FanNation - The Republic of Sport

It's kind of asinine for Karl to be crabbing that AI wasn't much of a playmaker.

Who exactly was he watching all those years Iverson has been in the league? Every one of his issues with Iverson have been on ample display throughout his career! Did he think he was going to remake him?

I like Karl, but nobody ever confused him with Red Auerbach as a coach......

there such a thing called being a class act...and karl is not one of them.

It's a little late to criticize the man now, when you lobbied for him to come there. You knew AI wasn't a floor general when you signed him... He is a scorer PERIOD... Don't start talking smack after the fact.

i dont see the point in bad mouthing the man now that he is gone i mean he knew what he was getting when he traded for him i thought from the jump it would not be a good fit.. now i do agree that the nuggetts are better team with billiups but i also feel the pistons are a better team with ai

That was a thought Karl should have kept to himself!

Completely unnecessary

"There are less bad plays, more solid plays," Karl said

Let's be honest, its because you traded for a player who is self-coaching and a natural leader.

Sure he manages the game better, making up for some of AI's defficiencies, but he is also a leader and a player-coach, making up for someone else frequently found around the bench area. When you have a lineup with so much talent in it like Denver had, making it work is all on the coach.... Karl is trying to skirt the obvious... he is no Phil Jackson, and never will be.

Denver getting Billups will possibly let them win despite Karl, much like the Stones did despite Flip...

"There are less bad plays, more solid plays," Karl said

Before I got to rambling, my simple point was supposed to be isn't it the coach who designs plays... isn't it the coach who should know his player's strengths and weaknesses...

Karl is basically saying "having NBA MVP's on your team hurts your team", but forgot to finish the sentence (when you don't know how to use them properly).

What a coward.

This is nothing new. Both sides are always going to say something bad about each other. It's the same w/ Billups. Karl made a mistake for trading Miller for AI in the first place. Denver was up and coming because of Andre but they decided to break it up.

This is some sour grapes on Karl's part. He's gone. He's moved on, and so should Karl.

This is the same guy that support the unreliable Larry Brown.....

Its funny that most of you guys on here are bashing Karl and not AI. Everything he said about AI is correct in that he doesnt play defense and gambles on almost every play when he does and that he isnt a team player. I guess we will see him turn the pistons into the same team that the nuggets had become with him.

I just dont understand some fans that hold AI in such high reverence. All the man can do is score points but it takes him a TON of shots to get them and he doesnt make his teammates better.

Also i dont think it was Karl that wanted to trade for AI but the GM at the time. Im sure he said he wanted him through the media bc thats what he had to say if he wanted to keep his job.

WHEN YOU GOT IVERSON YOU KNEW HE WAS NOT A DEFENDER SO NOW THAT HE IS GONE WHY ARE QUESTIONING HIS ABILITY/INABILITY TO DEFEND? HE CAME TO DENVER AND KEPT THINGS AT A REASONABLE LEVEL WHILE YOUR STAR PLAYER WAS SUSPENDED WILL HE EVER RECEIVE A THANK YOU FOR THAT? NOT ONLY DO YOU SAY ONE THING AND DO ANOTHER YOU TALK ABOUT DEFENSE YET YOU SENT AWAY THE TWO PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY PLAYED DEFENSE, THANKS!

@keeping it ghetto: THANK YOU!!

Now what Karl did WAS cowardly, but face it, he's right. AI makes nobody better. He's a great individual player but in the end, that's all he is and it will be proven true again in Detroit when they face off against the likes of Cleveland and Boston and can't get by them.

Karl was definitely wrong by not addressing it while AI was there, but the facts don't lie, Denver is better with Billups and AI brought absolutely nothing to the table other than what you'd expect. Denver has ONE LESS playoff win than the Sixers have over the same time since the AI trade. Miller has made the Sixers better and Billups is doing the same. I look at Thaddeus Young in Philly right now, would he had progressed this quickly with AI on the team hogging the ball and not "trusting him"?

I'm sure I'll be labeled a hater and someone who knows nothing about the game, because that's what upset AI groupies say when you criticize their little god. There's a reason why some win titles and some just put up stats, ask A-Rod.

Ghetto & Moe, I think (know) you two are missing the point of this article. No one was ripping AI, because AI didn't do anything. This is all about the classless act of Karl through the media, not the play of AI on the floor.

If a player doesn't fit your system find someone that does and move one. You can compare AI to Billups. They are two totally different players. How long had Karl seen AI play before he brought him in? Look like he (Karl) miss evaluated AI if he expected him to run an offense like a traditional PG.

All these recycled coach should move on. Andrew Miller is closer to Billups than AI is as a PG. Did Karl have him and traded him too right?

I do get it. It seemed like the media and all the basketball "know-it-alls" blamed Karl for them not playing defense the past few years when AI was there. I mean the coach can only yell and demand that people play defense so long before he just gives up on trying to coach them to do it.

So why should Karl take all the blame and no blame go toward the "star" player making the most on the team that didnt do what the coach asked? Or how about run a the team like a true point guard/leader would, instead of taking shots that wasnt in the offense?

QUOTE(#16):

Originally posted 09:27 AM ET  11.18 by SoFlaBoy

All these recycled coach should move on.

So Phil Jackson, Byron Scott, Rich Adelman, Doc Rivers, or Stan Van Gundy should all move on?

Karl should have kept his mouth shut, no need to bring it up now or ever for that matter.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 09:29 AM ET  11.18 by keeping it ghetto goes Evil

I do get it. It seemed like the media and all the basketball "know-it-alls" blamed Karl for them not playing defense the past few years when AI was there. I mean the coach can only yell and demand that people play defense so long before he just gives up on trying to coach them to do it. So why should Karl take all the blame and no blame go toward the "star" player making the most on the team that didnt do what the coach asked? Or how about run a the team like a true point guard/leader would, instead of taking shots that wasnt in the offense?

ks is right. Ghetto & Moe, Kobe Bryant is a great individual player that struggled with team concept, but guess what, he had a coach that knows how to use him, to coach him. Defense is taught and is a team mindset. Are you trying to tell us that Karl is a defensive juggernaut and that AI just ignored him? Besides Camby, they had no defense, and then they shipped him off too...

So why should Karl take all the blame and no blame go toward the "star" player making the most on the team that didnt do what the coach asked?

If a player isn't running the plays correctly, it's up to the coach to do something about it, but it takes a sac of balls, something Karl obviously doesnt have.

Or how about run a the team like a true point guard/leader would, instead of taking shots that wasnt in the offense?

Uh... AI isn't a true point guard...? Pointing all the reasons AI is not the perfect player is like pointing out all the reasons Karl was doing an awful job coaching him... A GOOD coach builds on strengths and designs plays to help out weaknesses. A BAD coach throws players under the bus instead of changing his coaching style.