George Karl still undecided about how to use his big men during games – NBA News
JaVale McGee was retained by the Denver Nuggets this summer for a four year contract that will see him earning $44 million over the course of those four years. For a guy who is earning that much money, people would expect him to
be on the floor for the Nuggets each night till he is not able to stand any longer. However, the Nuggets Head Coach George Karl has some other ideas in mind.
The Nuggets have a deep roster for this season, and the same goes for the centre spot as well. Apart from McGee, the Nuggets have Kosta Koufos and Timofey Mozgov in the line-up, who are solid big men and can be used during games.
All three players have had their share of playing minutes during the Nuggets preseason games, and all three have shown moments of strong play and other moments where they were not that impressive. The real question is how much McGee will play next season and
whether Karl will use Koufos and Mozgov more often, or will they be limited to less than 10 minutes a game.
Karl talked with Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post about the upcoming season and what plans he had for using his big men. Although Karl preferred going with McGee for as much time as possible, he also knows that there can be
times when McGee just does not respond to anyone and hence, Karl needs to have a backup plan in place for such moments during the game.
“I have no idea. The perfect scenario would be that JaVale would get (minutes) in the high 20s and Kosta and Timo in the low 20s, but I’m not going to predict anything. I’m going to go coach to win games, not to play big guys,”
said Karl.
Karl was informed about the high price of McGee’s contract and whether that would have any effect on his decision to play him longer minutes, and made it clear that for him, the only measure of performance was what the player did
on the court during games or in practice. He said he did not know how much he earned and would not base his decision on that.
“You think that’s ever influenced me? You think I give a (darn) about what they make? You honestly think that bothers (me)? The only time it’s good to know what the players make is to demand they play like a $10 million player,”
added Karl.
McGee has a great opportunity to develop himself under Karl, who is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history and a veteran to the coaching profession. If there is anyone who can turn around McGee’s career, it has to be Karl.
However, at the same, Karl also has a team to run and games to win, and McGee will have to prove himself on the court if he wants exposure within the Nuggets organization and a brighter future.
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