George Karl - NBA Coach of the Year?

Simply: Yes

The local sports news castors are drinking my kool-aid and discussing the Denver Nuggets very own head coach as a coach-of-the-year candidate. There is some warrant in this discussion, as previously discussed HERE. He deserves to be in the conversation and is showing why the Nuggets owner hired him several years back.

1) The Nuggets are the #2 seed in a very tough Western Conference. Preseason predictions definitely did not have the Nuggets as the #2 seed and had the Nuggets barely making the playoffs.

2) A second straight season of 50+ wins. A record of 54-28 was an improvement over a 50-32 record last year. All in all, the team played equally as well this year but was more consistent and won the games they were suppose to. That's a good sign of improvement.

3) Intangibles: the team played and looked like a true TEAM. This was not the case last year or the year before. This year's team showed real signs of maturity and the coach-player relationships were very good - no Kenyon Martin issues, AI was traded and the best players on the team generally showed up each and every night.

This season was truly special and now it's time to show up and play a tough first series against the Hornets. This should be a tough series for the Nuggets despite their #2 seed. Last year New Orleans was a game away from the conference finals.

Here's to a strong post season showing by the Nuggets: Let's get it on!!