There have been seasons when the words “Denver Nuggets” and “defense” didn’t belong in the same time zone.
The very idea of putting them together seems almost unnatural for any season not involving Dikembe Mutombo. Even in their ABA days, the Nuggets’ modus operandi was outgunning their opponents.
The Nuggets under coach George Karl still want to put up plenty of points this season. But the franchise that brought you Paul Westhead and the highest-scoring game in NBA history also has something else in mind.
“If everybody’s in the right place, teams are going to have a tough time trying to score on us,” forward Kenyon Martin said.
That may sound like lunacy for a franchise that has allowed fewer than 96 points per game once in 29 NBA seasons. But Karl sees it as essential to his goal of taking the Nuggets past the first round of the playoffs.
“Our ascent from being whatever we were before I got here to being a winning team, we might have skipped some bases,” said Karl, who took over midway through last season. “I think we need to respect the game and play the game the right way and get better the right way. I think the defensive attitude that I want players to have is the foundation of all that.”
Some familiar with Karl’s work have already seen signs this preseason.
“George always does a good job of mixing it up as to how he’s going to defend, so you can’t really lock it up,” said Sacramento coach Rick Adelman, who saw his team held to 41 percent shooting in Denver’s preseason victory Tuesday. “It’s kind of a chess match because we always try to play where we read the defense and try to take advantage of it. I think he does a good job of trying to take you out of what you want to do.”
In Adelman’s eyes, the Nuggets’ personnel may be different, but their constant defensive switching reminds him of how Karl’s Sonics team used to operate when Portland coach and Karl disciple Nate McMillan played in Seattle.
McMillan has a simpler calculation for how better defense could change Denver’s prospects: “A number of games they won last year without defending. George is a defensive-minded coach.”
Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe remembers playing against Karl’s better defensive teams. His memories echo what Adelman saw last week.
“It kept you guessing,” Vandeweghe said. “The hard thing is to play against a defense where you don’t know what’s coming, so you can’t by rote run a play. You have to react to the defense.
“A trap is coming, or a double-team, or no double-team, rotations in different manners. Run well, those are very difficult. … It changed so consistently, there was no way to really prepare for it.”
Karl doubts these Nuggets could wreak as much havoc right now as the best Sonics teams he had. But he thinks these Nuggets can take advantage of some offensive complacency creeping into the NBA.
“The league figures things out,” he said. “The last couple of years in Seattle, teams were figuring us out. I haven’t seen a team play aggressive and disruptive. I’m going to experiment with it a little bit.”
The central principles of the scheme aren’t revolutionary. Karl describes a good defense as equal parts instinct, talent and concepts.
“It’s got to be five guys, so called, on a string,” said guard Earl Watson, who learned a similar system in Seattle under McMillan. “So if one guy moves, the other guy moves in tandem. It just pulls everyone, keeps everyone together, on the same page defensively. It makes it hard to score. If someone is looking at the basket, he’s looking at five guys instead of one.”
Added Martin, “No threes, make the opponent own every possession, every point. No fouls, keep people off the free-throw line, and just rebound. If you play good defense and rebound the ball, you can run all day.”
Martin said he hopes to join Marcus Camby, who led the NBA with 199 blocks last season, in swatting more shots down low to get fast breaks started. Defensive specialists Watson, Greg Buckner and Eduardo Najera ought to help lead the way, too.
But even players with lesser defensive credentials, like Carmelo Anthony, who has seven steals in four preseason games, are getting into the act.
“Defense is probably my main priority now,” Anthony said. “I think defense opens up a lot of offense. I’ve seen in the preseason games (that) playing (good) defense opened up a lot of offense for me and for the team.”
It’s easier to talk about than to do. But if the Nuggets can reverse history and alter their basketball DNA, perhaps even the defensive sins of Orlando Woolridge and Co. can be forgiven.
Footnotes
Camby hopes to resume practicing Monday and play in the Nuggets’ final two preseason games. His left plantar fasciitis will keep him out tonight, and Bryon Russell (left knee) also won’t play.
Good first step
A look at how the Nuggets fared defensively before and after George Karl’s arrival last season:
Before After
Record 17-25 32-8
Opp. PPG 97.9 97.1
Opp. FG% .460 .433
Reb. margin -46 +70
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
