George Karl named Coach of the Year

[eathb_au]

As per NBA's twitter account

[The Rebel]

Well the good news is that COY winners seem to get fired a year or so later.

[corona]

Well the good news is that COY winners seem to get fired a year or so later.

not sure i cant wait that long.

only hope until that point is that andre miller gets traded, brewer walks, and they don't sign anyone who karl will have a penchant for overplaying despite being a crappy basketball player.

[Wannabe MEP]

Great article:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9254113/george-karl-denver-nuggets-named-nba-coach-year

I'm a Karl fan. I think we overachieved this year with a young team that doesn't quite fit perfectly. The first-round loss was certainly disappointing, but 2 things hurt us a lot: Gallo's injury, and David Lee's injury.

Is he the best coach out there? No, Pop is. But beyond Pop (and Phil), Karl is one of a handful of coaches that are in the next tier of quality coaches, in my opinion. You could do A LOT worse.

This really was a fantastic season. But GS is having a fantastic playoffs.

[Mac1958]

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While we're on the topic, can someone explain to me why The Coach of the Year would change his lineup, taking out his season-long starting center, for the playoffs?

Was a reason ever given?

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[ChuckS]

While we're on the topic, can someone explain to me why The Coach of the Year would change his lineup, taking out his season-long starting center, for the playoffs?

That's an interesting question. I think if Faried had been totally ready in the first two games, Koufos might have survived, or if Karl had inserted Faried into the starting lineup for Fournier instead of Koufos. But it could also be argued that Bogut took Kosta out of the lineup. The latter shot 58% during the regular season, but only (particularly bad for a center) 37% in the playoffs. His rebounds went from 7 to 3.5 and he had an efficiency of six. He had zero points and two rebounds in the blowout game two loss at home.

But (in Karl's defense) in addition to Koufos' poor play, it probably made some sense to try to adapt to the GS lineup without Lee. It seemed to help in the third game, but then we were again blown out in game four. Karl then made another adjustment, finally replacing Fournier with McGee. We still lost the series, but that reduced their scoring from 112 points per game to 96. I'm always smarter in retrospect, but I think that should have been done in game three. (This might seem to contradict the following conclusion, as might the possibility of starting Brewer - although he didn't play all that great himself - from the beginning, to help our defense with Jack and maybe even Curry.)

So, while Karl might not have been totally without sin, I really cannot blame this loss on just coaching. (Did you ever notice everyone says it's a players game until a loss?) With neither center, or both collectively, unable to offset Bogut's rebounding, and with their perimeter players sometimes seeming not to miss any shots anyways, we could not be expected to run as well. Without Gallo, with Chandler shooting 36/31%, and Fournier giving us nothing on offense or defense (this is not an attack - he is a nice rookie with limited playing time and experience), I think we lacked the fire power to outscore them the way they were shooting, in spite of our averaging a pretty good 103 points/per. In addition, I think the loss of Gallo hurt us infinitely more than their loss of Lee, with Bogut returning to health and form.

[Mac1958]

While we're on the topic, can someone explain to me why The Coach of the Year would change his lineup, taking out his season-long starting center, for the playoffs?

That's an interesting question. I think if Faried had been totally ready in the first two games, Koufos might have survived, or if Karl had inserted Faried into the starting lineup for Fournier instead of Koufos. But it could also be argued that Bogut took Kosta out of the lineup. The latter shot 58% during the regular season, but only (particularly bad for a center) 37% in the playoffs. His rebounds went from 7 to 3.5 and he had an efficiency of six. He had zero points and two rebounds in the blowout game two loss at home.

But (in Karl's defense) in addition to Koufos' poor play, it probably made some sense to try to adapt to the GS lineup without Lee. It seemed to help in the third game, but then we were again blown out in game four. Karl then made another adjustment, finally replacing Fournier with McGee. We still lost the series, but that reduced their scoring from 112 points per game to 96. I'm always smarter in retrospect, but I think that should have been done in game three. (This might seem to contradict the following conclusion, as might the possibility of starting Brewer - although he didn't play all that great himself - from the beginning, to help our defense with Jack and maybe even Curry.)

So, while Karl might not have been totally without sin, I really cannot blame this loss on just coaching. (Did you ever notice everyone says it's a players game until a loss?) With neither center, or both collectively, unable to offset Bogut's rebounding, and with their perimeter players sometimes seeming not to miss any shots anyways, we could not be expected to run as well. Without Gallo, with Chandler shooting 36/31%, and Fournier giving us nothing on offense or defense (this is not an attack - he is a nice rookie with limited playing time and experience), I think we lacked the fire power to outscore them the way they were shooting, in spite of our averaging a pretty good 103 points/per. In addition, I think the loss of Gallo hurt us infinitely more than their loss of Lee, with Bogut returning to health and form.

