George Karl a Big Fan of the Dallas Mavericks’ Style of Play

Karl got a kick out of Rick Carlisle’s coaching clinic during the Playoffs, and particularly the NBA Finals, but wonders if his own team can emulate the Mavericks’ pass-happy offense. The Denver Post reports: “Nuggets training camp won’t start until late September. And who knows if they’ll have one at all in 2011, thanks to the impending lockout? But whenever the Nuggets unite, Karl plans to teach them a lesson about the Mavericks, the team that beat The Big Three. ‘We know we’re a better defensive team than Dallas, but do we pass the ball as well as Dallas?’ Karl said Thursday after Denver worked out six draft prospects, notably Texas’ Jordan Hamilton and Michigan’s Darius Morris. ‘They’re just a team that finds the open man. Period. They’re going to find the open man. You had guys (on their roster) who five years ago weren’t into finding the open man. Dirk probably wasn’t. Jason Terry probably wasn’t. (DeShawn) Stevenson, Shawn Marion. But they had a plan. ‘The key to playoff basketball is the hustle, wild-card player — who the great player allows him to (ascend). Would Dirk have allowed those guys to take the spotlight five years ago?’ The Nuggets, of course, don’t have a Dirk (perhaps they have Dirk Light in Danilo Gallinari, who is just 22 and shows flashes that are Dirk-like). Karl knows that for his players to make a playoff push, they must trust each other.”