George Karl continues his obsession with the Spurs

KRIEGER: Nuggets need to listen to old-school Karl
By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

David Zalubowski / Associated Press

George Karl has mellowed some since coming to the Nuggets, but his belief in the tenets of championship play haven't.

Normally, radio interviews don't make great television, but Rome played portions of his radio conversation with Karl because he was so impressed by the honesty of the answers.

In one, Karl called his current Nuggets team the hardest to coach of his career. Considering his first NBA team included World B. Free, his second included Joe Barry Carroll and his third included Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, this got my attention.

While he was known for volatility at each of those stops, Karl's biggest problems came in Milwaukee, where he had the poor judgment to insist publicly that scorers Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell play defense. Generally speaking, star players don't mind coaches insisting on these things privately, so long as they are free to ignore them. Insisting on them publicly is considered disrespectful.

But Karl believes in basketball the way most people believe in God. He will not tolerate sacrilege. When he is defending the values of the game, he doesn't really care whom he offends. Some things he knows in his bones.

He's been a model of decorum since joining the Nuggets, having learned the hard way that players, not coaches, run NBA teams. Still, sometimes he just can't help himself. A week ago, for example, after a blowout loss and a lackadaisical practice the next day.

"I don't think that's very professional," he fumed. "We're not a great team yet. We're not a championship team yet. It doesn't happen by a light switch. It happens by work and preparation and professionalism and togetherness and belief and trust. . . . Sometimes we have (those things) and, unfortunately, sometimes we don't."

A few days later, he was more forgiving, but not backing off.

"I think we've moved in a good direction professionally, but I don't think we're a championship-attitude team yet," he said. "We take too many games with a looseness and a lack of focus. And then we play San Antonio and we're big time.

"So it's kind of instigated a little bit by the team that we play, and that's not good. Setting a standard and a foundation of how you play every night would be better. But I think we've upgraded that."

So I asked about his comment to Rome that these Nuggets are his hardest team to coach.

"We have a lot of All-Star caliber players, and usually, fitting talent together creates ego adjustments," he said. "I think that's where we're at right now. It's just a high-maintenance day a lot of nights. As I keep telling Pop, he doesn't live in the NBA. He's got a low-maintenance deal."

That would be Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who has the luxury of a team policed by Tim Duncan, its biggest star.

"It really comes down to your best players being leaders and taking care of it with peer pressure," Karl said. "The Kevin Garnetts, the (Larry) Birds, the great player who takes care of a guy who's not practicing hard or the guy who's moping about something. The great player goes over and says, 'Hey, that's not the way we do it here.'

"But in general the game has drifted towards, that's the responsibility of the coaching staff. And it gets to be a heavy weight. The truth of the matter that players don't understand is that negative energy, whatever form it takes - being sick, missing practice, injuries, attitudes - drains your ability to be special."

With all their big names and big contracts, the Nuggets are definitely challenged in this area. Allen Iverson has brought dynamic veteran leadership to game nights, but his opinion of practice is a matter of public record.

"A.I.'s pretty good," Karl said. "Every game, he's right there with me. Now, there are a couple practices I wish he'd probably be a little bit better, but I'm a coach. Practices are probably more important to me than they are to them."

Karl cannot help himself. While he preaches the values of the game, much as Larry Brown did, many of his coaching colleagues prefer to avoid the subject in public because it makes life in the locker room so much easier.

Remarkably, the Nuggets seem to be tolerating it. Their teamwork was occasionally breathtaking in a victory over Orlando on Friday night.

"I've got to manage it," Karl said. "It's my responsibility. It falls on my watch. But the truth of the matter is the players have to figure it out. They've got to grow up and become professional. They've got to become more responsible and put the team first. As soon as they walk in that door, put the team first and not their numbers or their minutes or their statistics."

If anyone wants to be offended by this basketball truism, so be it. After all these years, George ain't backing off that one.


