At a time when on-court adjustments and practice time are becoming crucial, the Nuggets are just trying to stay healthy.
As a result, recent practices have been scaled back to glorified shootarounds as the emphasis has been on getting players’ bodies healed as the season winds toward the playoffs.
“It’s been very clear that we’re worried about our bodies more than we’re worried about X’s and O’s,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “Right now we’re trying to get everybody a little more juice, a little more energy, a little healthier. We’re doing some maintenance stuff in practice, but X’s and O’s and scrimmaging we’re staying away from right now.”
The Nuggets have a number of players who are banged up, most notably frontcourt players Chris Andersen and Kenyon Martin. Asked if he was OK with scaling back on fine-tuning and focusing on rehab because of the veteran nature of the team, Karl agreed, to a point.
“We have some of that in us; it’s not as much as I would like,” he said. “I think sometimes we throw away some minutes. But every team I’ve ever coached has that problem. Coaches always want a little bit more than they get.”
Martin injured.
Martin did not play Friday because of a left knee “too sore to go,” according to Karl.
Martin was at Friday morning’s shootaround but determined about an hour before the game he couldn’t play.
Martin’s left knee has been increasingly bothersome and will undoubtedly keep him out of future games as well.
“I think it’s been sore since the Golden State game,” Karl said. “He’s been getting up because we need him.”
Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post
