George Karl behind Melo Deal?

[sportsmikegm23]

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Sorry but at this point it makes it tough to believe you have any kind of objectivity about the situation.

You have no clue about horrible coaches. Try watching Paul Westhead for a season or Paul Westphal.

I am not a huge fan of George Karl...but Elbow is right....this franchise has had some manured laced coaches in the past, and while I don't think Karl is the greatest coach... he did sorta coach this team to 50 wins... and yes, Melo got them to 50 and AI...and so on and so on...

Basically I am saying, you can't blame Karl for everything. It's not like he said screw it...we just won't play defense... it's up to AI and Melo, and even Steven Hunter to play defense...Karl can't make them... They have to take pride and want to play defense..

No question Karl has been soft and keeping AC in the starting line-up wasn't great. But he did coach JR...he and his staff...and JR was much better in the last 3 months of the season. He didn't go out of control as much... usually played ok defense (compared to the team).

Listen, Phil Jackson with Kobe the last 2 years couldn't get out of the 1st round. If you star/stars don't fully buy into a team concept... then generally speaking you aren't going to win... Kobe bought in this year...If there are no trades (Melo won't be, and I doubt AI will be either) Karl has to figure out how to reach Melo and AI...or Melo might be traded next year and Karl won't have a job next year.

[Nutty Nats Fan]

It didn't even seem like Karl tried to put in a team concept. Seemed whenever he talked to the media, he said he didn't need to worry about scoring, because Melo and AI could score. Although he got on AI to shoot more, instead of pass. He came to Denver willing to buy in to a team concept, and Melo was on board for that. Karl didn't bother.

It's not like he said screw it...we just won't play defense...

Yes, he actually said that. Through words and actions.

And I'd call the 50 wins more from the team's talent than any coaching.

[pickaxe]

how many times this season did you watch the games and wonder if Karl had waited 8 points too long before calling a timeout......

he had very little momentum detection

the thing that I would question is.....if Karl is such a great coach, and Melo and AI are superstars who can score, and the rest of the team is pretty decent, why didn't we end up winning 60 games? that's what I would have expected from this crew.....assuming all the above is true, including that Karl is a great coach

so we're talking about a great coach that underachieved....and maybe that's his achilles heel, he underachieves and it rubs off on the players

who's the leader, anyway? everyone's a semi-leader

[maxwellcu]

Look at the teams that are in the WCF right now.

The lakers. The triangle. A coach with 9 rings going on 10. An actual offensive scheme.

The spurs. Flawless defensive rotations -- they literally NEVER leave anyone open, ever. On offense, they move the ball until they get a good shot, every possession.

The nuggets do none of these things. We have no offensive scheme, no ball movement, laughable rotations on defense. Part of a coaches job is to be a game day coach and install legitimate schemes and gameplans. Karl does NONE of the above. I'm not even going to get into his player rotations and timeouts.

He is a laughable coach and that is objective. A team with a roster like the nuggets currently have assembled requires a firm coach who will install legitimate schemes and motivate his players to play legitimate NBA basketball or it will devolve into a 50 win type team that plays streetball style hoops and does nothing in the playoffs, which is exactly what the team is now. We have far too many egos and characters on our team to NOT have a legitimate coach.

[denvers_finest]

Look at the teams that are in the WCF right now.

The lakers. The triangle. A coach with 9 rings going on 10. An actual offensive scheme.

The spurs. Flawless defensive rotations -- they literally NEVER leave anyone open, ever. On offense, they move the ball until they get a good shot, every possession.

Yeah, thats fair. Lets compare Karl to the two best coaches in the entire league, and two of the best of all time. Of course Karl pales in compairison to them and their 14 combined rings. Thats like compairing Melo to MJ. Karl certainly isn't the best coach in the league, but some of you guys make it seem like he is the worst, and I can assure you he is far from the worst.

He is a laughable coach and that is objective. A team with a roster like the nuggets currently have assembled requires a firm coach who will install legitimate schemes and motivate his players to play legitimate NBA basketball or it will devolve into a 50 win type team that plays streetball style hoops and does nothing in the playoffs, which is exactly what the team is now. We have far too many egos and characters on our team to NOT have a legitimate coach.

See, I think if there was one thing Karl did exceedingly well this year it was his ability it manage all the egos on the team and keep everyone happy. Not one time did I hear a single player complain about touches, or minutes, or points or any thing of the like. When you consider the payroll and the egos on this team, thats an accomplishment in itself.

In fact, I think a "firm coach", as you put it, is a terrible idea for the cast of characters on this team. I highly doubt some hard nosed coach comes in and starts demanding things from a group of all-stars and future hall of famers and has much success. Unless of course we all the sudden get Popovich to coach this team next year. But, thats probably the stupid front offices fault.

[el loco]

I usually agree with what you have to say Denvers-finest, but I am just not a big GK fan and find it difficult to say a lot of positive things about the man. He did somehow get through to JR Smith by being tough on him, so that is a positive. His staff has helped to develop Linas Kleiza into a decent player, and he did let the bad blood from a couple of years ago between himself and Kmart stay in the past, so not everything he has done for this franchise has been awful. I'd still very much like to see him find another team or another job in the not so distant future.