Alan Iverson brushed the dust off his 3-point shot and made 3/6 of them. Nene and his formerly bum knee played 37 minutes, attacked the hoop with a vengeance, and made 9/12 layups and dunks. Camby produced 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, and enough inside defense against a team that is easy to stop from going inside too much. Najera took and made 3 shots rather than one or none, and Blake made 2 shots rather than none.
George Karl's rotating rotations, the crazy season, and poor rookie shooting has Diawara afraid to shoot at all these days, so he was completely out of the offensive picture. And Kleiza missed just about everything, but he was the only one doing that in this one. Johnson was on the bench all game, so obviously he could not produce anything. Three players producing absolutely nothing offensively was the most the Nuggets could afford in this game, and it beats four players producing absolutely nothing offensively which, believe it or not, has happened fairly often since the first of the year.
Melo had another typical Melo game. He got almost all of his layups and dunks against the weak inside defenders of the Grizzlies, but he missed one jumper too many to make his jump shooting average, finishing 5/14 on those. Melo got 33 points on 13/25 shooting to stay substantially ahead of Arenas and Bryant in the race to be the NBA scoring leader.
G-F Mike Miller went on a tear in the 3rd quarter, making five straight shots, 3 of them being 3-pointers. Iverson, who already had sensed that the Nuggets would probably lose with no 3-point shooting at all, responded brilliantly by making two consecutive, emergency threes 28 seconds apart, thus making up for J.R. Smith being out by dong a J.R. Special on the Grizzlies. And to think that people have the nerve to doubt me when I say that Iverson has become a basketball genius over the years.
So the Nuggets, except for Iverson's 3-pointers, played within their ordinary skill ranges which, to the horror of the coaches and the fans, was just barely good enough to hand a loss to the team that is one of two, (the other one being the Celtics), which loses more games than any team in the League. The Nugget's coaches and fans were in distress throughout the razor tight game. It's no fun being a Nuggets fan these days, because we all have the feeling you get if you buy a used car and you hear a loud, clunking noise coming from the engine a few days after you buy it. The Nuggets have become the Clunkers.
The biggest lead the Nuggets ever managed to get was 9 points, way back early in the 2nd quarter. After that, the Nugget's coaches were frequently thinking in the back of their heads about where they would apply for another job if the Nuggets were to lose this one, fail to make the playoffs, and anger the owner enough to fire them all. Fans were thinking in the back of their heads about how they ever started thinking that Denver could compete with the big boys this season and about which team they would have to switch to if the Nuggets lost most of the rest of their games so that it became impossible to say that you are a Nuggets fan in public without embarrassing yourself.
But the Grizzlies, being gracious Southern gentlemen, seemingly said "Here, have the damn game Nuggets, we're after Oden or Durant in the draft anyhow". They settled for too many jumpers late in the 4th quarter, instead of trying to seize the initiative and get some assistance from the refs by charging the net. Although the Grizzlies successfully depended on outside shooting for most of the game, by getting plenty of open looks against relatively lazy Nuggets defenders, in the end they went to that well once too often. Basketball is not kind to teams that get into a shot selection rut for an entire game.
In crunch time, the Nuggets covered a bit better but, more importantly, the Grizzlies overrelied on high pressure jumpers to fall, which is often a failing strategy in tight games. Even the League's best jump shooters, the Suns, usually try to go to the hoop more late in the 4th quarter of close games. And even poor defensive teams, like the Nuggets, defend jump shots better in the last few minutes of a game. If you miss a layup, you often get a second chance shot, or you get to shoot free throws, so that you can stay close in a tight game. If you miss a jump shot, you usually don't get a second chance. Your opponent gets a chance to pull ahead in a tight game, probably by shooting free throws! Finally, going to the hoop more very late in the game reduces the stress level, reducing the risk of a very costly turnover.
