| 28 December 2009
(Denver-CO) The Denver Nuggets are in a funk. There, I said it. They’ve lost four out of their last five, six out of their last ten, and haven’t won a road game since three weeks ago. Even more alarming is how Denver has struggled to score a hundred points in four out of their last five games, all losses, and they haven’t scored more than a hundred points on the road since November 11th in what was yet another loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Nuggets lost tonight at home for only the second time this season to the Mavericks, 104-96, in a game that Dirk Nowitzki scored just 13 points. It should also be noted that when you look at the standings and the Dallas Mavericks Schedule that they are the second best team in the Western Conference with the most even winning production between games played at home and on the road.
Denver fell behind by seven at the end of the first quarter due to a 23-6 Maverick run that included a 7-0 stretch in the final two minutes. It was disheartening to see the Nuggets blow an early, 17-7, lead in the first quarter because they stopped playing team basketball after a few jump shots went down. In fact, would you believe that after scoring six consecutive buckets off an assist and building the aforementioned lead the Nuggets did not hand out another assist for the next 9:25 of regulation spanning over the end of the first quarter and into the second?
Thank God for the 7-0 run the Nuggets finished the first half with because they had fallen behind by eleven, twice, to the Mavericks in the second quarter and I was fearing the worst as the Pepsi Center patrons had begun to sit on their hands and mumble at each passing turnover by Anthony Carter and missed shot by J.R. Smith. Carter had three miscues and no assists and Smith was 0-3 from the field with only one point as the Nugget bench was outscored 27-6 at the break.
And now, I’d like to discuss Denver’s defense (or shall I say confusion?) defending the pick and roll. There are a few ways you can defend the pick and roll. The first, and my preferred way, is for the player’s man who is screening to hedge out high giving the player who is being screened ample time to get over the top of the screen and pick back up the player with the ball. There is no switching, guessing, or confusion when using the high hedge unless the opposing player with the ball is able to cross back over away from the direction the screen was originally set in which case the player fighting over the screen needs to scramble like hell to get back to their original position. I like this method of defending the pick and roll because it eliminates good shooters from getting wide open looks and forces the action towards the rest of the defense where help is available. The second way to defend the pick and roll is to squeeze both players into the same position on the floor and essentially play a modified game of two-on-two in a tight space. Against a team without a lights out shooter this a good way of defending the pick and roll because it takes away most of the passes the ball handler can give to the screener after he rolls to the basket. However, it does leave the opposing player with the ball the ability to step back and shoot. The final way you can defend the pick is to switch defensive assignments. This is the absolutely worst way you can defend the pick and roll, unless the player screening for the ball handler is of relatively the same size, but usually this isn’t the case in the NBA as the pick and roll is set up to create offensive mismatches by having a front court player screen for a smaller ball handler.
I wish I could relate any of these styles of defense to how the Denver Nuggets played the pick and roll last night against the Mavericks, but unfortunately Denver plays no resemblance to any of these strategies. There is switching, going under screens, high hedging, and an overall lack of communication on the defensive end and it’s absolutely killing the Denver Nuggets.
I digress, but the level defensive continuity on the Denver Nuggets side of the ball is a real concern for the Nuggets Nation and until Denver makes a decision on how their going to play the most fundamental set in the game they will continue to lack a defensive identity.
Carmelo Anthony took the brunt of this confusion last night by fouling out in 31 minutes of burn with 16 points, twelve rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. It was as well rounded of a game as we’ve seen Carmelo play this season minus his usual 30+ points offensively, but the poor communication defensively left ‘Melo high and dry a few times without anything else to do but foul.
Oddly enough, there wasn’t a single player in last night’s game who scored 20 or more points, but the Mavericks did finish with seven players in double digits offensively led by Drew Gooden’s 19 points off the bench. Overall, Denver was outscored 49-20 in points off the bench with Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith shooting a combined 7-22 from the field and finishing with eight and eleven points, respectively.