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The reason why Karl loses touch with his players is mainly due to his big mouth and his even bigger ego.
Always whining about his players to the media this guy.

he's right, pop doesnt live in the nba, he sleeps very comfortably in the bed he made over the last 10 years.

What a fucking loser.












Literally.

Most pro coaches let the star players run the team with their 'egos first' attitudes. George has a low tolerance for egos and a huge respect for team basketball. He isn't able to keep that buried like most coaches.

His public outbursts calling out players for 'me first' play haven't been diplomatic, but anyone who can't see his POV and where he's coming from, can't appreciate him. He's a throwback to old time BB and would probably be better as a college coach.

Pop is the same type of coach really, but he's been blessed with Tim and DRob who wouldn't let any 'me and my stats first' crap infect the Spurs. And we win with team play and players who understand that concept.

Seems to me he compliments the Spurs.

His problem with his players, he has a problem with working with peanut heads, but yet continues to sign them.

Karl still hasn't figured it out. And if he hasn't by now...he never will.

I don't think even Duncan would thrive under him.

George Karl is the most over-rated coach in a long time in the NBA.

Besides whatever is being said, he got the point, but he hasn't the skill to overcome :dizzy

good coaches keep players' egos in check

pop does a real, real good job of that, because he tolerates nearly zero of that shit

Wow, way to turn a compliment towards the Spurs into an insult.

Spurs fan is a strange creature. Some of you are knowledgeable about basketball, and some of you are whiny, insecure douchebags.

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Originally Posted by Findog

Wow, way to turn a compliment towards the Spurs into an insult.

Spurs fan is a strange creature. Some of you are knowledgeable about basketball, and some of you are whiny, insecure douchebags.

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sigh...

Nobody said Karl insulted the Spurs...and nobody is turning his compliments into insults.

We are pointing out why Karl cannot do what he admires in the Spurs.

Just because he admires us, and wants to be like us...he has to figure out why he ain't like us.

...and he hasn't.

I'm not sure he ever can at this late stage of his career.

That's just truth, not insult.

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Originally Posted by SouthernFried

sigh...

Nobody said Karl insulted the Spurs...and nobody is turning his compliments into insults.

We are pointing out why Karl cannot do what he admires in the Spurs.

Just because he admires us, and wants to be like us...he has to figure out why he ain't like us.

...and he hasn't.

I'm not sure he ever can at this late stage of his career.

That's just truth, not insult.

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I would say it's Carmelo that "doesn't get it," not Karl. He probably doesn't have the patience to deal with today's players. Duncan is a throwback in more ways than one, he's a coachable superstar that doesn't care about his stats.

I listened to this interview on Jim Rome and it was interesting to hear how honest he was.

He called out a lot of guys on his team. He actually said that Camby is the only player he couldn't afford to lose off his roster.

I thought it was a good interview. I don't think Pop would be that forthcoming. Karl tends to wear his heart on his sleeve a bit more I think. As a player I think I'd prefer Pop keeping things CIA.

I feel a bit for Karl - he is a purist in a muddy world. He wants his teams to play pure, team-first basketball, but that goal is made almost impossible by the culture of the NBA - that is, ego- and money-driven. He yearns for the sort of culture that Pop has created at the Spurs, and rightly so.

I think WalterBenitez, in his unique fashion, has nailed it:

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Besides whatever is being said, he got the point, but he hasn't the skill to overcome

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Where are you from, Walter?

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Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

I don't think Pop would be that forthcoming. Karl tends to wear his heart on his sleeve a bit more I think. As a player I think I'd prefer Pop keeping things CIA.

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This is why Karl will never have what POP does.

Even some of the headcases the Spurs have had...POP got rid of them quickly and quietly. There was never a calling out about the problems X player has...we just got rid of them, without tearing them down. Players respect that. Wouldn't you?.

Karl constantly sounds like the players he's whining about. He always seems to be searching for sympathy from outsiders..."Do you see what I have to work with??!!"

