And the love fest continues. Even as the Warriors are hitting a slight rough patch closing out games if not getting blown out in games, more stories keep emerging to show how this season is more about rehabilitation than it is necessarily about winning. Of course winning is important, but this rag tag team of cast offs (Dorell Wright, Rodney Carney) and emotionally damaged players (Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis) is about re-establishing their identities in the NBA. So how much love does this team really have for each other? This is reaching bromance level and I love it.
Here is coach Keith Smart, the therapist:
He realized upon replacing Nelson the importance of rebuilding the self-esteem of several players, none more than Biedrins. The new coach flew to Latvia last summer and spent 10 days with the center, working on drills and letting the conversation wander. "Two practices a day, every day, in the gym" Smart recalls. "Then we would sit and talk about life, what's happening in his life and with his family."
"I have a great relationship with him," Biedrins says. "Probably the best relationship of anybody on the team."
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"We're still trying to make sure he doesn't get frustrated on the floor with the one thing he's doing wrong," Smart says, "when he's doing 99 things well."