Bad news. No more JR

[exstatic]

Damn, I wasn't expecting Karl to start throwing the players under the bus until next year

Actually, he started last year with Kenyon.

[Chris]

I actually had a little respect for Karl. Very unprofessional.

[boutons_]

Sit the player and STFU.

Tell the press without telling the player? Huge mistake.

[exstatic]

I actually had a little respect for Karl. Very unprofessional.

You must not have followed his career very closely. He does this at every stop, eventually.

[Samr]

Watching JR play against (read: for) the Spurs is a good thing, but this latest maneuver makes me really happy inside.

Remember kids, you too can be successful in life if you make public and obvious (-ly dirtbag) attempts to shift blame to everyone but yourself!

[FromWayDowntown]

Well he pretty much has to play AI/Camby/Nene/Melo 48 minutes and Kleiza/Blake for the other 48.

See the dirty little secret nobody's talking about is that Najera is killing the Nuggets just as much as Smith is. Sure he hustles and gets offensive rebounds, but the guy can't score. Every time he's in the game we simply double off him and make life a living for AI and Carmelo. The Nuggets simply can't score when Najera is in the game and we pretty much go on a run whenever he's in there instead of Nene.

I saw the +/- numbers on Najera today and will admit that I was mildly surprised at just how bad they've been with him on the floor in the last 2 games (-16, -10). He was +3 in each of the first two games.

Even if Najera was ridiculously bad, I don't think Karl is going to look at the +/- numbers and make a personnel decision at this point based on that. I think if he doesn't subs ute a player -- Johnson or Diawara -- for Smith in his rotation, I still think he's going to play Blake, Iverson, Anthony, Nene, Camby, Kleiza, and Najera. It will definitely tilt their bench a bit, because he has too many bigs and not enough backcourt players.

[RC's Boss]

You must not have followed his career very closely. He does this at every stop, eventually.

Yep, Ray Allen, Gary Payton, Kenyon Martin. Now he's shot J.R.

[mrsmaalox]

This is why I have always hated George Karl. Behind that chubby facade of someone who loves the game is someone who only cares about one thing. Himself. He's a con artist. He talks a good game, his teams are always scrappy, but never long term winners. They usually claw their way into things and then lose.

And Karl never fails to blame his team first, that is after he is done blaming the refs.

And don't forget to blame the opponents style of playing too

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

WOOT........ i hope this is a step closer to him being fired.

Id love to see GK out the door after game 5. This team is good enough but the coach is a d league coach with personal agendas that superseed the good of the team.

Who the heck would have Reggie Evans SIT for a playoff series? duh

[sabar]

Hey if the Nuggets won't use JR and Evans, we'll take them off your hands.

[George Gervin's Afro]

I actually think the shot Karl is referring to was a good one at the time. He was wide open and a shot needed to be taken.

[MannyIsGod]

Sounds like Smith violated a direct order from Karl. I don't think Karl in anyway is throwing anyone under the bus. You don't know what was said in his huddle prior to JR Smith taking those 3s, but obviously Karl is pissed off with the shots he took.

It isn't exactly like Smith has done anything right in this series. He was on thin ice after his game 3 performance, I'm not suprised he's being benched.

[Taco]

Loveable Karl throws another of his players under the bus to the press. Good for team morale too.

Not just Karl, the whole team is throwing him under the bus

[hater]

Karl ed up. now who is he gonna blame when Spurs win the series?

[LilMissSPURfect]

You win as a TEAM and you lose as a TEAM ! there are no secrets in that! KARL needs to get with the program......

[ATXSPUR]

Karl ed up. now who is he gonna blame when Spurs win the series?

Probably ai for being short. Of course we know he must blame somebody. The Spurs cant really be the better team.

what an asshat.

[hater]

I think karl will blame it on Melos and AIs cornrows for being to tight, "they was affecting their shot!"

[beirmeistr]

Watch out for The Nutcracker (Evans).

[cherylsteele]

Don't worry, at most you'll get a weeks suspension.

Naaa....a $500 vbookie fine

[SAGambler]

link

Karl sends Smith to the bench
By Chris Dempsey
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 05/01/2007 02:45:06 PM MDT


J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets (AP file)The biggest news coming out of the Nuggets video session Tuesday morning was coach George Karl announcing he was benching reserve guard J. R. Smith.

"He's done," Karl said.

Smith's mistakes throughout the series have grated on Karl, leading to the decision to bench him for Game 5 to be held Wednesday in San Antonio. The final straw apparently was Smith's ill-advised 3-pointer with 25.7 seconds left in Game 4 on Monday night with the Nuggets trailing 93-89.

"And then, of course the one with eight seconds to go, from 50 feet," Karl said. "I just love the dignity of the game being insulted right in front of me."

Karl said he had not talked to Smith about the benching by the time he met reporters at around noon. Smith is averaging 4.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game during the playoff series, which the Nuggets trail, 3-1.

Isn't this the guy that the Spurs fans were "wishing for" last summer? I'm thinking it was we need to trade Finley (washed up) and Horry (too old) and anyone else we could to get this guy on the team..

BTW.....what ever happened to all those naysayers from just a few short months ago? They don't seem to be around any longer.

[LilMissSPURfect]

Isn't this the guy that the Spurs fans were "wishing for" last summer? I'm thinking it was we need to trade Finley (washed up) and Horry (too old) and anyone else we could to get this guy on the team..

BTW.....what ever happened to all those naysayers from just a few short months ago? They don't seem to be around any longer.

WE wanted backstabbing GK on this team at one point???????

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Do you think anyone's actually told JR Smith about the decision yet?