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Jan
3

The perfect peacemaker for Don Nelson and Anthony Randolph? Unfortunately, it’s Chris Mullin, and he’s not around.

Filed under: Commentary; Tagged as: Al Jefferson, Anthony Randolph, Baron Davis, Brandan Wright, Chris Mullin, Don Nelson, Jason Thompson, Keith Smart, Kevin Love, Matt Steinmetz, Mike Montgomery, Monta Ellis, Rob Kurz, Stephen Jackson

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

As the rift between the Warriors coach Don Nelson and rookie forward Anthony Randolph continues to widen unabated, with the teenager effectively serving an unofficial and open-ended suspension, it’s funny to think about who might have salvaged this relationship:

Chris Mullin.

Randolph was a Mullin pick; Nelson wanted Jason Thompson but came around eventually to Mullin’s way of thinking, which was to take a potential superstar if one was available at No. 14 — and Randolph fit that bill.

It stands to figure that Mullin would be the guy best equipped to keep Randolph’s emotions in check when he would get yanked by Nelson’s short leash. After all, Mullin was the guy who served as Monta Ellis’ biggest champion during a rookie season in which coach Mike Montgomery derided his talents and kept him mostly glued to the bench until Baron Davis shut it down in March.

But Mullin has been persona non grata for a while now, unseen at practice or even at shootarounds, where he used to be a constant presence. He’s been on the road scouting college games, which should give him some great insights (on the Warriors’ dime) when he goes to work for another NBA team next season, but that’s a whole other problem.

Much has been made of the shot Randolph delivered to fellow rookie forward Rob Kurz in practice last weekend; the obvious inference to be drawn from Stephen Jackson’s reaction is that Randolph deliberately nailed Kurz.

I don’t think he would have wanted to cause serious injury, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Randolph, having reached the height of his frustration, lined up Kurz’s chin and clocked him as a stand-in for Nelson.

Nelson has been almost unremittingly critical of Randolph this season. The coach’s biggest compliment — that Randolph had passed Brandan Wright on the team’s depth chart way back in preseason — turned out to be totally false, just a motivational tool to light a fire under Wright.

On the other hand, Nelson has been effusive in his praise of Kurz from Day 1, all but pouting when Kurz was cut on Mullin’s order and then campaigning hard to get him back once Ellis was placed on the suspended list.

I’m not saying definitively that that’s what happened. But I can certainly see Kurz being the epitome of everything that’s going wrong for Randolph — at least in Randolph’s eyes — and Randolph snapping after three months and lashing out.

As for a return date for Randolph, Nelson is once again publicly demurring to other members of the organization despite his unquestioned status as the leader of basketball operations. It’s similar to the move Nelson pulled a few weeks back when Jackson was struggling terribly and needed to be told to hit the bench until his hand was healthy. Rather than doing it himself (at least at first), Nelson tried to put the onus on his other players to deliver the message to Jackson.

Matt Steinmetz posits that this is Nelson’s way of telling everyone that there’s “a major problem with Randolph” and that he’s out of ideas how to deal with the rookie.

To a more cynical observer, it could be interpreted as another way to ostracize Randolph.

Lead assistant Keith Smart had been Randolph’s closest confidant during games, the guy to whom both Randolph and Wright would go to after being unceremoniously yanked by Nelson after one or two mistakes (while Corey Maggette would make seven and still be on the floor).

Putting Smart and the other assistants in charge of deciding when Randolph can return means that relationship must change — after all, how can Smart seem fair and evenhanded if he’s still letting Randolph bend his ear?

It’s too bad there isn’t anybody else under contract who might fill that role.

Oh, right.

The Lineup Project
As for the game, there’s not much in the way of analysis needed. The Warriors should been up big at the half, but gave the Timberwolves 12 points off turnovers in the first two periods. There’s no shame at not being able to stop Al Jefferson (32 points, 10 rebounds), but letting Kevin Love rip you for 19 points and eight boards in 25 minutes is just horrendous.

Contact: geofflepper@48minutes.net

37 Responses to “The perfect peacemaker for Don Nelson and Anthony Randolph? Unfortunately, it’s Chris Mullin, and he’s not around.”

