In these comments, do not look for the usual huge amount of detail and proof that you see in the ordinary releases here at Nuggets 1. Some of this is more like everyday conversation than like top quality sports writing. On the other hand, some of the comments do include some detailed reasoning and proof that I pride myself on in the full reports.
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JULY 2008 FORUM COMMENTARY ON THE NUGGETS, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THEIR MISTAKES
Phil Jackson in his post game 6 of the NBA finals series interview just declared that PG Rajon Rondo of the Celtics was the one who did the most damage to Kobe Bryant and the hopes of the Lakers in general. In game 6, Rondo and Paul Pierce combined for 18 assists versus 16 for the whole Lakers team combined. Rondo and 2-guard E House combined for 13 assists, just 2 shy of the number of assists by the top two assisting guards that makes a win about 99.5% likely. As Jackson pointed out, the Celtics used a smart and efficient offense along with their fearsome defense to shut the lights out on his Lakers. If they had only had one without the other, the door would have been left open for the Lakers to pull an upset.
All of this once again shows that George Karl is simply out of his league as a basketball coach, since he believes that who exactly plays PG is not all that crucial, because it is possible to get the rest of the team to combine together to make up for an inadequate PG. This has been shown to be wrong not only by the Celtics this year, but by all NBA champions.
Congratulations to Rajon Rondo, Doc Rivers, and the rest of the Celtics.
Would you please just retire already Mr. Karl?
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I see around the net that most are predicting that the Nuggets will draft a PG with their 20th pick. They do not have a 2nd round pick.
This is a mistake, because the Nuggets are not going to be competitive anymore at Center, due to Marcus Camby on the downslope of his career and due to Nene (who can play the position to some extent in theory) seldom playing for one reason or another. The Nuggets should draft the best center they can get in this 2008 draft.
Why do they think they need a PG? They will always think they need a PG until George Karl is gone, because Karl would not know a good potential PG already on the roster if one bit him in the rear end. Karl neither fully understands nor fully respects the PG role, so it was child's play for him to pretend that Anthony Carter is a starting PG in the NBA during 2007-08, only to chicken out in the Lakers series when Allen Iverson all of a sudden appeared at the position, but without any preparation or instructions.
In other words, the Nuggets do not really need a PG unless Atkins is a lost cause, and even then they do not need a lower 1st round PG more than they need a center with that pick. But since Karl refuses to recognize J.R. Smith as one of the better 2-guards in the NBA, since Iverson can not play PG according to Karl, and since the position is really not that crucial to Karl, the front office feels the need to get another PG with the one and only pick.
For every successful 1st round PG pick, there must be at least 2 1/2 1st round PG picks that are more or less busts, so even if the Nuggets truly needed a PG, the odds would be stacked against the pick working out.
So the Nuggets if they do indeed use their pick on a lower 1st round PG will be doing nothing more and nothing less than enabling Mr. Karl's lack of understanding of the role of the PG in basketball. They will be making a key mistake and setting up a good possibility that when Camby is gone or no longer effective, the Nuggets will quickly fall down close to or actually into the cellar of the Northwest Division.
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A mock, made up response by George Karl to Phil Jackson's comment from the previous comment:
Rondo was not a big factor. No player that young can be a big factor, and the role of the PG is overrated.
[George Karl]
Go away, George, there's the door.
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Iverson always wanted freedom to be himself more than anything else, and the 76'ers and the Nuggets went along with his stated wishes. But I am afraid he ended up with a little bit too much freedom, because being a real contender got lost along that road.
Did Iverson become so obsessed with freedom to be himself that he allowed that objective to crowd out everything else?
I think I will determine the answer to that before my Iverson series is finished.
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Um, Nuggets management, having seen the 76'ers' strike one and the Nuggets' strike two with respect to Iverson, no one is going to give you real players for Iverson at this point and be strike three. He's 33, so it's kind of too late to get him into a system that makes a little sense.
Nuggets: You made your bed and you chose to not change the bedding, and now you have to sleep in it.
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It's great to see C. Anthony finally start to be an NBA man, by understanding that things are not right in Nuggets Land, and by sticking up for himself and his team more as opposed to just slaving for the coaches. He is no longer assuming that his Nuggets coaches all know what they are doing all of the time, which is good. You were never on a trip to Six Flags, Melo, and your team is really, really messed up.
Anyone who can score the ball as well as he can must have enough brains to help coach his team, or to at least demand more from the those being paid to coach. It was overdue, but better late than never.
He doesn't want to be traded because in his mind he is on top of the world in Denver and if he goes to a big market he won't be as, shall we say, legendary. But he will eventually insist on a trade if Karl doesn't mind his manners.
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I wish C Anthony would get out of Denver now that the Nuggets have revealed what a small franchise they are, by not giving much of a damn about the quality of the coaches. I guess being in his mind the Top Dawg of Denver is too valuable for Anthony to give up right now; can't say that I blame him.
Or, better the rotten franchise you know than the franchise you don't know about?
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Carter had better be gone if the Nuggets want to win more games than they lose, but if Najera goes as expected, the Nuggets defense becomes even worse, and it's already terrible.
Oh well, at least Bobby Jones is back on the roster. He can defend alright, though of course he is not considered proper according to Karl's style book.
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Seattle is a huge market and Oklahoma is small, which makes this all the more stupid.
At the very least it can not be the Oklahoma Sonics. How about the Oklahoma Rednecks, lol?
You need a team Seattle, or it's like the NFL with no LA team. It shows there is something very wrong with the economics of sports and of the NBA in particular. (Jeez, and to think I do sports in part to get away from real economics!)
There should be teams in St. Louis, Baltimore, San Diego, and perhaps Las Vegas, too.
Have a good 4th y'all.
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Mr. Karl's new book, with the cover photo recalling the Kenyon Martin benching in the 2006 playoffs, laugh out loud:
