As the dust settles over Mark Kiszla’s Nuggets piece in the Denver Post titled “Nuggets coach George Karl has the cushiest job in the NBA“, which has caused much consternation this morning, we were pleased to accept this submitted article by South Stands reader Luke Binder.

You can follow Luke on Twitter (@303luke) and visit his excellent WordPress site.

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Sports fans in Denver, myself included, are a bi-polar breed of fan. When you win, we love you. However, when you lose, we want to pack your bags and run you out of town. No one takes the brunt of this bi-polar behavior quite like Nuggets coach George Karl. And that’s a shame.

Yes, I know that George’s teams have only made it out of the first round once during his nine (and counting) year tenure in Denver. But did you know that in those nine years only the Spurs, Lakers, and Celtics have won more games than the Nuggets? In my opinion, the NBA is not set up for the mid-market teams like the Nuggets to be successful – albeit, the Spurs (thanks to Greg Poppovich being a genius) and Thunder (thanks to Kevin Durant) thrive despite not being located on a coast or in a large market. Thus, to me, it’s truly incredible that the Nuggets keep winning despite an almost yearly turnover of their roster.

George Karl has been forced to coach and attempt to win with nutcases like Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, JR Smith, and Chris Anderson. Don’t be mistaken – no other coach in the NBA could have turned the Thuggets from a collection of one-on-one talent into a consistent playoff team. And then after the Nuggets traded Carmelo and Chauncey out of town, no one gave the Nuggets a chance of remaining a team on the positive side of the win column. Yet, the Nuggets have won a higher percentage of their games without Carmelo than they ever did with Carmelo. Make no mistake – that is all thanks to George Karl.

Last year, like so many of you, I was distraught after the Game 7 loss to the Lakers. However, it wasn’t surprising to me. I didn’t even think the Nuggets would be able to force a seven game series with the Lakers. Simply, the Nuggets overachieved and they have consistently overachieved thanks to George Karl. In short, the Nuggets don’t have enough talent to be a contender right now. Sure, it’d be nice to get out of the first round once in awhile. Yet, it makes no sense to get rid of the reason the Nuggets have consistently won for the past nine years because his teams have struggled in the playoffs. The reason for the Nugget’s playoff woes is that they are over matched – not out coached.

This season has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for the Nuggets. As it stands they look to land the fourth or fifth seed in the playoffs this spring. It’s not outlandish to suggest that the Nuggets desperately need to win a first round series for the first time since 2009. Yet, their ability to do so will all depend on who they are matched up against. And if the Nuggets are sent home early this spring, Nuggets fan will once again call for George Karl’s firing. Yet, when I look at George Karl’s tenure as coach of the Nuggets, I see a consistent pattern of winning – albeit with patches of great inconsistency at times – and I wonder just who could do a better job given what little George Karl has to work with? In my opinion, George Karl is the greatest thing to ever happen to the Nuggets.

George Karl’s teams might frustrate us with their inability to make a playoff run and their head scratching losses to teams like the Washington Wizards. However, it’s incredibly clear that George Karl never has been, nor will he ever be, the problem with the Nuggets.

Written by South Stands Denver