(Denver-CO) There are a few things we know after watching last night’s, 108-102, loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. First off, we know if Brandon Jennings keeps up the kind of performances he gave last night he will win the Rookie of the Year honors without much of a fuss. After that, we know the Denver Nuggets have serious problems in their front court, Carmelo shooting anything less than 40% from the field will kill this team, and George Karl’s rotations are indeed killing this team.
Forget about reading a traditional recap. If that’s what you want, go read the AP’s report. Instead I’m going to spit some real talk as to why the Nuggets are losing games to teams they should beat if they are one of the Western Conference’s true contenders.
Ready?
- One of the contributing reasons why the Nuggets lost this game is because of not being able to close out quarters. You might be interested to know that in the last three minutes of each of the four quarters combined the Nuggets were outscored 35-27.
- The 500lb gorilla in the room is Denver’s front court. In six out of nine games so far this season Denver has lost the rebounding battle. Against the Heat and the Hawks they were without Kenyon Martin, but that’s not enough of an excuse to look over Denver’s inadequacies rebounding the basketball. Nene would average twelve rebounds a game if he would actually box out and then go get the ball. Time and time again he gets outworked to the loose ball and the opposition gets second chance points off his reluctance to play the game fundamentally sound. And Nene’s not the only one. Carmelo Anthony does this (at nausea) and so does the Birdman more often than not. In Carmelo's defense, he did finish with a team-high ten rebounds against the Bucks.
- In addition to Denver’s rebounding woes, the Nugget bigs do a terrible job defending opposing centers of true size - and they haven’t even played a true dominant center yet. Last night, Andrew Bogut looked like an All-Star finishing with 23 points, ten rebounds, and four blocks. Whether they start doing a better job by committee or someone steps up this has to change or Denver is going to have serious problems.
- In the three games Denver has lost, you might be interested to note that Carmelo has only shot better than 40% once. Sure, he may have scored 30+ in each of those losses, but it’s my contention that when Carmelo doesn’t have his shot falling he’s forcing his way to get to that high of a point total. So, is Carmelo turning back into the one-trick pony he used to be offensively? Well, so far, the answer in games where the Nuggets have lost is an emphatic yes because he has yet to hand out more than two assists. Case in point, there were multiple stretches last night where Carmelo missed three or more consecutive shot attempts.
- George Karl’s superstitious/stubborn/ erratic rotations are making it very hard for Denver to transfer/maintain continuity in any facet of the game. Last night, Karl started Arron Afflalo at shooting guard. I have no problem with that, in fact, as long as A.C. doesn’t start I could care less who starts at the two spot. But tell me why, after starting Afflalo for seven minutes, Karl wouldn’t play him again until he again started the second half? It certainly wasn’t because Afflalo was ineffective. He scored five points in his first seven minutes and held Brandon Jennings scoreless. Additionally, he played a line-up that was so small last night J.R. Smith was actually playing small forward! Is this because Renaldo Balkman and Joey Graham have Karl’s hands tied behind his back so tight at the three spot that there is nobody else who can step in and give him some minutes or because Karl is still foolishly trying to give Anthony Carter (who only played six minutes after the aforementioned line-up looked terrible by the way) some burn?
That’s what’s eating at me, Nuggets Nation. Agree, disagree, have other ideas? Leave it in the comment section!
Yeah, there's plenty to be worried about. I agree, the rebounding situation is just inexcusable, in particular. The Nuggets are way better suited to being a "nobody believes in us!" type team. Now that it's obvious that they should be the 2nd or 3rd best team in the west, a lot of flaws are being exposed.
The Nuggets should be designed to not depend on any offense from the #4 position. K-Mart has been getting a *ton* of crucial points this year, but that is just not going to last, one way or another. Without his points, and with the way everyone else has been shooting, this is only barely a playoff team. Right now, I'd rank the west as Lakers/Suns/Blazers/Rockets/Spurs/Mavs, leaving the Nuggets to fight with OKC and the Jazz for the last 2 spots. No good.
I've been thinking Ty Lawson needs to start, so Chauncey can come off the bench when he's really needed. And obviously Afflalo needs to, and play a lot more minutes than Dahntay was. Lawson has been great off the bench but the team just needs more of the "shock and awe" at the start of games that he can provide. It seems like Melo's offense goes down the toilet whenever the team starts out slow, which is happening a lot lately.
Man, I really wish we had Coby Karl right now. Even more than the poor shooting, lousy rebounding and whatever blackmail material Anthony Carter has on George Karl, the team is getting hurt by not having an intangible somebody who does all he can on every play and ties everyone else together on both ends of the court. Chauncey's not getting that done right now. Maybe JR can be that guy, but that's a huge maybe. I don't think it's totally crazy to play JR at the #3 spot, but to pull it off would require way more defensive discipline than anybody is showing these days.
If I could bring in any Nugget of old (in their prime) to this team it would probably be Bryant Stith... what about you?
+0
I coulnd't agree more written by Andy21,
November 12, 2009
Nick,
The nuggets need a big that doesn't play soft. I love Nene to death but he aggravates the heck out of me. Nene does not have that killer instinct on either side of the ball. He, at times will play aggressive and throw down some powerful jams, but it is only at times. He is just not as consistent of a big man that we need. And, don't get me started on George playing A.C. I just don't get it. The guy is a turnover waiting to happen. He needs to be permanently replaced by Arron Afflalo, who I think is a diamond in the rough. Afflalo is already making nuggets fans forget about what a great system player Dunk-tay Jones was for us. I was so worried when we lost Dunk-tay, but Arron has more than made up for the loss. The nugs just need to get more consistency on the offensive end and they will be fine there. The big issue, as you said, is going to be the rebounding. We have to get that figured out or we won't be able to compete with the elite. I don't know if we have to make a trade down the road to big a legit big guy in or what. Maybe if we can toughen Nene up a bit, we can solve the rebounding crises.
+0
... written by NuggDoc,
November 13, 2009
I'd bring back Mutombo, no question. The Nuggets would be unbelievable with the Mountain back in the middle waiving that finger.
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The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
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The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 
The Nuggets should be designed to not depend on any offense from the #4 position. K-Mart has been getting a *ton* of crucial points this year, but that is just not going to last, one way or another. Without his points, and with the way everyone else has been shooting, this is only barely a playoff team. Right now, I'd rank the west as Lakers/Suns/Blazers/Rockets/Spurs/Mavs, leaving the Nuggets to fight with OKC and the Jazz for the last 2 spots. No good.
I've been thinking Ty Lawson needs to start, so Chauncey can come off the bench when he's really needed. And obviously Afflalo needs to, and play a lot more minutes than Dahntay was. Lawson has been great off the bench but the team just needs more of the "shock and awe" at the start of games that he can provide. It seems like Melo's offense goes down the toilet whenever the team starts out slow, which is happening a lot lately.
Man, I really wish we had Coby Karl right now. Even more than the poor shooting, lousy rebounding and whatever blackmail material Anthony Carter has on George Karl, the team is getting hurt by not having an intangible somebody who does all he can on every play and ties everyone else together on both ends of the court. Chauncey's not getting that done right now. Maybe JR can be that guy, but that's a huge maybe. I don't think it's totally crazy to play JR at the #3 spot, but to pull it off would require way more defensive discipline than anybody is showing these days.
If I could bring in any Nugget of old (in their prime) to this team it would probably be Bryant Stith... what about you?