Game 2: Dallas @ Denver - Tue. 8:30 [TNT]

[DHNF]

May 5, 2009 3:10:34 GMT -5 JB said:

deserves a 3 game suspension

That was a weak ass cheap shot that deserves a suspension. Almost as bad as Howards.

[2d2r]

Like I said in the playoff thread, Kobe thought Battier's mouth was the unwilling anus of a lily white female. Easy mistake.

[amazing grace & Chuck]

Good article on the post's blog today:

Confessions of a converted fast break coach
by Chris Dempsey on May 5, 2009


This is the peek behind the curtain, the fly on the wall moment.

Nuggets coach George Karl is leaning back on a stool a few feet away from the court in the team’s Pepsi Center practice facility. He is spilling the beans on how an offseason of purging took the Nuggets from run-down to a team now three wins away from the Western Conference Finals. All of the essential moves and conversations that happened before the regular season arrival of guard Chauncey Billups took a decent Nuggets team and pushed it to among the NBA’s best.

Karl starts with an admission that the run-at-all-costs offensive philosophy he preached two years prior to this season – though it resulted in a combined 95 wins (50 last season) – was the wrong way to go.

“I may have taken too much of a risk,” Karl says.

And that’s just an appetizer.

We’ll start last spring, after the Nuggets were swept out of the playoffs by the L.A. Lakers. Assistant coach Tim Grgurich, Karl’s longtime right hand man, wanted the coach to wipe his hands of emphasizing offensive basketball. Grgurich wanted to turn back the clock to the defense-first system that was a success when the two were winning games by the boatload in Seattle.

“We can’t do this anymore,” Grgurich said to Karl. “We can’t coach like this anymore. It just doesn’t work.”

Karl paused.

“He was saying it for himself, but he was also saying it for me,” Karl recalled. “And I just looked at him and said ‘Grg, you know something, you’re right.’”

But Karl also said he had some early opposition from another assistant, Adrian Dantley, who wondered why he would scrap the system that had the Nuggets ranked among the NBA’s best on the offensive end.

“Dantley said, ‘Why in the (heck) are you changing? You score in the top five, why are you changing your philosophy?’” Karl recalled.

But his mind was made up. Karl rose through the ranks as a defensive-minded coach with offensive flair. In Seattle, his teams got after the opposition with relentless effort, turning Gary Payton pressure-induced stops into Shawn Kemp show time dunks.

More importantly, there was a hands-on approach to how the coaching staff handled the players. In the summers coaches stayed close to the athletes. There were talks and visits and one-on-one practice sessions. That extra personal attention was non-existent in Denver.

Grgurich wanted to get back to that. Karl agreed. They divided up the roster. They were the point men, but all of the assistants were responsible for keeping track of two or more players.

“He had Kenyon, I had Nene,” Karl said. “A.I. (Allen Iverson) is impossible to touch in the summer time, but we at least got in some phone conversations with him. Melo was in China (for the Olympics), so we were ok there. All the other guys were fairly easy.”

Karl, who had past run-ins with Martin, thought he’d be the toughest to get on board with the changing philosophy he wanted to implement – more discipline, improved professionalism, better leadership, and a focus on defense on the court.

He was wrong.

“The guy that jumped in really quick, was Kenyon,” Karl said. “We thought Nene and Kenyon were the hardest guys. Kenyon basically said this is the only way we can survive. And as soon as he got back (for training camp) we met and he said ‘You’re not going to have any problem with me. I’m going to be your leader.’ He jumped in and basically called himself out.

“We had our first (team) meeting of the season and he said ‘I’ve been a problem for coach, but it’s not going to happen anymore, and I’m going to be the policeman.’ Our off the court activity was part of it, too.”

Martin admitted he had a bad attitude much of his time with Karl, and that a lot of it was due to frustration with having to deal with two microfracture knee surgeries that limited his ability to play at the level he was accustomed. His knees hurt. His pride hurt. He took it out on Karl and others in the organization on a near daily basis.

Martin knew he had to change.

“I had to get out of my own way,” he said.

As for Nene, who had been branded as a player who was not living up to his six-year, $60 million contract, he and Karl vented over dinner at the ritzy Capital Grille restaurant downtown.

“We yelled and screamed a little bit,” Karl said. “He didn’t say all nice things. I didn’t say all nice things. My line to him at that time was ‘Nene, you’ve gone from an overpaid bench player to an underpaid starter, in one trade (the Marcus Camby trade). If you’re as good as I think you’re going to be, at the end of this year, they are going to call you an underpaid star. Right now, they are calling you an overpaid bench guy.’ I said, ‘What a great opportunity. What a great challenge to show people that they don’t know what the (heck) they are talking about.’”

Karl demanded harder work from Nene, who took it easy during the summers only to report to camp out of shape and thus, more susceptible to injury.

“I said ‘You’re not going to be able to do it with your habits,’” Karl said. “He would be complaining about this guy and (that guy’s) professionalism. I said ‘If you want that to change, you’ve got to help me. The first way you help me is get in the gym.’ And on August 15, he was in the gym probably four or five days every week from that point. He had never done that before.”

