Nuggets Head Coach George Karl says the decision depends on how he fits in with the overall team chemistry.....
JaVale McGee is coming off what may be the best summer of his entire life. The Denver Nuggets centre signed a contract extension with the franchise for a whopping sum $44 million. Inspired by his new contract, McGee spent the whole
summer training hard to get himself in the right shape for the upcoming NBA season, while also improving his game on different fronts.
McGee trained with legendary All Star big Kareem Abdul Jabbar during the summer, and the retired great had some words of encouragement to offer for the young centre.
After all the hard work he put in to get ready for the upcoming season, McGee may be disappointed to learn that he is not a lock for starting centre for the Nuggets next season.
With Timofey Mozgov coming off a strong performance for Russia in the London Olympics, and Kosta Koufos impressing the Nuggets coaching staff last season, head coach George Karl says that he has not yet made up his mind about who
is going to start at the five, and needs to go into training camp before he can make that decision.
“Training camp is going to tell me who plays. My idea right now is Mozgov would start with Faried and JaVale would stay with (reserve point guard) Andre Miller. But again, I don’t (care) about starting line-ups, and you guys are
already stirring the pot. It’s all about how many minutes you play, who you play with, how well you play and how we play (when you’re on the court). Kosta Koufos is in the mix, too. Let’s make sure you understand that. In the last 15-20 games of the season,
when Timo got hurt, Kosta not only played well but good enough to get us to the playoffs,” said Karl when asked about the starting five by the Denver Post.
Karl makes a lot of sense in the argument he offers, and is a smart coach to think that. It all depends on how McGee is more comfortable with and with whom does he form a natural chemistry.
If McGee seems to play better with Miller, then he will probably lead the 2nd unit onto the court. it might be a hard pill to swallow but Karl needs to use his players in the best way possible to guarantee a win for
the team.
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