Nuggets coach George Karl spent the second game of his two-game suspension under self-imposed house arrest Wednesday night.
“It was very uncomfortable, very close to painful,” he said of watching the Nuggets’ overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers from home. “It was ugly. I didn’t like how my team played. I didn’t like playing a part in causing them to play that way.”
Karl said he was also upset at the NBA for its decision to sit him out of Denver’s first two games after he made an unauthorized appearance at a pre-draft workout last summer. Although the Nuggets coach is obviously not happy with his team’s 0-2 start, he was far from panicked about it.
He makes his belated regular-season debut tonight when Denver hosts Portland.
“It’s early,” he said. “You’ve just got to get a win (tonight), get on a good path and get the snowball rolling the right way.”
Karl said he did not blame acting head coach Scott Brooks for the team’s play.
“It’s just a situation where if I had been with Scotty, it would’ve been easier to do some things,” he said. “The only criticism I had was not with Scotty, but our offense. It was stagnant. … It seems we’ve reverted to standing and a power game, and I think we’re ordinary when we do that. I think we’ll win games like that, but I don’t think we’ll be special doing that.”
One of the mysteries through the first two games was why free-agent acquisition Earl Watson did not play. Karl said it would have been difficult for Brooks to tinker with the Nuggets’ normal rotation by inserting Watson. The point guard, who signed a five-year, $29 million contract, has yet to leave the bench.
Karl said he’s more concerned with getting the established players, including point guards Andre Miller and Earl Boykins, into an early-season rhythm by giving them a regular, predictable amount of playing time. Boykins shot 4-for-12 against the Lakers. Karl said to insert Watson into the second half would have “upset the apple cart.”
He added that his substitution patterns could change once the team gets on a roll, but for now Watson probably won’t play much.
“Unless we get in that mode,” he said, “you’re going to see us hanging with the players who got us there, and that’s Andre and Earl (Boykins). … I’m not sure you can play 10 or 11 guys. You need to let guys build confidence, and maybe then you can add pieces.”
Of course, there are still 80 games to work out the kinks.
Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe sounded as calm as his coach when asked about his team’s start. He pointed out that aside from the two tough opponents, the Nuggets were shocked by the news of forward Nene’s torn right anterior cruciate ligament. Vandeweghe added that not having Karl on the bench made a difference.
Great coaches, he said, “earn their money in the fourth quarter and at the end of games. That’s where we fell down both games.”
Brooks said he was happy to hand the reins back to Karl.
“He’s going to have to have an early-season turnaround,” Brooks predicted. “He’s pretty good at this. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns it around quickly.”
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
