Tuesday, May 12, 2009

DENVER SWITCHES TO DEFENSIVE EMPHASIS

Courtesy of Coach Musselman, a great article from Chris Dempsy of the Denver Post on how the Denver coaching staff altered the philosophy back to George Karl's days in Seattle -- with a "defense wins" priority.


We’ll start last spring, after the Nuggets were swept out of the playoffs by the L.A. Lakers. Assistant coach Tim Grgurich, Karl’s longtime right hand man, wanted the coach to wipe his hands of emphasizing offensive basketball. Grgurich wanted to turn back the clock to the defense-first system that was a success when the two were winning games by the boatload in Seattle.

“We can’t do this anymore,” Grgurich said to Karl. “We can’t coach like this anymore. It just doesn’t work.”

Karl paused.

“He was saying it for himself, but he was also saying it for me,” Karl recalled. “And I just looked at him and said ‘Grg, you know something, you’re right.’”

The article goes on to talk about how the Denver staff divided the team up and called on the players continually during the off-season. Interesting how they couldn't get a hold of Iverson.

Read the entire article at: