They were miserable in the fourth and it cost them the game, but Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post insulted Iverson with this little gem:

What I saw that night was something very different. I saw Denver not knowing the Lakers personnel on defense. Sure, Kobe had been playing facilitator for three quarters, but who thought that would continue in the fourth? Surely Kobe as well as you saw the verbal lashing that LeBron James took in last years post-season for deferring to a teammate in clutch situations, and you clearly should have known who to double team, or at least stay close to.

Here's how I look at it, when you compare Kobe's greatness to other perimeter NBA stars, you have to do it this way: Kobe's success without Shaq vs. Iverson's success without Shaq. It's insulting to Allen Iverson to blame this loss on his being a lesser Hall Of Famer. The Answer took a team of scrubs, and I mean nobodies, to the NBA Finals and upset the Lakers in game one. He was simply heroic in just how good he was and how hard he played for those Sixers. Who was Iverson's number two in those days? Aaron McKie? Matt Harpring? Dikembe Mutumbo? Scrubs!

Kobe on the other hand has yet to make it past the first round without Shaq, so maybe he should be compared to Tracy McGrady more often than Michael Jordan, since T-Mac also seems to have allergies to the second round. Also, the common misconception that Kobe is clutch is wrong and annoying. It was mentioned on ESPN's daily dime this week how Bryant is only a 50% free throw shooter in one point games with under 60 seconds left, which explains why in that same situation against Denver he made just one of two.

What I'm trying to get at here isn't that Iverson is better or even as good as Kobe. I think both are legitimate HOF players whose reputation shouldn't be tarnished because of one game. I'm saying that something else needs to be factored in here, something I've said before.

The Nuggets need to fire their coach.

That's what happened on Wednesday night. Phil Jackson, also known as the Zen Master, has won an NBA record nine championships. Jackson knew what would work and told his players to do it. George Karl has won zero championships, despite coaching Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp in their prime, Sam Cassell, Ray Allen and Glen Robinson in their respective primes, and now this ultra-talented Nuggets team.

Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, Carmelo Anthony hardly touched the ball, JR Smith took some bad shots, Iverson shot over double teams, and their defense not only did not double team Kobe late, but left him wide open repeatedly. Anyone who has watched even a few Lakers games should know what their game plan is late in close games.

So don't say Iverson is just a scorer and not really a great player. Keep in mind the $30 million mastermind hobbling in front of the Lakers bench.