# Gary Payton calls George Karl a "father figure."



## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

A fun read today in the Rocky Mountain News hashing over Payton, and Karl's relationship. What I found most interesting about the article is that Karl had to push Payton to reach his full potential. The article traces back to when Karl took over the team, and brought Payton out to Vegas in the summer to work on his game. As we all know the Sonics took off in no time, and Mr. Payton became a superstar for the SuperSonics.

My question is this.. Do you guys think Karl will have that profound of an effect on Carmelo ? One statistic that sticks out so far for Carmelo under Karl is his FG%. Melo is doing a much better job getting points at a higher percentage. Something I credit to Karl myself.

Payton and Karl obviously from this article have a very special bond. Payton thinks of Karl as a father figure. Does it take that kind of a bond to develop between coach/player for the coach to get the most out of his players ?

Here are some quotes from the article.



> Gary Payton calls George Karl a "father figure."
> It wasn't always that way.
> 
> "I remember when he told me, 'You're not my father. I don't have to listen to you like my father,' " Karl said.





> "I love him to death," Payton said. "We have a great relationship. . . . I credit him and coach Tim Grgurich (a Nuggets assistant who once was a Seattle assistant) for all the success I've had. . . . My first two years in Seattle weren't really good. Then I went to another level and made (nine) straight All-Star teams and nine straight (all-defensive first teams)."


*Link*
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nba/article/0,2777,DRMN_23922_4298778,00.html


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## nbanoitall (May 21, 2004)

23AJ said:


> Something I credit to Karl myself.
> 
> Yes, but none of this is rocket science. take less outside shots, more inside shots. stop the ISO. pass the ball around a little. Simple things were fixed that Jeff and Coop couldnt seem to handle. Maybe Melo took Karl more seriously, but Im sure all three coaches preached the same issue to death.
> 
> ...


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## Timmons (May 25, 2005)

nbanoitall said:


> Whats going to make Melo better? Karl is going to push him no doubt, but Melo is going to continue to mature as he gains experience, and the proper team gets built around him. (Lebron is kind of waiting for that). And I still believe Wade is going to have that problem very soon. *I still dont consider the Heat contenders* and I suspect they are going to go downhill fast these next couple years.
> 
> There is good news to all this. I believe in the next couple years the Nuggets will emerge as the top team in the west. Right now the Spurs are on top, but I think the Nuggets could eventually get on top, and stay on top for a long time with Carmelo. *I think when Melo retires, people will remember him as a winner in college and the NBA. Thats what the kid is... a winner*.


2 great points.


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## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

nbanoitall said:


> 23AJ said:
> 
> 
> > Something I credit to Karl myself.
> ...


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## nbanoitall (May 21, 2004)

i can honestly say this........ i have never gotten off the carmelo bandwagon. I thought he was going to the pistons, and i was really worried. On draft night, i wondered if maybe someday the cavs would even wonder if they missed an opportunity to take him, which people would laugh at. but 15 or 20 years from now, we might look back and melo's fingers are full of rings, and Lebron has a trophy case full of scoring titles.


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## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

nbanoitall said:


> i can honestly say this........ i have never gotten off the carmelo bandwagon. I thought he was going to the pistons, and i was really worried. On draft night, i wondered if maybe someday the cavs would even wonder if they missed an opportunity to take him, which people would laugh at. but 15 or 20 years from now, we might look back and melo's fingers are full of rings, and Lebron has a trophy case full of scoring titles.


I would be happy with this out come. Maybe its waiting in the future for us Nuggets fans. Let Lebron get all the individual accolades. And Let the Nuggets win championships! :clap: :cheers:


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## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

Never mind...

I'll start a new thread


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## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

cpawfan said:


> Never mind...
> 
> I'll start a new thread


Were you going to make the point that a good coach is needed to build around Melo?

By the way whats everyones thoughts on Karl as a coach ?


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