Nellie pointing to better defense
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 10, 2006


Every year, the mantra starts off the same.

Defense matters. Defense wins. Defense is our priority.

The saying held true for about a month last season before the Warriors'
defense starting leaking. They went from being ranked in the league's
top-third in points allowed to the ninth-worst by season's end.

To guard against a similar spiral, Warriors coach Don Nelson is
breaking out the calculator. Beyond drilling defense in practice,
Nelson says his coaching staff will tabulate defensive efforts --
mistake by mistake -- to make sure players are held accountable for
their errors.

"See those two white pieces of tape?" assistant coach Larry Riley said,
pointing to a spot just outside the 3-point line. "If the guy takes the
ball and goes around you, that's penetration. If that happens, then you
get a mark.

"If we're involved in a pick-and-roll and you cover a different way
than you're supposed to, that's a negative. If you're in any position
and you don't block out and there's an offensive rebound, that's a
negative."

Nelson started the book-keeping system in Dallas, and although he's
tweaked some specifics for Golden State, Riley said the basics remain
the same.

More than one negative can be had on a single possession, so if two
players are out of place, that's two mistakes. If a possession lasts
long enough for a player to get beat twice, that's another two
mistakes.

All those negatives are then added together and weighted against the
number of possessions in a game to determine a final ratio of correct
coverage. The higher the percentage, the more the Warriors have
followed their defensive game plan.

A score of 70 is considered outstanding; anything under 55 is a red
flag. The Warriors are aiming to score in the upper-60s.

Riley said the coaching staff will break down every regular-season game
to track the Warriors' progress. Players won't be graded individually,
but they will receive a report that includes the number of mistakes
they contributed toward lowering the overall score. And there won't be
much room for appeals.

As for the Warriors' actual game plans, Nelson began implementing his
zone defenses over the weekend and projects using them about 15 to 20
percent of the time -- assuming the team can pick up the subtleties.

Nelson said his team was having enough trouble learning the basic 2-3
set, but they will eventually be schooled in the 1-3-1, box-and-1, and
other zones.

Ellis out: Guard Monta Ellis re-aggravated his strained right thigh
after running into a teammate during the first quarter of Monday's open
scrimmage. Ellis, who missed the first three days of camp with the same
injury, limped off the court and did not return. He is listed as
day-to-day.

Briefly: The Warriors' white team of reserves held on to defeat the
blue team 70-67 on a last-second 3-pointer by Dijon Thompson.
Highlights (or lowlights) included Baron Davis getting rejected by the
rim on an attempted dunk; Davis redeemed himself by taking out a row of
courtside seats while hustling for a loose ball.

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

Page D - 9

Nellie and defense .. Hah

It is probably an improvement over Monty though.


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