Commissioner David Stern wasted no time in making his injury-replacement pick for the 2011 All-Star Game. He did so Friday by selecting Minnesota forward Kevin Love, which closed the book on the all-star selection process and ended Nuggets center Nene’s chances of making the team.
So instead of going to Los Angeles for his first All-Star Game, Nene will head to Vail to relax over the four- day break with family and friends.
Nuggets coach George Karl praised Nene’s season to this point, saying: “He’s been more consistent than he ever has in his career. I wish he would have gotten more consideration, or at least I would have felt he got more consideration. It just didn’t seem like he got much.”
Asked if the area Nene excels in — field-goal percentage — wasn’t respected enough to get a player recognized, Karl said coaches understand the importance of the stat and added, “I think everybody understands that when Nene touches the ball, good things happen.”
But Nene plays with an unselfishness that might never help him get voted to the All-Star Game. Karl would like to see him take more initiative but won’t complain about the results from a player averaging more than 15 points a game and leading the NBA in field-goal percentage.
Asked if he coached other players that he had to “order” to shoot the ball, Karl paused.
“Nate McMillan was that way a little bit,” Karl said. “When I coached Nate, I had to tell him to shoot shots. I think Detlef Schrempf was a little bit that way. But there’s not many of them.”
Kenyon update.
It’s baby steps for Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin as he continues to work toward being a full-time, effective player. Karl likes what he sees so far.
“I think the Portland game (on Wednesday) was a big step there,” Karl said. “I think he felt more comfortable.
“The minute limitation is always probably going to be difficult. Per minute-wise, he’s probably playing as well now as he played then. But he’s just not getting the 35 minutes to get the double-doubles.”
