THE NBA : Recent Success Does Not Hide Fact Golden State Needs Help

The Golden State Warriors won a road game in their 10th attempt last Tuesday night, defeating Sacramento by 15 points. No big accomplishment, and eyebrows were only slightly raised the next night when the Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets by 20 points at Oakland.

Then came the weekend, and the Warriors pulled off two startling victories considered unlikely after they had opened the season with a 4-14 record.

Friday night, the Warriors recovered from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to win at Portland for only the second time in 37 games spanning 14 seasons. Back at Oakland Saturday, they shocked the Detroit Pistons, 104-92. The Pistons were without Isiah Thomas, who had a concussion, and Bill Laimbeer, who was ejected in the second quarter.

Still, it was an impressive victory and an incredible week for the Warriors (8-14), who had been starved for success.

How did they go from awful to respectable in just a week?

It’s not easily explained.

Center Jim Petersen returned from knee surgery, but he sat out the Piston game and hasn’t been dominant. Uwe Blab and Tom Tolbert are the starting big men. Rookie point guard Tim Hardaway has impressed, though, averaging 13.8 points and 9.5 assists in his last six games. And the Warriors, one of the NBA’s worst shooting teams, made an average of 48% of their shots in the four victories.

“I think one of the reasons we’re all in this business is for nights like this,” Golden State Coach Don Nelson said after the victory over Portland. “This game was all but lost, but the enthusiasm that these guys showed really carried us. What else can I say? We deserved it.”

Despite the recent success, and the continued fine play of Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, the Warriors need someone other than Blab at center and Tolbert at power forward if they expect to compete in the Pacific Division.

For now, though, let them savor a memorable week.

The Pistons are 13-10 going into tonight’s home game against the Seattle SuperSonics. They went 1-3 on a Western trip, losing to the Clippers, the Utah Jazz and the Warriors.

Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said he is not especially concerned.

“Yeah, it’s been a difficult road trip, but I’m not too worried,” Daly said. “What are we, 13-10? We’re like the Lakers were last year.”

After 23 games last season, the Lakers were 16-7. But perhaps Daly is drawing a comparison to the Lakers’ problems on the road. Last season, the Lakers went 2-5 on an Eastern trip in December. This season, the Pistons are 6-9 on the road.

If Friday night was any indication, Portland’s Jerome Kersey is the early favorite to win the slam dunk competition during All-Star weekend in February.

Kersey, the Trail Blazers’ 6-foot-7 forward, delayed the game twice in the second quarter against the Warriors with savage dunks. His first dunk, in the words of one observer, tweaked the backboard to one side, bent down the rim and moved the entire structure a foot and a half backward.

It took maintenance workers 7 1/2 minutes to repair the basket.

Then, with 59 seconds to play in the first half, Kersey let loose an acrobatic open-court dunk that again stopped the game. This time, it took workers only two minutes to repair the rim.

It was a classic, cutting Doug Moe monologue after the Nuggets lost to the Warriors. The Denver coach had nothing good to say about his team.

“I must be a total idiot,” he said. “I thought I was just half an idiot. We have to play at our top level to be any good, and I expect that every night. And that’s just foolish. We just can’t get everybody playing good. If our defense isn’t doing it, we just are not a team. We had no effort. (Center) Blair (Rasmussen) is fading away for jumpers against some 2-foot-4 guy. For the second night in a row, Walter (Davis) had to come out for a break, and when he’s put back in, nothing happens. We didn’t get a rebound; we were throwing the ball away. We can’t score, and we can’t guard anyone.

“Other than that, we were terrific. Nice uniforms.”

Subtly, without mentioning Jimmy Rodgers by name, Celtic forward Larry Bird criticized his coach last week. Bird did it by lavishly praising former Celtic coach K.C. Jones upon Jones’ return to Boston.

Jones, reportedly unhappy at being “promoted” to a nebulous front-office position last season, left the Celtics to be an assistant under Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. On the day the Celtics played the SuperSonics at Boston Garden, Bird lauded Jones for his handling of the Celtics during his tenure.

Bird had nothing but good words for Jones’ handling of personnel, substitution pattern, offensive schemes--all areas in which Rodgers and Bird have differences. Bird never really had great things to say about Jones when he coached the Celtics. Apparently, hindsight or comparative shopping has changed Bird’s opinion.

“Everywhere he’s been, he’s had a lot of success,” Bird said of Jones. “He’s the type of guy that allows you to be relaxed, lets you play the game you can play. I admire the guy. He’s one of those dreamlike coaches. He treats you like a person. He rarely raises his voice.”

Rodgers has tried to develop a deep bench with the Celtics, something Jones never did. As a result, Bird had played fewer minutes, until recently. And the desire for a balanced offense had reduced Bird’s shots, also until recently.

Last week, Bird played 46 minutes and had a triple-double in a victory over the SuperSonics, then played 43 minutes and had 21 points in a loss to the Lakers.

But Rodgers still seems intent on playing eight or nine players, mainly because Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson are all past 30. Age, Bird countered, should not be a factor.

“That’s the way I’d coach the basketball team,” Bird said. “If you have five or six guys who play hard and get the job done every night, I’d play them until they keel over. All that flak about playing too much doesn’t mean anything. I don’t need a lot of rest. I don’t even look at the clock during the game.”

Moses Malone, the Atlanta Hawks’ outspoken center, strongly criticized outspoken Coach Mike Fratello after being benched for the final 21 minutes of a loss to Philadelphia last week.

“I don’t know his reason for not playing me,” Malone said. “He doesn’t have to prove nothing to me. I play hard every night. I’m a veteran center. I’m 34 years old. He’s not going to teach me anything. If he thinks I need him, well, he needs me more than I need him. If he doesn’t appreciate me playing hard every night, I may have to talk to Stan (Kasten, the Hawks’ president).”

Fratello’s reaction: “I coach the team and it’s my decision to make.”

Dominique Wilkins, who has also feuded with Fratello, sided with Malone, saying: “I never totally agree with anybody. But I’m a player, and I always pull for another player. I’d be lying to say anything different than I agree with Moses.”

Opinions vary greatly on which team benefited more from the trade that sent Kurt Rambis from Charlotte to Phoenix for Armon Gilliam. The Hornets also received two second-round draft picks.

One view is that the Suns rid themselves of a problem player--Gilliam fought with Tom Chambers and was in disfavor with Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons--and received the rebounding power forward they needed.

Another view is that the Hornets traded for a younger player--Gilliam is 25, Rambis 34--who is a better scorer and a more physical player. Gilliam averaged 15 points in his first two pro seasons.

Laker Coach Pat Riley said Gilliam can “flat-out play” and praised Charlotte for the trade. Sacramento Coach Jerry Reynolds also thought the Hornets got the better of it.

“It’s grand theft,” Reynolds said. “The league should step in and stop it. It makes me sick.”

Reynolds, it should be noted, wanted to acquire Gilliam, as did the Minnesota Timberwolves, who offered Steve Johnson.

Rebounding has been one of the Suns’ problems, and that is Rambis’ specialty. So, Fitzsimmons said the Suns have filled a need without giving up a player they needed.

“I was convinced last year that Mark West, Tom Chambers and Armon could not play together and be successful,” Fitzsimmons said. “I wanted to see if I was wrong, so we tried it again this year, and I came to the same decision.”

Pat Williams, the Orlando Magic general manager, took another shot at cross-state rival Miami after the Heat lost to the Lakers by 27 points: “The Heat was so bad, the cheerleaders stayed home and phoned in the cheers.”