Since Rox are only 1 game behind Mavs in the Western Conference - they could potentially catch the Mavs for 5th or 4th place. Consider that Rox have played 19 at home and 24 away [25 after tonight] - so have played 5 [6 after tonight] more road games than home games. Mavs have played 23 at home 21 away - so have played 2 more home games than road games. That 7 game home v. away swing gives Rox an advantage the rest of the way - and the Rox could pass Dallas in the standings. My question - if this happens - does Cuban go balistic and fire Nelson? West----W-L----PCT--GB---Conf--Div--Home--Road--L 10--Streak Dal(4)--28 16--.636--3.0--17-10--9-4--20-3---8-13---8-2---Won 8 LAL(5)--26 15--.634--3.5--14-13--4-6--19-3---7-12---5-5---Won 1 Hou(6)--26 17--.605--4.5--11-13--4-8--14-5---12-12--7-3---Won 3 after 1/25/04 - source NBA.com. NOTE: If Rox are battling Mavs for playoff position - given that JVG's competitive nature is rubbing off on players - the remaining Rox-Mav's games could be must-see events. If the two teams meet in 1st round in a 4-5 matchup - it will be a great match - though a difficult one for the Rox because Dallas can throw waves of player and run all 4 quarters.
I hope the Mav's don't fire Nelson. He stinks and has never won anything and never will. If he goes then maybe Cuban would hire a good coach. Like Rudy...ouch
If Cuban cans Nellie, it's because a better coach is in the wings. Don't underestimate how big a move it is; the players are far more loyal to Nelson than Cuban, plus all or most of the assistants would leave with him. Evan
Well, I don't see us actually passing Dallas, which has won something like 8 straight now. I think they have their stuff together now. But, if it were to happen, I think Nelson will get to at least ride out the season. I read that Dallas' run was preceded by Cuban assuring Nelson he was safe after there was some rumors that he was going to get axed for starting the season on the wrong foot. So, as long as they are in playoff contention, I think Nelson is safe, even if the Rockets somehow passed the Mavs up. His job depends on post-season performance.
Mark Cuban should fire himself for all the drastic roster changes. The Mavs had incredible team chemistry last year, but thanks to Cuban, that's gone and the Mavs have no chance at a championship this year.
Lets not knock Nellie. He's one of the most interesting and innovative coaches around. My ideal coach would be Nellie's offensive mind, JVG's defense and Rudy T's relation to the players.
I'm not being sarcastic. Nelson coach the Bucks for about a hundred years then the Knicks now the Mavs. How many times did they make the NBA finals? How many world championships did they win? Yes his teams are entertaining...but so are the Globetrotters. Nelson sucks and I'm glad the Mav's have 'em.
Nelson always trys to find, or change players to fit his little “innovation” system he invents in his mind. He did that everywhere he has been, and has built a "genius" reputation from it. The truth is he has never win anything meaningful with the talent he had over the years. He always complained that he was forced to play some odd basketball because he had never had any talented big man, but he completely destroyed the Warriors team which had C. web, T. Hardway, M. Richmon, L. Spreewell, C. Mullin, etc. He is the most hated man among Warriors fans. Other than at Milwaukee, he failed miserably at Oakland, got fired by the Knicks after lesson than a season. The guy has proved that he cannot win anything big with talent, and cannot win anything at all without talent. --daoshi
I couldn't agree more about Wilkens. When people mentiont that he has the most wins ever they always fail to mention he also has the most losses ever. His winning percentage is incredibly low for someone who has lasted so long in this league. Dude hasn't done crap in nearly 30 years.
I would have to disagree with that. I respect any coach that wins. And all coachs need talent to win. The only coach that is the exception to that rule is Jerry Sloan. By the way the Rockets were talented the past four years if I remember correctly, what does that say for Rudy T? I love the guy but lets be realistic. Surround 4 other decent players around dream, Hakeem would have made it work. HE (HAKEEM) was just that good. I just dont believe in the status qou, "to be considered an elite coach, you have to have won a championship." A few coachs who dont have rings, Jerry Sloan (best coach in the NBA IMO), Jeff Van Gundy, Don Nelson, Larry Brown, Mike Dunleavy. Give respect where it is due. We may dis-like our I45 rivals but, they have been in the last 3 years where we havent been apart of in the last 5. Credit goes to Don Nelson and Mark Cuban. They are making it happen in Dallas. But if our Rockets keep playing the way they are, we might just slip past them. Good to see all Texas Games are meaningful these days....
