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According to Nuggets coach George Karl, Kenneth Faried and Kosta Koufos have been doing offseason work at the Pepsi Center. Karl, meanwhile, took to the local airwaves last week, telling 104.3 FM The Fan that he doesn't think his team's first-round exit fits into the previous pattern of opening-round playoff defeats. "In 57 wins and what we did in the season and the growth of some of our younger players and the unity and the commitment of the team together, the mental toughness growth — OK, throw that all out because we lost to Golden State," Karl said. "Throw the coach away, that's fine. But I think that's an incredible overreaction to a scenario that because our history says that's the pattern, I don't think this is the pattern. I think this is a new team, a team that's been together about 14, 15 months and in those 14, 15 months they've done incredible stuff." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching 

George Karl: Yes, you could say that I have very beautiful memories with Real Madrid. Actually, I can tell you that I have talked with some people about the possibility of coaching again in Europe. Me and my son have also talked about a goal we want to achieve: To coach together one day. And Europe would be a great chance for us to do it. Marca.com

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Real Madrid, Euroleague, Spain 

Paul Coro: McDonough got choked up talking about his brothers, Sean & Terry, attending the #Suns presser. Said it's OK cuz he saw George Karl do that. Twitter @paulcoro

Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, George Karl, Ryan McDonough 

Phil Jackson: Congrats @georgekarl22, good season and nice run in the playoffs…very entertaining. Twitter

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Phil Jackson 

Jessica Camerato: George Karl named 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year. Twitter @JCameratoNBA

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Tom Haberstroh: Erik Spoelstra on COY: "Congratulations to George Karl, but I know he didn't want it either. No disrespect." Twitter @tomhaberstroh

Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, George Karl, Erik Spoelstra 

Ethan J. Skolnick: Spoelstra: "I'm probably more pleased this morning than George Karl. It's not quite as definitive as the SI jinx, but it's pretty close." Twitter @EthanJSkolnick

Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, George Karl, Erik Spoelstra 

KC Johnson: Thibodeau on George Karl winning COY: "He’s been great at it for a long time. I’m very happy for him. I thought he had a remarkable season." Twitter @KCJHoop

Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Tom Thibodeau 

The Nuggets shot only 34.7 percent Thursday, their worst performance since the first game of the season. After the 92-88 loss Thursday, veteran guard Andre Miller said Denver was "outplayed, outcoached, out-toughed." Asked for his reaction, Karl said: "I'm OK with it. There are parts of that that are correct, parts that could be argued. Andre is a passionate guy. He understands the game of basketball and I have no problem with the commentary." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching 

The Nuggets didn't get home until 4 a.m. and met at the Pepsi Center at noon. Karl said that he, Kroenke and general manager Masai Ujiri talked to the team. "(We) thanked them for a committed year," Karl said. "We talked to them about the summertime, having fun and getting better. When all the clouds go away, the toxins of the series go away, there will be more sunshine than right now." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Masai Ujiri Denver Nuggets 

There has been much buzz around Denver about the future of George Karl, after the Nuggets coach lost 4-2 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Warriors. "George is under contract for next year. At this point in time, we haven't really given any thought to making any change whatsoever," Nuggets president Josh Kroenke told The Denver Post and nuggets.com. "As we do at the end of every season, we'll have internal meetings and George will obviously be a major part of them. We won 57 games and in my mind, he should hands down be the NBA coach of the year. We'll all put our heads together and try to figure out what happened (in the playoffs) and why it happened. We were without our second-leading scorer, and some benefit of the doubt should be given to a coach with well over 1,000 wins without one of his leading scorers (Danilo Gallinari) in the playoffs." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Josh Kroenke 

Oracle Arena went nuts when forward David Lee off the bench and walked to the scorer's table midway through the first quarter. The celebration was tempered when Nuggets coach George Karl called a timeout. But a minutes later, at the 2:23 mark, fans got to finish the job when he officially checked in. DLee was back. San Jose Mercury-News

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, David Lee, Injuries 

How, is unclear. He was supposed to be out for the season with a complete tear of his right hip flexor. But minutes before tipoff of Game 6, word got out that Lee was cleared to play. According to a team source, Lee was told he couldn't further damage his hip flexor, so he could play if he could handle the pain. San Jose Mercury-News

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, David Lee, Injuries 

George Karl knows chatter won't stop about Nuggets being unable to win big without a superstar. What he had said: Here's what George Karl said a month ago: "The only thing we can do is be successful in the playoffs and then everything will stop, the commentaries will go away,’’ Karl said. Sulia

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

George Karl (on the Jackson fine): “I have no idea. Interesting interpretation. I’m afraid I don’t want to get fined. … Physicality is a part of the game. Every team has elbow-ass guys.” Asked to define elbow-ass players, Karl said “The game is played a lot with parts of your body. The butt is part of your body.” San Francisco Chronicle

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Asked about Ezeli's improvement Wednesday, Karl said that had "blossomed into an elbow and asshole guy," a common expression about players who create havoc in the key. Jackson didn't like it, though, and said so at the team's shootaround Thursday morning. "That statement is disrespectful," said the Warriors coach. "I've got a lot of respect for George Karl, the job that he's done and who he is. But that statement is disrespectful. I wonder what he thinks of his players -- Kenyon Martin, Kenneth Faried, JaVale McGee, (Kosta) Koufos. I wonder what he thinks of those guys." Contra Costa Times

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, Mark Jackson 

Brett Pollakoff: Greatness: George Karl says Festus Ezeli has “really blossomed into an elbowing a--hole guy.” bit.ly/12YeQba Twitter @BrettEP

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Festus Ezeli 

In the aftermath of Mark Jackson's volatile postgame accusations that the Nuggets are "dirty" and put "hit men" out on guard Stephen Curry, Denver coach George Karl responded Wednesday by saying, "My basic reaction is — he's watching a different movie than I'm watching." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, Mark Jackson 

George Karl: "We don't like each other, we shouldn't like each other, there's pain and anguish to every win and loss. Competitive spirit. I'm just trying to figure out what movie he's watching, because it's not the one I'm watching." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, Mark Jackson 

The Golden State rookie and former Michigan State All-America forward was called for a flagrant foul late in Tuesday night’s 107-100 loss at Denver for a hit on Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried. After the game, Denver coach George Karl asked at his news conference: “Did Draymond Green play football or basketball at Michigan State?” Green had some fun with that today, tweeting a picture of himself in football gear from the 2011 MSU spring football game — he suited up and ran a few plays at tight end — and saying: “I guess this answers that huh??? HA FOOTBALL.” Detroit Free Press

Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, George Karl, Draymond Green