The game was tied 103 each with 3:29 to go and the Nuggets had called for time. I hope, but I can't be sure, that George Karl was warning Melo, Iverson, Camby, Nene, and Blake about avoiding turnovers, lame jumpers, and porous defense, which the Nuggets have used time and time again in these situations to lose games. Meanwhile, on the Memphis sideline was Tony Barone, who was installed as interim coach on December 28 after Mike Fratello was fired by the President of Basketball Operations Jerry West (the Laker great). Barone had been Director of Player Personnel, meaning he has been helping to acquire players rather than coaching them, and so he probably did not instruct his players correctly for the decisive 3 1/2 minutes. Either that or he told them to lose on purpose so the Grizzlies have a better shot at Oden and Durant. Just kidding.
In any event, George Karl, despite continuing to refuse to play the only true 3-point shooter available right now, DerMarr Johnson, was, with the assistance of Iverson's emergency 3-point shots, and a clutch jumper by Blake of all players, able to out coach Barone down the stretch. Thank goodness, at least he can out coach a team that doesn't really have a coach.
The Grizzlies were a very solid 8/19 from beyond the arc while the Nuggets were just 4/11. Besides Iverson's 3/6, Melo shot and made one 3-pointer.
The Nuggets, who have been badly outrebounded since the all-star break by the Spurs, the Jazz, and the Mavericks, had to do better against the Grizzlies, who are the worst rebounding team in the NBA. George Karl, however, tempted fate by playing rebounding specialist Reggie Evans for just 7 minutes. Evans had 2 offensive and 5 total rebounds in just 7 minutes. Had Karl benched Evans for the whole game as he did in Dallas, the Nuggets probably would have lost. The Nuggets had 11 offensive rebounds, 2 fewer than their average but 3 more than the Grizzlies had in this game.
But more evidence that the Nuggets came very close to losing their 5th straight is that Memphis shot .524 versus .494 for Denver and had 3 more shots on goal than the Nuggets did, despite the small Nuggets edge in rebounding.
Anthony drew a foul from Gasol and made both free throws, so it was 105-103Nuggets with 3:18 to go. Then Camby fouled Gasol, who made only one of two free throws. Iverson threw up an "emergency 3-pointer" and missed, Gasol rebounded, but then Camby blocked a Gasol jumper and then Nene rebounded setting up the Iverson dish to Blake for his clutch jumper. The Nuggets led 107-104 with 2:16 left. Then Nene fouled Gasol but he missed both free throws, which is very suspicious given that the Celtics and the Grizzlies are most likely to get Oden and Durant as long as they keep losing. I'm just saying it seems suspicious, but don't quote me. I think I am joking but I am not sure I am joking.
With 1:35 to go, Melo made a running a jumper for 109-104 Nuggets and then Damon Stoudamire made another gift to the desperate for a win Nuggets by hoisting an ill-advised jumper, which was off. After that, everybody on both sides missed. Iverson missed another three and Camby missed a jumper for the Nuggets, while Gasol, Miller, and Gay missed for Memphis, with the Miller and Gay shots being desperation 3-pointers with just a few seconds to go.
To Nuggets fans who have been hammered with way too many losses during the last few weeks, it was a win that seemed kind of shoddy, because it was a squeaker against one of the worst teams in the League that doesn't really have a coach and that did not play intelligent basketball. The Nuggets could have guaranteed themselves a win if they had simply hustled more on defense. Either the Nuggets played down to the level of their opponent, or else they are now on the same level as the Grizzlies, who are 15-43. Either way, it's bad news. Overall, this game seemed more like a meaningless break before the Nuggets and their fans start getting hammered over and over again.
Kleiza played 11 minutes and was 1/6, 0/1 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Najera played 16 minutes and was 3/3 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Diawara played for 21 minutes, took and missed one 3-point shot, and had a steal and an assist.
Steve Blake played 27 minutes and was 2/5, 0/2 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 6 points, and he added 4 assists and 2 rebounds.
Nene played 37 minutes and was 10/16 and 7/9 from the line for 27 points, and he had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Camby played 34 minutes and was 3/6 and 2/2 from the line for 8 points, and he had 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
A.I. played 40 minutes and was 7/18, 3/6 on 3's, and 8/9 from the line for 25 points, and he added 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.
Melo played 42 minutes and was 13/25, 1/1 on 3's, and 6/7 from the line for 33 points, and he had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.
