Same old story, same old song and notes. …
They need to stay focused. They need to play defense. They need to share the ball, be a team, do the little things that it takes to overcome the me-me culture of the NBA.
George Karl said all that stuff Monday night. Just as he said it on a Monday night last year and, no doubt, the year before.
There’s a method to Karl’s message. And a sameness, too.
Question is, are the players listening? The answer to that question, says Karl, is a definitive maybe. They listen, all right. Sometimes and occasionally, not to mention when they don’t have anything else to listen to.
“Coaching in the NBA is saying the same thing a thousand different ways,” Karl said. “When they reject you or ignore you or aren’t focused on what you say, just don’t take it too seriously. Come back the next day and say it another way. It’s not a perfect classroom. It’s not Princeton. There are some days they’re not there and some days when you’ve just got to say, ‘That’s the NBA.’
“I enjoy it, actually. I laugh at it now. If we were in the old days, this team probably would have driven me crazy.” …
Allen Iverson, assist machine. Hey, don’t look at me. Check out the numbers. A.I. has played 20 games in a Nuggets uni and led the team in assists 16 times. …
Tale of two teams: The Nuggets are 26-24 – 26-9 when they score 100-plus points, 0-15 when they don’t. …
Karl to a, ahem, certain Post columnist who just left ESPN radio to join The Fan: “You changed jobs, huh? How much was the raise, six figures?” Post columnist to Karl: “Almost. I got a six-pack as a signing bonus.” …
The NFL’s most underachieving team? You could make a strong case for the Ravens. According to coldhardfootballfacts.com, the Boys of Billick since winning the Super Bowl after the 2000 season have had 27 Pro Bowl selections and one playoff win. …
Marty Schottenheimer has taken his Martyball and gone home, but let the record show he wants to coach again. Just a thought, Marty, but the next time January rolls around, stop and ask for directions. …
Remember when Steelers Pro Bowler Alan Faneca said he didn’t want the team’s fortunes in the hands of a snot-nosed rookie named Ben Roethlisberger? Now comes Bill Cowher’s successor, 34-year-old Mike Tomlin, who beat out in-house candidates Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm for the gig.
Faneca’s reaction? “When Cowher retired, everybody in the league wanted two of our guys,” he tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “So you’d think we would want at least one of them.” …
Ex-Eagles microphone magnet/wideout Freddie Mitchell is hoping to hook on with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. Next stop: Boxer shorts and shoulder pads in the Lingerie Bowl. …
So the wise guys at the Las Vegas Hilton have picked the Rockies to finish last in the NL West. Makes sense if you think about it. With all those free cocktails in Vegas, they don’t have to drink the Coors Canaveral Kool-Aid. …
Hall of Famer Jim Palmer tells The Kansas City Star about his old skipper, Hank Bauer, who died last week at 84: “He was the ideal manager. He didn’t make it very complicated. If you were a high fastball pitcher, he said, ‘You can’t pitch high in this league.’ So I’d bounce a couple of pitches and he’d run out to the mound and say, ‘I didn’t mean you.”‘ …
The Miami Herald’s Greg Cote, on that curious Super Bowl ad, the one featuring Jay-Z and Don Shula: “The closest thing Shula has in common with hip-hop is hip replacement.” …
And finally, if you happen to welcome a son into the world today, make him a quarterback. Born on this day: Jim Kelly (1960), Drew Bledsoe (1972) and Steve McNair (1973).
Staff writer Jim Armstrong can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
