dynamically as a team over the final three weeks, and how Nelson's team has become much more than just Baron Davis (who's still essential for GS to beat Dallas, Phoenix, Utah, etc).
(And, yes, with Mullins' eight-player trade w Indiana, the Warriors added playoff experience in Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington to that of Baron Davis. As per one fan's
quote: "Baron Davis has exploded when he has played in the post season, and Stephen Jackson has gotten past all the rounds and has a ring with the Spurs, and he was a major role player that year for SA.")
As I tried to point out with bracketed comments in the article: The author seems unaware of advances in GS' play that have surfaced over the season's final days (...finally! in an overall injury-disrupted season). Have a look at the
boxscore of GS'
Mar 12 117-100 upset of a (presumably motivated) Dallas team nurturing a 17-game winning streak. The Warriors were six games under .500 (30 - 36) and not playing as well then as they're doing now at season's end (one example:
Apr 4 game...frustrating and holding 7'5" Yao Ming to a mere
four shots, via a team-defense concept of 6'9" Al Harrington aggressively fronting Yao and 4 piranhas alertly covering AH's back. It worked beautifully, because the players are intelligent and (*gasp*)
defense-oriented in addition to being "controlled-chaos-creative" on offense: Baron Davis and/or (former UCLA teammate) Matt Barnes and/or Stephen Jackson and/or Monta Ellis (superb one-on-many penetrator-and-finisher) and/or Jason Richardson and/or Mickael Pietrus and/or Andris Biedrins (2nd in NBA FG %) and/or Harrington kicking out with skip passes or stolen balls for relentlessly fast-breaking their opponents).
Nelson, a tough self- and team-critic, recently commented: "We're very difficult to beat."
From Mar 12 Dallas vs Golden State
boxscore (comparing stats with season averages):
Turnovers:
Dallas
23 (season avg, OWN/OPP:
13.1 / 13.8 )
GS 15 (season avg, OWN/OPP: 15.7 / 15.9 )
Steals:
Dallas 8 (season avg, OWN/OPP: 6.8 /
6.9 )
GS
13 (season avg, OWN/OPP: 9.1 / 8.3 )
Shooting Percentage:
Dallas
42.3% (season avg, OWN/OPP:
46.73% /
44.70%)
GS
57.1% (season avg, OWN/OPP: 46.27% / 46.16%)
Assists:
Dallas
21 (season avg, OWN/OPP: 19.9 /
17.9 )
GS
31 (season avg, OWN/OPP:
23.8 /
24.7 )
The article's author makes no acknowledgment of the Warriors DEFENSE ("Huh? a Nelson run-&-gun, 'small-ball' team plays defense?" - Ya betta b'lieve it! Of a kind Jerry Sloan hasn't seen in 19 years.) Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Mickael Pietrus, Matt Barnes, Harrington, Richardson, Biedrins...many
intelligent TEAM-defensive players on the Warriors, and Nelson has those "small" players -- each and collectively -- negating mis-matches efficiently: smartly checking opposition-drives to the basket, showing a "sea of wicked-quick hands" -- like piranhas feasting -- whenever opponents penetrate the paint-area, employing a scheme of intelligent switching at the perimeter, and further neutralizing size disadvantages by fast-breaking away from height-disadvantages in transition at every opportunity (GS leads NBA in points-off-turnovers)! Jerry Sloan's comment after GS'
Apr 9 126-102 slaughter of the Jazz: "They just outhustled us all the way around...They went after loose balls, and they made us turn the ball over. They were all over us defensively.
I don't know if I've seen a team play as quick as they were.")
NBA
End-of-Season Rankings -- Steals ( vs
final 8 games +
#comparable season-ranking )
#1 Baron Davis 2.14 (
2.625 #1 )
#8 Monta Ellis 1.71 (
2.625 #1 )
#39 Stephen Jackson 1.12 (
1.625 #10 )
#78 Al Harrington .83 (
1.125 #38 )
So when Mullin grins, he has reason. His team is in the postseason, and his ideas are coming to fruition.
"That's what makes me happiest, just seeing Mullie with that big smile," Nelson said. "He's got it all the time. He had it before the (clinching) game, had it after the game. He's had it for two weeks."
Because the Warriors, after 12 years of futility, two on his watch, now look as Mullin envisioned. Healthy. Running. Passing. Cutting. Trusting. And winning.
Nelson's done a Coach-of-the-Year job for everything he's had to deal with this year...and certainly not bad for a 66-yr-old-coming-out-of-retirement coach whose first game back had him reflecting DURING the game: "I don't know what I'm doing."
He's certainly got his sh*t together by season's end: