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Spreading The Blame Around In Golden State
SportingNews
There are so many things wrong with the Warriors, it's not even worth counting. First, in the immortal words of the le of a recent Jack Nicholson film, something's got to give. And, as S-Jax himself predicted, his very public griping has been targeted as the ur-point for change in the Warriors organization.
Hence, at Yahoo! Sports, Marc J. Spears gets the following quotes from anonymous Warriors on the subject of a Jackson trade:
“The Jax situation is a constant distraction,” one Warrior said.
“Once they trade him,” another player said, “it will clear up a lot of things.”
“I’m aware the team needs a change,” Golden State general manager Larry Riley said. “I’m working hard toward that.”
Here's the glory of the Warriors: Jackson is a good soldier left to go mad on a desert island, or a Jekyll/Hyde figure whose medicine got spilled by an inept postal service. There's no question that, of all the folks involved in this slop of a team, S-Jax has done the most to distinguish himself in the NBA.
He's traveled the globe with humility, worked his way up, stuck in the NBA through sheer tenacity and played a key role in a Spurs championship. Yes, there was The Brawl, but Jackson also matured into a real triple-threat and an essential part of the BELIEVE Warriors.
So he wants a trade to a team that's not in advanced decay. And we all fault him for signing a long-term deal in Oakland without thinking. However bone-headed that may have been, though, it has to be put in perspective. Jackson's folly is not the same as Golden State's abyss-like organization yawning to wish the world imminent death and destruction.
For one, Jackson's not influencing anyone to play bad ball. Sure, he's shot a lot as a Warrior, but he's also defended the heck out of opponents, made plays like crazy and just generally semi-starred in a point-forward role. You want real unrepentant gunners? What about one-time golden child, now tarnished rogue Monta Ellis, or discreet (it's that Duke thang) Corey Maggette? They're sticking around, and will continue to hijack the offense.
And what about the team's unwillingness, or inability, to develop the young talent they have? Maybe Ellis has crossed over into the "problem" category, but Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright and beloved 2009 lottery pick Stephen Curry need room to grow. Trying to fit them into a dysfunctional team—"system" seems a bit much—isn't the answer. That's where Jackson, for all his over-the-top whining about Nellie, isn't exactly wrong.
Don Nelson is a national treasure, soon to be the all-time wins leader. At this point, though, he'll be the death of young talent. He's at his best when he can go on auto-pilot, as with the BELIEVE team, and let vets do their thing within his framework. Currently, there's too much teaching and tinkering to be done. That's what Nelson's incapable of these days, and what the organization as a whole doesn't know the first thing about doing—you know, actually solving problems, beyond using Nelson's mad genius as a smokescreen for its incompetence.
It's similar to how Jackson's dissatisfaction is serving as a proxy for anything else going wrong. Sure, ship him out of town and all burdens will be lifted. It's BELIEVE all over again—except this time, they're flushing out the very kind of wily vet who can give substance to the sketches Nelson's capable of providing at this point.
