<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Auburn Hills, Mich. - If it seems it has taken awhile for J.R. Smith to get back into the good basketball graces of Nuggets coach George Karl, it's because it has. But the key for Smith is it's starting to happen. A lack of defensive intensity and difficulty in finding an offensive rhythm were among the contributors to Smith spending more time on the bench in the past few weeks than on the court. But he admittedly has now bought into his new role and that has turned into playing time. "I've finally accepted my role," Smith said. "When I'm out there on the court with (Carmelo Anthony) and (Allen Iverson), they don't need me to score. I make open shots when I can, but I play defense, make sure my man don't score, and I help rebound." Smith accomplished all three in large quantities in the Nuggets' loss at Detroit. His four first-half steals sparked a run that took Denver from a 26-13 first-quarter deficit to a 44-42 halftime lead. Karl already had praised Smith's performance after the Cleveland game Sunday, calling it "the best he's played since he's been injured." Smith agreed. "I rebounded the ball, played probably the best defense I've ever played," Smith said. "Now that I've shown him I can do it, I've got to show him I can do it every night." </div> Source Nice to see JR Smith maturing as a player and person this season. I think Allen Iverson's presence is rubbing off on a lot of the younger players on this team. I'm sure they all followed him closely earlier in Iverson's career, and Iverson has a lot of respect with the younger generation of players.
This team has so much talent its not even funny. They just need to put it together on the defensive end, and to do that i think they need a new coach.
<div class="quote_poster">Answer_AI03 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">This team has so much talent its not even funny. They just need to put it together on the defensive end, and to do that i think they need a new coach.</div> I have to agree. Why is it that most other coaches can fine tune their player's performances without benching them for long periods of time but a few, such as George Karl, resort to heavy bench time, which costs wins from time to time? I can see some reduction of minutes for a player he wants to change, but not the huge reductions and total benchings that Karl gives out.
