KRIEGER: Karl's criticism of Iverson never occurred

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 21, 2008 at 9:13 p.m.

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Photo by David Zalubowski, Associated Press

Nuggets head coach George Karl, back, looks on as Allen Iverson heads up the court last season. Sports pages were abuzz with Karl's criticism of Iverson, but there was just one problem: That's not what Karl said.

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Sometimes, the problem is us.

And by us, I mean the wretches and our many far-flung relatives in the Internet age. Sometimes, we twist what people say in order to draw attention to ourselves. Shocking, I know. Nevertheless . . .

Last week, as you may have heard, Nuggets coach George Karl ripped Allen Iverson. The reports were everywhere. Ripped his playmaking, called him "frustrating" and generally took a bunch of cheap shots after he was out the door.

"George Karl does not miss Allen Iverson," declared Deadspin, the popular sports blog.

"Nuggets coach George Karl said guard Allen Iverson's poor decisions and shoot-first mentality were 'frustrating' to coach at times," trumpeted the daylong crawl on ESPN.

Only one problem: That's not what Karl said.

I know this because I was there. But here, judge for yourself.

The discussion took place in a group interview before Sunday's game between the Nuggets and Timberwolves. It began when I asked Karl to name the biggest changes in his team since the trade of Iverson for Chauncey Billups.

He mentioned the increased emphasis on defense and court balance Billups brings. "There's an excitement to be efficient, rather than spectacular," he said.

I asked if it was similar to the days when Andre Miller was running the show. Miller, like Billups and unlike Iverson, is a traditional point guard.

Karl replied that Miller was probably more creative than Billups, but that "Chauncey's more complete. I don't see Chauncey have many bad possessions. And that is so good for our team because we have so many guys that want to play good/bad basketball."

(Note to ESPN: Karl rips Miller!)

"If basketball IQ were on a scale of 1 to 10, where would you say it was before you got him and where would you say it is now?" I asked.

"You must have been reading my notes," Karl said. "In training camp, I asked my staff, 'What are drills to help basketball IQ?'

"The answer is Chauncey Billups. It's turned out to be."

"Would you say since Chauncey's been here the shot selection has improved dramatically?" Altitude play-by-play man Chris Marlowe asked.

"For me, it's the efficiency of how we play," Karl replied. "There's less bad plays, more solid plays, and we still have good plays. But I think the elimination of the wasteful, cheap possessions that we have sometimes had 10 to 15 a game, they don't exist very much anymore."

"Do you keep track of those numerically?" I asked.

"We have . . . shot-selection charts," he said. "We do tapes after every game on bad shots and cheap defensive possessions."

"So, roughly, what would you say has been your average of bad shots since and bad shots before, per game?" I asked.

"I would say when A.I. was here, we had, most games, in the teens, of contested, tough shots," Karl said. "Sometimes, in the 20s. And I don't know if we've had a double-digit one since (Billups) has been here."

"Has Chauncey added a little pep to your step as a coach?" asked Travis Heath of Hoopsworld.com.

"I don't think there's any question that coaching a team for many minutes without a passing and point- guard mentality on the court is frustrating as a coach because you want to help them," Karl said. "Sometimes, I saw something but I couldn't get it done on the court because I didn't have a playmaker out there. I don't think that's going to be much of a problem."

That's it. The conversation was about the nature of the changes Billups has brought to the Nuggets. Nobody who follows the team even casually would question the veracity of anything Karl said. Iverson brings many attributes to the table, but traditional point-guard play is not one of them.

Of those present for the interview, two of three accounts emphasized Karl's praise of Billups, not Iverson's negatives, because that was the thrust of his remarks. His estimates of bad possessions came in response to my request for those numbers.

But for the legions of crawl writers and blog posters who weren't there, criticism of Iverson was clearly a better eyeball catcher than praise of Billups. So, in Detroit, where Iverson now plays, it became "George Karl: Allen Iverson was 'frustrating' to coach."

On ESPN, it became a rant against "Iverson's poor decisions and shoot-first mentality." Find either of those phrases in the conversation.

So the next time someone with a column or a Web site rips an athlete or coach for offering nothing but empty platitudes, keep in mind that's probably the smart way to go these days if you don't want experts who never show their faces to twist what you say into a few more Web hits for themselves.

For years, Karl has been one of the best interviews in the NBA because he tries to answer questions rather than sidestep them with cliches. But I have to admit, he would have been much better off sidestepping our questions Sunday.

Those of us in the sports media like to evaluate others. It's what we do. But sometimes, just sometimes, the problem is us.

• November 21, 2008

  10:16 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  1world writes:

  Dave, I know AI and Karl are both professionals, but it must be frustrating when you say something and it becomes misconstrued amongst several media outlets. If I were Karl, I would have been thrilled about everything that AI brought to the team. AI was as effusive with the media as Karl is and he brought his own style of leadership to the team. I was sad to see him go, but I knew that Chauncey is a better fit for this team. It just makes sense.

  If I were to be able to build my own team, AI would be one of the first choices... then I would find a good point guard to manage the game.

• November 22, 2008

  9:20 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Highcountry writes:

  Kudos to Krieger for pointing out how that story went south in a hurry. I wasn't there for the interview either and could tell that the talking heads got it wrong. Everyone in Denver loved A.I. Karl's answers were about what Billups brings to the team. And as far as bad shots and cheap possessions, the whole team was guilty of that before a new No. 7 rode into town. It wasn't really about A.I.

• November 22, 2008

  8:17 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  brownman writes:

  Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post is an incompetent hack! He's the guy who ran with this story and started the schoolyard telephone game across the media wires...I've heard the guy on the radio a couple of times and, unlike the professional that is Troy Renck, Hochman's a clumsy fool who knows nothing about the game he is covering.

• November 22, 2008

  8:25 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  cap writes:

  I miss AI not pushing the ball for Denver-I will always watch the Nuggets( and now Detroit also), but the excitement for Denver has slowed down. NENE has been great!!!!!! I'm proud of him for his hard work all summer. Kenyon always works hard! When all this went down-I couldn't believe Karl would have bluntingly said that. I'm glad it isn't true. AI may not be perfect-but is an amazing basketball player and has grown to be a good man!!!! He will do great with Detroit!!!

• November 24, 2008

  3:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  jersey writes:

  It never fails. Whenever there is controversy the "high profiled" always claims fabrication, misquotation or being taken out of context. Given that scenario one would think there would be more slander suits filed.

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