Warriors Merely Hanging On

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Mar. 6, 2010

WARRIORS PAGEWARRIORS VIDEO

Were really not judging the Warriors on wins and lossesanymore. Were judging them on whether they hung in a game or not. Thats not good. But thats the way it is, and so lets throw some stuffaround about the Warriors 122-117 loss at Atlanta on Friday ... Thats now two games on this trip where Anthony Morrow had abig 3-pointer that he didnt make. Against Miami, he had a 3 that would havegiven Warriors lead with 12 seconds left, but it didnt go down. Friday night, Morrow missed a 3 with 40 seconds left thatwould have tied the game against the Hawks. -- Speaking of two games now on the tripNever going toquestion Ronny Turiafs effort, but hes played a big role in two of the threegames thus far. Turiaf couldnt come up with Stephen Currys super-crisppass on a pick-and-roll that likely would have been a dunk and tie game lateagainst Miami. Curry got the turnover, and deserved it, but Turiaf had a shotat catching the pass.Against Atlanta, Turiaf committed an inexplicable sixth foulwith 44 seconds left trying to deny Al Horford a little bit from the basket.The Warriors had just gotten a three-point play by Curry at the other end topull within one. Horford ended up making both free throws to put Atlanta upthree, setting the stage for Morrows miss.-- My man (thats the way I refer to him) Bruce Jenkins in theChronicle wrote that coach Don Nelson wasnt in on the proposed deal that wouldhave sent Monta Ellis to Memphis for O.J. Mayo and Hasheem Thabeet. Hes absolutely right. Nelson had no idea about that. AndNelson has no say-so when it comes to personnel decisions. Thats the way itsbeen most of the season. This was something I banged out from a mid-December postabout the subject: Time to clear up a little misconception about Nelson andhis role when it comes to personnel matters. Point is, he doesnt have much ofone. From what Im told, general manager Larry Riley certainlydoesnt clue in Nelson on the day-to-day of whats going on.In fact, Riley makes a point not to include Nelson oneverything because he knows how itchy Nelson can get when it comes down to thiskind of stuff. If the Warriors make a trade, Nelson isnt going to be the onedoing it. The Stephen Jackson trade was all Riley and the next trade will beall Riley, too. Bottom line is Nelson is out of the loop when it comes tomost of personnel, and thats the way the Warriors want it.--Matt Steinmetz

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