I have never seen what others seem to in Don Nelson, the longtime NBA coach regarded by many basketball people as an eccentric near-genius. When Nelson took over the Golden State Warriors last season and oversaw a modest turnaround and then an impressive defeat of Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, I thought maybe I was wrong about Nellie.
That very athletic, dynamic, drunk-with-potential Warriors team will miss the playoffs this time. The loss that sealed it came last night at Phoenix. Baron Davis, the Warriors brilliant point guard, shot 2-for-13 in the first half of that game and sat for the rest of the game.
Just sat. Did not play, coaches decision. Davis wasn’t hurt, and there is no public evidence that Davis did anything to defy Nelson or violate team procedures.
“I gave Baron a much-needed rest in the second half,” Nelson said. “I gave him a half off.”
To review then: In a game the Warriors had to win to make the playoffs, their coach sat his best player for the second half to give him a “much-needed rest.”
Maybe I was wrong when I said I was wrong about Nellie.
CBS on Tiger Woods, really throughout its Masters coverage but expecially Sunday:
“Frustration is really starting to set in now.” “You can see the frustration on his face.” “It’s been a Masters of frustration for Tiger Woods.” “If there’s one word that sums up this Masters for Tiger, it’s…
(wait for it…)
frustration.”
Frustrate. Frustrating. Frustration. OK. We get it.
It got so bad that Jim Nantz, normally fonder of over-dramatic sentamentalism than Walt Disney, called his colleagues on it:
After Verne Lundquist or somebody mentioned Tiger and frustration for the umpteenth time, Nantz finally said, “But it’s stressful for everybody. Everybody’s frustrated out there.”
When Nantz thinks you should pull it back a notch, it’s time for deep, cleansing breaths.
