Ironic, isn't it? Don Nelson came to the Warriors in 1987 as a general manager who claimed to have no interest in coaching the team. Now he's the head coach who claims to have no interest in being the general manager.

But that, in essence, is where he sits after Tuesday's news conference, during which Rowell and Riley were more defensive than most of the lineups Nelson threw on the floor last season. The only difference this time is that Nelson won't wear the title of the job he says he doesn't want.

Riley got that gig, though it's worth noting he got it at a lower pay grade than Chris Mullin, whom the Warriors are showing the door after five years as executive vice president of Basketball operations. Riley would be your standard-issue GM.

"Titles are just titles," Rowell said.

The guess here is that the titular designations are as different as a wad of twenties and a roll of quarters. And it goes beyond pay it's apparent Riley has been conveniently inserted into the flow chart just below Nelson and just above the assistant coaches. There's a reason for that.

True, he packs 21 years of experience coaching and scouting in the NBA. You also may have heard he is a Nelson confidant. No harm, no foul there, since it's generally a good thing for power brokers in any company to have a convivial working relationship.

And there's no doubting Riley will be a diligent phone jockey, pulse-taker and solicitor of input in his new job. In other words, he can keep the front office functioning while Nelson is out of pocket. But if you think any major decisions will be made without Nelson's OK, you're as nutty as one of Manute Bol's old 3-point attempts.

We now pause for one of the more interesting exchanges from Tuesday's festivities:

Q: Do you have authority to fire the head coach?

Riley: "I haven't thought that far ahead."

Oh, brother.

Does this mean the Riley era is doomed from the outset? Not by definition, though it's a concern that the coach whose master plan Riley will facilitate revises his vision of the future on a whim. But it could work, the way power-coach/under-the-radar-GM arrangements work in Utah, San Antonio and with the L.A. Lakers.

The troubling aspect to the Warriors' new setup is the disingenuous manner in which the team is going about its business. Titles are just titles? I haven't looked that far ahead? That's not a ringing endorsement of the regard for which the team holds its fan base.

Here's some slippery logic from Rowell: Twice he remarked how, over the past three seasons, the Warriors have slipped from eighth in the conference, to ninth, to this season's 10th-place finish in the West.

To clarify: The season they fell from eighth to ninth, they jumped from 42 wins to 48. And the season they fell from ninth to 10th was the season Rowell, according to a report, vetoed Mullin's tentative contract extension for Baron Davis, and Monta Ellis went joy-riding to the detriment of his left ankle.

Rowell also said: "One playoff appearance in five years is not acceptable."

Not pictured: The nine consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance that launched Chris Cohan's ownership, and directly preceded the hiring of Mullin as EVP of BO. If Mullin's work was unacceptable, then Cohan's is inept to the 12th power.

Oddly, that subject didn't come up Tuesday. Apparently when it comes to slapping smiley faces on stink piles, even the Warriors have their limits.

Contact Gary Peterson at gpeterson@bayareanewsgroup.com