The next game is Wednesday Feb. 28 in Denver versus the Magic at 7 pm mountain time.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Nuggets Run Into the Great Wall of Dallas 115-95
Playing a back to back road game after a demoralizing thrashing in Denver by the Jazz, the Nuggets flew to Dallas, played hard rather than tired, but too sloppy and not smart enough by pro b-ball standards, and were handled without much difficulty by the team that has so few weaknesses that they give you almost nothing to take advantage of. The Mavericks are an astounding 26-3 at home this season, and they have lost 1 home game (to Detroit on December 7) in the 3 1/2 months since November 8. They have now won 19 straight games at home, including wins over most of the other top teams in the Western Conference. Absolutely no one is beating Avery Johnson's squad in Dallas this year. In fact, almost no one is beating his squad anywhere; the Mavs are an incredible 46-5 overall after starting 0-4. Those Mark Cuban fines did nothing to stop his building the team that has to be the big favorite to win it all this year.
The winningest team in the League went about their business taking advantage of the Nugget's turnovers and porous inside defense, got 56 points in the paint and a nifty .511 field goal percentage, and drove another nail into what may end up being the coffin of the Nugget's playoff hopes and the 2006-2007 season as a whole. The Nugget's turnover gauge was in the red "meltdown" zone again at the end of this one. They had 23 turnovers, although the Mavs had 17, which is worse than their average of 13.
PF Dirk Nowitzki made a respectable 6/16 jumpers and scored 31 points on 10/22 shooting overall, and with 11 rebounds and 8 assists, he came very close to a "triple double". SF Josh Howard, who suffered an ankle sprain Thursday night against the Heat and was questionable, not only played virtually the entire game on his sore ankle, but put on a jump shooting show that was almost as good as Melo's, and finished with 27 points on 12/22 shooting.
When you have forwards like this, you have the luxury of having your center concentrate only on stopping penetration, which is exactly what Mavericks center Erick Dampier did; he produced 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals along with making life miserable for Nuggets wanting to take it to the hoop, particularly Iverson and Nene.
The Mavs average 7/18 from behind the 3-point line but they were so unimpressed by Nene, Camby, and other Denver interior defenders that they decided to bulldoze their way to scores in the paint in this one and were just 4/9 from downtown versus 3/10 for the Nuggets. The problem for the Nuggets here, of course, is that with J.R. Smith recovering from knee surgery, they have no one left who is fully qualified to take 3-point shots except for DerMarr Johnson, who George Karl apparently hates with a passion and refused to play at all for the second straight game no J.R. game.
The Nuggets, who are now fully getting that "we are on the ropes" feeling, came in with a little desperation and alot of attitude on their shoulders. But the Mavericks are the NBA's best in your face team; they can mock you by responding to what you do by doing the same back to you, and then beat you by doing what you can not do. The scrappy Nuggets got 13 steals against the Mavericks, but the Mavs stole it right back 12 times. And both the Mavs and the Nuggets ended up well above their usual number of personal fouls. But the Nuggets also "fouled the refs" and were given three technical fouls, including one handed out to George Karl, who has probably had at least one disturbing dream lately where he saw himself coaching the Grizzlies in Memphis next season.
The Nuggets used that increasing desperation they are feeling to stay in the game through the first half; Dallas was up only 60-56 at the half. During the intermission, there must have been some fighting words in the locker room and the Nuggets plotted what would have been a stunning upset. But they had 7 turnovers in the 3rd quarter, including 3 offensive fouls and a Melo travel. These are the kinds of turnovers you get when you are kind of desperate and in too much of a rush to get your points. The referees normally do not permit players to get sloppy on execution just because they are getting desperate for a win and think they can pull a stunning upset.
The Nuggets have now lost 18 of their last 19 games in Dallas over the last decade. Maybe next year the League will allow the Nuggets to play in Dallas after a rest to give them a chance for their first win there since the Clinton administration. Both games this year were back to backs for Denver but not for Dallas.
Not only did George Karl refuse to play DerMarr Johnson again, but for some unknown reason refused to play Reggie Evans, who gets more offensive rebounds per minute than folks like Tyson Chandler, Emeka Okafor, and Ben Wallace. True, some of those rebounds are so that he can stuff in his own missed layup, but so what? The Nuggets need his layups, too. With Evans stuck on the bench all night, the Nuggets had a pathetic 6 offensive rebounds, versus 11 for the Mavs, and had just 75 shot attempts versus 88 for the Mavs. Benching Evans was worse than shooting yourself in the foot, it was shooting yourself in the head.
