Dime’s 2009 NBA Coach of the Year
photo. Rocky Mountain News
With 82 games in the books and the playoffs getting started this weekend, Dime presents our ‘08-09 NBA regular-season awards. These are the consensus picks from our editorial team; not necessarily who we think is going to win, but who we think should win.
COACH OF THE YEAR: GEORGE KARL
We’re just gonna let Dime reader “dagwaller” take this one. His comment in yesterday’s Smack said everything we were going to say. Thanks, dag:
For the last 30 games, I’ve thought that Rick Adelman was the coach of the year. Taking his team to the 2nd seed (right up til last night – 5th seed in reality). Losing his “superstar” (I guess we see who REALLY stirs the drink on that team). Having to integrate Ron Artest of all people. Playing in the toughest division in sports. Losing his starting PG in mid-season and replacing him with a younger version.
But I thought more and more about it. The team that ACTUALLY ended up as the 2 seed in the West played in a division ALMOST as tough as Houston did. I’m talking about the Nuggets, and while they don’t have 4 playoff teams in their division, they do have 3.
George Karl had to deal with a COLLECTION of knuckleheads, instead of just one: JR Smith, Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony, all of whom have definitely cleaned up their acts in the past year.
He, too, had to completely change his gameplans when his starting PG from last year was traded for a drastically different player.
He lost his defensive stalwart from the past few years, when they were a laughingstock defensively. Remember all the people that thought the Nuggets couldn’t be anything but worse?
More importantly, remember all the people that were calling for Karl’s head, saying that he was the cause for all the problems in Denver, and that he was one of the worst head coaches in the League? Where are you now? You know who you are.
The same thing happened to Sam Mitchell and Doc Rivers. “They’re terrible coaches!” Nooo. Just keep in mind how coaches can turn things around when you’re calling for Mike D’Antoni’s head, or Larry Brown etc.
PS – I heard last night that George Karl averaged 59 wins for SIX STRAIGHT YEARS with the Sonics. Then he went on to success with the Bucks. Still blows my mind that people thought that he was a bad coach.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Junio says:
Nice explanation.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Kudabeen says:
Still not buying it…George Karl didn’t improve as a coach is what I’m hearing…It is about his players…They didn’t lose Camby…They gave him away…They gained a healthy and productive trio of Big Men that didn’t let the team get bullied and intimidated as much in the paint…They also gained a more focused JR Smith…Was he and Carmelo more “Kunckleheaded” than years prior???
More important than all that they gained a true Floor Leader…A guy that is able to hold guys accountable and had the personality and championship pull to do it…
I’d give it to Nate McMillian, Mike Brown, or Adelman before I’d think about Karl…
Hell I’d give Chauncey coach of the year before George Karl…just not a fan of how he flakes on his guys when it’s bad to play down his responsibility, but when it’s good the same guys still are put down to elevate his coaching abilities…Adelman is consistent, Brown is consistent, McMillian consistent…They held their teams through good, bad and ugly…
Just my 2 cents…We’ll see.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Kudabeen says:
Also George Karl of late is not the same coach as the George Karl in the Sonic and Bucks days…
After he had his Cancer battle he mellowed to the point where he would simply shrug off some of the BS the players were pulling…He was an Ass before and would call guys out…Head go toe to toe with GP or Cassell or Ray Allen just to fire them up and make it known what they need to do…
This is understandable. Basketball is not more important than life…I remember a Karl interview where he was speaking about how going through his cancer battle and having to watch his son deal with it really made him take a step back and not take the job as serious…The not sleeping and yelling…
I understand this, but so called Knuckle heads need two things… Leadership and Tough Love…He lost that. With a real floor leader now Karl has gained his voice back in the locker room and in the huddles…Chauncey’s professionalism aids Karl’s ability to do his job without being the old fiery G Karl we used to see…
Good for him, but I attribute this moderate team improvement to the on floor leadership and talent…
April 17th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Taj says:
Not a bad arguement but I think Adelman or Nate McMillan deserves it a bit more… Adelman’s coached his team that has 1 Bonafide Supertar in Yao and a bunch of spare parts to the the record they have and McMillan’s done a great job with the young Talent in Portland and has put them back on the map again!
April 17th, 2009 at 10:34 am
S-SiN says:
No, he isn’t a terrible coach. Hate him or (kinda) love him he’s produced in the past. But so many candidates seem to be a better choice for the award this year. many worthy ones. it’ll be a toss up eventually.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:52 am
POPPI GEE says:
Rist off nice piece dagwaller and I see and even understand your points. Now with that said.
