Keith Smart Promoted To Defensive Coordinator

In a shocking development, or maybe a not so shocking one, Keith Smart has been promoted from assistant coach to defensive coodinator for the Golden State Warriors.

Wait a minute, I thought the Warriors played basketball, not football.

In an article that came out today written by Cam Inman of Insidebayarea.com, Nelson said, "I'm a little soft as I get older, and I feel like I haven't done a very good job defensively this year. They will be handling all of the defensive training, the game plans defensively and, during the game, the switching of situations. They're in charge of the defense now."

Don Nelson, do you think you've gone a "little soft" on defense lately? Have you had your heart in the game all year?

The Warriors have been flat out pathetic defensively. The worst of it occurred against the New York Knicks where the Warriors gave up 82 first half points!

Also, on the defensive end, the rebounding has been horrific. Against the Indiana Pacers, the Warriors should have had some very key rebounds. However, the ball always seemed to bounce just out of reach of a Warriors' players.

With Keith Smart running the defense, perhaps the Warriors will be able to use Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph effectively on the defensive end. With their length, they can effect a lot of shots and get those rebounds, that the smaller players like Jamal Crawford, CJ Watson, Kelenna Azubuike, just can't get because of their height.

The question, though, with Nelson getting rid of some responsibility is: does that mean he could be thinking of resigning or retiring at the end of the year?

Possibly, but I don't think so. I just think Nelson at the age of 68 wants to concentrate on the offense.

Hopefully though, with Smart as the defensive guy, the Warriors can get back to their ways of forcing turnovers and getting easy shots at the rim.