Just a couple of months into the season, the Eastern Conference playoff picture was pretty clear and many of the usual suspects were hovering near the top of the leaderboard out West, but there were a couple of surprises — and a couple of disappointments.
Who would have thought the Atlanta Hawks would end up in a playoff position after offloading Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams this offseason? How about the Chicago Bulls finishing in the top five in the East without the services of Derek Rose?
While those are both nice stories, including nice coaching jobs by Larry Drew and Tom Thibodeau respectively, the Denver Nuggets were the Association’s biggest surprise this season.
And while being a surprise isn’t the only reason a coach should earn the NBA’s Coach of the Year, George Karl gets our nod as he has guided a team bereft of stars to the fifth-best record in the league.
Not only does his team lack star power, it also lacked an above-average big man. Would you pick a team that starts Kostas Koufas at centre to finish third in the Western Conferemce?
What the Nuggets do have is an extraordinary number of athletic wings and a couple of above-average point guards in Ty Lawson and Andre Miller, as well as a coach who knows how to create a game plan but, just as importantly, how to get his players to follow that game plan.
On defence, the Nuggets have used all of their long-armed wing defenders (most notably Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler) to force turnovers to help send the ball the other way. They finished second in the league in forced turnovers. A long bench helps ensure the pressure remains constant on the opposition.
On offence, the Nuggets would prefer to run and gun, but then again, who wouldn’t? It’s much easier to score before the opposition sets their defence, but even when they are forced into their halfcourt sets, they are still able to fill the tin.
Lawson and Miller would run some unconventional pick-and-roll sets with Danilo Gallinari or Chandler that would see the screener flare out to the wing rather than toward the post.
Those were just a couple of the wrinkles installed by Karl that allowed his team to finish third in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record.
While we would love to see the Nuggets coach claim the Award, Karl wants no part of it.
“Coach of the year? I’m not sure I want that legacy,” Karl told Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. “Have you seen what happens to guys who win coach of the year?”
Historically speaking, Karl is right. Several past winners have gone on to be fired the following season.
While it has been an awesome season in the Rocky Mountains, many wonder if they can maintain that high level of play without Danilo Gallinari and with a banged-up Kenneth Farried in their first-round series with the Golden State Warriors.
As Karl has proven already, if any team can, it will be his.