Up next for the Nuggets is a trip up to Sacramento to take on the Kings tonight on the tail end of back-to-back games where the Nuggets are 4-3 on the second night and sport an ugly record against losing teams on the road. They will once again be without Chauncey Billups and Denver has only won one game this year without their full compliment of starters.
The Nuggets lost tonight at home for only the second time this season to the Mavericks, 104-96, in a game that Dirk Nowitzki scored just 13 points. It should also be noted that when you look at the standings and the Dallas Mavericks Schedule that they are the second best team in the Western Conference with the most even winning production between games played at home and on the road.
Denver fell behind by seven at the end of the first quarter due to a 23-6 Maverick run that included a 7-0 stretch in the final two minutes. It was disheartening to see the Nuggets blow an early, 17-7, lead in the first quarter because they stopped playing team basketball after a few jump shots went down. In fact, would you believe that after scoring six consecutive buckets off an assist and building the aforementioned lead the Nuggets did not hand out another assist for the next 9:25 of regulation spanning over the end of the first quarter and into the second?
Thank God for the 7-0 run the Nuggets finished the first half with because they had fallen behind by eleven, twice, to the Mavericks in the second quarter and I was fearing the worst as the Pepsi Center patrons had begun to sit on their hands and mumble at each passing turnover by Anthony Carter and missed shot by J.R. Smith. Carter had three miscues and no assists and Smith was 0-3 from the field with only one point as the Nugget bench was outscored 27-6 at the break.
And now, I’d like to discuss Denver’s defense (or shall I say confusion?) defending the pick and roll. There are a few ways you can defend the pick and roll. The first, and my preferred way, is for the player’s man who is screening to hedge out high giving the player who is being screened ample time to get over the top of the screen and pick back up the player with the ball. There is no switching, guessing, or confusion when using the high hedge unless the opposing player with the ball is able to cross back over away from the direction the screen was originally set in which case the player fighting over the screen needs to scramble like hell to get back to their original position. I like this method of defending the pick and roll because it eliminates good shooters from getting wide open looks and forces the action towards the rest of the defense where help is available. The second way to defend the pick and roll is to squeeze both players into the same position on the floor and essentially play a modified game of two-on-two in a tight space. Against a team without a lights out shooter this a good way of defending the pick and roll because it takes away most of the passes the ball handler can give to the screener after he rolls to the basket. However, it does leave the opposing player with the ball the ability to step back and shoot. The final way you can defend the pick is to switch defensive assignments. This is the absolutely worst way you can defend the pick and roll, unless the player screening for the ball handler is of relatively the same size, but usually this isn’t the case in the NBA as the pick and roll is set up to create offensive mismatches by having a front court player screen for a smaller ball handler.
I wish I could relate any of these styles of defense to how the Denver Nuggets played the pick and roll last night against the Mavericks, but unfortunately Denver plays no resemblance to any of these strategies. There is switching, going under screens, high hedging, and an overall lack of communication on the defensive end and it’s absolutely killing the Denver Nuggets.
I digress, but the level defensive continuity on the Denver Nuggets side of the ball is a real concern for the Nuggets Nation and until Denver makes a decision on how their going to play the most fundamental set in the game they will continue to lack a defensive identity.
Carmelo Anthony took the brunt of this confusion last night by fouling out in 31 minutes of burn with 16 points, twelve rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. It was as well rounded of a game as we’ve seen Carmelo play this season minus his usual 30+ points offensively, but the poor communication defensively left ‘Melo high and dry a few times without anything else to do but foul.
Oddly enough, there wasn’t a single player in last night’s game who scored 20 or more points, but the Mavericks did finish with seven players in double digits offensively led by Drew Gooden’s 19 points off the bench. Overall, Denver was outscored 49-20 in points off the bench with Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith shooting a combined 7-22 from the field and finishing with eight and eleven points, respectively.
Up next for the Nuggets is a trip up to Sacramento to take on the Kings tonight on the tail end of back-to-back games where the Nuggets are 4-3 on the second night and sport an ugly record against losing teams on the road. They will once again be without Chauncey Billups and Denver has only won one game this year without their full compliment of starters.
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