| 24 February 2009
(Denver-CO) We now know two things about this year’s Nuggets. First being that Nene is irreplaceable. The second, however, is a little bit more sobering. It’s that the Nuggets are not quite ready to compete for a championship. Teams like the Lakers (and I hope I eat my words on this one on Friday) and Celtics are still just an echelon above the Denver Nuggets. And why you may ask am I starting off a game recap article from a, 114-76, loss to mighty Boston like this when the Nuggets were not a full strength? Simple. The Nuggets played intimidated basketball from jump street and the Celtics weren’t even at full strength either! And thus, not leaving me much confidence that Denver can compete with the REAL contenders when the chips are really on the line.
It was crystal clear from the start that the Nuggets, without Nene and starting Petro, were intimidated by the Celtics. Boston immediately picked up on this and stomped all over Denver’s feelings. The score was, 16-7, after just six minutes in the first quarter as the Celtics were by far the fiercer competitors on both ends of the floor. And after falling behind, 25-11, with just three minutes remaining in the first, the Nuggets were all but waiving the white flag of surrender. Rajon Rondo led the massacre with 11 first quarter points, but the deepest wounds were inflicted on the boards. Boston out rebounded the Nuggets 18-9 in the first twelve minutes of action of which I thought set the tone physically for the rest of the night.
That point was no clearer than with 4:30 remaining to play in the half when Leon Powe ( who was drafted by the Nuggets) pulled down an offensive rebound and proceeded to throw down a man’s man of a dunk on practically the whole Denver front line. The demoralizing slam put the Celtics up by 16, 47-31, and put the Nuggets to sleep like the kids on New Years Eve. But, like a youngster looking to peek in on what the adults were doing, Carmelo got even by facializing Glen “Big Baby” Davis with a two-handed cram that finally gave the hometown crowd something to cheer about. Shortly thereafter, the final sign of any self-respect from the Nuggets was shown by Kenyon Martin when he was hit with a flagrant foul for pushing Ray Allen out of bounds on penetration of the right baseline. The foul was not malicious by any means, but still warranted the flagrant tag. And after Allen hit both free-throws and the Celtics were awarded the ball, Paul Pierce extended the Celtic lead to 23, 59-36, with a long three ball and Boston carried that lead into half, 60-37, after outscoring the Nuggets 31-17 in the second quarter.
The Nuggets were outscored 14-2 in second chance points in the first half and that’s a direct result of A) being intimidated physically, and B) that intimidation carrying over the boards. Denver was out rebounded 29-16 in the first half with the Celtics grabbing eight offensive rebounds. Rajon Rondo had three offensive boards to lead all Celtics in the category as he and Paul Pierce poured in a dozen points each. And the Nuggets evidently missed the memo that Ray Allen is a decent three-point shooter as they left him wide open for four out of his five three-point attempts of which he hit three of in the first half alone to lead all scorers at the break with 16 points.
For Denver, things were looking bleak. The Nuggets shot 30% from the field in the first half, including 21% on 3-14 from long distance, while managing to compile just eight assists on their eleven made field goals in the first half. And I’ve got to tell ya, Chauncey Billups’ shot selection in the first half was terrible. Now, I’m all for Chauncey pulling up for three from the right wing every ten fast breaks or so, but in the first half he displayed no discretion when letting fly from long range and it really cost the Nuggets. On one particular occasion in the first quarter, Billups pulled up and heaved a trey with four Celtics in position or shortly to be in position to rebound the eventual miss and not a single Nugget even as far up the floor as he was. It was the kind of shot that makes a coach pull his hair out his head and when the camera picked up George Karl the look on his face was one of disgust.
The rest of the second half was a Boston cream pie in the Nuggets’ face. If you want to look at the boxscore by my guest, but there is nothing in it for Nuggets fans. The Celtics easily cruised to victory by outscoring the Nuggets 54-39 in the second half and winning by the eventual final of, 114-76. The loss was the third straight defeat for the Nuggets who are now just a single game ahead of Portland for first place in the Northwest Division and clinging to third place overall in the Western Conference playoff landscape.
To me, and I’m not trying to sound like I’m abandoning the team, this loss was a clear indication that the Nuggets are just not “there” yet. Sure, Nene was out, but that’s not a valid excuse seeing how the Celtics were without one of the best power forwards in the modern era, Kevin Garnett. Being “there” is only half about the talent you have on your roster while the other half is what you have in the minds of your players. The Celtics are a team that are “there” mentally. The C’s know what it takes to win a championship and that place mentally is a hard location to find even for a single player yet alone a whole team. The Nuggets were exposed as being a team lost without a map to that cerebral locale and until they find their ultimate mental destination. They are going to continue to be just another talented and fun to watch basketball team that poses no threat come playoff time to the tight pack of true contenders.
