Empty the Bench

Their relationship isn’t going anywhere, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Stop with the Vito Spatafore and Johnny Cakes jokes. This is serious business, when a 56-year-old head coach can’t get a firm grip on a multi-talented young man with lots of energy. How immature of you.

Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl is in prime ornery mode as his team prepares to face elimination tonight in San Antonio after blowing a fantastic opportunity to even the series on Monday. The veteran coach hasn’t exactly masked his disdain for J.R. Smith’s youth game this season, despite the fact that the youngster enjoyed his finest professional season yet and showed signs that he’s finally getting “it” in his third full year in the league. When asked about Smith’s postseason status moving forward, Karl was rather blunt: “He’s done.”

With two words, J.R. Smith’s postseason appeared to come to an end Tuesday. “He’s done.” That was the succinct proclamation from Nuggets coach George Karl, who has no tolerance left for Smith’s ill-advised shots, missed defensive assignments and mental lapses against San Antonio.

San Antonio put the game out of reach by making 3-of-4 free throws and seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Smith further infuriated Karl by taking a long three-point shot with less than 10 seconds to go. “Of course, the one with 8 seconds to go from 50 feet - I just love that,” Karl said, his sarcasm unmistakable. “I love the dignity of the game being insulted.”

Asked why he used Smith in Game 4, Karl rolled his eyes in exasperation. “He’s a good-bad player. You evaluate his good, you evaluate his bad,” Karl said. “He had good plays in Game 3 and he had good plays in Game 4, but you’ve just got to be mentally more secure and tougher than he showed in Game 4.”

Karl is the last person who should be talking about “the dignity of the game being insulted.” Once again, the career underachieving coach airs his dirty laundry about his players through the media, something he does quite frequently. How is that respecting the dignity of the game, Mr. Karl, or even your profession? Smith has been erratic at best during this series–he’s 0-12 for three-pointers, amongst other foibles–but give me a break. There’s no doubt that Karl doesn’t like Smith personally, and unfortunately he’s repeatedly felt the need to make sure everyone knows it. Sad.