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Nuggets report: Karl, feeling foul, can't hold his tongue

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 17, 2009 at 11:32 p.m.

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Magic forward Dwight Howard, right, pushes Nuggets forward Nene out of the way for a rebound in the third quarter of the Magic's 106-88 victory Saturday night.

Magic forward Dwight Howard, right, pushes Nuggets forward Nene out of the way for a rebound in the third quarter of the Magic's 106-88 victory Saturday night.

Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. watches the Nuggets face the Orlando Magic at the Pepsi Center on Saturday.

Photo by David Zalubowski, Associated Press

Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. watches the Nuggets face the Orlando Magic at the Pepsi Center on Saturday.

DENVER — George Karl first held his tongue.

Then, he figured, what the heck.

Nuggets center Nene was in foul trouble all night in Saturday’s 106-88 loss to Orlando at the Pepsi Center, and played just 17 minutes. He picked up his fourth foul with 10:39 left in the third quarter and his fifth with 1:37 left in the third before fouling out with 4:39 left in the game after playing just six second-half minutes.

Nene’s counterpart, Dwight Howard, picked up three fouls in the first half. But Howard didn’t get any in 20 second-half minutes.

“I don’t want to talk about it,’’ Karl, the Nuggets coach, first said when asked about Nene’s foul trouble. “If I talk about it, that’s how I can get fined.’’

So what happened next?

Karl decided to talk about it.

“There’s two sets of rules,’’ Karl said. “There’s a set of rules for Howard and there’s a set of rules for Nene. (Nene’s) fourth foul was incredibly … Come on. All you had to call was a three-second call and get out of the game because Howard was challenging the whistle to blow.

“That’s what he went into the paint to do. He just went into a wrestling match. He’s in there for three or four seconds and he gets the whistle. That has tremendous power in our makeup. And Howard plays the whole second half with the three fouls. “We go to the line 25 (actually 24) times in the first half and five (actually six) times in the second half. They balance it out really well.’’

Nene finished with four points and eight rebounds while shooting just 2-of-10. Howard didn’t shoot much better, going 5-of-15 for 14 points, but he grabbed 20 rebounds.

Nene and Howard became tangled up during an aggressive first quarter. A double foul was assessed, and the two stood toe-to-toe before the officials diffused the situation.

RIPKEN STOPS BY: Howard might not have been the biggest star Saturday at the Pepsi Center. And neither might have been Magic assistant coach and Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing.

The top A-list guy might have been Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., who watched from the stands. Ripken’s daughter, Rachel, is a University of Colorado freshman.

“I miss her terribly,’’ Ripken said. “That’s why I had to go see here.’’

Ripken loves basketball, so he and Rachel took in the game.

“I follow the NBA all the way around,’’ Ripken said. “You could say in general I’m an NBA guy. I like watching the pros vs. college.’’

Ripken, a Maryland native who starred for the Baltimore Orioles, had wanted to see Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who is from Baltimore. But Anthony is out with a broken hand.

“I’m a big Melo fan, of course, because he’s a Baltimore kid,’’ Ripken said. “I was kind of hoping I would see him. … I actually haven’t met him. We have mutual friends. I was hoping to say hello to him.’’

Anthony, though, was still in Washington, where Friday he and singer Ne-Yo, hosted a dinner to honor Reggie Love, right-hand man for Barack Obama, whose Presidential inauguration is Tuesday. Anthony is due back today in Denver.

“I go West. He goes East,’’ Ripken said.

SMITH PONDERING OPTIONS: Nuggets guard J.R. Smith had no problem with the letter Dallas owner Mark Cuban posted Friday on his Web site, offering to donate $25,000 to a charity in Smith’s name, but Smith is still considering his options.

“I don’t know,’’ Smith said of whether he will take Cuban up on his offer and said he doesn’t know what charity he might choose if he does. “I’ve got to talk to my people about it. … I appreciated (the letter).’’

Although some of it was written in a sarcastic tone, Cuban agreed to match the $25,000 he was fined from the NBA on Friday. Cuban was penalized for an incident last Tuesday in which he spoke to Smith at halftime about an elbow he threw that came close to the head of Dallas’ Antoine Wright, and for going onto the court after the game in an angry manner.

Karl had no comment on Cuban’s posting. Karl was displeased with Cuban talking to Smith, saying he expected him to be suspended five games for the incident. Smith wasn’t even fined.

For now, Smith has more pressing things to worry about. After shooting 2-of-13 and scoring nine points against the Magic, he’s shot just 12-of-58 (20.7 percent) and averaged 10.3 points the past four games.

“I don’t consider it a slump,’’ Smith said. “Just another stepping stone.’’

TWO DEBUT: Playing their first Nuggets games Saturday were rookie swingman Sonny Weems and center Johan Petro. But, with the Nuggets getting walloped, neither was too excited about it.

“It felt great to get out there,’’ said Weems, who scored four points in playing the final 3:31 in his first career NBA game. “Unfortunately we lost, so that doesn’t mean anything. … It is one of my dreams (to play an NBA game), but you still got a whole lot more games to go.’’

