he's 9-31 as a head coach (interim with cavs, 2002). career assistant. pretty unimpressive coaching resume.
Beating the Mavs in the first round in 2006 was the worst thing that ever happened to the Warriors franchise (besides bringing Don Nelson back in the first place). They wasted several seasons playing stupid "Nellie-ball" and going nowhere. Finally they cut bait. Great news for their fans. Maybe the new owner can take them to another level. I didn't do it much last season, but watching their home games late at night is great because their fans are so enthusiastic.
The bad thing is some of the personnel was acquired around Nellie Ball The good thing for them might be the removal of Nellie from that equation. Addition by subtraction. Yeah overall not impressive. The 9-31 record was about the same as the coach he replaced. Though really 2002 Cavs was all about tanking to get Lebron.
<object width="384" height="216" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="ESPN_VIDEO" data="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all"><param name="movie" value="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="flashVars" value="id=5609311"/></object>
Donnie may have tanked pretty hard there at the end but he made the Warriors relevant again. That 2006 playoff series is one of my fondest memories of basketball. It was just awesome. EVERYONE watched those games. Things got out of hand quickly and he should have been supplanted long ago but I mean.. to say he ruined Warriors basketball is harsh. He only ruined what he built.
Can't help but be a Nellie-hater. Stubborn-a$$ dude with his lineups of 6'0" 6'0" 6'5" 6'7" 6'8". Guy was driven out of town in NY because he absolutely did not know what to do with a guy taller than 6'8". Nellie had some innovations and proved you can switch around traditional roles, but it only takes you so far. In any case, why the hell did they wait so long? Maybe they wanted to sell as many season tickets as possible under the guise of bringing back Nellie, and cut him loose at the last possible minute.
don nelson's erratic nature was just horrible, for a young team, for stephen curry's development, good riddance