ducks
10-19-2005, 06:14 PM
Karl, Nuggets like what they have
October 19, 2005
By Chris Bernucca
SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Who was the best team in the NBA last season?
Most people would say the San Antonio Spurs, who won the championship. Some might say the Phoenix Suns, who had the league's best record.
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And a very small faction - most of them located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains - might say the Denver Nuggets, who were a staggering 32-8 after George Karl took over as coach in January.
Forward Kenyon Martin thinks the Nuggets can be even better. But Karl, who orchestrated the turnaround, isn't too sure.
"We went 32-8 with coach (Karl). Of course we expect to do better than that," said Martin, perhaps unaware that pace translates to a 65-win season. "Who knows what our record would have been had he been with us from day one? Now we get a chance to see."
"If we have a 32-8 (stretch) this year, I'll celebrate," said Karl, who made a seamless return to coaching after a 20-month hiatus. "It's probably not going to happen."
At this time last season, the Nuggets were coming off a 26-win improvement and their first playoff berth in nine years. However, young star forward Carmelo Anthony was facing a marijuana charge and shooting guard Voshon Lenard tore his Achilles tendon on Opening Night.
Both elements served as distractions for a young team caught up in trying to maintain its success. The Nuggets seemed reluctant to play for lame-duck coach Jeff Bzdelik and stumbled out of the gate. A switch to Michael Cooper only proved that Cooper wasn't quite ready to be in charge.
Enter Karl, 56, who guided Seattle to the 1996 NBA Finals and Milwaukee within one win of the same stage five years later. Rather than renovate, the Dean Smith disciple allowed a talented team to fix itself.
"The reason it worked last year was because I kind of let them come in and coach themselves, rather than me being a dictator," Karl said. "The freedom they had I thought helped them play with more of a confidence. I don't want to mess with that."
Sure, Karl wanted to make changes and implement ideas. What coach doesn't want to make an imprint on his team? However, Karl was smart enough to realize that with the season well under way, practice time limited and his being the third voice they had heard in a month, he probably would do more harm than good.
"Last year when he came in, he just worked with a lot of the things we had in place," Martin said.
Karl allowed the coltish Nuggets to gamble on defense and create the turnovers needed to get into the open court. With lightning-quick Earl Boykins at the top of the defense, shot-blockers such as Martin and Marcus Camby guarding the rim and runners such as Anthony and point guard Andre Miller pushing the tempo, the Nuggets became virtually unbeatable at home and entered the playoffs as the NBA's hottest team.
With 49 wins as the seventh seed, Denver stunned San Antonio at the SBC Center in the postseason opener. However, the NBA power structure fell well short of spinning off its axis as the Nuggets never won again.
"We had an excellent run in the second half of last year and hopefully that can build over and have a great start to this season," Camby said. "Being bounced out of the playoffs in the first round of the last two years doesn't sit well with me and the rest of my teammates. Hopefully we can go out there and get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and take it from there. I think we have all of the pieces necessary."
Last season's strong finish saw the Nuggets nearly catch the SuperSonics for the Northwest Division title. While every other team in the division made big changes, the Nuggets simply tweaked their roster and by doing so seem to have the fewest question marks entering this season.
"The goal for our team is to win the division," Karl said. "I don't think that's an unrealistic goal."
In the offseason, the Nuggets added guard Julius Hodge and forward Linas Kleiza through the draft and signed free agent guard Earl Watson. Lenard is healthy again, giving Denver the perimeter threat it sorely lacked last season.
"All summer long I was the person who wanted to make changes the least," Karl said. "I like this team."
"Just because you don't make moves doesn't mean you're a better team," said Boykins, who will give away some of his minutes to Watson. "It just means you made moves. I think with us standing pat, it shows confidence to know the coach and general manager feel that we have enough here. It's just a matter of playing together and continue to improve."
Karl believes the Nuggets can improve on defense and is using training camp to install some of his principles. Once the season starts, the Nuggets may look somewhat like Karl's teams in Seattle, which deployed traps to take opponents out of their sets.
"I could write books on what I'd like to do," Karl said. "I'm going to add some things. There are some defensive things that I want to do. They're going to understand why I want to do them because of training camp more so than if I wanted to try and do that last year.
"I think we can be a better defensive team. We need to be a more aggressive defensive team. The depth of our roster says we should be more aggressive."
The Nuggets are not flawless. Martin was bothered last season by a sore knee that both he and Karl are monitoring. Even with a healthy Lenard, shooting guard seems to be a committee position with Hodge, DerMarr Johnson and Greg Buckner in the mix. And the addition of Watson gives the Nuggets three small point guards, which usually is two too many.
There also is the issue of Karl's health. He coached the tail end of last season knowing he had prostate cancer and had surgery in July.
Karl has begun exercising more frequently and has reduced his daily intake of "seven or eight" Mountain Dews to one without losing any of his zest for the game.
"I think I have more youthful enthusiasm and energy than the people I compete against," Karl said. "I'm ready to go."
