need to get the donuts before practice, carry their teammates' bags and stay out of the way of the veterans.
Oh, about that last part? The Nets' Terrence Williams, rookie out of Louisville, may need to work on it a bit.
Golden State coach Don Nelson has been diagnosed with pneumonia and did not accompany the Warriors on their upcoming road trip, which includes games at Dallas on Tuesday and at San Antonio on Wednesday.
MILWAUKEE -- Four months after Stephen Jackson arrived in Golden State in January 2007, the Warriors won their first playoff series in 16 years. They went 48-34 the following season, their best record in 14 years.
Warriors coach Don Nelson doesn't give a lot up to the media these days. He's acknowledged losing interest in the daily give-and-take with the team's beat writers and looks to end his postgame press conferences as quickly as he can.
How could this season get worse for the Warriors? Their coach seemingly has no interest in developing their young talent, teaching defense, fighting for wins or managing the team. Their captain had his captaincy revoked after asking for a trade, which he eventually received. Their star is currently asking for a lifeboat and the nearest emergency exit. They don't have cap space for 2010, they're losing games left and right and they've even been hit with swine flu. How could this possibly get any worse?
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the agent for Monta Ellis will meet with Warriors management Thursday, with the entree allegedly an Ellis desire to be traded away. Just like Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson. In fact, with this latest news, I'm beginning to think something wacky is going on in Oakland!
The Golden State Warriors no longer have a Stephen Jackson problem. He's Larry Brown's issue now.
Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, he of the European diversion, created enough hype to fill up the Bradley Center twice during his first six games, with a 20-point per game average earning Rookie of the Year chatter coast to coast. Suffice it to say Jennings's 55-point outburst Saturday night against (yes) the Warriors will ratchet up to volume of those calls to unbelievable levels.
SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento Kings coach Paul Westphal and Warriors coach Don Nelson might not know it, but they find themselves in similar situations. Both are experienced coaches trying to guide young teams, each with a few veterans sprinkled in.
Hawks buzzard Josh Smith has famously wasted quite a few Atlanta possessions over the years by taking ill-advised three-pointers. That phraseology is actually redundant when it comes to Smith: it would be considered ill to ever advise Smith to take a three.
Rookies. What do they know?
