The Warriors are getting a new owner, what they really need is a new identity

(Photo from nba.com)
Long story short, the Warriors are for sale. There is speculation that head coach, Don Nelson may be coaching his last few games this season and may not return next year. Unfortunately, I will not be purchasing the team just because of time constraints and the long commute.

But if I was the billionaire buying this team, number 1 on my to-do list is get rid of Don Nelson. Number 2 is hire some kind of psychic mind bending therapist to erase the run-n-gun, no defense, 3 pt shoot till you cant shoot no mo mindset instilled in the players' heads. Let's take a closer look.

Don Nelson started this gig at the start of the 06-07 season. The Warriors had just come off back to back 34-48 seasons under head coach Mike Montgomery. The Baron Davis trade was not getting the Warriors any closer to the playoffs, or so it seemed. Then Don Nelson played Monta Ellis, played to the teams strength which was shooting 3's and running fast breaks any chance they got, which got the Warriors to a 42-40 records and the 8th seed of the playoffs and knocked out the MVP Dirk Nowitzki lead number 1 seed Mavericks. Then they lost to the Jazz in the next round, but there was hope in the bay area.

Montgomery's 05-06 Warriors scored 98.5 points on 43.3% shooting and gave up 99.8 to opponents on 45.7. 625/1832 3pointers.
Nelson's 06-07 Warriors scored 106.5 points on 46.3% shooting and gave up 106.9 to opponents on 46.2%. 700/1966 3pointers.

He got more points on the board at a better percentage, but didn't do much on the defensive end. More possessions for both sides of the ball when you run fast breaks so that explains the boost in points on the board, but the FG% bump shows they didn't do much focusing on defense.

But hey, they go to the 2nd round of the playoffs! So let's try again in 07-08... Success! Only not so. Nelson kept the run n gun style and the Warriors record was a nice 48-34, only that year, you needed 50 wins to make the playoffs in the West as the Warriors were 2 games behind the 50 win Denver Nuggets for the 8th seed. :(

Nelson's 07-08 Warriors scored 111 points on 45.9% shooting and gave up 108.8 to opponents on 46.8%. 761/2185 3pointers.

Better luck next year - 08-09 season. They lost Baron Davis and Al Harrington and gained Jamal Crawford and Corey Maggette. They went 29-53 and did not make the playoffs.
Nelson's 08-09 Warriors scored 108.6 points on 45.8% shooting and gave up 112.3 to opponents on 46.8%. 550/1475 3pointers.

Which brings us to this season. With rookie Stephen Curry, one of their few non bust draft pick in awhile (along with Anthony Randolph-jury still out, and Monta Ellis-2nd round pot of gold, compared to Ike Diogu, Marco Belinelli, and Patrick O'Bryant), paired up with Monta Ellis in the backcourt, Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson with ol reliable Andris Biedrins at Center. Except Stephen Jackson pouted and got a trade to the Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladamir Radmanovic (both injured). The Warriors stand at 19-51.

Now they're looking for a new owner. I only hope the new owner sees this as a grand opportunity to make some changes. For the past few years they've signed and drafted guards and SG/SFs just to fit into their style of play. This has not worked. It's time for a change. Get rid of Nelson and get some half court offensive plays and focus on defensive stances and rotations. This team is not a championship contender. Gosh, it's barely a playoff contender or even a regular season contender!

• Centers torch this team and it doesn't seem like Biedrins or Turiaf are going to be the big men to stop the league's top centers and power forwards. That's not to say they should draft or sign another Adonal Foyle type player. More like a Carlos Boozer type.
  
• Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis are both 6-3 having to guard SGs who have 3-4 inches on both of them. I hate to say it but they might have to get rid of one of these guys via trade and get a true SG or a big man.
  
• They need to draft another talented player like they did with Curry and not pull another Patrick O'Bryant type. This year they're gonna be guaranteed picks 1-6 (so far) and this year's lotto, based on what I've seen in March Madness, is gonna be pretty good and have some decent big men (Favors, Cousins, Monroe, Patterson). I'll laugh though if they get the #1 pick, draft John Wall and somehow start him with Curry and Monta-- No! new owner, new coach, let's not repeat this small ball lineup.
  

Honestly, they need to take a page out of the Clippers' playbook and fire their coach, start fresh next season, cuz it just ain't working the way it is now. #1 on the to do list, get rid of Nelson.