Galloway column - interview with Nelson - pretty good read

[kg_veteran]

This makes for a pretty good read, with plenty of typical Nellie speak...

Galloway column




<< Rested Nellie feeling good about Mavericks


Big Nellie is back in town this week. Been to Hawaii. Been to Europe. I have been eagerly awaiting his summer return. Now there are at least two of us around here who still think the Mavericks are a good basketball team, with an excellent opportunity to be real good.


OK, the Cowboys have a much better chance of winning a Super Bowl before Nellie and the Mavs even win a conference title. But that's only because the NFL is a shack of a league. As opposed to the mighty Shaq who rules the NBA.


But while the Mavs' playoff ouster by Sacramento seven weeks ago caused a negative local reaction, Don Nelson believes the outstanding series that followed - Kings and Lakers - served as bittersweet redemption. Sorta.


&quot;The way I saw it, Sacramento won five of those seven games,&quot; he said. &quot;Whether it was the referees or lucky bounces, LA won the series. Sacramento was certainly better than us in our series, no question. But the argument can be made Sacramento was also better than the Lakers. That says something right there.&quot;


Did Nellie also watch the NBA Finals? &quot;No, there was no reason,&quot; he said, putting him in a vast majority of Americans.


But what about Shaq? Will the coach who invented Hack-a-Shaq be devising any new ideas on containing the big fellow?


&quot;Yeah, one,&quot; Nelson said. &quot;His retirement.&quot;


Other than that, however...


&quot;Now that Shaq has improved his free-throw shooting, there is no stopping him,&quot; Nellie added. &quot;I do think you can beat the Lakers, but you can't beat Shaq. With him, the Lakers are the champs again, and that's that. But now that they've won three straight titles, maybe that helps the rest of us. Maybe they get a little fat and sassy and leave the door open next season.&quot;


Any negative hangover from the Sacramento series?


&quot;I couldn't be disappointed in that we got beat by a better team,&quot; Nelson answered, &quot;but still, there was a lot of initial disappointment. Losing the two home games in the series was a serious kick in the teeth for me. But we've got to take that and learn from it.&quot;


Then again, the Sac series also left no doubt, right, about needed areas of improvement before next season?


&quot;Rebounding. Definitely rebounding,&quot; Nelson said. &quot;And defense, too. We've got to continue to plug away on being better defensively, but if we're a better rebounding team, then we're automatically better in all areas.&quot;


As usual, however, Nelson dropped no hint on possible off-season trades that would improve the rebounding and the defense. Instead, he talked about Shawn Bradley and Evan Eschmeyer, as if that's going to make anyone feel better.


&quot;Maybe I need to play the bigger lineup more,&quot; he said. &quot;We aren't going to totally get away from small ball, but somehow, some way, we've got to get something out of Bradley. All last season, we talked about getting a big lineup on the floor by using Bradley and Eschmeyer, but we were having a lot of success the other way, so we never really did what maybe we should have done.&quot;


Then again, Bradley stayed in the Nelson doghouse most of the season, and Eschmeyer became a forgotten bench-sitter.


Nelson claimed he is not pursuing any big man through summer trades. &quot;There won't be any magic answer in this off-season,&quot; he said. &quot;What we've got, we're going to be going with next season.&quot;


Do note, of course, that in all the major deals Nelson and owner Mark Cuban have made the past few years, none came with any warning or media speculation. Nellie's stance has been those deals all fell into place at the last minute.


Obviously, he's exploring off-season trades.


Also, his trip to Europe was only partly for vacation. He was scouting and doing clinics, and even without a first-round draft pick next week, looking for a secret find overseas.


Did he spot, maybe, a future Dirk?


&quot;I know this much, we saw some good young players,&quot; he said, ignoring the Dirk reference. &quot;There is some talent over there, and we know where that talent is.&quot;


Even here in early summer, Nelson also claimed his golf game was rotten. &quot;A lot of sixs on every scorecard,&quot; he said. &quot;My problem is, I'm ready for next season to start right now. I wish we opened tomorrow.&quot;


That makes two of us.


Randy Galloway's Sports at Six can be heard weeknights, 6-8 p.m., on WBAP NewsTalk 820. rgalloway@star-telegram.com >>