Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Is it just me or do the
workers at the Under-
ground with black aprons
look like killers from the
movie Hostel?
EditedbyCynthiaHernandez
8BThe UniversiTy Daily Kansan ThUrsDay, may 4, 2006 sporTs
18 DAYS
UNTIL GRADUATION
Have you planned your party yet?
23rd & Naismith 865-3803
everyday.
CUT IT OUT!
Campus coupons
coming soon to a Kansan near you
t swimming & Diving
Pool closes after storm
Swimmers,
divers move
practice
By arnie stapleton
ap sports writer
DENVER The Denver
Nuggets have a lengthy list of
pressing matters to address in
the offseason, and the most
important is fnding another
shooter to complement rising
star Carmelo Anthony.
How about four? coach
George Karl cracked. Can we
get a big man who can make a
shot? Can we get a true shooter
on a three-point line? Maybe a
scorer and a shooter? A pen-
etrator?
Hey, might as well dream big.
The Nuggets have plenty of
time to ponder their moves now
that theyve made an early exit
from the playoffs for the third
straight year.
A season flled with injuries,
inconsistency and insubordina-
tion has left Karl contemplating
his future in coaching. General
manager Kiki Vandeweghe is
also unsure about his future in
Denver with his contract set to
expire Aug. 1.
So, it might very well be some-
body elses mess to clean up.
Theres no urgency to get a
new personnel man in place
because the Nuggets dont own
a first-round pick in the June
28 draft. But they do have six
players who are set to become
free agents and Anthony is eli-
gible for a contract extension
for upward of $80 million.
First, the Nuggets are going
to have to fgure out what to do
with forward Kenyon Martin,
whose tirade during the playoffs
over his lack of playing time led
to his suspension and could re-
sult in his ticket out of town.
The Nuggets fatal faw was
poor shooting, especially in the
playoffs.
Karl said the club went for
defense last summer and again
at the trade deadline, acquiring
Reggie Evans and Ruben Patter-
son instead of another shooter.
The newcomers helped
Denver clinch its first divi-
sion title in 18 years but the
Nuggets couldnt overcome
their lack of scoring from the
perimeter in their first-round
thumping by the Los Angeles
Clippers.
We had a chance to pick up
Ronald Murray and we decided
to go with the energy guys,
Karl said. It was very, very hard
watching your team basically be
controlled because you couldnt
make shots.
Still, Karl insisted that losing
to the Clippers wasnt anything
to be ashamed of.
They have seven guys on
that team that can get 30 on
any night, he said. How many
guys on our team if we leave
them in the gym all day can get
30?
With so many injuries, it was
diffcult for Karl to put together a
cohesive lineup, and that meant
chemistry never developed.
We need to have guys in
there who are committed to
doing things the right way, not
bickering and fghting among
each other, not worry about
whose team it is, who takes the
majority of the shots, Marcus
Camby said. The common goal
should be to go out there and
win. For the most part of the
season we were very selfsh in
that aspect.
Anthony agreed and suggest-
ed he wanted to sit down with
management this offseason
to go over players who could
come in and help the Nuggets
get better: I dont want to be
like Kevin Garnett and take
eight years to get out of the frst
round.
Karl said he understood their
frustration.
I dont want to point fn-
gers or blame anybody, but I got
back into the game to get back
into the gym, to get back with a
basketball family, he said. And
this years family was a little dys-
functional.
Never before had Karl dealt
with so many injuries, the most
costly being the loss of forward
Nene, who went down in the
season opener with a knee
injury that sidelined him all
year.
I think it took a pillar of our
foundation away, Karl said.
Karl said fans will ultimate-
ly look at the divisional ban-
ner that will hang in the Pepsi
Center and appreciate what
the team accomplished this
year, when
Anthony took a major step
toward superstardom and
gritty players such as Edu-
ardo Najera and Francisco
Elson played beyond expec-
tations.
All that was overshadowed by
the problems that plagued the
team, from injuries to infghting,
from front-offce uncertainties
to locker room turmoil.
The dysfunction always gets
the attention, Karl said. The
crazy always gets the magnify-
ing glass.
You had chaos above and
on the team. You had it all over
the place. Coming in and get-
ting an energy in this team was
an art.
Ultimately, Karl said, he was
simply proud of his team for its
perseverance.
I would defnitely say theres
more magic to this team than
mystery, Karl said. Now we
have to solve the mysteries.
t nba
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
The pool in Robinson Gym is empty after steam melted pipes beneath the
pool. The pool will remain closed for the remainder of the semester.
Nuggets address issues
Impudence,
injury plagues
teammates
T
he dysfunction
always gets the
attention. The crazy al-
ways gets the magnifying
glass.
George Karl
Denver Nuggets coach
W
e have a lot more
individualized
training with two pools
and right now we are all in
one pool.
Lisa Tilson
Swim team member