It was crystal clear from the start that the Nuggets, without Nene and starting Petro, were intimidated by the Celtics. Boston immediately picked up on this and stomped all over Denver’s feelings. The score was, 16-7, after just six minutes in the first quarter as the Celtics were by far the fiercer competitors on both ends of the floor. And after falling behind, 25-11, with just three minutes remaining in the first, the Nuggets were all but waiving the white flag of surrender. Rajon Rondo led the massacre with 11 first quarter points, but the deepest wounds were inflicted on the boards. Boston out rebounded the Nuggets 18-9 in the first twelve minutes of action of which I thought set the tone physically for the rest of the night.
That point was no clearer than with 4:30 remaining to play in the half when Leon Powe ( who was drafted by the Nuggets) pulled down an offensive rebound and proceeded to throw down a man’s man of a dunk on practically the whole Denver front line. The demoralizing slam put the Celtics up by 16, 47-31, and put the Nuggets to sleep like the kids on New Years Eve. But, like a youngster looking to peek in on what the adults were doing, Carmelo got even by facializing Glen “Big Baby” Davis with a two-handed cram that finally gave the hometown crowd something to cheer about. Shortly thereafter, the final sign of any self-respect from the Nuggets was shown by Kenyon Martin when he was hit with a flagrant foul for pushing Ray Allen out of bounds on penetration of the right baseline. The foul was not malicious by any means, but still warranted the flagrant tag. And after Allen hit both free-throws and the Celtics were awarded the ball, Paul Pierce extended the Celtic lead to 23, 59-36, with a long three ball and Boston carried that lead into half, 60-37, after outscoring the Nuggets 31-17 in the second quarter.
The Nuggets were outscored 14-2 in second chance points in the first half and that’s a direct result of A) being intimidated physically, and B) that intimidation carrying over the boards. Denver was out rebounded 29-16 in the first half with the Celtics grabbing eight offensive rebounds. Rajon Rondo had three offensive boards to lead all Celtics in the category as he and Paul Pierce poured in a dozen points each. And the Nuggets evidently missed the memo that Ray Allen is a decent three-point shooter as they left him wide open for four out of his five three-point attempts of which he hit three of in the first half alone to lead all scorers at the break with 16 points.
For Denver, things were looking bleak. The Nuggets shot 30% from the field in the first half, including 21% on 3-14 from long distance, while managing to compile just eight assists on their eleven made field goals in the first half. And I’ve got to tell ya, Chauncey Billups’ shot selection in the first half was terrible. Now, I’m all for Chauncey pulling up for three from the right wing every ten fast breaks or so, but in the first half he displayed no discretion when letting fly from long range and it really cost the Nuggets. On one particular occasion in the first quarter, Billups pulled up and heaved a trey with four Celtics in position or shortly to be in position to rebound the eventual miss and not a single Nugget even as far up the floor as he was. It was the kind of shot that makes a coach pull his hair out his head and when the camera picked up George Karl the look on his face was one of disgust.
The rest of the second half was a Boston cream pie in the Nuggets’ face. If you want to look at the boxscore by my guest, but there is nothing in it for Nuggets fans. The Celtics easily cruised to victory by outscoring the Nuggets 54-39 in the second half and winning by the eventual final of, 114-76. The loss was the third straight defeat for the Nuggets who are now just a single game ahead of Portland for first place in the Northwest Division and clinging to third place overall in the Western Conference playoff landscape.
To me, and I’m not trying to sound like I’m abandoning the team, this loss was a clear indication that the Nuggets are just not “there” yet. Sure, Nene was out, but that’s not a valid excuse seeing how the Celtics were without one of the best power forwards in the modern era, Kevin Garnett. Being “there” is only half about the talent you have on your roster while the other half is what you have in the minds of your players. The Celtics are a team that are “there” mentally. The C’s know what it takes to win a championship and that place mentally is a hard location to find even for a single player yet alone a whole team. The Nuggets were exposed as being a team lost without a map to that cerebral locale and until they find their ultimate mental destination. They are going to continue to be just another talented and fun to watch basketball team that poses no threat come playoff time to the tight pack of true contenders.
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