Karl wont rein in his Nuggets now
May 29th, 2009 Posted in NBA basketball newsTo make the NBA Finals for the first time – and bring their tattoos, athleticism and exuberance to the biggest stage of all – the upstart Denver Nuggets must win two games in a 48-hour span against a savvy Los Angeles Lakers team that is shooting for its 30th Finals appearance.
Oh, and L.A. hasnt lost back-to-back games since March.
The Nuggets might very well be the better team in the Western Conference finals, with a deeper bench, more muscle and better health than the tired, injured and often disjointed Lakers. But they also tend to implode at the worst times.
Theres the taunting after big shots, the complaining after calls and the botched inbounds passes that cost them Games 1 and 3 and a chance at brooming the Lakers right out of the playoffs.
Now, theyre one loss away from summer vacation.
For most of the series, we outplayed them for most stretches of the game, Chauncey Billups said. We just couldnt get over the hump in the fourth quarter in a few different situations.
Nor can they get out of their own way at times.
Denver has committed 11 technical fouls in this series and defensive stud Dahntay Jones is one more flagrant-1 foul away from a suspension.
Coach George Karl said he wont rein in his players for Game 6 in Friday night in Denver, however.
You guys are almost saying youve got to have savvy and poise to be a championship team, Karl told reporters Thursday. I mean, you think the Detroit Pistons have the poise that the San Antonio Spurs have? No, I mean theres a different way of handling emotional, passionate, intense players. We have some guys who are emotional. Maybe a little too emotional. But for me, Im not going to tell them to stop that because I think that stops them from becoming a competitor.
Right now, were competing on the best stage on a pretty good level. I think the Lakers know were there.
The Lakers have plenty of their own problems, inconsistency among them, but in Game 5, they showed theyre not always so soft in the middle and they dont have to be a one-man band, either.
The Lakers finally discovered ways to get more balanced play, especially from their bigs.
Thats what the conversation has been about this entire postseason, our team, our potential and our capabilities, Derek Fisher said. But how do we, as a group, open that space to be what we can be? … Its possible something clicked for us as a group last night against this team.
We may have found some things we can do that allows us to attack them from everywhere. We feel we cant be beat when everybodys getting a chance to play.
Kobe Bryant lured double coverage then passed to his teammates with Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol doing the damage inside in the fourth quarter as the Lakers capped a 23-5 run and cruised to a 103-94 win Wednesday night.
Weve had stretches where weve played excellent defense, Bryant said, but the competition were facing with this Denver Nuggets team is unlike anything weve ever seen. They have so many scorers, they have an inside presence. So … Im very proud of how we performed in that stretch.
Odoms 19 points and 14 rebounds were certainly the biggest reasons the Lakers reversed their disparity in points in the paint and grabs off the glass from Game 4.
Karl thinks Lakers coach Phil Jacksons rant helped, too.
Although it drew $50,000 in fines, Jacksons complaints about the officiating in Denver paid off in the Lakers 16-7 advantage at the line in the fourth quarter, Karl suggested.
So, Karl took his own crack at the crew, suggesting Nene fouled out thanks to three or four phantom fouls and questioning how Gasol (one foul) could have played such a clean but active game.
On Thursday Karl insisted he wasnt blaming the officials for Denvers demise, but he took another shot at them when saying some of his younger players were letting the officiating get under their collective skin.
Were hoping and we believe that the officiating wont be a problem, Karl said. When youre getting hit in the back of the head, knocked on your (backside), youre human beings; you react to people of authority. The referees are the ones that have the authority and control the game the way they want to control it.
Bryant has been blunt about the Lakers fatigue factor in this series, and he and Gasol each played 45 minutes in Game 5. But Bryant said hes fine, suggesting hell get plenty of rest when Im on a beach in Cabo.
The Nuggets would love nothing more than to help him book that trip by next week.
