Karl's marks

Broncos season, here we come... right?
The Colorado Avalanche are not doing so well right now in their playoff series with the behemoth Detroit Red Wings. The Colorado Rockies are still struggling to beat the worst of the worst in the National League as May approaches... and the Nuggets' season is over.
There's been a lot of talk about what went wrong with Denver's premier basketball franchise this year, and almost just as much talk about what will happen to the head coach, George Karl.
The 2007-08 Nuggets were a whirlwind offensive power that could put up 110 points or more any given night. Unfortunately, their porous defense easily gave up more than 100 points most games.
Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony both put up All-Star numbers all season long, and the rest of the roster performed admirably for most of the 50-win regular season.
But Anthony is still not ready to carry this franchise, and Iverson's presence has stymied him from assuming the leadership role he should have. This isn't to say Iverson's a bad influence — simply that Melo hasn't matured the way that he could have without another big name in the mix. And the drunken driving arrest late in the season didn't help Melo overcome his former reputation, which included the 'Stop Snitching' video and his part in the brawl with the New York Knicks the season before.
But in the first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Nuggets finally discovered some defense in Games 3 and 4. Where this defense was prior to their facing the brink of elimination, I'll never know.
The problem now facing Denver is how to improve in the already ultra-competitive West. Removing Karl as coach doesn't solve anything unless a better fit for this Nuggets squad can be found — and this assumes that the current roster is the right one for Denver to win a title.
Ditching Iverson and his $20-something-million contract for next season is intriguing, but he's the closest thing to a proven commodity the Nuggets have ever had.
Dumping Melo would be a premature step, as well. He's still Denver's guy, the one who was drafted to play here and has been the face of the franchise for years. Also, trying to find a team willing to take him off the Nuggets' hands would be difficult given his personal issues.
And on top of all this, I still think the supporting cast of Marcus Camby, J.R. Smith, Nene, Eduardo Najera, Linas Kleiza, Kenyon Martin and company are all great role players who would be welcome on just about any NBA roster.
Things aren't all that bad for the Nuggets. They're stocked with talented players and a head coach who has been to the NBA Finals before; few replacements for Karl that are available this offseason have the teaching and motivational skills Karl has.
But things aren't all that great for the Nuggets. Year after year of first-round playoff exits is wearing the fan base somewhat thin. But what if it was year after year of conference championships, followed by routinely losing in the NBA championship series to a team from the East? What if the Nuggets were the Buffalo Bills? I'm inclined to think fans would grow just as weary, saying that a coaching change needs to be made or that there's one piece of the puzzle missing.
My take on all of this? There's always next year.