Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliccat
Defensively, I think Karl has done a fairly good job. It's offensively that I hate him. For a team with so much firepower, the nuggets' lack of explosiveness is inexusable.
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I don't think they will have the explosiveness they should without a more selfless catalyst. While Iverson has real passing skills, he's a scorer first and last. There isn't another legit starting PG on the team right now, and I'm starting to question - due to the collective health problems and injury susceptibility of their big men - whether the Nuggets have the trade assets to acquire one.
It's been said many times what kind of guy Iverson needs to play next to: a bigger, stronger, defense-minded, pass-first point guard. Wouldn't hurt if that guy is also a lights-out shooter. If such a player were easy to find, Denver would have him by now.
The other pie-in-the-sky solution is to bring in Phil Jackson to install the triangle, to maximize what playmaking Anthony and Iverson have between them and to mitigate the absence of a single floor general.
Without either of those scenarios, the Nuggets' best hope before looking to jettison Iverson is to find a utility player for the backcourt who can play 28-32 mpg and doesn't do anything terrifically well but makes few mistakes...a guy who can be a bigger body on opposing 2 guards and who stays out of the way on offense. Antonio Daniels, for example.
Yes, I think Karl is much more the problem than solution right now, but most any coach will face some inherent challenges with this roster.