Nuggets head coach George Karl joined KFFN in Denver Wednesday to discuss his team's offseason moves and in the process, made a bold assessment of Denver's chances next season:
"We are excited about this season and we think we can be a top four team in the West. If we get to a top four team in the West we should expect to try to win the first round and see what happens after that."
While this prediction won't be considered too adventurous to some after the acquisition of Andre Iguodala, the Nuggets have steadily been moving in the wrong direction for three years now. After locking up the fourth seed in the West back in 2010, Denver has fallen to the fifth seed in 2011, then sixth seed in 2012. All of this happened while managing to not win a single playoff series. Karl is confident that will change in this upcoming year, though, with Igodala being the "top-10 defender" they were sorely missing.
The 61-year-old head coach went on to say in the interview that his Nuggets will still "commit to playing fast." And while he acknowledged he still hears the critics claiming his system won't work, Karl remains steadfast that speed is a necessity:
"We talked about it and last year we did a good job at it but there's no way I want to slow down. I want to try to prove the world wrong that you can run and win in the NBA and you can win big if you keep running."
Despite the calendar still being in August, it seems that Karl is a man already decidedly determined to show the NBA a thing or two this season.