Booooooooooooooo, Boooooooooooooooooo! Lame, lame, lame! Was that suppose to be justification for George Karl!
First of Kudabeen said it all and I agree totally.
Chauncy Billups is the coach of that squad. I said it sometime ago. George Karl is more intersted in trying to be friends with his players than really coaching them. Then when the ish hits the fan he wants to throw them under the bus and they tryna throw him under it.
Look at this dude’s track record with past all-star players that he has gotten into it with. If Billups didn’t come on the scene they would be right where they were last year or worst and at this point we probably would be reading some article where GK is bashin someone or vice versa.
Time as usual always tells with this cat. This guy had a good squad last year too and boo booed on himself with it. If anything give the GM an award for getting Billups.
When is the last time you heard of a great coaching move he pulled in a game that meant a lot? …..,…..you haven’t.
I love the Nuggs, but I have detested GK for a while. How many good players do you need, and cracks at the finals and different teams before you actually win one?
Yea and you can let the “excuse” train begin right there.
I think I heard it on “Family Guy” once but “This guy is a phony!”
April 17th, 2009 at 10:56 am
MoxWestCoastRep says:
I am a fan of what Erik Spolestra did in Miami- 2 rookie starters, trade 2nd best player mid-season. Of course Wade gets and deserves most of the credit but to finish 5th as a Rookie head coach aint bad…
Still, I would give it to Karl- The Nuggs made a huge jump from last year and finally starting playing D
April 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am
thomasmmm says:
carmelo is still a knucklehead. billups is the most crucial to the success of the nuggets. birdman did a good job, but maybe he needs to rid himself of the antics and be a really good defensive stopper.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Amar says:
no one thought the nuggs would be 2nd in the west, let alone 1st in their own division when the season started. part of it is the big trade, but another part has to be the coaching.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:27 am
calvin brodus says:
TGIF BEE-ATCHES!!
Wow. Dime drops an award to the nuggs and I disagree with it. What are the odds? I read that post by Dag yesterday as well, and he makes some good points. I think his argument has few holes in it though.
First, the nuggs really didn’t have any knuckleheads this season. They may have their occasional mental lapses on the court, but this squad has almost completely stayed out of extracurricular trouble this season. That has nothing to do with Karl and he shouldn’t get credit for it.
Second, the nuggs only won four more games this season than last, so they didn’t see their win margin increase as much as some of the other coach of the year candidates did. Wins per season, or win improvement from a previous season, should be a main criteria in judging a coaches ability.
Third, Chauncey B-B-B-B-Billups. Is there anyone on this entire site that thinks Karl is getting this award with Ivy still on the squad instead of CB? Chauncey has been a exponentially larger factor to the team success this year than Karl. No question about.
The reasons the nuggs are killing it this season…
~A healthy Nene and Kmart. First time in three seasons both have played together for most of the teams games.
~Billups leadership on the court and in the locker room. I also expect his previous playoff resume to be a GIANT factor in the postseason.
~ The nuggs “minimums”. Anthony Carter, Dahntay Jones, and Bird are all on minimum contracts this year and all have been good, if not great, if not spectacular (bird) as role players.
~Melo and JR modifying their roles for the team. Melo has rounded out his game very well and stepped up his D. JR loves his role as a spark plug off the bench, and is the offensive flamethrower of our second unit.
If the nuggs get a non-player award it should be executive off the year. Those dudes got the nuggs well under the cap, ditched ivy for billups, and found some killer role players at bargain prices.
“More importantly, remember all the people that were calling for Karl’s head, saying that he was the cause for all the problems in Denver, and that he was one of the worst head coaches in the League? Where are you now? You know who you are.”
Yes, Dag. That’s me. Anything less than the WCF and Karl should have the door hitting his ass. Get on any local nuggets site and I think you’ll see most Denver fans agree with me. No WCF, bring in Avery Johnson. Please.
This is by far the longest and most boring post I have ever written, but I felt compelled. I beg the pardon of all readers here.
Mile mafuckin high!!!!
April 17th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Charles says:
WOW that is the most laughable post I’ve read in a while from you guys. This is what happens when a dime reader takes over. He should have stuck with his original thoughts.
If anything Billups deserves the coach of the year. Do you also notice a similarity between all the years when Karl was considered a good coach? Well it is the fact he had a coaches in his PG’s over the years he had GP in Seattle, and Cassel at the bucks, and now he has BigUps!
