George Karl to the Nuggets - LOL! - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Max Power · 01-26-2005, 06:16 PM

Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News

CHICAGO - It was at the hands of the Denver Nuggets that George Karl suffered one of his most devastating coaching defeats.

Nearly 11 years later, the Nuggets are poised to help Karl make a triumphant return to the NBA.

Karl, one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, could take over as Denver's coach as soon as this week, according to a source in the Nuggets organization.

Denver plays tonight in Detroit and Friday in Milwaukee, where Karl resides.

General manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he spoke with Karl on Monday and Tuesday in Chicago.

"It was a good conversation," said Vandeweghe, who did not go into further detail.

Karl, who works as an NBA analyst for ESPN, and his agent, Warren LeGarie, did not return phone messages Tuesday.

A Nuggets source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Vandeweghe and Karl were working to finalize the details of a contract.

Interim coach Michael Cooper and the rest of the coaching staff would remain in place at least until the end of the season, with Cooper returning to his previous role as assistant, the source said.

The coaching situation has been uncertain since Jeff Bzdelik was fired Dec. 28 and replaced on an interim basis by Cooper, who joined the Nuggets as an assistant in the summer.

Since firing Bzdelik, Vandeweghe has maintained Cooper would be considered for the permanent job, but he wanted to talk with Karl and a handful of other candidates.

"I'm just doing what I said I was going to do all along," Vandeweghe said.

The Nuggets, beset by injuries since Opening Night, are 17-24 and have lost nine of 13 games under Cooper after Tuesday night's defeat against the Chicago Bulls.

As recently as 12 days ago, Vandeweghe was leaning toward keeping Cooper in place through the end of the season, but his position was not as clear Tuesday.

"I never liked making changes in the middle of the year, just as a basic philosophy," he said. "There become times when circumstances arise and that might change."

Cooper said his focus remained on preparing the team, but he used the past tense when talking about his four-week stint as interim coach.

"I didn't expect to be thrown into the hot seat this fast, but then it happened," he said during the team's morning shootaround at the United Center. "It's an opportunity and I thought I did well under the circumstances. You just welcome another chance, whether it be here or somewhere in the league."

Standing outside the team locker room a few hours later, Cooper said: "They wanted a coach with some experience. That's not a knock on me; I just think that's what management wants."

Karl, who would become the 19th coach in Nuggets history and the 12th in the past 15 years, qualifies in the experience department.

His 708 regular-season victories rank 13th in NBA history and his .587 winning percentage is 14th among coaches with at least 400 games.

Karl, 54, guided Seattle to the NBA Finals in 1996, an achievement that came two years after the Nuggets upset the top-seeded SuperSonics in the first-round of the playoffs.

Karl took Milwaukee to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001 but was fired by the Bucks with one year left on his contract in 2003. His teams have missed the playoffs only three times in 16 seasons.

"He's just a good coach," said Nuggets consultant Doug Moe, who coached Karl in San Antonio from 1976-78. "I don't know how he coaches, but I know his teams play good."

In addition to his impressive résumé, Karl has a close relationship with Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. The two share an ownership stake in a basketball and fitness center in Columbus, Ohio.

Business dealings and his work with ESPN have not been enough to stoke Karl's competitive fire. His contract with ESPN allows him to leave at any time to take a NBA job.

"I've been away from the game about 16 months. For 38 years, I was coaching or playing for a basketball team. This is my first break," Karl told Rocky Mountain News columnist Dave Krieger last week. "It's good to take a sabbatical to learn how you can be better. I think that's what I've done."

Having been through one coaching change already this season, Nuggets players are eager for some stability.

"It's always tough when you're not knowing what's really going on, especially with the coaching situation," center Marcus Camby said. "As a player, I feel Coop is a great candidate for the job, but I understand it's really not our situation."

"It's out of our control, man," forward Kenyon Martin said. Whatever Kiki and Mr. Kroenke and those guys want to do, it's their call. I like Coop. Coop's fine with me, but it's out of my control."

Updated on Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005 5:13 am EST

chumdawg · 01-26-2005, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Nearly 11 years later, the Nuggets are poised to help Karl make a triumphant return to the NBA.

What would be triumphant about it?

dirno2000 · 01-27-2005, 01:46 AM

George Karl's act will wear thin after a few years, but Denver has been so poorly coached this season that I can see him turning things around in the short term.

Dooby · 01-27-2005, 09:32 AM

Let's be honest; Karl was canned in part because his reputation took a monumental beating for not medaling at the world championships. Since the undisputed genius Larry Brown did no better than Bronze at the Olympics, perhaps the criticism was not deserved. If you can't get Phil Jackson, he;s the best guy out on the market. Personally, I'd have waited until the end of the season.

MavKikiNYC · 01-27-2005, 10:41 AM

I don't think that's the only reason, Dooby.

Karl has left a pretty nasty record of losing the confidence of both players and management pretty much everywhere he's been--Golden State (where Nellie replaced him), Seattle, and Milwaukee.

Just get the sense that his success curve has about a 2-year upside, with a sharp, sharp, sharp decline thereafter. If Denver were a veteran team in position to contend for a spot in the finals, Karl's ability to organize and mold a team in the short-term might be a reasonable move. But Denver's growth curve seems to be a little longer.

Will be interesting to see what Karl gets from K-mart, and for how long.

Kiki V's ledge is getting narrower.

4cwebb · 01-27-2005, 07:57 PM

Nuggets were doing fine through the end of last year, then they got greedy this year and tried to accelerate their success curve, wasted too much money on KMart, and now are bringing in GKarl to try to clean up the mess? Good luck, Nuggets. You'll need it.

The Miles · 01-28-2005, 03:06 AM

Good hire IMO, they are a bunch of athletes and that is the base of Karls trapping defensive system, athletes, athletes, and more athletes.

chumdawg · 03-13-2005, 04:19 PM

Nugs 15-5 since the move, contending for a playoff spot.

TripleDipping · 03-14-2005, 10:52 AM

Karl always gets his to respond well to him when he first gets there... let's wait and see what happens next season.

EricaLubarsky · 03-14-2005, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: chumdawg
Nugs 15-5 since the move, contending for a playoff spot.

I hope they get that spot and get slaughtered by Phoenix or San Antonio. That way both the Lakers and the Twolves could miss the playoffs this year.

dirno2000 · 03-14-2005, 05:41 PM

They'll give PXH a run for their money if Camby's healthy. Wesley Persons was a nice pickup and it looks like he'll provide them some of what they've been missing since Leonard went down.

GP · 03-15-2005, 09:01 AM

I agree Dirno. I think whoever that number 8 seed is it could be very tough on the number one seed. I think all 3 teams in the running for that spot can beat anybody on a given night. Kobe is unstoppable, Denver has a boatload of talent and Minnesota has KG. If Phoenix winds up with the number 1 seed and Nash is still hurting I can see them going down in flames. These three teams probably won't have a chance at beating SA; however, stranger things have happened.