A week ago, Nuggets coach George Karl said it was “likely” that Dahntay Jones would start the first two games at small forward in place of the suspended Carmelo Anthony. But after Tuesday’s practice, Karl said he was unsure whether he’d go with Jones or Linas Kleiza.
Karl said he’s debating on what tone he’d like to set at the start of the game — Jones is more defensive-minded, Kleiza offensive-minded. The coach will make a decision tomorrow, prior to the season-opener at Utah.
Anthony was suspended for two games to start the season after a DUI arrest last April.
Karl also brought up an interesting point about playing time, which follows the theme of his training camp — defense.
The coach was asked if having Anthony, Allen Iverson and J.R. Smith on the floor in the fourth quarter was the best strategy, because those are the three most-potent offensive players on his roster.
“A.I., J.R. and Melo, huh,” Karl said. “You’re not seeing it the way I’m seeing it. Those three on the court together have yet to prove to me they can cover (defensively). The commitment has gotten better, but I don’t want to get in shootouts that we got into last year. They can score — but can they defend? My desire is to balance the game seriously at both ends of the court and not allow them that freedom and openness because we’re playing a shootout mentality. Last year, that could beat a lot of teams, but couldn’t beat the big-time teams.”
It’s hard to fathom the Nuggets not playing Iverson and Anthony in the fourth quarter, which thus brings up questions about Smith’s crunch-time playing time.
Footnote
Karl also said that he foresees his son, Coby, who was cut by the Lakers, to likely join a D-League team – though Coby Karl has yet to make a decision. The two will see each other in Los Angeles on Thursday, the day before Denver plays at the Clippers.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
