Nellie addresses another active list snafu, playoff pessimism and Jamal Crawford

December 1, 3:12 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Marcus Williams: Left off active roster against the Knicks 

Three items:

First, the Warriors made a mistake when it came to their active roster against the Knicks on Saturday night. They left Marcus Williams off of it.

Even though Stephen Jackson was unable to play, he was on the active list.

And Williams, who was healthy,  was listed as inactive. Making it four straight games, by the way.

Not good considering Jackson is a ballhandler and that's what Williams does too.

Said Nelson: "We didn't know if (Stephen Jackson) could play until the (lineup) sheet went in ... I think that was the thing. So, he might have had a chance to play, after getting an X-ray, but the sheet was already in.

"We would have liked to do it the other way and activated (Williams). But ... I don't know ... it was a timing situation."

This is not the first time the Warriors have blundered when it's come to the active and inactive roster.

Same kind of thing happened last season in Phoenix involving Matt Barnes.

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A quick give-and-take with Nelson about him seemingly throwing in the towel on the playoffs this season. Nelson wasn't so talkative on this subject.

Link here.

MS: You were very pessimistic in New York about your playoff chances.

Don Nelson: "Well, isn't that obvious?"

MS: It seemed like you were more pessimistic about your chances in New York than you had been up to that point.

Don Nelson: I don't think so. I haven't changed from any game on ... OK?

MS: Two years ago, you said you didn't think the Warriors were going to make the playoffs and you ended up going on a nice run and making the playoffs. Any paralells there?

Don Nelson: "I normally say it the way it is. Is that a paralell?"

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And ... real quick about the way Nelson's coaching and the acquisition of Jamal Crawford, whom according to Nelson has been coveted for quite some time.

Question: Are you playing musical chairs right now, trying to figure everything out with the lineup?

Don Nelson: "I do what I have to do. Someday we'll get more of a set lineup and the way we have to play. It has been a musical chairs situation because I've had veterans out or I've had to play too many rookies together and there's too many mistakes.

"We're trying to make our gameplan as simple as we possibly can because the more complicated you are with young players, it's harder. ... We'll do what we need to do to stay in games and give ourselves a chance to win."

Question: "What about Jamal Crawford?"

Don Nelson: "We like him very much. Hopefully, he finishes his career here because he's exactly what we've been looking for.

"He can play one and two. He's a 6-5 point guard which I've been looking for for a long time. They're hard to find and we finally got one."

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MORE WARRIORS: Stephen Jackson defends "It ain't me" quote.