MILWAUKEE — Buck O’Neil, the old baseball sage, famously talked about “that sound” — the bone- chilling crack of Babe Ruth’s bat, a sound O’Neil experienced just two other times, from Josh Gibson and Bo Jackson.
Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin spoke softly Monday about “that speed” — the in-his-prime pace of point guard Jason Kidd, a speed Martin has experienced again this month while trying to keep up with teammate Ty Lawson.
“The kid is able to play,” Martin said of Denver’s rookie guard. “I played with Jason Kidd, man. Moving that ball, it was unbelievable. (Lawson’s) strength is getting the ball up the court, getting into the gaps, making plays.”
With Lawson coming off the bench, and all-star Chauncey Billups running the point for major minutes, the Nuggets are dynamic at the point.
It’s as if the Nuggets are a football team with two styles of running backs.
“It’s like the Cowboys,” said Martin, a proud Dallas native. “Chauncey is Marion Barber — he’s a finisher. We know in the fourth quarter, that’s who he’s going to be. He’s going to get the tough stuff done for us. Hard- nosed.
“Ty is Felix Jones — speedy guy, opens up the court, make plays in space.
“You have to game plan for it. You have to know that when Ty comes into the game, that he’s pushing the ball up and down the court right at you. Your transition defense has to get better.”
As this season progresses, this Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside-type tandem could give opposing coaches fits — even the days prior to the game.
George Karl, who got his first NBA head coaching job in 1984, knows darn well it’s overwhelmingly difficult to game plan for two styles of point guards.
“It’s tough to do, to take both out (in your game planning),” the Denver coach said. “You can only sell a certain amount of priorities to your team before the game, and usually you’re not going to waste them on both point guards. Otherwise, your game plan gets too complicated for your players.”
Lawson will hit some speed bumps. Rookies point guards do. Even Chris Paul did. But right now, just the threat of Lawson can be intimidating for opposing teams.
And that’s something, considering Lawson was the 18th pick in the 2009 draft.
