OPINION: It could be time for a new Nuggets coach

George Karl ended his NBA season talking like a helpless man.

His team didn't listen to his pleas to play tougher defense. He had, he said, never been around a more "eccentric" collection of players.

He tried to persuade his team to play the right way.

It didn't take a basketball genius to see he failed.

I'm shocked Karl is returning for a fifth season as Denver Nuggets head coach.

For his entire career Karl has followed the same script. He roars into town, lights a fire under lazy players, lifts his teams to startling heights, transforms into a local hero ...

And then it all falls apart. Players get tired of his ranting. Owners get tired of paying his fat salary.

This act played in Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle and Milwaukee, and each time Karl got fired.

Now we're watching a repeat here in Colorado. Hiring Karl was as smart as heading into matrimony with a four-time divorcee.

No way the Nuggets should have departed the playoffs in the first round in all of Karl's first four seasons.

No way Carmelo Anthony should still be so lost on defense. No way Allen Iverson should still refuse to pass.

The Los Angeles Lakers offered a basketball tutorial to the Nuggets as they breezed past Denver in four straight games. All season long, Karl moaned about the rigors of playing in the mighty Western Conference.

But the Boston Celtics shredded Karl's excuses. Turns out, the West wasn't so magnificent. Turns out the Lakers weren't such an overwhelming collection of talent.

The Lakers were full of flaws, but were blessed with a coach who filled in the holes. Phil Jackson, the Zen master, delivered one of his greatest coaching performances this season.

He convinced the Lakers to embrace a "we're-all-in-this-together" philosophy. He persuaded Kobe Bryant, basketball's version of a superhero, to blend his talents with the mere mortals who labored beside him.

Jackson pushed a limited team to the brink of a title. His team did all the little things, and big things, Karl and the Nuggets could never quite figure out.

If Karl can't reform Anthony or convince Iverson he needs to embrace generosity or force his team to play raging, back-to-the-wall defense, then Nuggets owner E. (for Enos) Stanley Kroenke needs to find a new coach.

Karl's excuses remind me of Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry's next-to-last game. His Falcons had just been beaten on a cool night in the Nevada desert by the UNLV Rebels.

DeBerry said he had tried to warn his team about how dangerous UNLV might be.

"I just wish my players listened to me sometimes," DeBerry said.

Right then, I knew Fisher was finished. He had crafted a superlative career, but it was over. DeBerry was paid - and Karl is paid - to force athletes to listen to wise, sometimes harsh, instruction.

And when the athletes stop paying attention, it's time for a new coach.

We all know what's wrong with the Nuggets. We all see the holes. It's Karl's job to fix the problems, not complain about them.

When Karl talks about his players refusal to listen, he might think he's criticizing them.

He's not.

He's burying himself.

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Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com