I don't have a dislike for Nelson. I'm gonna sound like I'm going a Spurs root with all the "classy" BS, but he is. Anytime I've ever heard him in post game interviews, he's always giving the other team an excuse that they lost, and saying they played well. Example with the Kings vs Mavs loss. He said Kings lost because they were minus Webber and that the Mavs are fortunate to go 2-0 early in the season against them. I dunno, I find that pretty classy and smart because it gives the other team no extra incentive to shove any rude comments down another teams throat. He gives the Rockets all the credit in the world despite us losing to them for the past 5 times in a row. While regular season success should in no way go hand in hand with post season success he's done a lot with that team. No one would of expected Dirk to pan out the way he did and people were criticizing him for taking Dirk in the draft over some of the more well recognized American college athletes. Nash was just another PG from the Sonics that never really got much recognition. Finley was an athletic guard that couldn't carry a team, which he still can't, but found no success with the Suns organization. I absolutely hate the Suns and can't stand Mark Cuban at all, but from a respect point of view, I respect Nelson.
All that matters to me is that no team in the NBA wants to go through a Texas Triangle road trip these days. As a Texan, I love that. I want my state to loom large on the NBA map. I, too, was dumbfounded when the Mavs dumped their near-perfectly in sync lineup for Walker and Jamison, but that wasn't entirely Nelson's fault, now was it? Their lack of defense is really puzzling, but you can't argue with an 8 game win streak including knocking off the Kings. When we beat Sactown by 10+ I'll feel a bit more ready to discuss the possibility of passing Dallas in the standings. Heck, I can't remember us beating the Mavs in the last... damn... how many years? I'm looking forward to that win when it ever comes.
While Nelson was coaching the Bucks, the East was being dominated by the Bird-era Celtics and the Dr. J/ Mo Cheeks (and finally Moses Malone)-era 76'ers. The Sidney Moncrief/Bob Lanier era Bucks were clearly the third best team in the East at the time, able to dominate anybody else in a playoff series, good enough to play an interesting series against the Celts & the Sixers, but not good enough to beat either of those teams in a 7-game series. It is possible to be a good coach without ever winning a World Championship. Nelson did not have much success in Golden State (who has since the days of Wilt and Nate Thurmond?), but he was a very good coach in Milwaukee and has done a pretty good job in Dallas, given that he has a doughnut for a roster.
I respectfully disagree about Nelson, and about the necessary correlation between winning it all and being a good coach. Larry Brown is considered by many to be the best coach in the NBA, and has never won the NBA championship. Roy Williams is considered by many to be the best coach in the NCAA, but has never won a championship. In fact, this thread is a bit of a dichotomy, becuase the very reason Lenny Wilkens has coached for so long is the assumption that winning it all = great coach. Look at the last 2 decades; Take the best coach on the planet, and put him on the Clippers, Warriors, or any number of other teams, and he wouldn't get past Bird's Celtics, Magic's Lakers, Isiah's Pistons, Hakeem's Rockets, Jordan's Bulls, or Duncan's Spurs. What did all these teams have in common? The best coach, or the best players? Great coaches get their teams to exceed their talent, period. But the limitations of that talent also place a ceiling on how high they can go. When was the last time Nelson had one of the top 3 players in the league? And of the talent he has had, look at how many of them exceeded their original expectations. In Milwaukee he developped a bunch of diverse talents who usually wouldn't add up to stars and made them just that; Pressey, Moncrief, Sikma, etc. None of these were your prototype star, all had serious weaknesses, but Nelson emphasized their strenghts. I do think he went a little bit Mad Scientist with the Warriors, but the fact is he had a donught team, and while playing it safe might have made them better, it would never had made them good enough to win it all. That would have taken innovation, and that's what Nelson tried. Didn't work, doesn't mean it wasn't the right way to go. On the other hand, Wilkens has easily defined and very well known strengths and weaknesses; His hands off approach works pretty well with accountable veterans during the regular season, but fails with young players, players needing direction/motivation, and in the playoffs. He can really develop point guards, but doesn't know how to focus a team's efforts around a star player, instead letting the players sort it out for themselves, which leads to all kinds of inside tensions. And above all, for teams in turmoil, he provides a recognized name, a sense of class, and stability. On the other hand he looses teams over time, partly because he becomes more concerned with how he is perceived, and looks for excuses. He'll use injuries as an excuse in public, a lot, which is death to a team. He's defensive and peevish with the press when he feels criticized, and affable and fatherly when he feels appreciated. All of this adds up to mediocrity; If you're a terrible team he might get you to .500...if you're a very good team, he'll probably not get you any better.
When mentioning Nelson, DEFENSE usually is not something comes to anyone's mind. There is a reason for that. His Warriors team sucked on defense over the years, but he had Richmond, Spree who was top defenders at their position at the time. Nelson is not afraid to try new things, I'll give him that. But the guy always likes to focus on some small aspect of the game, loses the big picture at the end. Remember the Manul Bol 3-point "innovation"? The "run full 24 second down offense" he used against the Celtics(?)? They guy always want to take the short cut, instead of working hard on developing players in a sound, fundamental way to win basketball. He is an average coach, not the genius many gave him credit to. --daoshi
