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 primary reports I release.
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EARLY JULY 2008 FORUM COMMENTARY ON THE NUGGETS, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THEIR MISTAKES
And why do you think that GK was very noticeably upset at having to part with Andre Miller? Because Miller did part of his job for him by creating a little bit of an offensive system. This past season, Karl started out by ruling out having Iverson himself be of any help in creating a little bit of a system. This despite the fact that if you look at his career as a whole including college, Iverson has been as much a PG as a SG.
Even Mr. Karl realized that AC could not create anything resembling a dependable offense (partly because Iverson kept in effect interfering with AC by playing both guard positions at once). Atkins was injured and never fully recovered. Taurean Green was way too young to get past Karl's age bias.
So by the time the playoffs came, and probably long before that, poor Mr. Karl felt he had no one on the roster who could bring any system at all onto the court for him, and he still could not or would not do it himself. So he ended up begging the entire team to pitch in to make up for the lack of a point guard on live national television no less! The whole thing would have been hilarious if you were not a Nuggets fan.
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Somebody asked me:
I agree with you to an extent. But A.I certainly had a problem conforming to Cheeks' set offense and Brown's as well if I recall.
My response:
But this is the older, more mellow AI, so it was a golden opportunity to find out if he could be happy with a little bit of planning ahead instead of him deciding everything on the fly. Not to mention that Iverson himself, in his own man of few words style, has on a few occasions been hinting that the Nuggets should do something to take at least a small percentage of his freedom away for the good of the team as a whole, including in his post series news conference.
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Weems is a 2-guard, not a forward as the Denver writer says in the article at the top of this. So since the Nuggets need a 2-guard like they need a hole in the head unless JR has quit the team, then either the FO has gone completely insane or there has to be a fairly big trade soon.
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I made this comment was made when it became clear that Anthony Carter was going to be given another contracted year:
The front office, whether they know it or not, has completely given up on the goal of the Nuggets winning more than a single playoff game a year, let alone a series.
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Regarding the Carter contract extension, a major forum person commented:
why not just wait?
see what else shakes out.
the dumb thing to do is rush to sign a scrub like carter on the first day he can be signed, regardless of the minimum contract.
My response:
Exactly. The FO does not understand that things can't get any worse to speak of if you wait, because no one is going to snatch up Carter and, if they did, the Nuggets would get the equivalent of Carter all day, and be no worse off overall. Damn this is bad.
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Has there ever been a starting point guard up for grabs who did not get at least one offer from another team?
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It has appeared since the brawl in New York that George Karl's number one objective is to make sure that JR Smith never starts and that he never gets more than 10-20 mpg. He will do anything to reach that objective, anything at all. It appears that Mr. Karl will never forgive JR Smith for getting up and going after the guy who neck tackled him to the floor and risked cracking Smith's head open.
Had AI left the team, GK would have seen to it that Smith was replaced, to avoid having to start him.
So it would NEVER, ever be AC/JR. Also, the whole point of the FO signing AC is so that there isn't going to be another PG. So everything you are talking about is completely out of the question.
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I am hoping but hardly expecting that my assumptions are wrong. My assumptions can be proved wrong very simply this season, and should be proved wrong by rights. JR Smith, who even Mr. Karl admitted was much improved during this past season, needs to start. It's that simple. If he never, almost never, or only in severe team injury situations starts, than my assumptions will, as far as I am concerned, be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I'll be the first back here to say I underestimated Mr. Karl if JR Smith finally starts and gets 30 mpg or very close to it.
