send that to Cohn, he likes the conspiracy stuff obviously!

(extreme sarcasm)

Nelson coaches until he gets his record, then semi-retires as a consultant to Riley … my guess is he saw the handwriting on the wall earlier than any of us and while he might have not have orchestrated a coup the way Cohn perceives it, Nelson also hasn’t come out and laid it on the line for Mullin.

Is that “payback” for Mullin not laying on the line for Nelson the first time he was trying to renegotiate his contract? Who knows, but that was the first time I recall they weren’t on the same page. Then, or now, there were moments when one of them could have said “He stays or I’m going” yet neither has ever come close to that level of loyalty. Their combined popularity would have been an obstacle to Rowell’s ability to change at the GM level, so he might have planned these steps carefully.

It’s a business, a fact we fans abhor and forget all too frequently. If Mullin has to go, who better for Nelson to have in the GM office than Riley? If this was part of a plan, these were fairly shrewd moves by Rowell – first extend Nelson, then undermine Mullin, and since Nelson is going to go along with the change to Riley that leaves Mullin pretty isolated. Office politics is a bitch sometimes. It also might have been “organic” – perhaps Mullin chaffed as Rowell balked at Baron’s contract, and made Rowell’s life difficult and this is all just unfolding from there. Maybe both realized at that point that Mullin was not going to be extended and wouldn’t come back even if the offer was made. Who knows.

We shouldn’t feel too sorry for Mullin, he got well-compensated to cut his teeth here and is likely to land another NBA GM job.

… which is exactly what he did – paraphrasing, he said he expected Mullin to be re-signed

most coaches don’t leave organizations on a happy note – very rarely do they win a championship and retire (ala Bill Walsh) and very often they are nudged, pushed, and frequently dumped

lets hire Adelman, Carleisimo, St. Jean, Cowens….I dont even remember who came next, but I do know he was obviously a lot better than Don Nelson. ….sheesh whats it gonna take to get it through your heads that it isnt Nelson? the team lacks talent! I’m sick of this ridiculous blame Nelson crap…. I need some more Kool Aid.

Randolph is awesome! They just didn’t run the right plays for him. Nellie sucks! It’s not Randolph’s fault, Nellie’s the one who’s supposed to give him some burn so he can learn defense! Waaaahhhhh, I got all excited for these draft picks then they sit on the bench, even though they’re AWESOME!!!! AWESOME!!! Belinelli is AWESOME!!! WAaaahhhhhh!!!!

OK, I’m done making fun of the idiots.

Ya, played. And coached at both HS & Small College level.

What’s your point? No one called you an idiot here – what’s your beef?

As far as Nelson and defense, ya, he does emphasize some D – from his Bucks days to now it’s always been unorthodox but he does care about Def. Listen to Barnett if you don’t believe me.

Nelson and Popavich are apples and oranges, and no – Nelson isn’t blessed to have Duncan anchoring both ends of the floor (ever notice when Pop took over in SA? That was some timing – just a coincidence it was exactly when Duncan was returning after being injured and the team had been on a losing streak, kinda like Riley coming back with Wade and Shaq ready … )

Nelson’s hardly gotten a free pass on this board, not even by me.

What got you feeling so insulted anyway???