So like a bank robber who can't stop with just one heist, Karl committed a multiple felony benching in this one: he had two players sitting on the bench the whole night who were badly needed to give the Nuggets a chance to win the game. I am afraid that it's time to put Rick Adelman's number on the speed dials at Nuggets headquarters.
Kleiza played 21 minutes and was 1/6, 1/3 on 3's and 4/4 from the line for 7 points, and he had 2 rebounds and a steal. Diawara played 21 minutes and was 1/5, 0/3 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 3 points. Najera played 26 minutes and was 3/7 for 6 points, and he added 3 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist, and a block.
Steve Blake played 25 minutes and was 0/2 and 1/2 from the line for 1 point, and he had 4 assists and 2 rebounds.
Nene played 23 minutes and was 4/8 for 8 points, and he had 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Camby played 36 minutes and was 2/6 and 6/7 from the line for 10 points, and he had 17 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Camby missed a "triple double" by just 3 assists. Camby seems to play his best against the best teams, a fact which fans should keep in mind if the Nuggets can get their act together and make it into the playoffs.
A.I. played 43 minutes and was 8/18, 2/4 on 3's, and 8/9 from the line for 26 points, and he had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He was an excellent 8/14 on jumpers.
Melo played for 41 minutes and was 14/23 and 6/8 from the line for 34 points, and he also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He was an excellent 7/12 on jumpers.
The next game will be Monday, Feb. 26 in Memphis to play the Grizzlies at 6 pm mountain time.
The winningest team in the League went about their business taking advantage of the Nugget's turnovers and porous inside defense, got 56 points in the paint and a nifty .511 field goal percentage, and drove another nail into what may end up being the coffin of the Nugget's playoff hopes and the 2006-2007 season as a whole. The Nugget's turnover gauge was in the red "meltdown" zone again at the end of this one. They had 23 turnovers, although the Mavs had 17, which is worse than their average of 13.
PF Dirk Nowitzki made a respectable 6/16 jumpers and scored 31 points on 10/22 shooting overall, and with 11 rebounds and 8 assists, he came very close to a "triple double". SF Josh Howard, who suffered an ankle sprain Thursday night against the Heat and was questionable, not only played virtually the entire game on his sore ankle, but put on a jump shooting show that was almost as good as Melo's, and finished with 27 points on 12/22 shooting.
When you have forwards like this, you have the luxury of having your center concentrate only on stopping penetration, which is exactly what Mavericks center Erick Dampier did; he produced 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals along with making life miserable for Nuggets wanting to take it to the hoop, particularly Iverson and Nene.
The Mavs average 7/18 from behind the 3-point line but they were so unimpressed by Nene, Camby, and other Denver interior defenders that they decided to bulldoze their way to scores in the paint in this one and were just 4/9 from downtown versus 3/10 for the Nuggets. The problem for the Nuggets here, of course, is that with J.R. Smith recovering from knee surgery, they have no one left who is fully qualified to take 3-point shots except for DerMarr Johnson, who George Karl apparently hates with a passion and refused to play at all for the second straight game no J.R. game.
The Nuggets, who are now fully getting that "we are on the ropes" feeling, came in with a little desperation and alot of attitude on their shoulders. But the Mavericks are the NBA's best in your face team; they can mock you by responding to what you do by doing the same back to you, and then beat you by doing what you can not do. The scrappy Nuggets got 13 steals against the Mavericks, but the Mavs stole it right back 12 times. And both the Mavs and the Nuggets ended up well above their usual number of personal fouls. But the Nuggets also "fouled the refs" and were given three technical fouls, including one handed out to George Karl, who has probably had at least one disturbing dream lately where he saw himself coaching the Grizzlies in Memphis next season.
The Nuggets used that increasing desperation they are feeling to stay in the game through the first half; Dallas was up only 60-56 at the half. During the intermission, there must have been some fighting words in the locker room and the Nuggets plotted what would have been a stunning upset. But they had 7 turnovers in the 3rd quarter, including 3 offensive fouls and a Melo travel. These are the kinds of turnovers you get when you are kind of desperate and in too much of a rush to get your points. The referees normally do not permit players to get sloppy on execution just because they are getting desperate for a win and think they can pull a stunning upset.
The Nuggets have now lost 18 of their last 19 games in Dallas over the last decade. Maybe next year the League will allow the Nuggets to play in Dallas after a rest to give them a chance for their first win there since the Clinton administration. Both games this year were back to backs for Denver but not for Dallas.
Not only did George Karl refuse to play DerMarr Johnson again, but for some unknown reason refused to play Reggie Evans, who gets more offensive rebounds per minute than folks like Tyson Chandler, Emeka Okafor, and Ben Wallace. True, some of those rebounds are so that he can stuff in his own missed layup, but so what? The Nuggets need his layups, too. With Evans stuck on the bench all night, the Nuggets had a pathetic 6 offensive rebounds, versus 11 for the Mavs, and had just 75 shot attempts versus 88 for the Mavs. Benching Evans was worse than shooting yourself in the foot, it was shooting yourself in the head.
So like a bank robber who can't stop with just one heist, Karl committed a multiple felony benching in this one: he had two players sitting on the bench the whole night who were badly needed to give the Nuggets a chance to win the game. I am afraid that it's time to put Rick Adelman's number on the speed dials at Nuggets headquarters.
Kleiza played 21 minutes and was 1/6, 1/3 on 3's and 4/4 from the line for 7 points, and he had 2 rebounds and a steal. Diawara played 21 minutes and was 1/5, 0/3 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 3 points. Najera played 26 minutes and was 3/7 for 6 points, and he added 3 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist, and a block.
Steve Blake played 25 minutes and was 0/2 and 1/2 from the line for 1 point, and he had 4 assists and 2 rebounds.
Nene played 23 minutes and was 4/8 for 8 points, and he had 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Camby played 36 minutes and was 2/6 and 6/7 from the line for 10 points, and he had 17 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Camby missed a "triple double" by just 3 assists. Camby seems to play his best against the best teams, a fact which fans should keep in mind if the Nuggets can get their act together and make it into the playoffs.
A.I. played 43 minutes and was 8/18, 2/4 on 3's, and 8/9 from the line for 26 points, and he had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. He was an excellent 8/14 on jumpers.
Melo played for 41 minutes and was 14/23 and 6/8 from the line for 34 points, and he also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. He was an excellent 7/12 on jumpers.
The next game will be Monday, Feb. 26 in Memphis to play the Grizzlies at 6 pm mountain time.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Nugget's 3-Man Team Loses to Utah 114-104
It's times like these that basketball analysts make foolish over the top statements about a team like the Denver Nuggets. The A.P. report on this game featured a writer who said that J.R. Smith's role is to "hide the Nugget's flaws," and Charles Barkley on the cable network said the other night that the Nuggets "could never win without several new players" (at least two) who "don't care about scoring but who will do the dirty work of getting alot of rebounds and defensive stops." He called Najera unqualified for this job.
While I may agree about Najera, Barkley is totally overlooking Nene, Reggie Evans, Camby, and, for that matter, Kenyon Martin. Nene is getting stronger in the post and defensively in the paint by the week. Evans is a rebounding machine. Camby is currently 4th in the NBA in rebounds per game, and has moved ahead of Jermaine O'Neill to lead the League in blocks. And if KMart recovers adequately from knee surgery, he's going to resume being an above average rebounder and at least decent on defense. Maybe Barkley only likes players who have a certain cynical attitude about basketball and life in general, such as Ben Wallace and Shaquille O'Neill. Whether someone has a cynical attitude, though, does not determine how many defensive stops and offensive rebounds they get.
I, being a mature and well-balanced observer who has seen it all at one time or another, am not going to stoop to name calling or to gross generalizations and exaggerations. I am going to continue to point out the flaws in the Nuggets, which are now playing themselves out over and over in almost every game, like a broken record. And I am going to continue to point out that the Nuggets are actually very close to being one of the best teams in the League and will, if necessary, use the off season to make the small number of playing style, roster and coaching changes that will be needed to correct the real problems.
Fortunately, the real execs in the Denver front office see the real problems, not the over dramatized, exaggerated problems that people like Barkley put out to keep the ratings up, or the unspoken, really nasty, impossible to deal with problems that those like the A.P. writer hint at. His scheme is to have the reader think of what he or she thinks is the worst problem in the world for a basketball team to have and assume that the Nuggets have that problem. It's kind of funny when you think about it.
And for all the Nuggets fans who are in anguish, I say to you simply "Get a grip". The Nuggets, unlike half the teams in the NBA, do not have any problems that can not be fixed quickly, though, as I already have said, it is beginning to look like it may take the off-season to fix them and possibly the replacement of the head coach. If the growing crowd that is saying that the Nuggets will never be a contender after the Iverson trade is correct, then the Nuggets will not be a winning team next year, and if you want to believe that, then I have some swamp land in Colorado that I would like to sell to you.
So let's once again, for the umpteenth time, go over the real Nuggets flaws. First, they have too many defensive lapses; they don't play tough defense consistently, though they have improved somewhat lately, with Nene's improving performance being the biggest defensive improvement.
Second, they do not have offensive balance between their ace scorers and the rest of the roster. Most of the Nugget's off the bench players are not taking enough shots, partly due to not getting the ball enough and partly due to not being aggressive enough to take good shots. Incredibly, tonight the Jazz bench outscored the Nuggets bench 70-21.
The third Nuggets problem is too many turnovers. The Nuggets keep finding new combinations of turnovers in their bizarre quest to lead the league in the category. I'm pretty sure the Nuggets are leading the League in travels.
The time may have come to add a fourth flaw with the Nuggets: game management by George Karl is falling short of the mark. Although he finally started A.I. at the point, a move that most top fans of the Nuggets called for weeks ago, he failed to respond to J.R. Smith's injury and surgery, because he refused to play the one roughly similar player on the roster who has the potential of replacing some of the lost scoring, especially 3-point scoring, namely, DerMarr Johnson. Both myself and the Denver Postsports writer who covers the Nuggets noted that Johnson, if the Nuggets get lucky, could replace a substantial chunk of the lost scoring.
Unlike the newspaper writer, who can not be very cynical or judgmental in his columns, I worried in one of my writings here that Karl has been severely limiting Johnson's playing time all season and might make the stupid mistake of continuing to do so even in the wake of the Smith injury. Even though I worried that it could happen, I must admit that I am still surprised that it did in fact happen. DerMarr Johnson played all of 0 minutes and, unless he was injured or about to be arrested for something (maybe a nightclub fight?) that, my friends, is about as big an error a head coach can make.
Teams like the Jazz play 10 or 11 players and get output from most of them every game, whereas the Nuggets are playing just 8 or 9 players and getting almost no output from 2-4 of them on a regular basis. That is no way to run a basketball team. Why should the owner of the Nuggets be paying DerMarr Johnson big bucks to sit on the bench night after night? And why should be be paying players who only take 1, 2, or 3 shots each game?
As for the game, the Nuggets showed all the four problems that I have gone over and lost to the Jazz 114-104. Carlos Boozer, Utah's leading scorer and rebounder, returned after missing eight games with a hairline fracture in his left leg, but played only 12 minutes and had 10 points on 5/8 shooting. G-F Matt Harpring had 22 points on 8/13 shooting. But none of the Jazz had outstanding games; you don't have to do much when the Nuggets are stuck in the rut of their 4 problems.
The Jazz had just 15 turnovers versus the Nugget's 24. The Jazz doubled up the Nuggets on offensive rebounding 14-7 and had 83 shots on goal versus only 67 for the Nuggets. The Jazz had 10 steals and the Nuggets had 7. And on 3-point shooting, which the best Western Conference teams live on, the Jazz were 6/17 but the Nuggets were only 3/9. With Johnson on the bench all night, the Nuggets were starved of 3-point opportunities.
Najera played 16 minutes and was 2/2 for 4 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal. Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 0/3 and 0/1 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 2 rebounds and an assist. Diawara played 20 minutes and was 1/2, 1/1 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 5 points.
Nene played 30 minutes and was 1/7 and 6/8 from the line for 8 points, and he added 9 rebounds and a steal.
Blake played 30 minutes and was 4/10 and 0/3 on 3's for 8 points, and he had 3 assists and a steal.
Camby played 32 minutes and was 3/6 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he also had 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
A.I. played 44 minutes and was 11/18, 1/2 on 3's, and 10/15 from the line for 33 points, and he also had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. The Jazz usually foul intentionally to prevent layups by top scorers like A.I., so most of A.I.'s shots were the harder to make jumpers. So this was truly an outstanding game for A.I. and a great recovery from the off game in San Antonio.
Melo played for 37 minutes and was 12/18, 1/2 on 3's, and 11/13 from the line for 36 points, and he had 6 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal, and a block. The Jazz foul first and ask questions later with players like Anthony, and they shut down his layups and dunks by fouling him more or less on purpose. So Melo's game was even more outstanding than the statistics show, because most of his shots were jumpers and, as you can see, most of those jumpers went in. It was actually one of Melo's best games of the season.
The next game will be tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 24, in Dallas to play the Mavs at 7 pm mountain time.
While I may agree about Najera, Barkley is totally overlooking Nene, Reggie Evans, Camby, and, for that matter, Kenyon Martin. Nene is getting stronger in the post and defensively in the paint by the week. Evans is a rebounding machine. Camby is currently 4th in the NBA in rebounds per game, and has moved ahead of Jermaine O'Neill to lead the League in blocks. And if KMart recovers adequately from knee surgery, he's going to resume being an above average rebounder and at least decent on defense. Maybe Barkley only likes players who have a certain cynical attitude about basketball and life in general, such as Ben Wallace and Shaquille O'Neill. Whether someone has a cynical attitude, though, does not determine how many defensive stops and offensive rebounds they get.
I, being a mature and well-balanced observer who has seen it all at one time or another, am not going to stoop to name calling or to gross generalizations and exaggerations. I am going to continue to point out the flaws in the Nuggets, which are now playing themselves out over and over in almost every game, like a broken record. And I am going to continue to point out that the Nuggets are actually very close to being one of the best teams in the League and will, if necessary, use the off season to make the small number of playing style, roster and coaching changes that will be needed to correct the real problems.
Fortunately, the real execs in the Denver front office see the real problems, not the over dramatized, exaggerated problems that people like Barkley put out to keep the ratings up, or the unspoken, really nasty, impossible to deal with problems that those like the A.P. writer hint at. His scheme is to have the reader think of what he or she thinks is the worst problem in the world for a basketball team to have and assume that the Nuggets have that problem. It's kind of funny when you think about it.
And for all the Nuggets fans who are in anguish, I say to you simply "Get a grip". The Nuggets, unlike half the teams in the NBA, do not have any problems that can not be fixed quickly, though, as I already have said, it is beginning to look like it may take the off-season to fix them and possibly the replacement of the head coach. If the growing crowd that is saying that the Nuggets will never be a contender after the Iverson trade is correct, then the Nuggets will not be a winning team next year, and if you want to believe that, then I have some swamp land in Colorado that I would like to sell to you.
So let's once again, for the umpteenth time, go over the real Nuggets flaws. First, they have too many defensive lapses; they don't play tough defense consistently, though they have improved somewhat lately, with Nene's improving performance being the biggest defensive improvement.
Second, they do not have offensive balance between their ace scorers and the rest of the roster. Most of the Nugget's off the bench players are not taking enough shots, partly due to not getting the ball enough and partly due to not being aggressive enough to take good shots. Incredibly, tonight the Jazz bench outscored the Nuggets bench 70-21.
The third Nuggets problem is too many turnovers. The Nuggets keep finding new combinations of turnovers in their bizarre quest to lead the league in the category. I'm pretty sure the Nuggets are leading the League in travels.
The time may have come to add a fourth flaw with the Nuggets: game management by George Karl is falling short of the mark. Although he finally started A.I. at the point, a move that most top fans of the Nuggets called for weeks ago, he failed to respond to J.R. Smith's injury and surgery, because he refused to play the one roughly similar player on the roster who has the potential of replacing some of the lost scoring, especially 3-point scoring, namely, DerMarr Johnson. Both myself and the Denver Postsports writer who covers the Nuggets noted that Johnson, if the Nuggets get lucky, could replace a substantial chunk of the lost scoring.
