Warriors take it easy on New Year's Eve

Dec. 31, 2009WARRIORS PAGE
It was a light practice for the Warriors on New Year's Eve.
Coach Don Nelson put his team through an hour-long session at the downtown Oakland facility, doing a little bit of full-court scrimmaging as well as some half-court drill work.The Warriors were still a little bit short of 10 players -- Kelenna Azubuike (knee), Raja Bell (wrist), Mikki Moore (heel), Brandan Wright (shoulder) -- meaning player development coach Rico Hines donned a practice jersey to fill out one of the teams.
Hey, Hines, who's 6-4, ain't bad. He played guard at UCLA from 1997 to 2001, appearing in 101 games under Jim Harrick and Steve Lavin. He was a captain his final three seasons.
I've played pickup ball with Hines a few times, and let's just say that he still takes a lot of pride in his defense and doesn't like to lose.
Forward Vladimir Radmanovic did mostly shooting on the side because of what Nelson called a "little Achilles tendonitis." Devean George, who's returned from the inactive list, did not participate either.
Most players called it a day shortly after practice ended, except for rookie Stephen Curry. He did some extra shooting with assistant coach Stephen Silas.
The Warriors' next game is against the Trail Blazers in Portland on Saturday night.
When Nelson was asked if he had any resolutions for the New Year, he responded: "I haven't thought about it. I forgot it was New Year's Eve. That will be my resolutionthat I'll remember it next year."