Petro, acquired Jan. 7 from Oklahoma City, also played the final 3:31. He scored two points and had a block.

“It felt good, but it was a losing cause,’’ said Petro, who did acknowledge that it was at least good to have his first Denver game “under my belt.’’

Karl said it will be hard to find time for Petro because he believes he’s not giving reserve post Chris Andersen enough minutes. Karl would prefer to play Andersen, who had nine rebounds in 27 minutes Saturday, over Petro.

ETC.: Orlando’s reserves managed just two points, both by guard Anthony Johnson. It’s the fewest bench points an opponent has scored since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976. The previous low of four was accomplished three times, most recently March 22, 2003, by Boston. … Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza scored a season-high 26 points off the bench. “He was aggressive,’’ said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups. “He took it to the basket not worrying about what happens. Just trying to finish.’’ … The Nuggets’ 27-14 mark is the third-best record at the midpoint of the season in the team’s 33-year NBA history. The 1976-77 Nuggets were 29-12 and the 1977-78 team went 28-13. … The crowd of 19,682 was the season’s largest. … The Nuggets suffered their biggest loss of the season, and tied their season-low point total. … Denver concluded its longest homestand of the season by going 5-2.

Comments

  • January 18, 2009

    6:12 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Ditto writes:

    Thank you George Karl for pointing out the two sets of rules.

    The easy way to understand this is to follow the money. TV pays for sporting events, most TV and sports headquater are located in the Northeast, and the largest consentration of people are on the east and west coasts, hence those teams and individual players, in any sport, get to play be a different set of rules.

  • January 18, 2009

    9:19 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    SunsFan writes:

    George, so you are outraged about the officials favoring Orlando? Well, you must have been really incensed the other night when your guy tripped Grant Hill on his way to the bucket, or when your guy kicked Lou Ahmunson in the "gonads" on his way to the basket, and the refs chose to ignore it or call a foul on the Suns. Give it a rest George! When your team quits getting favortism against teams like the Suns, then you can complain. In the meantime, put a sock in your whiny little piehole.

  • January 18, 2009

    10:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jersey writes:

    "Clueless" showing some gumption be it justified or not is refreshing to say the least. Like I previously stated during the marathon length of the season calls will eventually even out. It happens year in and year out with this year being no different! Sunsfan made an excellent point as to JR's obvious trip to enhance my assertion.

  • January 18, 2009

    10:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    It's useless for anyone to complain bout a bad call or two in a game filled with bad calls, but when you see a pattern develop then you have to acknowledge it. The Suns game was poorly officiated start to finish but calls went both ways and the ESPN crew ignored all that and focused on one call. That's unfair and dumb. The superstar calls have been a part of the game since Michael Jordan joined the NBA and most recently Amare Stoudamire, and Howard were the beneficiaries in Denver. Anyone of the three could have walked for the entire length of the floor with the ball without getting a traveling call. Anyone of the three could break your nose and not get a call. They could set up a tent and camp out in the lane and not get a call.
    George will learn there is no such thing as free speech in the NBA these days and only those who can afford it will do it.

  • January 18, 2009

    11:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    951to303fan writes:

    jbowen43...great post...i agree...however last night was way too obvious....and played a crucial role in this game...with a ref in prison for throwing games the old way needs a huge change...grading the refs need to be public knowledge....especially one call that was against jameer nelson and then was reversed...and went against us totally ridiculous..as far as the suns game there was no obvious one sided calling...but i guess if you come up on the losing end it was the refs and not your team that lost the game..and if im not mistaken i thought it was dahntay jones he tripped over not jr...maybe i was wrong i dont know...

  • January 18, 2009

    12:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jrhino writes:

    I got tired of Hastings and his side kick buba Louie kissing Howards but. I saw at least 2 star calls for Howard. Hope a tape of the game gets to the leauge office.

  • January 18, 2009

    1:41 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cutler6 writes:

    Well, I do believe George needs to be more flexable, the Nuggets were struggling throughout the entire game and George should be able to have a pretty good understanding of the feel of his team and that of the other on any given night . That said some well placed minutes for Weems and Petro might have been in order if nothing else to shake things up a little and maybe keep Nene out of foul trouble, by sitting him a little longer. Maybe its just me and I always want to win, but whether it is the Nuggets, Avalanche,Broncos, etc. there are times when I can just sense that the team isn't bringing everything they got or need to , and I feel in game those are the best times to put in players that don't get to play as much to get that intensity that may not be as "tired" or show "lack of intensity" because more times then not those games become losses anyway.

  • January 18, 2009

    1:42 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cutler6 writes:

    I don't mean garbage time either, because obviously then it is to late.

  • January 20, 2009

    11:05 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    Oh wow I missed Weems and Petro? I got frustrated and turned the game off. I like that GK finally tells it how it is. The officiating in every professional sport that I've seen is ridiculous. These guys get PAID to do this? Unbelievable!!!

    Useless to complain though, as it will just get you a fine. And then the refs will hate us even more. Don't give Joey Crawford ANOTHER reason to hate Melo. haha. I think Melo must have screwed his grand-daughter or something. He has it in for Melo everytime we see him.