GSoM friend Preetom Bhattacharya wrote an insightful piece for HoopsWorld.com on the Warriors titled Yeah, But Can They Play Defense?. It gives a great rundown of all of the teams that Don Nelson has coached in the past, including their offensive and defensive rankings. Preetom always does his homework and comes correct, so definitely check out this piece and his past/ future work. Here's a snippet:
After twelve agonizing seasons, Warrior fans (who are some of the most loyal fans in the game - how can their fidelity be challenged after their undying support over the last few years?) have every right to look to Nelson as a hero and rescuer for the franchise. Many have predicted that the Warriors will be employing some variety of small-ball to ensure their success, banking on Nellie's creative perspective on offensive basketball to lead the team to victories.
Analysts tend to paint Nelson as an offensive coach who gives little regard to defensive play, pointing to Nelson's most recent tenure as coach of the Dallas Mavericks as evidence. In Dallas, Nelson did indeed have one of the top offenses in the league and it would seem that his goal was to simply outscore his opponents.
TO HELL WITH DEFENSIVE ROTATIONS! WHO NEEDS SHOTBLOCKING? WHY DEAL WITH PERIMETER and TRANSITION DEFENSE?
Well, Don Nelson certainly didn't make any of those statements .. Taking a look over Nelson's career and looking at the stats shows that Nelson's most successful teams actually were good defenses in addition to being solid offensively
The Warriors are neither an offensive powerhouse or defensive force right now, but where do you think they have the comparative advantage? Offense or defense?