George Karl is running out of defenders. On and off the court.
“The Nuggets are unprepared in this series. They have no answer for Golden State’s shooters, no plan offensively in the half-court, and they continue to miss free-throws. They look a lot like a poorly coached team.”
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There’s a reason that the word “indefensible” exists. It’s the only word in the English language ideally suited to describe the situation the Denver Nuggets are in right now, down three game to one in a best of seven series in which they are the home team, the much higher seed and the favorite to win. All of the positive vibes that the Nuggets generated during their splendid regular season have been washed away. They are now a smoldering hulk of a basketball team – just like they are every year in the playoffs and coach George Karl is rapidly running out of defenders.
The “fire George Karl” crowd has been there for a long time. It was mostly silent over the past couple of months, but it never went away. Many people have long thought that, when it came to Denver not advancing in the NBA post-season, that Karl was to blame. Folks have defended Karl against these assertions all along, but now his defenders are at a loss – much like his team has been on the court.
The Nuggets are unprepared in this series. They have no answer for Golden State’s shooters, no plan offensively in the half-court, and they continue to miss free-throws. They look a lot like a poorly coached team. The fact that they did not come into this round one series prepared to play the lowly Warriors seems to suggest the same.
I saw many people say on Twitter last night “I’m not a “fire George Karl guy but…”. Even his fans are shaking their heads in disbelief now. Karl’s defenders have long turned to the argument that firing Karl makes no sense because replacing him would be so difficult. They always ask “well, who would you suggest they bring in?”. At this point isn’t the answer to that question “anybody else”?
Look at Mark Jackson. He’s just a pup where his coaching career is concerned, but he’s got his Warriors playing smart basketball and exploiting everyone of Denver’s weaknesses. Had anyone suggested that he replace Karl two years ago it would have been considered an insane notion. It doesn’t seem so crazy now. The idea that only Phil Jackson has the creds to come in here and take over for Karl is becoming less and less valid. Masai Ujiri travels the world in the name of basketball. He must know of dozens of potential replacements for Karl.
They say that after awhile a coach’s message get “lost”. The Denver Nuggets are completely lost right now. Is it because they aren’t listening, aren’t buying in, as we are so often told – or is that they are listening … to the wrong guy. Let’s face it, George Karl has very little show for his many trips to the NBA playoffs. Maybe it’s him not getting the message.
Karl’s defenders seem to be getting the message. They’re heading for the exits. The Nuggets will be eliminated in the first round again. The math tells us that. Will Karl be handed his walking papers when that happens? Nobody knows. But fewer and fewer people are arguing that he shouldn’t.