SJ Jim January 3rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm

A little bit (a lot, actually) of humor, a little bit of level-headed, realistic perspective… good stuff lately, Geoff. Eases the pain a little bit.
QB23 January 3rd, 2009 at 4:15 pm

Cynical is right. Pushing the idea that Nellie would rather ostracize Randolph than win games is just not very smart. The problem here is larger and I will even give you some ammo to use on Nellie, not that you need it. Nellie has always been a coach who wanted his guys. He struggled with Wayne Embry in Milwaukee until he won out, with Grunfeld in New York but that was for a very short-time, and with Cuban in Dallas. You have a set-up here guaranteed not to work and Mullin is certainly not the guy to be peacemaker. He’s actually the guy who has given Nellie a bunch of players he doesnt like very much. Where I disagree with all this moralizing you and a number of other sportswriters get into is that it really just doesn’t matter. These guys are the way they are and need what they need to get the job done their way, which is the only way they are going to do it. Maybe Nellie is the devil himself and will burn in hell, but he just signed an extension and it’s going to be his way for a while. Get used to it. Personally, I don’t really don’t care if Nellie is the devil and neither do most fans. They want to win and so does Nellie. In Dallas, after the Leon Smith suicide attempt, Nellie became vigilant in his drafting and there was never another guy taken who had a big attitude problem. What you are seeing here are the results of him not making the trades, the choices. Why don’t you just sit back and watch the show and see what happens? So Nellie has a bad temperament? Randolph doesn’t? And skills, Nellie has a few and well, Rudolph has a way to go. If you want to write conspiracies, write a spy novel. It would probably pay more. If you want to be the town moralist, become a preacher. I don’t really the see point of what you are doing here.
norm January 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 pm

Geoff,

I know this is a stretch, but do you have a timeline that shows when this turmoil started to the point of where it is at today?

Did it all start when Baron opted out?

I love Don Nelson, I think he’s a brilliant offensive mind and unlike popular opinion, I want him around. Can you envision a scenario in which he can right this ship?

I ask you because i’ve been reading your pieces for years!
FNQ January 3rd, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Nellie just causes hell wherever he goes…
THIZZ-A-LOT January 3rd, 2009 at 5:35 pm

FNQ, thats for sure. I dont know how people dont see that, if their such nelson fans why havent they connected the dots and seen that this has happened everywhere he’s been. But no, im sure its just the players
howl January 3rd, 2009 at 5:59 pm

sj jim - actually i don’t geoff is level headed at all. not that he’s wrong, but he’s clearly anti-Nellie and pro Wright/Randolph. actually, i’d compare him to a more subtle version of Kawakami. i don’t know which is better. on one hand, at least TK doesn’t hide his dislike - you go in reading everything w/ a grain of salt, so to speak. on the other hand, at least Geoff tries to play the objective journalist role - even if his biases are obvious when you read his pieces.

either way, this piece is totally slanted conjecture. if you take into account Steinmetz’ other piece that occurred before Nellie’s quote last night (January 2, 3:55 PM)

http://www.examiner.com/x-441-Golden-State-Warriors-Examiner~y2009m1d2-Anthony-Randolph-looking-a-lot-less-like-an-untouchable-these-days

this is probably something Matt has been hearing from people within the organization who originally opposed Nellie’s treatment of AR and has been going on for some time - not something out of the blue.

based on hoopsworld’s article (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11041) where AR says that whole trade thing was a “misunderstanding”, it’s far more likely that this was about AR’s attitude in practice than it was about Nellie wanting to trade him.

seeing as how Nellie had been playing him even more than Wright and suddenly stopped playing him. it is far more logical that a collection of captains/asst coaches said something to Nellie that caused this “freeze out.”

of course, this is far less interesting or dramatic to these “journalists” who care more about CREATING a story rather than REPORTING on one.
Tony M January 3rd, 2009 at 8:53 pm

At least Nellie is developing Kurz for the future
M.Squared January 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm

It doesn’t matter if Geoff has a side or not. The bottom line is that Nelson is WRONG. Randolph should be playing right now no matter what. If they win or lose- they need to develop him. He has talent. He is 19 and a little raw. They knew this when he was chosen- so play him and COACH him. Teach. Other teams obviously have this concept down pat. Kurz is NOT more ready than Randolph or Wright and has not shown much to deserve all this priase. If he was so great then why did he not play more minutes last night. This is Nelsons way of breaking down Randolph, and Kurz has Nellie to thank for the elbow. Kurz should be their 12th guy and nothing more right now. Spending time playing him in games does nothing for us now or in the future. I am a big Nelson fan, or was up until about a month ago. He has proven what a dumbshit he is- right along with his boyfriend Rowell. Too bad the owner is missing his balls or he’d blow these two clowns out and let Mullin make the moves and hire another coach.
commish January 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 pm

The AR/Nellie “story” is just one example of a team and franchise in total collapse and mirroring the ultimate Black Hole known as the Raiders. The dysfunctionality, if there is such a word, pervades the organization. It would be very hard to chose which is the worst “devil”–Nelson, Rowell, or Cohan. They have all proven their only interest is self-interest and s**t rolls downhill. So why are we surprised that there is only me first and then team second as an afterthought when it comes to the horrendous basketball we see game in and game out with a few exceptions like Rony and Bukie and of course Beans. If there is a story, it is more what Ric Bucher discussed when he called Nellie out for basically outsmarting Mullin and creating his own significant powerbase by sucking up to Rowell by stroking his enormous and needy ego. Cohan mus be a complete idiot, according to Bucher for getting so duped again; but no one seems to know since he is so removed from the franchise and team. The AR story is like a pimple on Nelson’s fat ass–not of much significance since he has outwitted much stronger opponents than ragdoll Randolph; to wit, Webber, who clearly was going to be an all-star and a far cry from the questionable future of Randolph. I think Bucher nailed the story and the rest is just fallout from the unravelling of what had been an emerging and exciting franchise under Mullin after he had paid his dues and outgrew his GM learning curve. Oh, for what could have been….
SJ Jim January 3rd, 2009 at 9:35 pm

I think Geoff’s approach was level-headed and fair. I don’t see a strong bias here one way or the other. I have my own opinion of the situation, based not only on Geoff’s writing, but Steinmetz, other journalists, and fans who post online at various places. But most of all, I have seen Randolph in NBA games with my own eyes, and I have absolutely no problem with Nellie telling him (directly OR indirectly) that he’s not ready to play. I don’t care how much potential a kid has… if he’s not working hard enough for the coach in practices, not learning what he’s supposed to learn, and demonstrates an embarrassing lack of fundamental skills when he gets into a game, let him sit and think for awhile. The fact that he wants to pose for the crowd or scowl at veteran players when he manages to get a dunk in garbage time; and cheap shots a teammate out of jealousy (?) only adds to my apathy about him getting playing time right now. Hopefully he’ll work hard, grow up, and play well for us (and begin by learning to pass a basketball).
Bob January 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 pm

He did not cheapshot Kurz. If this really happened he would be fined for “conduct detrimental to the team”. This is all fairytales. Its obvious that Steinmetz is blowing this way out of whack.
Jon January 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm

Howl is Tim Kawakami.

Check the IP.
Larry Ellison January 3rd, 2009 at 11:53 pm

Randolph is sitting on the bench indefinitely. I’ll take that as evidence he took a cheap shot at Kutz among other things.

The kid slipped to 14th in the draft. Maybe this is why.
fulminating January 4th, 2009 at 12:17 am

sorry folks, i think you’re misreading the causality. warriors are team drama therefore everyone speculates on what the heck is going on. it’s not the other way; this mully/nellie beef was started by the organization’s behavior not the journalists. moreover, nellie is the coach responsible for this abysmal mess in terms of its lack of defense, offense or playing time for its future core. accordingly, it’s important to understand the personalities involved in this franchise if it is ever going to be a winning team again within the next 3 years.
Bob January 4th, 2009 at 12:55 am

This is from Janny Hu’s article:

[The coach previously detailed bad practice habits as a reason for Randolph's benchings, but the rookie was also chastised by Stephen Jackson two weeks ago for going too hard.

Randolph was scrimmaging in a 3-on-3 halfcourt setting in Oakland when he went up hard and caught Rob Kurz in the face, splitting open his teammate's chin and sending Kurz to the training room bloodied.

Jackson, among the veterans watching from the other end of the court, made it clear that he believed Randolph's show of force was excessive, yapping at the rookie for a good minute.]

There was no cheap shot, it was all a result of Randolph playing hard in practice.

BTW, isn’t a bit disturbing that the Team Captain is telling Randolph to stop playing so hard while the Head coach is urging AR to play hard in practice? Say what! I’m frustrated just reading this, I feel for the poor kid.
Chris Cohan January 4th, 2009 at 3:28 am

Eff Rob Kurz. Wuss. He can’t handle Randolph in practice OR in a game.

This is such BS.
JoeSez January 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Not retaliating to what was an obvious cheap shot doesn’t mean Kurz can’t handle Randolph. It’s stupid to kick a guy who’s down already - yes Randolph is the guy down. Kurz is playing and Randolph is on the bench.

In my book, Kurz won. He kept his cool and had the team Coach and Cpt backing him up.

