Nellie's plan for Randolph: Freedom on offense and tough love on defense

November 14, 10:25 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Anthony Randolph and Don Nelson

I wanted to include a couple of comments from Warriors coach Don Nelson, who talked about Anthony Randolph after Thursday’s shoot-around heading into the Detroit game.

The specific issue with Randolph centered on how tough Nelson has been on the rookie.

On Tuesday, Nelson let Randolph have it late in the third quarter of the Warriors’ victory over Minnesota, verbally hammering the first-year player as he was coming off the court after a timeout.

Asked about the lambasting, the following day, Randolph was hardly fazed. He said he’d been “cussed out” worse than  that as kid.

Good for him, because it appears Nelson’s animated instruction will continue

“He (Randolph) just makes a lot of errors that he needs to be told about,” Nelson said. “And some of them he shouldn’t be making. Some things he should understand and can’t forget.

“I know he can’t remember everything, but certain major things (rebounding, defense) we would expect he not make at this point and the minor ones we can understand.

It’s the major issues that I’m hard on him about. I think he deserves that.”

Nelson made it clear that he doesn’t have any problems with Randolph at the offensive end.

In fact, Nelson wouldn’t mind the kid trying to do a little more, if he wants.

“Good players get a lot of freedom in my system," Nelson said. "The ones that aren't as good don’t get that much freedom. It's very simple.

" If they have skill and ability and even if they’re young and not ready I’ll give them freedom so they grow quicker and be the player that I anticipate them being someday. And Randolph falls into that category.

"I  give him freedom at the offensive end and I’m tough on him at the defensive end."