WARRIORS NOTEBOOK
Diogu struggling with Nelson's plays
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006


Confusion mixed with excitement during the Warriors' open practice this
week. As coach Don Nelson walked the crowd through various offensive
sets, forward Ike Diogu kept walking in circles.

On several occasions, Diogu went to the wrong spot when a play was
called, leaving his teammates and assistant coaches to set him
straight.

And though Nelson maintains that what happens in camp won't necessarily
alter the nine-man rotation he has in mind for the regular season, it's
clear that Diogu is in danger of falling behind.

"Ike's a young player and he's struggling a little bit right now
learning the plays," Nelson said after Tuesday's practice, later
adding, "That limits me, so that's going to limit his playing time."

The news isn't encouraging for the Warriors, who have been high on
Diogu's offensive potential since drafting him with the ninth pick in
2005. Fans might remember Diogu's breakthrough game against Detroit in
December, when he scored 27 points in 32 minutes.

Golden State simply dumped the ball to Diogu that night and let him do
the rest. It was a performance reminiscent of Diogu's days at Arizona
State, where he didn't execute plays so much as power through double-
and triple-teams in earning Pac-10 Player of the Year honors his junior
season.

Under Nelson's offensive system, however, Diogu is being asked to learn
specific picks, routes and rotations. And Nelson, who carries a
reputation for being tough on young players, already has seen enough
confusion to simplify Diogu's workload.

Though Nelson said he originally planned to use Diogu at both center
and power forward, Nelson has streamlined the process so Diogu can
focus solely on backing up the "4."

Diogu has at least one selling point in addition to his low-post
skills: He hit 81 percent of his free-throw attempts last season.
Still, Nelson said it's Diogu's defense that concerns him most.

"I can live with the offensive (mistakes)," Nelson said, "but I'm more
concerned about the defensive aspects of the game, that he's where he's
supposed to be, and he makes too many errors there as well."

Run, Warrior, run: Nelson's plan to whip the Warriors into shape hit
another gear Tuesday, thanks to Golden State's inability to hit
free-throw tries.

After running players through 30 minutes of transition-defense drills,
Nelson singled out players at the end of practice to shoot from the
foul line. They had to run after every miss and keep shooting until
they made five in a row.

"It didn't seem like that hard of a task to me," Nelson said, "but the
lads had a little trouble with it."

How much trouble? It took the Warriors another 30 minutes -- and
seemingly 30 laps around the gym -- before they hit five in a row.
Baron Davis and Monta Ellis were multiple offenders. At one point,
Golden State missed five in a row.

Said Troy Murphy: "I ran more today than I've run in the five years
that I've been here."

Briefly: Ellis was back running full-tilt and showed no ill effects
from re-aggravating his thigh strain during Monday's scrimmage. ...
Davis missed part of practice getting his right ankle taped and tested
for stability, but appeared fine once he returned... Backup point guard
Keith McLeod sprained his left ankle early in practice and did not
return. He is listed as day-to-day.

E-mail Janny Hu at jhu@sfchronicle.com.

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