Write back at you: Not feeling Ellis-Crawford-Jackson-Maggette-Biedrins unit

December 24, 4:26 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Always time for hoops, even during the holidays:

RICH WROTE: C.J. Watson is fine as a back-up point, ten minutes a game. He shoots good, he has a knack for slicing through the bigger guys utilizing his slight frame. You can use a guy like that. But he's a role player, not a heavy minute guy. It's not fair to judge the Warriors until we get all out guys on the floor healthy. A team with AB, Monta, Crawford, Magette, and Jack starting is going to win a lot of games. But we haven't seen that team yet, Magette has been all banged up, so has Jack, and Monta is out completely. When these guys come back, the Warriors will have a fine bench too, they got a lot of guys on the bench that can play, but they aren't front-line guys. We;ve got our bench playin agaisnt front line guys, so you are not going to win under these circumstances.

MS: It is true that we have not yet seen a team with Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Jamal Crawford, Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson. But I’m going to respectfully disagree that it’s not fair to judge the Warriors until they get all those guys on the floor.

Why? I don’t think that lineup is a winner, and I don’t think you even need to see it to make that judgment. Too many scorers, not enough playmakers, not enough rebounders, not enough guys willing to make the kind of sacrifices needed to win consistently.

We have seen lineups similar to the one we haven’t quite yet seen and the results are in: They don’t have chemistry and they don’t have anyone who can make a teammate better. For the life of me, I don’t understand how throwing all your scorers onto the floor at the same time will work.

As far as I’m concerned that lineup sounds a lot better than it actually will be. To me, the smart move is to try to be pro-active and make a move so that lineup WON’T have a chance to play together.

Am I wrong here or do you guys think that lineup _ Ellis, Crawford, Maggette, Jackson and Biedrins _ can work?

♦

DOC K WROTE: I think Anthony Randolph is having a decent rookie season for a 19 year old 14th lotto pick. Not sure what you're bashing Nellie for here. He's given way more opportunity to Randolph than he did with Wright or Marco and Randolph seems to be responding.

MS: Not so much bashing Nellie as wanting to know what his thought process is. You’re right. Nelson has given more opportunity to Randolph than he did with Wright  or Belinelli.

But that’s what he should be doing.

You can understand Nelson struggling to find time for Wright and Belinelli last season. The Warriors won 48 games and were in make-the-playoffs mode from the time Jackson got back from his suspension early in 2007-08.

So it was far more palatable that Wright and Belinelli didn’t play a lot.

But what’s the deal this year? The Warriors are 8-22, and Nelson said weeks ago this team wasn’t going to make the playoffs.

In short, that’s why Nelson should be giving more opportunity to Randolph this year than Wright and Belinelli got last year. But it’s also why Wright  and Belinelli, too, should be getting more opportunity than they are this year.

♦

MIKE W. WROTE: The biggest news of all is that Nellie admits he hasn't done a good job of coaching defense, and has turned control over to Keith Smart. Defense has been the biggest shortcoming of this team -- not offense, not rookie minutes, and not the alleged conspiracy in the front office.

MS: It’s going to be interesting to see how this whole “defensive coordinator” thing works out. It is obviously a work in progress because Nelson hasn’t given up complete reins of the defense yet.

That was obvious by seeing him make a few defensive calls on the sidelines against Orlando. Could't quite tell against Miami.

The other thing that is Nelson sometimes bristles at the idea he is not a good defensive coach. He will frequently cite his Bucks teams in Milwaukee as great defensive teams (they were) and that he can coach defense if he’s got defensive players.

It strikes me as odd that Nelson would throw up his hands and pass along the defensive responsibilities to Smart because Nelson is the same person who is very sensitive about defensive criticism.

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