Aside from being wobbly with respect to using positions to structure a team and games, Mr. Karl is also more hell bent than ever now to attempt to belittle the concept and the importance of the three point shot. It’s starting to look like it has reached the point of total lunacy now. The Nuggets on three straight occasions in the final minute of the game were behind by 3 points and elected to make a two point shot and then intentionally foul, hoping for a foul shot to be missed followed by another two and overtime. Each time, the Jazz were of course concentrating on defending the three, and so were surprised each time when the Nuggets chose to slip through the perimeter defense and settle for the lay-up. Then with 8 seconds left, on the 4th time being behind by three, Kenyon Martin, who does not have a good 3-point shot, is the one who finally took a 3-point shot. The Nuggets have only two full scale 3-point shooters: J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza. But it did not occur to anyone in charge that maybe one of those two should take a three that might allow the Nuggets to send the game into overtime. So as I say, the inability to understand the importance of attempting and making some threes has seemingly reached the point of total insanity at this point. But of all the powerhouse teams in the West, the Jazz are the only one that is not a good or a great 3-point shooting team (which is more proof of how good a coach Jerry Sloan is, by the way). This is, besides the absence of Deron Williams, the other main reason why the game was surprisingly close at the end. The Jazz were only a very lame 2/8 from long range, whereas the Nuggets, who in the great majority of games against Western Conference powerhouses are on the short end of the stick on threes, were 4/13.