Yeah, I can see that, with Gallinari out and Faried hurt, Karl felt he had to think outside the box. I was just surprised that he would take an additional starter out, screwing with chemistry more than it already was.

On the other hand, I have roughly 1,131 fewer NBA coaching victories than he, so I suppose I can give him the benefit of the doubt...



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[The Rebel]

finally some good news.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--clipp ... Q--;_ylv=3

Denver coach George Karl, voted the NBA's Coach of the Year, has been discussed as a possible candidate within the Clippers' front office, sources said.

Karl has one year left on his contract, and Denver holds an option that would trigger three more years. In the past, Karl has always been uneasy about entering the final year of deals and has been eager to discuss a possible extension with the Nuggets, sources said.

[eathb_au]

Maybe Ujiri going could be a good thing:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/93339 ... -unsettled

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl's status has become "unsettled" following the departure of general manager Masai Ujiri for the Toronto Raptors, two sources close to the situation said late Saturday night.

Karl, who was named the NBA's coach of the year following the Nuggets' 57-win season, is not in any imminent danger of losing his job, the sources stressed. But Ujiri's departure, coupled with Denver's disappointing first-round playoff exit, has shaken things up in Denver to the point that Karl, who is under contract for just one more season, could, incredibly, begin the season on the hot seat after winning the league's top coaching honor for the first time in his long career, instead of beginning extension talks.

Well at least it puts him in one of those "get out of the first round or get fired" situations for the first time ever here.

[The Rebel]

I have never seen a coach get so much praise and attention for constantly coaching teams that underachieve in the playoffs and international play. The only worry I have about him leaving is what kind of replacement the Kroenkes are willing to pay for. Add in the fact that they have to hire a new GM and I could see them going extremely cheap on both at this point.

[MomaDance]

-They will hire D'Alessandro for cheap
-They will keep Karl and the pressure will be on him next season to get out of the first round or the team will go in another direction.
-Gallo out most of the year, Iggy walks this summer, the Nuggets fail to get out of the first round again and Karl get fired/let go

[The Rebel]

SportsCenter ‏@SportsCenter 2m

BREAKING: Nuggets part ways with head coach George Karl, league source tells @WojYahooNBA. Karl spent 9 seasons with Denver.

[eathb_au]

Nuggets fans REJOICE!!

Now bring in Brian Shaw.

[denvers_finest]

Wow, suprised but not disappointed. Karl was clearly not getting it done and it was time for a change.

I vote for Hollins, but Shaw would be good as well.

[pistons]

From the outside looking in , I think you guys truly undervalue Karl.

[The Rebel]

Let me ask you this, have you every heard of Marty Schottenheimer? Just like karl his teams did well in the regular season then ultimately collapsed in the playoffs many times due to coaching errors.

[MomaDance]

Collapse? The only time he ever lost a playoff series in which he was favored with the Nuggets was this year. Sure, he could have had a couple upsets here and there but to say HIS team was upset every year is absolute revisionist history.

[The Rebel]

Collapse? The only time he ever lost a playoff series in which he was favored with the Nuggets was this year. Sure, he could have had a couple upsets here and there but to say HIS team was upset every year is absolute revisionist history.

The only team that was outmanned heading into the playoffs were the 1st one Karl came to the Nuggets. Fact is year after year the Nuggets under performed, many of those teams did it in the regular season as well, yet Karl was allowed to keep coaching. Finally the Nuggets owner ship is saying just above average is not good enough.

[MomaDance]

And again, the only time he ever lost a playoff series with the Nuggets in which he was favored to win was this year. The notion that he continually choked in the playoffs throughout his tenure in Denver is simply untrue.

[corona]

And again, the only time he ever lost a playoff series with the Nuggets in which he was favored to win was this year. The notion that he continually choked in the playoffs throughout his tenure in Denver is simply untrue.

even in 9 seasons....by simple chance, we should have overachieved at least once....don't you think?
maybe at least taking the spurs or lakers to 7 games instead of 4 or 5.

he's had star laden talent in iverson, melo & kmart....and was 1-8 in the playoffs.
his overplaying of anthony carter in the teams only successful playoff run was absolutely the teams demise against the lakers in the WCFs. he was completely inept at drawing up inbounds plays for one, which costs the nuggets at least 1 game....and then decided to put anthony carter on kobe defensively, which was an absolute disaster...and it also allowed kobe to hang out in the paint and rest on defense because anthony carter can't shoot....at all.
he's had teams built perfectly to his coaching style this season.....and he couldn't even come up with a scheme to win against a group that didn't do a whole lot but shoot 3's. he had andre miller to guard the best shooter of all time, when we have one of the best defensive wing players in the league on the team. mind boggling. popovich was able to dismantle that team in a matter of a couple games....with way less athletic players.