SFGate
WHAT GIVES, GUYS?
The answers to the madness are anyone's guess
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
(04-15) 23:04 PDT -- 'Much needed rest," eh? Nice epitaph, all things
considered.
The Warriors, the team that redefined energy in last year's
postseason, aren't participating in this year's because Baron Davis
received some "much needed rest."
Well, that's not entirely true. The Warriors were going to have a hard
time convincing Denver not to play hard tonight against the lard-
legged Memphis Grizzlies, so the postseason point probably already was
moot before Monday's bizarre season-killing game in Phoenix.
But the way they went out, with Davis having a dreadful and
unenergetic first half and no second half whatsoever, left the nation
that fell in love with them wondering if the Warriors weren't simply a
charming but certifiably crazy date.
Davis hasn't spoken since being put on double-secret probation (a
noncommittal item on his blog doesn't really count), though there is
no indication he won't be on hand for tonight's season-ending waste of
time against Seattle. Coach Don Nelson, on the other hand, did,
telling Comrade Hu in no uncertain terms that:
A - The playoffs were a pipedream anyway, a point that will be made
clearer tonight in Colorado when Denver finishes Memphis.
B - Davis was playing terribly at both ends of the floor.
C - Nelson told Davis he wasn't playing in the second half so that he
could get a closer and more intimate look at Marco Belinelli and Kosta
Perovic.
Assuming that is true, and so far there is no version to contradict
it ... what?
Which leads us to some intriguing questions, to wit:
-- Isn't a coach supposed to go full throttle until his team actually
is eliminated?
-- Is Davis no longer the go-to guy for the Warriors if he isn't gone-
to in this game?
-- Did Stephen Jackson get enough rest in the second quarter so that
he could come back in the second half?
-- Can Nelson's explanation really be all there is to this?
-- Does Davis' explanation coincide with Nelson's?
-- Is this an underpinning to Davis' potential decision to opt out of
his contract with the Warriors?
Well, let's take them, in some semblance of order:
-- We always thought you weren't out until you were out, but Nelson's
ability to see the future has always been better than that of mere
mortals.
-- Unless we missed the passing-of-the-torch ceremony to either
Jackson or Monta Ellis, both of whom finished stronger down the
stretch, Davis is still the go-to guy.
-- Evidently, as Jackson finished with 23.
-- I wouldn't bet on it.
-- I wouldn't bet on it.
-- Davis is due another $17,180,000 next season, and unless he wants
either a sign-and-trade or a renegotiation, he is unlikely to move -
not at this number, anyway.
There is one other notion here: Over the past years, Nelson has
answered direct questions with something close to his version of the
truth without misdirection, presumably on the theory that it's more
fun to watch re****ters make themselves nuts trying to figure out than
you making yourself nuts trying to fool re****ters.
Thus, he could have saved himself some grief by giving the explanation
he gave to Comrade Hu on Tuesday, on Monday. Not everyone would have
bought his explanation, but the extra day only fuels a problem he
doesn't really need.
Unless, of course, he has decided that what he really doesn't need is
Davis. Again, there is no indication that we currently have to sup****t
that, but he did leave Davis sitting during the game and hanging after
it. Nelson typically is more sophisticated when he smells re****ters'
brains starting to smolder and blister with visions of a story.
And it must be said that if the Warriors had maintained the 107-96
lead they had with 6:57 to play, we'd be calling him the maddest mad
scientist in the history of both madness and science. But they didn't,
and now folks are wondering if he blew a brain valve, put his ego
ahead of the team's good, decided 3,884 minutes into the season to
become the mean old dean of students, or so needed to prove a point
that he decided to declare the season over before the NBA rules and
standards said he should.
In any event, Nelson made an issue where none existed, ands if there
is a good reason for him to have done so, it is either very tardy or
hard to find.
Especially because his history with the young Mayce Christopher Webber
14 years ago led him to being declared an old tight-hindered bully
before he remade his image as kindly old Don Herbert, the man who
played Mr. Wizard on TV.
Tonight ends a season as weird as the last one was satisfying, then,
and unless a lot of people spill a lot of beans, Warriors fans will be
as befuddled as Raiders fans were in January, February and March. This
is, need we say, no way to treat the paying wor****pers.
Down at the count
The Warriors' Baron Davis sat in the second half in Phoenix on Monday
night:
vs. Suns Avgs.
17 Min 39.0
2-13 (15.4) FG% 42.7
7 PTS 21.9
2 RBS 4.7
3 AST 7.6
0 STL 2.3
The "rest" of the story
Here are some of Davis' stats in his fewest-minute games this season:
Date Opp Min Pts Result
1/9 ****tland 14 4 91-109 L
4/14 Phoenix 17 7 116-122 L
12/16 Detroit 23 2 87-109 L
2/1 Charlotte 24 5 127-96 W
2/29 Utah 25 17 109-119 L
E-mail Ray Ratto at rratto@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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