A new coach, a new role - Adonal's Diary - basketball team Golden State Warriors; narrative - Column

Basketball Digest, March, 2002 by Adonal Foyle, Irwin Soonachan

The third month of the Golden State Warriors' season didn't lack for drama. It began with the unraveling of coach Dave Cowens. Frustrated by his inability to motivate his young charges, Cowens often seemed on the verge of imploding. In return, the players weren't much happier with him.

At the end, one of Cowens' own players kicked dirt in his face by leaking word of his imminent firing to a local reporter before the media--or Cowens himself--had been told. It is possible that Cowens, getting ready to go to work December 15, opened the newspaper to learn he was about to be canned? Cowens' replacement for the remainder of the season is his former top assistant, Brian Winters. The former Milwaukee Bucks star led the Warriors to a few quick wins, but couldn't prevent a nasty losing streak to begin 2002.

Adonal's month was as rocky as his team's. In a game at the end of November, Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson had his team intentionally foul Foyle on the Warriors' last four possessions of the first half. Adonal, who entered the game shooting only 18% from the stripe, hit just 1-of-8 free throws as the Mavericks reeled off a 10-1 run. His free4hrow shooting improved as the month progressed, but his playing time eroded, partially because the Warriors' coaching staff feared that other teams would use the same tactic. After starting center Erick Dampier went down with an injury, Adonal moved into the starting lineup, but only to play during the opening minutes of each half.

We pick up Adonal's diary on the day of Cowens' dismissal.

December 15

In some sense, firing Dave blames himself for something that is the fault of all of us on the team, but in this business, the coach gets fired, not the players; the players eventually just get traded. This is not a reflection on him as a person: Dave is a very good person. It's a reflection on him as a coach. Whether the losing entirely his fault is not for me to figure out.

This could be the start of something new or it could be very similar. Brian was part of Dave's regime, but he may also want to bring new ideas to the job. It will take time for him to differentiate himself and his philosophies. I don't really know what to expect.

I saw this coming for a while. When you look at the Warriors organization over the last few years, it's been impossible to give a coach a fair evaluation because we've been so decimated by injuries. This year, we have a full roster and we're not performing at the level that everyone expects, so something had to give.

Part of the problem has been the team's philosophy. When a team is flat, you have to have confidence in your bench. You have to substitute before things get out of hand, even if three or four guys need to come out. Dave didn't do that. There aren't consequences in the first unit for underperforming. A first unit that's not doing well can't be seen as invincible.

The intensity hasn't been there in practice, either. Everyone has had very "blah" expressions on their faces. Everybody knew we should be a better team, but nobody could point to what the reasons were. Some guys also have been unsure of what their roles are on the team. As the situation grew worse, the team became a little chaotic.

I'll remember Dave for being a decent, funny guy who really tried to understand his players. I hope he goes on to better things. I'll always remember the night that Nellie started fouling me, and Dave left me in because he had confidence in me. That was big for me. I've been shooting my free throws a lot better since then. At some point, when I'm 50 and he's 100, I'll thank him.

December 21

After the Los Angeles Lakers game, Brian told me that he wasn't going to play me for about 20 games. In explaining this, he said that it wasn't because of anything that I did and that there wasn't anything I could do, that this was just the way he was going to do it. He said he needed try a new rotation to help figure out how he was going to do things.

I didn't accept that as a reason. He's been here for two years; he's not a new coach coming in. It's particularly tough because Dave made a similar decision before he got fired. He told me that I wasn't going to play for about five games, and that he would try Troy [Murphy] at the backup 5. Dave did end up playing me, though, which makes me think that there might have been other stuff going on. The initial decision might have come from higher up in the organization. I can usually sense when something like that is happening. That was tough, but I'm continuing to work hard in practice, and I'm still working on my game.

I've gone from supposedly sitting out 20 games to getting the start tonight. Needless to say, I don't know where I am emotionally. There have been some highs and lows the last few days. A coaching change is always difficult, whether or not you have issues with the departing coach. With a new coach starting a new regime, you're looking for some sense of normalcy when there is none. The good news is that the team has won two out of its last three games. That is the bright spot in the chaos.