George Karl sounds bothered that he didn’t know about . After all, it was his job to know.
During Karl’s 1 1/2 years out of coaching, he had time to examine every roster in the league. Nevertheless he was surprised at how badly he misjudged Denver’s starting center.
“He’s about 50 percent better than I thought he was when I got here,” the Nuggets’ coach said.
In recent days Karl also has called Camby his team’s security blanket, a first-team all-NBA defensive player and Denver’s most valuable player. Camby deflects that praise to teammates as easily as he does opposing shots. When asked about Karl calling him the team’s MVP, he said , and deserve it just as much.
But most others associated with the team say any chance the Nuggets have of upsetting San Antonio in their first-round series starts with Camby. They need their 6-foot-11 man in the middle to establish a defensive base that sparks a running game that fueled Denver’s post all-star break.
“When he’s out there I feel we’re going to figure it out,” said Karl, whose team went 28-4 with Camby in the lineup, 4-4 without him.
Over Camby’s nine NBA seasons, he has been tagged with a reputation for missing games to small injuries – 216 games to be exact. Much less publicized is his postseason track record. He has played in 45 postseason games and missed just one.
With a week to rest the sprained right hamstring he re-injured April 15 against Memphis, Camby said he will fight through pain to play in this series. For the Nuggets, he’s essential as long as Spurs all-pro forward Tim Duncan is anywhere near the basket.
“You want to go out there and battle with the guys,” said Camby, who averaged 10.3 points and 10 rebounds this season, the first Nugget to average a double-double since Antonio McDyess in 2000-01. “I’m a key cog in what we’re trying to do, especially with teams scoring so many points on us. We need a defensive presence. I take that to heart.”
He should, considering the Nuggets’ past three opponents averaged 119.3 points against them as he sat to close out the season. It was the culmination of a clear step backward for a team that has allowed opponents to shoot just .433 since Karl arrived in January. What worries Karl is his team’s inability to handle the pick-and-roll, which San Antonio runs so fluidly with Duncan and point guard Tony Parker.
“I know Parker’s a tough cover for our guards,” Camby said. “He’s so quick. He gets into the lane. … I think we’ll have our hands full (out front), as well as us down low with Duncan and the rest of their bigs.”
Power forward will have the first responsibility to guard Duncan, which will allow Camby to roam near the basket. Communication is key to tightening up the defense, Camby said.
“The bigs have to do a better job of protecting, and the guards have to do a better job of containing the point guards,” Camby said. “A lot of times we have guards penetrating, getting into the lane (against us). The bigs have to come up and help, and when they come help, they get the ball to (their) bigs for dunks. It gets frustrating at times. We all have to be on the same page.”
Point guard described the interior presence of Camby, Martin and the Nuggets’ other big men as crucial to a team that averaged 22.1 fast-break points under Karl. Quick reversals always get teams running.
“He’s a big part of this defense with him and K-Mart cleaning up the rebounds, making teams make extra passes,” Miller said. “Blocked shots, anything like that helps.”
Camby averaged 3.02 blocks this season, second best in the NBA. Throw in Camby’s passing ability from the high post and the catapult of a long range jump shot he hits surprisingly often, and the center has a chance to surprise the rest of the country the way he surprised his own coach. He won’t catch Karl off-guard anymore.
“There have been games where he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Karl said.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
