I've always loved this coach, and he was the biggest reason I expected so much more out of Denver this year. So much of what he says makes sense to me in basketball (i.e. the "plugging" concept in this conversation), just makes a lot of sense. Were this guy coaching in a different era, his accomplishments would be limitless.
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In his own words: George Karl
As detailed in this week's SI, the future of the Denver Nuggets depends on the growing and occasionally tempestuous relationship between 54-year-old coach George Karl and 21-year-old star Carmelo Anthony. After a rough start they are learning to work together with the help of assistant coach Tim Grgurich, who serves as the buffer between them. Here's more of an exclusive interview with Karl on the subject of reaching out to his best player.
On pushing players: Ten years ago, you might push the team to trust you 50 times a year with your anger and frustration and stubbornness. You can't do that that many times anymore. The art of coaching in the NBA is you can still shoot 'em and they'll still come back to you, but it's not as many times as before. Because so many players think they know coaching, they think they know the game better.''
On criticizing players: "I don't think when I tell a player he's doing something incorrectly it's criticism. Criticism is when I sit you down and I bring out a bunch of statistics and a bunch of video and I tell you, 'You're not doing what I'm telling you to do. You're not listening. You are being insubordinate. If you don't clean your act up, we can't play with it.' That's being critical.
"But when a guy forgets a rotation or doesn't cut hard on a play or doesn't run back on defense, that's coaching. And there's a difference there. And today's sensitivity of player is, like, it's more critical. And then you've got the respect -- I don't know what respect is anymore. The players determine the line of respect, and I always thought the level authority determines the line of respect. Now it's all goofy, and now we have rap music on it and songs on it all over the place.''
On whether it's his team or Anthony's team: "It doesn't work unless we both commit to each other. And not only commit. I've watched the successful organizations, and there's a connect. I think Carmelo and I are committed and I think our organization has a commitment toward one another, but we haven't connected yet. And that's where we're moving.
"I mean, there are a lot of organizations that don't even have the commitment.
"The whole thing is what does next summer bring? Does next summer bring [Nuggets owner] Stan Kroenke and Carmelo and Marcus [Camby] and someone else on a yacht together in the Meditteranean for a week connecting? You know, looking in each other's eyes with passion and enthusiasm for how we try to become a great team?
"Carmelo and I, we've actually connected some in how we've shown respect for one another. But we have not connected man on man.''
On why he benched Anthony twice during fourth quarters last year: "He had some habits that were going to drive me crazy -- holding the ball [for example] -- and he still has some of them. They're not broken. But I don't think Carmelo's selfish. He can become an individualist where he wants to stand by himself sometimes. When you get in a frustration/crisis situation, scorers and sometimes young players they'll play by themselves. I see it in Tracy McGrady still.''
On Anthony's future: "The biggest asset he has is being able to be a good shooter on the perimeter. Because if he makes shots, you can't cover him. It's a little bit like LeBron [James], if LeBron's jumper is going in -- like McGrady and Kobe [Bryant] -- then the first step is impossible. You can't cover him. you just can't.
"And then there's the power and size of 'Melo that people don't understand. I don't know right now in the NBA if anybody gets hit as much as 'Melo. We post him as much as anybody except maybe Shaq, and then he gets hit on every drive. He is a contact driver. Most of the time the defense is loaded up in his direction and he still can get things done. And its usually with contact. Everybody hits him.
"He's got to learn to have a little finesse game, make some outside jumpers. But his efficiency is better: He used to score 30 points taking 28 shots; now he scores 30 points taking 15 shots.
"That's what he's done so quickly; I thought it would be a two-year process. Now in our league the volume shooter is getting a lot of points and some status -- like [Allen] Iverson and McGrady and Kobe seems like he's moving in that direction -- but 'Melo has stayed with the team [concept] and not with volume shooting.''
On learning the last-second tricks: "The one thing 'Melo needs to learn, and this is going to be hard to explain to him, but right now we don't have a lot of options. When you only have one or two options, the defense gets in control of how they're going to stop you. He's got to get some cuteness and cleverness at the end of the game to open up the space, to get a better post-up, to understand the pick-and-roll coverage to create the easier shot rather than to always rely on his talent.
"Don't get me wrong: Tracy McGrady's still trying to figure that out. Kobe Bryant takes impossible shots, and just because he can make them doesn't make him the best. What makes him the best is when he can do both: When you can be cute, clever and be great. That's what Michael [Jordan] was: Michael was the best I've ever seen at end of the game situations, but he would trick you as often as he would outquick you.''
On Anthony's weaknesses: "OK, I'm trying to give him two things: Passing and plugging. Plugging is a defensive concept that we have. I don't think he plugs worth [bleep], in fact I think he's maybe the worst plugger I've ever coached. Plugging is help, it's understanding when to help and plugging a gap against a great player. And its just a concept that we use and he's awful at it.
"And the second thing is the art of passing because he can pass the ball. He doesn't understand that the more he passes, the more he will get. In my philosophy of basketball, the pass is like giving in life: You give in life, you get back. You pass more, you get more back. The more you pass, the more responsibility you'll get. Carmelo's OK there; for a 21-year-old he's probably better than OK. But trusting the pass is still a little foreign to him.''
On motivation: "It's about teaching Carmelo and the other players to motivate themselves. One thing this team lacks right now is we're not an 82-game team. We can complain about it, but it's the truth. We've got to try to figure out how to make 'Melo better at whatever he is -- if he's a 60-game player, next year he's got to be a 70-game player.
"Grg and I've talked about this, the one thing I need if we make a good run here is to spend a night out with each good player. Drink a bottle of wine or drink a beer and loosen up a little bit. We'll do that with two or three of the guys; I don't know if we'll get to all six or seven of them. Some of the guys don't want it, and [Greg] Buckner probably doesn't need it, and Andre [Miller] would be like a younger brother not talking much; we might need to invite Andre's mom.''
