George Karl Has No Qualms About Throwing A.I. Under the bus
The excitement over the Iverson/Billups trade is off the charts in the Mile High City. The Nuggets, after all, are 5-1 since re-acquiring their native son. And no one is happier about this than the head coach.
Hearing George Karl talk about the ramifications of the swap, you’d almost be led to believe that a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders; that he’s finally free to demonstrate his coaching ingenuity to the world now that he’s been blessed with a “playmaker”.
From the Denver Post.
“I don’t think there’s any question coaching a team for many minutes, without a passing and point guard mentality, is frustrating for a coach. Sometimes I saw something, but I couldn’t get it done on the court because I didn’t have a playmaker out there.”
“A.I., at times, had trouble trusting the guy he’s throwing it to,” Karl said.
Karl even busts out his calculator to demonstrate Iverson’s inferiority at the point guard position (something about “contested-shot charts, bad-shot charts and cheap defensive possessions”).
Of course, there’s no mention of Karl’s failure to properly utilize Allen alongside Melo, the team’s overall inability to play a lick of defense over the last couple of years, or the fact that their recent success has come largely against sub .500 teams.
The “Answer” when Denver bows out of the Playoffs early yet again next spring? Iverson’s fault, naturally.
-
Ron Ron Comes to Hollywood
A shrewd move or precursor to destruction?
- Sorry, Blazers. Hedo Now Going to Toronto
- Welcome to Portland, Hedo
- Phil Jackson Will Coach in ‘09-’10
- Who Will Coach the Pistons?
- Matt Harpring’s Career May Be Over
- Marbury, Finished in Boston?
- Video: The Big Press Conference
- Josh Childress: On the NBA Market Again
- A Look at the Cavs’ Options
- More News and Rumors »
-
Home of the Brave
Kobe Bryant, the NBA’s patriot.
- Hype and Drama?
We prefer to call them John and Lance.
Come on, Karl is pretending that he didn’t have Steve Blake as a point guard. Or, he’s forgetting that he did have Andre Miller and the Nuggets still couldn’t get out of the first round!
So basically, George Karl is counting on people who are not enamored with Allen Iverson’s brand of basketball to immediately take the bait and accept that he was the problem in Denver. That’s what he is counting on to protect himself and get people to ignore the fact that Linas Kleiza, Anthony Carter and Carmelo are regressing. That Nene still does not play defense more than four feet away from the basket and that his team still cannot be counted on to defend in crucial situations.
Cool.
he could have elimated some of those isos. had steve blake or carter get iverson and Melo the rock on some down screens and flare screens like Detroit runs. He could have told Kenyon and Camby to flash hard to the rim when Iverson drives baseline. Eliminated most of those elbow jumpers for Camby. He could have gotten Melo to crash the boards harder and to work on doing more things from the high post at the free throw line. He could have worked harder on the Melo and Iverson pick and roll. Lots of stuff he could have done.
I really believe Detroit can come out of the East. The only problem is that this depends on Rasheed Wallace and several Detroit fans have told me that makes it a pipe dream.
Cats haven’t even watched games. I’m an unabashed Iverson fan, but I’m also a realist about how difficult it can be to build a team around his talents.
That said, George Karl did nothing. He rolled out the ball and made sour faces. Come on. He’s still making sour faces, but now at least Chauncey has given them som real defense at the one.
Seriously, are you people forgetting that Karl coached ANDRE MILLER and STEVE BLAKE. These are two prototypical point guards. They pass the ball around, the set people up and Miller is a very solid defender.
What was the excuse with them? Why were there still ball movement issues?
Doesn’t anybody think that it’s weird that people like Anthony Carter, Eric Snow, George Lynch and Steve Blake have had career years alongside Iverson?
Has anybody noticed how much players like Aaron Affalo and Kwame Brown have benefited from playing with Iverson? The easy shots they are already getting?
Look, Iverson does not need to be on a team full of “scrubs” to succeed. He needs a team of defenders who can make open jump shots, are active around the glass and don’t need to touch the ball every time down the floor.
