Then after the series, at his post 4-game sweep news conference, Mr. Karl effectively admitted that he did not know how to win in the playoffs, using the phrase "we have not learned how to conquer that yet," with "that" referring to winning in the playoffs.
At least Mr. Karl is honest in most of his statements to the public.
During the off season, Mr. Karl lost two of his favorites, the hustling defensive specialist, the veteran Eduardo Najera, and the steady and dependable high quality star center, the veteran Marcus Camby, which made his already insecure psyche even more perturbed than usual.
But the Nuggets surprisingly good start has been just what Mr. Karl needed to come out of his shell a little and have at least a little bit of confidence. Why, he has even been observed standing up along the sidelines and working the refs a little in recent games, something that was rare during 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Ultimately though, what is to become of Mr. Karl in 2008-09, as his coaching contract is now in it's final stage, and now that the team has been partly dismantled? The most likely outcome at the moment is, you guessed it, yet another first round exit from the playoffs.
Do not be fooled by the surprisingly fast start this year. With respect to actually contending for the Western Conference crown, the Nuggets following their very large budget cuts have effectively raised the white flag for at least the next 2 seasons. So when Mr. Karl returns next year, in 2009-10, for his final contract year, the Nuggets once again will not be in a position to contend for top dawg of the West. So Karl will have to get a new contract for there to be a theoretical possibility that he will appear in the Western Conference final best of 7 series as Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets.
So during the summer of 2008 I announced that the 2008-09 theme song for the Nuggets would be "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, which is one of the all time rock music classic songs. This song was selected during the summer, before the Nuggets amazing start. But since the Nuggets are almost certainly not going to be able to win a playoff series regardless of how well they do in the regular season, the song is still considered appropriate, though the fit is not as good as it was before this amazing, winning start. I'm too stubborn in general and too skeptical about how long the Nuggets can keep this winning up to look for another theme song right now.
Although the song is the theme song for the Nuggets, it is at least as much a second theme song for George Karl.
Like the lady referred to in the song, Karl has fallen far from his "high society" days with the Supersonics. Like the lady in the song, Karl has been and still is largely blind to his downfall, and so he is unable to adjust what he does to reflect what he has really turned out to be, and to reflect what place he has come to. So now he is just a no name "rolling stone" with "no direction home".
How does it feel to be like a rolling stone, Mr. Karl?
LYRICS
Once upon a time
You dressed so fine,
You threw the bums a dime,
In your prime,
Didn’t you?
People’d call,
Say, “Beware doll,
You’re bound to fall.”
You thought they were all
Kiddin’ you.
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out.
Now you don’t
talk so loud.
Now you don’t
seem so proud
About having to be scrounging
for your next meal.
How does it feel?
How does it feel,
To be without a home,
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
You’ve gone to the finest school
All right, Miss Lonely,
But you know you only
Used to get
Juiced in it.
And nobody has ever taught you
How to live on the street
And now you find out
You’re gonna have to get
Used to it.
You said you’d never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He’s not selling any alibis,
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to
Make a deal?
How does it feel?
How does it feel
To be on your own,
With no direction home,
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
You never turned around
To see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down
And did tricks for you.
You never understood
That it ain’t no good,
You shouldn’t let
Other people get
Your kicks for you.
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat,
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat.
Ain’t it hard when you discover that
He really wasn’t where it’s at,
After he took from you everything
He could steal?
How does it feel?
How does it feel,
To be on your own,
With no direction home,
Like a complete unknown,
Like a rolling stone?
Princess on the steeple
And all the pretty people,
They’re drinkin’, thinkin’
That they
Got it made.
Exchanging all
Precious gifts,
But you’d better
Take your diamond ring, you’d better
Pawn it, babe.
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used.
Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse.
When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.
You’re invisible now, you got no secrets
To conceal.
How does it feel?
How does it feel,
To be on your own,
With no direction home,
Like a complete unknown,
Like a rolling stone?