October 19, 2005
By Chris Bernucca
SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Who was the best team in the NBA last season?
Most people would say the San Antonio Spurs, who won the championship. Some might say the Phoenix Suns, who had the league's best record.
ADVERTISEMENT
And a very small faction - most of them located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains - might say the Denver Nuggets, who were a staggering 32-8 after George Karl took over as coach in January.
Forward Kenyon Martin thinks the Nuggets can be even better. But Karl, who orchestrated the turnaround, isn't too sure.
"We went 32-8 with coach (Karl). Of course we expect to do better than that," said Martin, perhaps unaware that pace translates to a 65-win season. "Who knows what our record would have been had he been with us from day one? Now we get a chance to see."
"If we have a 32-8 (stretch) this year, I'll celebrate," said Karl, who made a seamless return to coaching after a 20-month hiatus. "It's probably not going to happen."
At this time last season, the Nuggets were coming off a 26-win improvement and their first playoff berth in nine years. However, young star forward Carmelo Anthony was facing a marijuana charge and shooting guard Voshon Lenard tore his Achilles tendon on Opening Night.
Both elements served as distractions for a young team caught up in trying to maintain its success. The Nuggets seemed reluctant to play for lame-duck coach Jeff Bzdelik and stumbled out of the gate. A switch to Michael Cooper only proved that Cooper wasn't quite ready to be in charge.
Enter Karl, 56, who guided Seattle to the 1996 NBA Finals and Milwaukee within one win of the same stage five years later. Rather than renovate, the Dean Smith disciple allowed a talented team to fix itself.
"The reason it worked last year was because I kind of let them come in and coach themselves, rather than me being a dictator," Karl said. "The freedom they had I thought helped them play with more of a confidence. I don't want to mess with that."
Sure, Karl wanted to make changes and implement ideas. What coach doesn't want to make an imprint on his team? However, Karl was smart enough to realize that with the season well under way, practice time limited and his being the third voice they had heard in a month, he probably would do more harm than good.
"Last year when he came in, he just worked with a lot of the things we had in place," Martin said.
Karl allowed the coltish Nuggets to gamble on defense and create the turnovers needed to get into the open court. With lightning-quick Earl Boykins at the top of the defense, shot-blockers such as Martin and Marcus Camby guarding the rim and runners such as Anthony and point guard Andre Miller pushing the tempo, the Nuggets became virtually unbeatable at home and entered the playoffs as the NBA's hottest team.
With 49 wins as the seventh seed, Denver stunned San Antonio at the SBC Center in the postseason opener. However, the NBA power structure fell well short of spinning off its axis as the Nuggets never won again.
"We had an excellent run in the second half of last year and hopefully that can build over and have a great start to this season," Camby said. "Being bounced out of the playoffs in the first round of the last two years doesn't sit well with me and the rest of my teammates. Hopefully we can go out there and get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and take it from there. I think we have all of the pieces necessary."
Last season's strong finish saw the Nuggets nearly catch the SuperSonics for the Northwest Division title. While every other team in the division made big changes, the Nuggets simply tweaked their roster and by doing so seem to have the fewest question marks entering this season.
"The goal for our team is to win the division," Karl said. "I don't think that's an unrealistic goal."
In the offseason, the Nuggets added guard Julius Hodge and forward Linas Kleiza through the draft and signed free agent guard Earl Watson. Lenard is healthy again, giving Denver the perimeter threat it sorely lacked last season.
"All summer long I was the person who wanted to make changes the least," Karl said. "I like this team."
"Just because you don't make moves doesn't mean you're a better team," said Boykins, who will give away some of his minutes to Watson. "It just means you made moves. I think with us standing pat, it shows confidence to know the coach and general manager feel that we have enough here. It's just a matter of playing together and continue to improve."
Karl believes the Nuggets can improve on defense and is using training camp to install some of his principles. Once the season starts, the Nuggets may look somewhat like Karl's teams in Seattle, which deployed traps to take opponents out of their sets.
"I could write books on what I'd like to do," Karl said. "I'm going to add some things. There are some defensive things that I want to do. They're going to understand why I want to do them because of training camp more so than if I wanted to try and do that last year.
"I think we can be a better defensive team. We need to be a more aggressive defensive team. The depth of our roster says we should be more aggressive."
The Nuggets are not flawless. Martin was bothered last season by a sore knee that both he and Karl are monitoring. Even with a healthy Lenard, shooting guard seems to be a committee position with Hodge, DerMarr Johnson and Greg Buckner in the mix. And the addition of Watson gives the Nuggets three small point guards, which usually is two too many.
There also is the issue of Karl's health. He coached the tail end of last season knowing he had prostate cancer and had surgery in July.
Karl has begun exercising more frequently and has reduced his daily intake of "seven or eight" Mountain Dews to one without losing any of his zest for the game.
"I think I have more youthful enthusiasm and energy than the people I compete against," Karl said. "I'm ready to go."