Curious George Continues To Learn He’s Not a Playoff Coach
“Call him Curious George, because he’s continually searching for a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
Another stellar regular season, another playoff berth and another first-round playoff exit.
Or, at least, that’s how it looks for the Denver Nuggets, down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors.
It’s the same old story, same old song and dance, my friends.
This year could possibly be the most frustrating of them all, though.
This squad is different than the ones in recent seasons; without a true star, Denver played together, as a team, and blew opponents out on a nightly basis. They set franchise records for most wins in a season (57) and most home wins (38), earned the No. 3 seed and the homecourt advantage that came along with it.
But as soon as the playoffs began, all of that regular season success vanished into the Mile High City’s thin air, as did the memories of exactly how the team was successful in the first place.
Each postseason, George Karl wonders how he can tweak his lineups to get the most out of players. Every year, it blows up in his face.
Call him Curious George, because he’s continually searching for a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
For years, the Nuggets were undersized, forced to play Nene – who’s natural position is power forward – at center. Taller teams dominated Denver down low.
This year, the Nuggs are stacked with big men – albeit raw and inexperienced ones – and Karl doesn’t play them. Instead of using height as an advantage, just the way many teams did to Denver over the last nine years, Curious George contemplated what would happen if he played down to Golden State.
The Warriors have whooped his Nuggets in three straight games.
Why start Evan Fournier – an unproven rookie – in his first playoff series? Why put undersized Kenneth Faried in at center against Andrew Bogut and force Wilson Chandler to also play up and attempt to guard the bigger and stronger Carl Landry?
Simply, Kosta Koufos should have started against Bogut in Games Three and Four as a big body that can bang with the Warriors center in the paint. Without a big in the game, Bogut looked like an All Star against Denver Sunday night, which is incomprehensible given the Australian’s career to this point.
Instead of starting Fournier, the Nuggets should have come out with this lineup: Koufos, Faried, Chandler, Andre Iguodala and Ty Lawson. It’s their best lineup, one that proved they could win together in the regular season. The bench squad should have been Andre Miller, Corey Brewer, Fournier, Anthony Randolph and JaVale McGee.
Instead, Curious George put Kofous and McGee in together once it was clear the small starting lineup was flailing, and the two bigs together played poorly. The same can be said of Karl’s favorite back court pairing of Lawson and Miller – it doesn’t work. When Karl tried the two point guards together two years ago in the playoffs – another example of the coach getting too creative in the postseason – it actually worked. Why? It was a change of pace, something teams had never seen before. Now, the Nuggets use the two together far too often and teams know how to stop them.
Neither Lawson nor Miller are proficient outside shooters, meaning the defense can sag off of the one that doesn’t have the ball and clog up the lane. Of course, Miller is about the most infuriating veteran point guard to watch, as he consistently makes boneheaded plays during the most crucial junctions of games. He’s become Karl’s newer version of Anthony Carter; a veteran player the coach connects with, even if that player is hurting his team overall.
It can’t be missed that Miller was basically the reason Denver won Game One of this series, and he’s certainly shown flashes of brilliance over the course of this, his 14th season. What the Nuggets need out of him though is not spectacular scoring, but consistent leadership on the hardwood.
Speaking of leadership, it’s something the team could use from a coaching standpoint as well.
When his starting lineup didn’t work, he stuck with it to begin the second half of the last two losses. In Game Three, their 12-point lead was erased with a quickness, and on Sunday, Lawson’s ludicrous scoring brought Denver back to striking distance before the Warriors dashed those hopes.
Of course, when Karl put his favorite player, Miller, on Steph Curry, the game turned into a 14-point blowout.
Halftime adjustments? We don’t need no stinking halftime adjustments.
And Karl’s demeanor on the sideline is downright deplorable. More often than not, the old coach looks tired, bored and not into the game; he looks like the game has passed him by.
On Tuesday, notice the players when they come out of a timeout. Do they look pumped and excited or downtrodden and confused?
The coach doesn’t breed confidence in his players, and they’ve lost confidence in him as their leader.
Oh, Curious George.
It’s possible a monkey in a suit could do better.
He’s a superb regular season coach, but Karl can’t figure out how to win in the playoffs.
Transition points are wonderful and exciting, but when teams focus and get back, Karl’s teams can’t run and don’t know how to function efficiently in the half-court. His “go with the flow” offense is great and all, until teams look to lock down on defense and disallow the Nuggs to run.
More troubling though, is the lack of attention paid by the Nuggets to playing defense. While they’ve always been able to score the rock at an alarming pace, Denver’s historically been in the bottom third of the league defensively – a major reason they can’t win in the playoffs.
The Nuggets win an NBA Championship with George Karl as head coach?
Dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true.