That’s it.
It’s not magic. In Denver, how many of those things were there? How many of Denver’s big men are activity guys? How many serious spot up shooters were on the floor? (Steve Blake and Kleiza both had career years with Iverson.)
Denver was not constructed to totally take adavantage of Iverson’s talents and George Karl did nothing to make the situation better. This is classic Karl using the media to advance his point of view and deflect blame. He does this all the time.
Finally, Tayshaun Prince is having a career year right now and is finally get recognition for everything he does. And all this came with Iverson on his team.
WTF are some of y’all talking about?
BS. Blake, Carter and Kleiza ate off Iverson. Camby had a career year. JR Smith fell off because he couldn’t get playing time because of Karl.
Stackhouse had a career year in Detroit after leaving Iverson, he never became an elite player and is generally regarded as a chucker. He had problems playing with Jordan too. Larry Hughes has never, EVER been that good. He had one great year in Washington where he put up 22 and that was a contract year. He’s never been a consistent shooter and couldn’t mesh with LEBRON. So is Lebron a problem? Does he hurt teammates growth?
It’s true, as Allenp said, to incorporate a player like AI in a team just like that. He’s not easy to fit.
Is that what makes you think he’s a hindrance? If so, sign me up for some cancerous hindrance please.
I like how Ben Gordon has gone to work with the court time he’s been given….he hasn’t said too much to the media about being the 2nd best guard the bulls have and not being utilised properly…
- Im sorry, but you are full of garbage…T-Prince has been playing like a grown ass man so far this season, he has probably benefited the most since Iversons arrival. Give me a break. The ball movement has been perfectly fine since Iverson got there..the problem in Denver was that no one barely moved around in the half court sets, they would just stand around waiting for someone to make a play…in Detroit they move very well without the ball, I remember during the Laker game the commentater saying “if you move without the ball Iverson will get it to you”, and he did. Also, as someone mentioned the Nuggets defense was a little better then last season even before Iverson was traded. And if it took Billups to come to that Nuggets team to convince those lazy bastards to want to win then that is truly pathetic. Why should they need someone to constantly tell them to play hard? Disgusting. The Nuggets have only played 1 team with a winning record since Billups arrival, so give us all a break. I like Billups and think he can help that team but some of you are pushing it. Anyone that has watched Detroit over these last few seasons can tell you that Chauncey got real complacent..hell even Sheed said that about last seasons Pistons the team and some of its players in a recent interview. I have seen Piston fans online say that since Iverson has gotten there that that team seems to have a new spark and the players are playing even harder then they have before, he also gives them something they never had which is when their offense gets stagnent a true “go-to” guy, someone that can get to the line at will and someone that can get you more points in the paint. I actually seen Iverson playing decent defense for the first time in a while the othernight(lol), maybe that team is also rubbing off on him. So if we are going to give credit, lets not make it one sided..because some of you are just in here giving your opinion on Iverson, but not basing it on FACT. Yes Iverson has had the tendency to make some bad shots..all scorers do, so I dont know why he is the one that constantly gets called out for it. That Nuggets organization needs to worry about their own so called “franchise player”, maybe if Melo lived up to even half the hype that some of the Nuggets fans put him up to, maybe that organization wouldnt have to go out and make trades for other Superstar players to try to help save that sorry franchise. Its okay to hold Iverson accountible for some things, but make it fair..by Karls own admittence he said that Iverson was the ONLY player he didnt have a problem with ‘jawing off’, he said that Iverson was a professional the entire time. If that was the old “Sixer” Iverson, he would have cussed Karl out for half the Coaching mistakes Karl made…and their were plenty. Karl knows good and damn well AI wasnt their primary PG, so the comparisen is mute..all Karl just did was buy his team a first class ass whoopin when Detroit comes to town.
…..He can’t even assess the value of capable coaching staff he could keep on hand, let alone the pluses/minuses to a particular style of PG over another…
In fact, any sort of class would be an improvement.
In fact, any sort of class would be an improvement.”
ha ha ha
Comments