It will be announced sometime in the next few days. They're negotiating now, but there's not really much to negotiate. It's pretty much a done deal. I 99% guarantee it.
Well, we'll either have the George Karl Era or the George Karl Error. It'll either be a huge success, or a gigantic failure. I'm torn. First of all, I was hoping we could land Ray Allen, especially after reading the great article on him in ESPN the Mag, but hiring Karl completely ends that dream. Will Melo be more Gary Payton to Karl or Ray Allen/Sam Cassell? That is the big question. He needs a foot to the ass, and Karl's perfect for that.
God I hope not. That's the worst thing the team could do. Francis and Melo would get into fistfights over who got to shoot first.
I think the Nuggets would have been better off hiring the Czar when they had the chance... I just hate Karl though. Funny that an underachieving team would hire a guy whose teams had a tendency to underachieve (even if it didn't start till the playoffs). Frank Johnson would have been a better choice, IMHO. What's he doing these days?
Judging by Karl's track record, it'll be a little of both. You'll play great for 2-3 years and make the playoffs, but never quite get over the hump and get into the finals. Then it'll all implode as the players lose faith in George and he starts publicly admitting that he's lost them. Have fun!
I have two questions here - why did Kiki bring in Michael Cooper (whose hiring undermined Bzdelik's authority and ability) as the "replacement" of the lame duck Bzdelik? I thought Kiki was ready to swim and sink with Cooper no matter the outcome for at least 2 seasons. Also why do you say 99%?
He was the hot prospect of coaching. Unfortunately, as we've seen since he took over, he's nto ready yet. Or never will be. Not sure. Because knowing my luck, all of a sudden Kiki will go into a coma tomorrow and the deal won't get done.
Thanks for clarifying that. I still did not like how Bzdelik was ushered out. He deserved better imho but I am not over there so I do not know the details. Why didn't you guys go hard[er] after Mobley or Jimmy Jackson?
My feeling is Karl is a great coach, but he lost his grip a while back. If Karl has taken the time to put himself back in order and recognized the mistakes he made before, Nuggets will probably do well under him. If he hasn't, you're all sunk. And, I don't think you get a year or two of playing well; you're sunk immediately if Karl's head isn't on straight.
karl used to have the advantage of playing zone when it wasn't allowed. but, if he can get the nuggets to play like Memphis, the Nugs will be good. Nugs have more talent than Memphis, but just dont seem to bring it.
No one really likes how Bzz was treated. The consolation is the fact that he's gonna get $1.5 million over the next year and he'll land another job. We did try for Mobley, I know that. Apparently our offer wasnt' good enough. I know we wouldn't give up Nene for Mobley, and other than that we don't have a lot of great trade bait. As for JJ, we didn't have anything that would have worked well. Nene is WAYYYYYYYY too much to give up for him. Our offer of picks + Skita apparently wasn't enough either.
I'm not sure that Karl is a good choice for this team. Not that there are a pack of wonderful coaches out there. His tendency to rip his players (viciously at times) in the media and his history of feuding with his stars is one red flag. His abject failure at the world chamionships really has deflated his credibility around the league as well, which will make it that much harder for him to demand respect in the locker room. I see him getting along well with Martin, since he really wants hard pressed D (one reason he hated his job with the Bucks and that roster - anyone remember when he openly coveted the UNC job while still under contract?). I'd say his relationship with Carmelo will be a major issue and will determine how long he stays. Evan
