» Blog Archive » Post-practice report: Nelson says he’s “happy” with Wright; Watson to keep wearing brace
  • Dec
    9

    Post-practice report: Nelson says he’s “happy” with Wright; Watson to keep wearing brace

    Something to tide you over from Tuesday’s practice while I work on a longer piece about the Warriors’ defensive rebounding problems. . .

    ** Despite the video evidence of his fairly obvious displeasure concerning (and vocal reaction to) a pair of mistakes made by forward Brandan Wright in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 112-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State coach Don Nelson said the performance of his second-year forward made him “happy.”

    Here’s a transcript of the relevant portion of the post-practice gaggle:

    Q: After you took him out in the third, he never did make a return.

    A: There were five guys on the floor at all times.

    Q: Did you think at all about bringing him back in the fourth when things got tighter?

    A: Possibly. Do I have to tell you what I’m thinking all the time?

    Q: I’m asking about one specific guy.

    A: Of course. He’s sitting down there. Of course he’s an option that I have.

    Q: He had two errors just before getting pulled that, based on the TV broadcast, you weren’t happy about–

    A: I was happy with his performance. Everybody’s going to make errors. I thought it was one of his better performances, the first half.

    ** C.J. Watson plans to slowly start weaning himself off the brace he’s worn for more than month to help stabilize a torn ligament in his right elbow. He’ll take it off some in practices, although he still plans on wearing it in games for the foreseeable future, a more low-key version of Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, who continues to wear a clear plastic face mask long after his broken nose has healed.

    “I’m going to . . . keep playing with it in games because I’m used to it right now,” Watson said. “My arm’s not really healed yet.”

    In fact, Watson said it would still be a month or two before the ligament is fully repaired.

    ** I asked Nelson, in light of his pronouncement that the Warriors weren’t playoff material, what he’d say to fans who feel the team should therefore tank the season.

    He didn’t want to play along, however: “I’ve already made that statement. I’m not going to talk about it anymore.”

    – Geoff

7 Responses to “Post-practice report: Nelson says he’s “happy” with Wright; Watson to keep wearing brace”

  1. Jon December 9th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

    interviewing Nellie must be like pulling teeth

  2. Bob December 9th, 2008 at 10:12 pm

    Tank you for the report.

  3. commish December 9th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    One thing we know about Nellie is he is the consumate liar. He gets off by lying. Last year he told us Webber was going to change the course of Dub history and take us to the playoffs. In fact, he could barely move. He told us Marco and then Morrow were the next coming of whatever; he told us training camp was going to be devoted to playing D. Now he tells us he’s happy with Wright. I don’t believe him. He treats Wright like shit compared to other players on the team. He has some serious double standards and clearly plays his faves and, sadly, Wright isn’t one of them.

  4. jsl December 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

    Thanks for trying, Geoff.

    Commish nails it on the head, tho: Nelson IS a liar (tho we note a bit of added mis-direction here). Too bad the few remaining beat writers don’t have the guts to ask Nelson why he’s so petulant with Wright, and why he can’t seem to grasp this team plays its best with BW in the game. (And what’s up with Janny Hu this year?)

    Wright’s a good player now; he could be much better, tho, if he had any kind of a coach. I just hope Nelson doesn’t drive him out of here — simply to polish his own knobby ego — and that he and AR can withstand the crap Nelson forces them to take day in and day out. There’s nothing wrong with firm coaching, but Nelson’s so far out of whack here it’s almosat sickening. And his delusional refusal to put BW back in the game against the Thunder would have been criminal if Morrow hadn’t saved Nelson’s bacon at the end.

    Maybe we’ll get to see a little of AR and BW playing together tonight. Especially in a double post, with Jamal and AMo/Belli as outside options. We’ll see.

  5. Wander7 December 10th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    I am going to call it here….

    Nelson will “coach” till he passes Wilkins and then he will retire before the contract ends…

  6. Chris Cohan December 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    If he retires, he might lose the money.
    You let me know when this lying asshole leaves money on the table.

  7. jsl December 10th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    CC: Nelson never has, never will. We’re royally screwed — unless fat fate intervenes.

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