That all set the stage for the Billups trade, sending Iverson to Detroit, which occurred on Nov. 3.

“The culture was changing before Chauncey came,” Karl said. “And then Chauncey comes and here’s the spokesperson for everything I was basically saying. So I’m not fighting and ego managing and molding.”

Now, they are simply winning.

[Tydru]

That's the best article I've ever read. Ever.

[phil]

That was a good article

[phil]

I want to go on record and say this game scares me.

[rock]

ill go on record to say i agree with phil.

[phil]

May 5, 2009 12:58:58 GMT -5 rock said:

ill go on record to say i agree with phil.

Shocker !!!

[Anonymous]

I think this game will be a lot closer than the last one. Expect the refs to give the Mavs a bunch of ticky tack calls.

[jutang]

Even if the refs called some early fouls, the Nuggets can't back down. Eventually the refs will adjust back to the nuggets style. The only way the Mavs will take tonights game is if they match the Nuggets' physicality. Also there's no way they're going get Melo for those ticky tack foul calls two games in a row.

[rock]

i hope not. the mavs will adjust their play and we must do the same. we cant just assume if we play the same, we will win. we cant count on all those turnovers the mavs had. hopefully melo and CB have better games while the bench plays solid. need the crowd to be loud again too!

if we win this, we are in control. if we lose, they have the control and homecourt. huge game.

[Tydru]

Maybe I'm getting caught up... but I'm supremely confident about this group. It looks more and more like a championship-calibre team every day.

Nobody's playing better defense, nobody's playing tougher (maybe Atlanta), nobody's playing more as a team (Cleveland, Boston, Orlando are about on the same level). Nobody has elevated their game from the regular season as much. Nobody finished the regular season as hot.

The Nuggets have played one bad game in the playoffs, and had a shot to win it at the buzzer. Every other game has been a win by at least 15 points. They're getting exactly what they need from each and every individual player, and if one or two people are off, the others pick up the slack.

I'm not saying that they will, but there's really no reason that this team CAN'T win it all.

[scooter]

I'm a little worried about this game. Without dominant talent, we've played maybe two bad games in about a month now. Almost every team throws in a stinker once in a while and we might be due. Its a danger.

But if we can take this game, we will win this series. I cannot see the Mavs coming back from being down 2-0, and I'm not impressed with the cliche about the series not starting until the home team loses.

The Mavs probably feel the same way -- that this is a must win for them.

I hope the refs call the pick plays in a fairer way -- the on-ball defender has to be given a chance to get around the pick. If they don't give the Mavs a big advantage with Dirk's moving picks, we can play everybody straight up and stay on their shooters. That's what I'm hoping to see. Let them take a bunch of contested jumpers. Without moving picks forcing us into doubles and mismatch switches, the Mavs cannot match our ability to drive into the paint.

[smookethesenuggs]

I think Howards ankle is going to be extremely sore, and his other one is already a bum ankle. From th outset we need to give the ball to Melo and have him attack Howard early and often.

Without Howard at 100% we are basically facing a team that is as offensively potent as the Hornets. Not extremely worried.

[bmelo]

Im not worried about this game, cause if we lose... we just lose, we're capable of winning in Dallas if we must

But I dont think Dirk will come out firing like last game. Might start a lil slow. Howard is injured. And Kidd is just going to pass it

I think Melo has a bigger night this time

[bundo's ghost]

No Melo foul trouble = blowout

[Nugz Junkie]

I am trying not to get caught up in the moment, and at least realize that even if for some reason Denver loses this round that the playoffs this year will still a success and try to just enjoy the ride.

But...this team is better than that. They SHOULD win this series and get to the WCF at least. They are the superior team to Dallas. But I do worry about this game, because momentum in the playoffs is huge, and we need to keep the momentum in our favor. If we lose this one going back to Dallas tied will put a ton of pressure on us to go out and win at least one on their home court. That is a tough proposition without the momentum.

But I am just trying to enjoy the ride. I think the Nuggets should win tonight, but I guess my skepticism comes from being a fan of the Nugs for too many losing seasons!

[Tydru]

Losing in this round would not result in a successful season IMO. #2 seeds shouldn't lose to #6 seeds.

I might buy the argument if we lost in 7 to San Antonio in the 2nd round. Anything less than a competitive WCF = Failure.

[amazing grace & Chuck]

I agree anything less than a trip to the western finals is a dissapointment with the way the last couple months have gone.

I love this team. I'm growing out a playoff beard that my wife hates and even with her avoiding me I'm not getting rid of it. I'm riding this puppy out and concentrating on very little else but the nuggets. As soon as a game ends Im counting down to the next. I have no idea what I will do after tonight waiting until saturday. These playoffs may end in me getting fired and divorced but i've never been a happier fan.

[bundo's ghost]

Anything short of a competitive series in the WCF is a failure.