As the Nuggets began preparing for their opening- round NBA playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, coach George Karl spent part of Thursday meeting with his players, soliciting their ideas for the best-of- seven set that begins Sunday at the Staples Center in L.A.
Presumably, the discussions centered on issues on the court. Off the floor, it’s clear Karl is a democracy of one.
That was evidenced by the coach’s decision to bring the Nuggets home between Game 1 and Game 2. After the opener, being played at 1 p.m. Denver time, the Nuggets will return to Denver and go back to California shortly before Game 2, which is Wednesday night.
To Karl, the choice was something of a no-brainer.
“I just think three days (in Los Angeles) is too long,” he said. “You play an afternoon game, get back that night; I think it gives us more of a comfort zone for the coaching staff. . . . I just don’t like being in the enemy city that long.”
Especially with all those potentially pesky distractions that La-La Land has to offer. Karl said he thought the sense of comfort would be heightened by the idea of the Nuggets being in control of their environment at home, in matters like setting their own practice times at their own facility. And while some players thought the thinking was sound — “It will help us be more focused; if anything, it will keep us more grounded,” noted calming influence J.R. Smith — others admitted to being somewhat perplexed with the decision.
“That’s a no-comment — it’s a touchy situation,” center Marcus Camby said with a laugh. “I was always told there are more distractions when you’re home, you’ve got ticket requests and a lot of stuff going on surrounding the playoffs — you just want to focus on playing basketball.
“But whatever they want to do is fine with us, as long as it’s about winning basketball games.”
Seeing 3s.
Karl said one of the determining factors in whether that happens will be 3-point shooting. The Lakers made 662 3-pointers during the regular season, third among playoff teams. The Nuggets’ opponents made 621 during the season, more than any other team except for Washington.
“They shoot the 3 so well that how we shoot the 3 will be felt a little bit,” Karl said. “We have to stay, I don’t think we have to shoot as many or as well as they do, but we can’t have the lopsidedness of the 3-ball statistically right now.”
During their 3-0 regular- season sweep of the Nuggets, the Lakers made at least nine 3-pointers in each of the games, totaling 30. Denver made but 12 against the Lakers, with a single-game high of five.
Hunker down.
When it comes to hard work, the NFL coach, currying burnout by breaking down game films into the wee small hours of the morning before catching a few zzz’s on his office couch, seems to be the current gold standard. But it should be noted there’s a little work that goes into preparing for an NBA playoff series as well.
“You have a package of 30 to 40 ideas now,” Karl said. “You can’t bring all of them to the players; you filter that down, hopefully, to a list of five or six. Those will be your emphasis in practice, what you want to develop.
“That’s your starting point. The 30 or 40 ideas, hopefully you don’t have to use all of them, because you usually go to them when the first ones don’t work. You’re studying a team, probably to a fault. You’re probably spending too much time on them, but you get to know them, and there are a lot of ‘what ifs.’ ”
Anthony Cotton, The Denver Post