Adelman, Pops or Sloan (maybe a carrer Coach of the year award ala Kobe MVP last year) deserves coach of the year, dealing with ailing superstars is not easy and still getting into the playoffs at the 5th, 3rd and 8th seeds with the kind of injuries they suffered is great coaching.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Jaxson42 says:
Chauncey Billups is the real coach of the Nuggets.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
E$ says:
Mike Brown: 40-1 @ home?! I don’t know a fan in the NBA that spends $$ on tickets & pretty much gets a win every night they see the team play is pretty sweet & that equals sellout crowds
Rick Alderman: 1st year on the job, No Tmac, young backcourt, a ticking time bomb in Artest & almost took the Central Div. is not too shabby
April 17th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Kudabeen says:
Coach Brown lost points for allowing the Cavs to go 39-2 and giving away that last game. Bron plays 15-20 mins they win and are cemented in the records…But 39-2 is still ridiculous…
April 17th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Baby Huey says:
E$ – make that 39-2 at home for the Cavs
April 17th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Vinny says:
George Karl and coach of the year is an oxymoron! Nate, Rick or Mike should win.
April 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Austin Burton, "T.M.P." says:
So everybody who’s saying Chauncey is the “real coach” of the Nuggets, are you gonna blame Chauncey if they lose in the first round to New Orleans? No, you’re gonna blame Karl.
April 17th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Matt B says:
I agree that Adelman and Brown are better choices. Karl did a nice job but let’s get real. Like others have said, their win total increased by only 4 games in a Western Conference that saw the Suns lose Amare, the Spurs lose Ginobili, the Rockets lose T-Mac, the Hornets lose Chandler and Peja for a long stretch, and a Jazz team that lost Boozer for long time. Nuggets were pretty healthy all year (small Melo absence but breakout year for Nene) and took advantage. Good job there. However, the best example of Karl’s coaching is the way he let J.R. Smith rain down threes during the blowout win over the Kings. You don’t let your player do that in a blowout end of season contest. That was bush league through and through. The Kings should have laid him out.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
AY says:
E$, 39-2 at home for the Cavs like baby huey mentioned, and it’s adelman’s 2nd year as coach for the rockets, and they’re 5th seed in the west by losing their one must win game.
I vote for greg popovich; his team of tony parker and duncan with random teammates somehow got 3rd place in the west. The regular lineup consisted of roger mason, matt bonner, rookie george hill, 36 year old mike finley, 37 year old kurt thomas and 38 year old bruce bowen. Which one of these guys would get regular burn on a playoff team?
April 17th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Actually AB I am going to blame Carmello. Lol.
Naw for real you right cause GK is the “head” coach. Chauncy just the coach. One is the reason they are doing great. The other will be the reason for the ultimate down fall. Sure everyone under GK will have there share of blame for what they could have done better. Still GK is the one who will get most of it.
I mean what has George Karl done differently that you can point out that has the team playing so well….? Yet there is plenty you can say about Chauncy. Case in point.
Again best thing I can say about GK is he is player friendly, till the ish hits the fan. George Karl is a phony.
April 17th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
erichv96 says:
I’m on the Karl wagon for Coach of the Year, mostly because I’m a Nugz supporter, but we don’t make the Playoffs without Billups. I’m tired of hearing Mike Brown’s name in this mix. What the hell kinda coaching strategy is “Give the ball to LeBron and he’ll do the work”? That’s not COY material. Isiah could have coached the Cavs to 60+ wins. Nate deserves it for what he’s done. With all that being said, it’s still a useless reward considering Sloan has never won it and both Phil Jackson and Larry Brown have only one it once. Those, with Red, are the best coaches the L has ever seen. Junk the award like the Comeback POY was junked.
April 17th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
the cynic says:
@ Austin
Nuggets aren’t going to lose in the first round with Chauncey wearing Paul out in the post. Hell no is George Karl the coach of the year, they only won 3 or 4 more games then last year. Nate McMillan or Mike Brown is the coach of the year with Adelman getting an honorable mention.
Whoever makes the personal decisions for the Nuggets should get an award
April 19th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Mark says:
As long as Popovich is in the league, he should win Coach of the Year.
April 19th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
bola says:
nuggets recipe for success this season:
billups
healthier big men (Nene!)
better and more productive bench players
George Karl not included!
April 20th, 2009 at 12:04 am
dagwaller says:
Very late, sorry about that. Dime, thanks a lot for using my post!
The fact of the matter is that while the Nuggets added several talented players, Karl is the one that molded them into one unit. I like Chauncey Billups as much as anyone else, but you have to be really biased to believe that he coaches the team.
As always, there are many qualified candidates for this award. But just because George Karl has Chauncey Billups doesn’t diminish what he’s accomplished this year, as I wrote above.