Erik Spoelstra may be hunting for the greatest winning streak of all-time, but there is probably no one having more fun with his job than Denver Nuggets coach George Karl these days.
Sure, a 14-game winning streak is no 24-game winning streak, but the reigning champions were supposed to be this good at some point this season. Not a whole lot around the league expected Denver to play this big of a role in the Western Conference. After the improbable 101-100 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, it stands alone at a league-best 31-3 at home.
Here is a detailed look at the mindset of a very happy coach about why his team has been so successful and how important homecourt advantage would be in the playoffs, from Sam Amick of USA Today:
Q. So you having fun yet?
A. You know, in coaching you don’t ever really have that joyful fun, but there’s no question that it’s enjoyable. It’s winning. And when you win and you’ve lost, what, four games in 60 days or something like that, it’s nice not having the headache of that day of losing. In the NBA, you win, and you think you’re going to win tomorrow. But as soon as you lose, you don’t think you’re ever going to win again.
Q. Are you as surprised as most people are with how quickly your franchise recovered from the Anthony deal?
A. I definitely think that the speed that we’ve built ourselves back into being a contender in the Western Conference has surprised me. We have one player on the team that played with Melo. The Melo trade was, what, two years ago in February? And you have to remember that one of those years was a lockout year. So probably the team has only played together less than 100 games.
Q. You’ve had to massage a lot of situations here. I talked to Andre (Miller) earlier this season and he was clearly uneasy with his playing time then, and young guys like JaVale (McGee) are always going to want more time (he’s averaging 18.4 minutes per game). Dissect that a little bit for me. How have you been able to get most out of this group and keep some of these situations from turning into negatives?
A. The two keys that, I think, have really made this thing work — well, there’s really three — is my bench is really good. The bench puts a lot of pressure on the starters to play really good, because they know that I will go to my bench as quick as any coach in the NBA. The second thing is Andre (Miller) and Ty (Lawson). You’ve got two point guards who can give you 10 assists on any given night, and can orchestrate a team in a different way, and sometimes do it together. It just brings the pass, and the importance of the pass, the demand that we pass the ball because that’s what I like, that’s what I think wins championships, and we have two guys who do it. The third thing is that our big guys get no credit. The big guys are kind of low maintenance, no-nonsense players, but they do the job almost every night.
Q. You mentioned getting better on the road, but the chance to get home court (in the playoffs) is obviously huge considering you guys are 30-3 there. Are your guys talking about that goal or is it pretty much obvious what you’re trying to get done here?
A. I think the whole season was to get home court … I just want to be realistic. If come the last 10 games of the season, that’s a possibility, then that’s cool. But right now, we’re going to stay focused on the cliché of taking one game at a time, and also realizing that the home court is reachable and we don’t have total control. We don’t play Memphis or the Clippers anymore. All we’ve got to do is put a big number up (wins-wise), and if they catch it or beat it — if it’s a high number in the mid-50s, then we’ve got to shake their hands and say congratulations and still be ready to play in the playoffs. But home court is something that, being a young team and having that in our back pocket (would be big). Most series, everybody wins on each other’s home court. But to win twice here would be — not many people have that much of a chance.
There’s plenty more of where that came from, so be sure to click on the link to see Karl’s full interview with one of the best in Amick.
Onto other news from around the league: