NUGGETS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR SCURRILOUS GEORGE
http://nypost.com/sports/37479.htm
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Peter Vescey
December 31, 2004 -- IMAGINE if George Karl had as much of an in with Nuggets' owner E. Stanley Kroenke as widespread reports seem to indicate.
If that were true, the indubitably erudite coach with 16 seasons of experience (some of it actually good) would've been coaching the team last night when the sizzling Sixers came to Denver.
At least you'd think so.
There's certainly nothing left to the imagination about Karl's honorable intentions. He wants the job, that's for sure, letting it be known he can walk away from his talk as an NBA TV analyst with no notice and without a hitch.
Not only did Karl deliver an immediate high, hard pitch for the Nuggets' positon, you know, just in case interim Michael Cooper fails to qualify for a permanent promotion from assistant to the freshly terminated Jeff Bzdelik, but he's already generously offering free advice.
The first order of business should be to unite the Nuggets, preached Karl, who left the Bucks disjointed and disorganized two summers ago after the team united against him.
Don't misunderstand; it's certainly not unusual for players to rebel against their coach after hearing the same old spiel for five seasons.
Still, no matter how much (or modest) of a relationship Kroenke supposedly has with Karl off the court, he has to be looking a little bit funny at a guy who becomes so negative at the end of each coaching tour. Down the stretch in Milwaukee and long afterward all we heard out of Karl is what's wrong with today's players, and the league, and the game.
In itself, I suggest, that should be grounds to incriminate Karl and turn off prospective employers who pay an average of $3 million or more annually to sideline gurus to get constructive leaders, not destructive ones.
Kroenke also must be thinking to himself: "If ABC doesn't value Karl enough to make him its lead analyst over the ancient and ailing Hubie Brown why should I be excited about having him?"
Not that I'm ruling out Karl as a top candidate. It's not as if there's a throng of competent competition available at this point of the season. Unless you're talking Phil Jackson, there's nobody the Nuggets feel they'd love to have and to hold, till this day forward, for whatever it takes. And his agent has made it clear coaching is not on his client's existing horizon, only a 5-week cruise to Australia and New Zealand.
Nevertheless, you've got to believe VP Kiki Vandeweghe made contact with Jackson long before Bzdelik was fired, just in case something could've been arranged. In fact, I'm telling you he did, because he would've been negligent not to reach out.
In any event, Karl may yet wind up in charge of the Nuggets. As soon as Kroenke returns from vacation the search will be on.
Yet, ideally, management would be thrilled if the players rallied around Cooper and things got turned around swiftly, so much so a change could wait until the off season when Kroenke and Vandeweghe had a genuine chance to romance Jackson . . . or Pat Riley . . . or Larry Brown, who hasn't publicly threatened to quit the Pistons in over a week now.
As for Bzdelik's dismissal, it caught me by surprise. Despite his lame duck status — a detrimentally transparent message players habitually pounce on and exploit — and eight losses in nine games, including six straight (five in which Carmellow Anthony did not play due to a sprained ankle), there were too many critical injuries to crucial personnel to lay the blame on the coach.
Regardless of whether the reason was valid or invalid, the handwriting analysis was on the wall. Bzdelik was never going to last the whole season, those in and out of the know all agree. There was entirely too much disapproval from above (the team was built to run and that's the style that was sold to season ticket holders; instead they were being bored out of the building) and not enough communicating going on behind the scenes.
From what I understand, Bzdelik completely ceased accepting input from his assistants some time ago and hardly anybody else in the organization could talk to him.
Meanwhile, the players, though not outwardly rebelling, had started questioning Bzdelik's wisdom and stopped listening, often rolling their eyes in huddles when tactics were being explained.
"Jeff is an extremely hard worker, but he just isn't any good when it comes to that stuff," said a former Nuggets player. "He's a great assistant coach, that's what he is, no disrespect intended."
If any game did in Bzdelik it was the Dec. 14 loss in Philly. The Nuggets led by 18 points in the third quarter and when they finally lost their lead at crunch time he didn't call a timeout for four minutes.