Hudson: “That’s it man, game over man, game over!”
jsl January 4th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Nelson’s a poison that’s beyond repair. He was out of date a decade ago, and grows worse every time he adds another kilo to that ever expanding paunch. What a total disaster he’s become! Fry him in oil and stick a fork in him: he’s done.
commish January 4th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Nelson has and will always be laughing all the way to the bank. He is ruthlessly smart, manipulative, and a liar; in other words, he qualifies as the biggest winner with we the fans being the biggest losers. I guess we just have to deal with it as long as Cohan is the owner and Rowell his alter ego and Nellie’s bitch.
Chris Cohan January 4th, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Eff Rob Kurz.
FNQ January 4th, 2009 at 11:50 pm

If there was a cheap shot, Robert Rowell would have jumped at the chance to get some money back via fine / suspension…. it was a hard play and Kurz is the sympathetic figure… if it was BW, the same people coddling Kurz would be calling Wright a pansy…

Nellie always brainwashes people wherever he goes… its sad, but also kind of cool that he’s conned his way into so many desperate franchises… we are the only ones he’s conned twice. Sad, but kinda cool… Makes me get the feeling that Cohan has fallen for that Nigerian king bank scam on more than one occasion…
Chris Cohan January 5th, 2009 at 12:18 am

Eff Rob Kurz.

This is the only tenable position or you’re already too far gone to help salvage this “team.”
Hmmmm January 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Randolph is immature and lacks self-control. He is 19 years old so hopefully with maturity he will learn to get his game and himself under control. If it had been Kurz that elbowed AR, I wonder how many people would be saying Kurz was showing toughness.
SJ Jim January 5th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

Bob, summon a clue. How often do basketball players have their chins opened up as a result of opponents “playing hard”. Randolph is an angry child. A big, strong, angry child. Let him sit and think about it.
Chris Cohan January 5th, 2009 at 10:21 pm

SJ Jim: Clueless. Watch a game, pal.

EFF Rob Kurz.
SJ Jim January 6th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Hey Cohan, I generally ignore you, but just for curiosity’s sake, how about explaining. I mean, I’m not big on Rob Kurz either. Maybe you think otherwise? What are you attacking me for (other than it being your modus operandi)? I think Randolph is an immature kid- talented, but raw and immature. I think it was a cheap shot. I watch a LOT of games (have since perhaps before you were born… I don”t know… but from your online persona, using words like “moronz” and “toolz”, I get the impression you’re still in junior college). I rarely see guys get their chins opened up, despite the fact that guys play hard in the NBA (moreso in games than in a PRACTICE, by the way). So, you tell me where I’m the one who’s clueless. Pal.
JoeSez January 6th, 2009 at 5:36 pm

Randolph took a cheap shot on Kutz and is being punished the best way a coach canget a guy — playing time.

A fine brings in the union and grievances and could get players to stand behind Randolph to protect their own interests. A fine is not necessary.

Sit down Randolph. Let it be known he’s sitting and not ready for the NBA. That’s the why coaches rewqard and punish players.

Kurz doesn’t have to hit back. There’s no manhood issue here.

My guess is Kurz listens and tries to do what he is told. Nellie’s using him to shoe the team what will win playing time. Randolph is angry and misgudedly took it out on Kurz. So Randolph’s on the bench until he accepts personal responsibility for his playing time.

“Eff Kurz” is as childish as it gets.
Chris Cohan January 7th, 2009 at 12:05 am

SJ Jim, so you saw this “cheap shot,” eh?
SJ Jim January 7th, 2009 at 2:02 am

I said I THINK it was a cheap shot. Do I know it for a fact? No. I believe that’s what happened. You think otherwise? Explain why, instead of flinging insults. That was an extremely weak comeback, by the way.
Chris Cohan January 7th, 2009 at 9:30 am

You’re a big wussy?

SJ Shill:

The indignation is clear indication of the problem: You’re all boring old farts with discretionary income who can’t handle Randolph being tougher than Nellie’s little mind game Cracker Chihuahua, Roberta Kurz the big fat waste of space who can shoot a 3 better than Richard Hendrix. You’d challenge me to a billfold measuring contest I’m sure. Awesome, you’re a super fan who watches a lot of TV.

Moncrief would have Randolph playing and behaving because he doesn’t screw with players.
Nellie’s been screwing with Randolph and any other drafted big since Day One and the morons always take his side because they LOOOOOOOOOVE authority and respect thereof.

Your BS is weak, mine is right.
I’m 89 years old and I’ve seen everything ever that ever happened anywhere ever. Ever.

So there.
SJ Jim January 7th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

1. You’re always telling people to “watch more games”, as if you’re more experienced than we are. Do the math.

2. I never said Nellie hasn’t been screwing with Randolph. Does that change the fact that it could have been a cheapshot? Don’t think so.

3. Like I said, I know Kurz is purely filler. That said, I think Randolph has a LONG way to go before he’s ready for major minutes. Some basic fundamentals are severely lacking. I have no problem with him sitting right now, and letting him continue to work on those things in practice.

4. I like a lot of your humor, I often enjoy the sarcasm (I like to use a little myself), and I respect your knowledge of the game. No need to be so insecure and attack other people so often (posters, that is… go ahead and attack Cohan, Rowell, Nellie, Jackson, etc etc, all you want).
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