Sports Radio Interviews

Don Nelson: “I’ll do the best job I can and try to leave a better job for the next guy that replaces me in a year and a half”

Well, if one thing is clear it’s that it really doesn’t matter who coaches the Warriors right now because they are very shorthanded and just don’t have enough NBA talent to compete on a nightly basis.  Not only have they been ravaged by injuries and have about seven or eight players on their roster that are healthy, but their Head Coach is sick.  Don Nelson recently came down with pneumonia and has been forced to miss a couple of the road trips recently and will also miss the one that starts tonight against Oklahoma City.  Assistant Coach Keith Smart has been filling in on the sidelines and even though the Warriors have been competitive at times and also have won some games recently, they are still just 6-13 on the season.  This is a young team that certainly has some talent on the roster.  Monta Ellis has shown the ability to play at an All-Star level, I think Stephen Curry will be a very good player in the NBA in time, and Andris Biedrins has also shown the ability to play well when healthy.  There is no question that this is a talented team, but a team that is probably two or three years away from competing at a high level in the NBA and by that time Don Nelson will be playing poker, drinking scotch, smoking a cigar off the sidelines.

Don Nelson joined KNBR with Razor and Mr. T to talk about the differences between him and Keith Smart, the play of Vladimir Radmanovic since coming over from Charlotte, and the media scrutiny that he has faced.

On whether Keith Smart is doing anything different than you on the sidelines:

“Not much really because there is only so much that you can do.  You only have eight guys or seven guys.  You’re just trying to keep guys fresh and that kind of thing.  There isn’t much you can do with mismatches and stuff like that or create something when you don’t have big guys.  What are you going to do?  Go from smaller to smaller? That’s about all you can.  You don’t have a big team that you can put out there.  You don’t have a post-up guy.  You do what you do, you move the ball and you gotta be able to make shots.  That’s the bottom line when you don’t have many players.”

On guys like Vladimir Radmanovic stepping up since Stephen Jackson got traded:

“We think we made a good trade when we moved Jack.  About as good as you can do.  The thing that Cleveland was talking about wouldn’t have been a good trade.  It just would’ve been a way to rid ourselves of Jack and that’s where he wanted to go anyway.  So the deal came up kinda quickly and I didn’t even think Radmanovic was a good player.  I knew (Raja) Bell was, I coached Bell before and he was the gem in the deal.  Now it looks like Radmanovic is going to be a good player for us as well.  He does a lot of things better for us than I thought.  He’s certainly not a star, but he’s an NBA guy, he seems to know what he’s doing, he’s got a skill level, he’s got some size and he can be a good player for us.”

On the play of Stephen Curry so far this year:

“He’s doing really well for a young player, getting better and understanding more.  He has hit the wall a couple of times and then figured something out and makes some nice plays again.  I don’t think he’s better than C.J. (Watson) at this point, but they’re pretty equal and different.  They’re both playing plenty right now because we just don’t have any other place to go.  That part is working really well.  They’re both able to play and they’re both pretty productive.”

On getting beat up in the media right now:

“It’s just my turn for awhile.  I’m getting beat up in the press and I understand that.  When you don’t have a good record, it happens to everybody and will happen to everybody.  After they kill you for a while, maybe they let up on you.  Some people call it piling on a bit, but it’s ok.  It’s my turn and I’m getting beat up.  It’s not true.  I don’t know how else to put it.  To kick a guy when he’s down is not right.  I hate to leave Keith out there going with all the injuries that we have and send him out against a tough situation.  I’d rather do it myself.  I don’t know what to tell you.  They write what they write and all I’m trying to do is coach the best game I can coach right now.”

On whether he is more equipped to deal with media scrutiny because of how long he has been in the league:

“I’ve got enough skin on the end of my nose to deal with it, but it’s not fun to get beat up all the time in the papers.  Some people actually believe that stuff and believe what people say on talk shows.  That’s part of what happens.  Anyway, that’s not true and I’ll continue to do the best job that I can do.  For the people that don’t like me out there, all I can tell them is time goes by fast, I’m only going to do this one and one more and that’s it.  I’ll do the best job I can and try to leave a better job for the next guy that replaces me in a year and a half.”

 Listen to Don Nelson on KNBR with Razor and Mr. T here

Tags: Don Nelson, Golden State Warriors, Keith Smart, KNBR, NBA