Don Nelson: Morrow is the Real Deal

If Nellie says it's true, then I believe it.


I don't really care if I sound like a sheep, just taking orders from the man in charge. The bottom line is that Nellie is going to be around for a long time. And whether he'll admit it publicly or not, he'll be exerting a great deal of influence on personnel decisions.

So after the Portland game last night, when Nelson said to media, "He’s the real deal. And we haven’t even learned how to play with him... When he’s working off screens, we’d better get him open. Because he looks like the real deal".

There you have it, Nellie law. If the Don says run, the Warriors should run. If he says jump, the Warriors should jump. And if Don Nelson says an undrafted beanpole of a rookie is the answer to the Warriors' woes, then let's go sailing - I'm on board.

Nellie continued, saying that the key advantage Morrow provides isn't his scoring - it's the threat of his scoring. Morrow can be so aggressive moving without the ball coming off screens, and has such a quick release, that teams have no choice but to defend him with a little more urgency. Yup, keep a sharp eye, Morrow's around. Since he demands that little extra defensive focus, just having Morrow on the floor should make the rest of the team better offensively, Nellie contends.

For his part, Morrow downplayed his role on the team after the game. "I know we have guys on this team that are all-stars, all-star caliber players. I just do what I do and play off of them", Morrow said. "It’s a huge transition, but I feel I can do it".