You build a "TEAM" by example. You don't whine about the the things you don't have...you make and build until you do have those things you want.

Karl has the team he made. It is a reflection of him. The fact he doesn't like it...says quite a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Findog

Wow, way to turn a compliment towards the Spurs into an insult.

Spurs fan is a strange creature. Some of you are knowledgeable about basketball, and some of you are whiny, insecure douchebags.

---

I see a guy bitching about something he can control.

:bang

Saying Pop doesn't have to be in a "real NBA environment". WTF, no shit. Because he doesn't sign bitches like Melo and Iverson. Pop and the organization have created an NBA environment. The NBA environment that should have been.

It's amazing how little control coaches have over FO decisions in many cases. Owners and GMs often make decisions that leave coaches dumbfounded. But they have to take what they are given.

One case in point, Spanoulis was apparently signed without Van Gundy signing on to the deal. The coach nullified it by not playing the player.

Now almnost everyone on here has criticized Spanoulis (perhaps rightly so) for bitching about his playing time--but how many have also defended Van Gundy and his attitude toward the FO that signed the player.

You might also read between the lines on Pop's comments on the Scola trade and wonder if he was completely happy with the way that went. Maybe the FO made that decision without Pop being solidly behind it?

hopefully Karl is fired soon anyway. He is the worst coach in the NBA and is wasting alot of talent

i would never hire, George Karl or Mike Dunleavey, Isiah Thomas, Rick Adelman.

The only coaches I would ever hire is Pop, Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson, Phil Jackson, Stan Van Gundy, Hubie Brown, Avery Johnson, Rudy T

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He is the worst coach in the NBA and is wasting alot of talent

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Oh god, hes not the worst coach in the league.

Is he as good as he was in the mid 90s with the Sonics? No, but hes not the worst coach in the league.

IMO D'Antoni is worse than Karl.

"A.I.'s pretty good," Karl said. "Every game, he's right there with me. Now, there are a couple practices I wish he'd probably be a little bit better, but I'm a coach. Practices are probably more important to me than they are to them." :dramaquee

Okay, I just couldn't resist. Practice....we talkin bout Practice.........not a game but Practice.........man.......we talkin bout Practice. Okay it's out of my system now. :p:

I lost all respect for Georgie Porgie after his temper tantrum about Manu in the 2005 playoffs.

We ain't even talkin bout the game....

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Originally Posted by birdy219

"A.I.'s pretty good," Karl said. "Every game, he's right there with me. Now, there are a couple practices I wish he'd probably be a little bit better, but I'm a coach. Practices are probably more important to me than they are to them." :dramaquee

Okay, I just couldn't resist. Practice....we talkin bout Practice.........not a game but Practice.........man.......we talkin bout Practice. Okay it's out of my system now. :p:

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But isn't practice where you get better? Actually, isn't practice to a great extent more important than the game? Isn't practice where you study your upcoming opponent, and set the defensive scheme for them? Isn't practice where you set your offensive scheme for the game?

To me, a guy that isn't too interested in practice, will make a lot of mistakes during the game. BTW isn't "not interested in practicing" the reason Devin Brown is no longer a Spur?

When a guy lets the coach know he isn't interested in practicing, that tells me he thinks he has already become the best he can be. Personally, I would not want that kind of guy on my roster, and if I was forced to have him, he would find most of his time sitting at the end of the bench.

The point is, one guy cannot get away with shit at the expense of the team. And if it takes calling him out in public for his antics, to get him to change his mental attitude, then so be it.

This old shit of a player saying the coach should have kept it private, is nothing more than a cop out.

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Originally Posted by Capt Bringdown

The reason why Karl loses touch with his players is mainly due to his big mouth and his even bigger ego.
Always whining about his players to the media this guy.

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Yep, his whole career he has never gone out of his way to keep this stuff in house. When you keeping shooting your mouth off, over and over to the media about your players, eventually they stop trusting you and you lose them. Seems Karl will never learn, watch this will be his last season after another first round exit.