1. Can George Karl turn around the Nuggets?

　　Denver GM Kiki Vandeweghe sure hopes so. The reason the Nuggets made this move now, rather than wait until after the season when more coaching candidates might be available, was ostensibly to make the playoffs this season. Denver believes it can't afford to take a step backward after making the playoffs a year ago and risk losing all those fans they worked so hard to bring back into the fold. Karl is the kind of big-name coach who will command respect in the locker room -- at least in the short term. He also has experience turning around a team in midseason. In 1992 he took over a Sonics squad that was 20-20 (under K.C. Jones and Bob Kloppenburg) and guided them to the playoffs and a first-round upset of the Warriors. But Karl is also coming off two notable failures, first with the Anthony Mason/Bucks fiasco and then with the U.S. men's team at the '02 World Championships. The Nuggets veterans surely know his recent history, and it remains to be seen how they will respond to him if things don't go well right off the bat.

　　2. Is Allan Houston going to retire?

　　No way. While Knicks boss Isiah Thomas suggested recently that Houston might retire if he can't shake the chronic knee pain that has bothered him the past two years, chalk it up to wishful thinking on New York's part. Houston is due to make $39.8 million over the next two seasons after this one. There is no way he is giving up that kind of cheddar. Houston's agent, William Strickland, told the New York Daily News he and his client have never discussed the issue. Thomas obviously is concerned about Houston's long-term future.