Nellie goes further: Even 39 wins for Warriors is unrealistic

December 2, 10:34 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Nellie:  39 wins out of the question

It’s not sitting well with a lot of fans, and likely some in Warriors management, that coach Don Nelson has thrown in the playoff towel this season.

And it just turned December. But that’s not the half of it.

Yes, it was disappointing what Nelson said over the weekend in New York about his team and its postseason chances.

CBS Sports link.

But to me, what Nelson snuck in last night during his pregame press conference was even more demoralizing and depressing.

Nelson was being asked about the playoffs and about why he thought the Warriors weren’t good enough to make them.

He gave a few reasons, then cut to the chase:

“If you look at our team last year, we were really good,” Nelson said. “We didn’t make the playoffs last year and we won 48 games. This team isn’t nearly as good as that one.

“How would we expect to make the playoffs with this team when we didn’t make it last year?  And we had a lot of veteran players on the team. To me, it’s just common sense. That’s why I said it.”

As Nelson was saying this, I thought: “Fair enough. This isn’t a 48-win team.”

But the West isn’t what it was and there are interesting playoff scenarios setting up. Long story short, it’s not going to take 48 wins to make the playoffs. Not even close.

So I followed up: “If you knew right now 39 wins might get you into the playoffs, are they realistic then?

Answered Nellie: “No, I don’t think so.”

So, wait a minute. Not only aren’t the Warriors a playoff team, apparently they’re not even a 39-win team. At least the coach said so.

Did I miss something? Who lowered the standards that far for the 2008-09 season? And please don’t blame it all on Monta Ellis.

I’m just trying to remember how many times _ if at all _ that I heard the word “rebuilding” during training camp and into November.

I know I heard about how young the Warriors were, but I also see that three-fifths of their core is now veteran: Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette and Jamal Crawford.

And still, apparently, 39 wins is unattainable.