The good news is, Bzdelik received several copies of those morally-righteous Carmellow Anthony videos as lovely parting gifts.
http://nypost.com/sports/37479.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Vescey
December 31, 2004 -- IMAGINE if George Karl had as much of an in with Nuggets' owner E. Stanley Kroenke as widespread reports seem to indicate.
If that were true, the indubitably erudite coach with 16 seasons of experience (some of it actually good) would've been coaching the team last night when the sizzling Sixers came to Denver.
At least you'd think so.
There's certainly nothing left to the imagination about Karl's honorable intentions. He wants the job, that's for sure, letting it be known he can walk away from his talk as an NBA TV analyst with no notice and without a hitch.
Not only did Karl deliver an immediate high, hard pitch for the Nuggets' positon, you know, just in case interim Michael Cooper fails to qualify for a permanent promotion from assistant to the freshly terminated Jeff Bzdelik, but he's already generously offering free advice.
The first order of business should be to unite the Nuggets, preached Karl, who left the Bucks disjointed and disorganized two summers ago after the team united against him.
Don't misunderstand; it's certainly not unusual for players to rebel against their coach after hearing the same old spiel for five seasons.
Still, no matter how much (or modest) of a relationship Kroenke supposedly has with Karl off the court, he has to be looking a little bit funny at a guy who becomes so negative at the end of each coaching tour. Down the stretch in Milwaukee and long afterward all we heard out of Karl is what's wrong with today's players, and the league, and the game.
In itself, I suggest, that should be grounds to incriminate Karl and turn off prospective employers who pay an average of $3 million or more annually to sideline gurus to get constructive leaders, not destructive ones.
Kroenke also must be thinking to himself: "If ABC doesn't value Karl enough to make him its lead analyst over the ancient and ailing Hubie Brown why should I be excited about having him?"
Not that I'm ruling out Karl as a top candidate. It's not as if there's a throng of competent competition available at this point of the season. Unless you're talking Phil Jackson, there's nobody the Nuggets feel they'd love to have and to hold, till this day forward, for whatever it takes. And his agent has made it clear coaching is not on his client's existing horizon, only a 5-week cruise to Australia and New Zealand.
Nevertheless, you've got to believe VP Kiki Vandeweghe made contact with Jackson long before Bzdelik was fired, just in case something could've been arranged. In fact, I'm telling you he did, because he would've been negligent not to reach out.
In any event, Karl may yet wind up in charge of the Nuggets. As soon as Kroenke returns from vacation the search will be on.
Yet, ideally, management would be thrilled if the players rallied around Cooper and things got turned around swiftly, so much so a change could wait until the off season when Kroenke and Vandeweghe had a genuine chance to romance Jackson . . . or Pat Riley . . . or Larry Brown, who hasn't publicly threatened to quit the Pistons in over a week now.
As for Bzdelik's dismissal, it caught me by surprise. Despite his lame duck status — a detrimentally transparent message players habitually pounce on and exploit — and eight losses in nine games, including six straight (five in which Carmellow Anthony did not play due to a sprained ankle), there were too many critical injuries to crucial personnel to lay the blame on the coach.
Regardless of whether the reason was valid or invalid, the handwriting analysis was on the wall. Bzdelik was never going to last the whole season, those in and out of the know all agree. There was entirely too much disapproval from above (the team was built to run and that's the style that was sold to season ticket holders; instead they were being bored out of the building) and not enough communicating going on behind the scenes.
From what I understand, Bzdelik completely ceased accepting input from his assistants some time ago and hardly anybody else in the organization could talk to him.
Meanwhile, the players, though not outwardly rebelling, had started questioning Bzdelik's wisdom and stopped listening, often rolling their eyes in huddles when tactics were being explained.
"Jeff is an extremely hard worker, but he just isn't any good when it comes to that stuff," said a former Nuggets player. "He's a great assistant coach, that's what he is, no disrespect intended."
If any game did in Bzdelik it was the Dec. 14 loss in Philly. The Nuggets led by 18 points in the third quarter and when they finally lost their lead at crunch time he didn't call a timeout for four minutes.
The good news is, Bzdelik received several copies of those morally-righteous Carmellow Anthony videos as lovely parting gifts.
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