Unlike the newspaper writer, who can not be very cynical or judgmental in his columns, I worried in one of my writings here that Karl has been severely limiting Johnson's playing time all season and might make the stupid mistake of continuing to do so even in the wake of the Smith injury. Even though I worried that it could happen, I must admit that I am still surprised that it did in fact happen. DerMarr Johnson played all of 0 minutes and, unless he was injured or about to be arrested for something (maybe a nightclub fight?) that, my friends, is about as big an error a head coach can make.
Teams like the Jazz play 10 or 11 players and get output from most of them every game, whereas the Nuggets are playing just 8 or 9 players and getting almost no output from 2-4 of them on a regular basis. That is no way to run a basketball team. Why should the owner of the Nuggets be paying DerMarr Johnson big bucks to sit on the bench night after night? And why should be be paying players who only take 1, 2, or 3 shots each game?
As for the game, the Nuggets showed all the four problems that I have gone over and lost to the Jazz 114-104. Carlos Boozer, Utah's leading scorer and rebounder, returned after missing eight games with a hairline fracture in his left leg, but played only 12 minutes and had 10 points on 5/8 shooting. G-F Matt Harpring had 22 points on 8/13 shooting. But none of the Jazz had outstanding games; you don't have to do much when the Nuggets are stuck in the rut of their 4 problems.
The Jazz had just 15 turnovers versus the Nugget's 24. The Jazz doubled up the Nuggets on offensive rebounding 14-7 and had 83 shots on goal versus only 67 for the Nuggets. The Jazz had 10 steals and the Nuggets had 7. And on 3-point shooting, which the best Western Conference teams live on, the Jazz were 6/17 but the Nuggets were only 3/9. With Johnson on the bench all night, the Nuggets were starved of 3-point opportunities.
Najera played 16 minutes and was 2/2 for 4 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal. Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 0/3 and 0/1 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 2 rebounds and an assist. Diawara played 20 minutes and was 1/2, 1/1 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 5 points.
Nene played 30 minutes and was 1/7 and 6/8 from the line for 8 points, and he added 9 rebounds and a steal.
Blake played 30 minutes and was 4/10 and 0/3 on 3's for 8 points, and he had 3 assists and a steal.
Camby played 32 minutes and was 3/6 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points, and he also had 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
A.I. played 44 minutes and was 11/18, 1/2 on 3's, and 10/15 from the line for 33 points, and he also had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. The Jazz usually foul intentionally to prevent layups by top scorers like A.I., so most of A.I.'s shots were the harder to make jumpers. So this was truly an outstanding game for A.I. and a great recovery from the off game in San Antonio.
Melo played for 37 minutes and was 12/18, 1/2 on 3's, and 11/13 from the line for 36 points, and he had 6 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal, and a block. The Jazz foul first and ask questions later with players like Anthony, and they shut down his layups and dunks by fouling him more or less on purpose. So Melo's game was even more outstanding than the statistics show, because most of his shots were jumpers and, as you can see, most of those jumpers went in. It was actually one of Melo's best games of the season.
The next game will be tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 24, in Dallas to play the Mavs at 7 pm mountain time.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Nuggets Show Almost Nothing Against Spurs 95-80
The Nuggets have three major problems: lack of defensive focus, a lack of offensive balance between starters and non-starters, and too many turnovers. In this game, it was mostly the lack of offensive balance and too many turnovers that wiped out any chance of a win. The Nuggets showed some progress on defense, only to be hammered by the other two shortcomings. The Spurs had very few turnovers, just 9, versus 20 for the Nuggets, who just about lead the NBA in them.
Even worse, the Nuggets had no substantial scoring from their players coming off the bench until, of course, the starters were pulled for the 4th quarter. This complete second team collapse was like the one in the game in Utah on January 26, except in this game none of the starters were having great or even good games, a combination which will always lead to a rout.
This was the 7th Melo-A.I. game and the Nuggets have managed to lose 5 of 7 of these. This was by far the worst of them, and it was the first such game where the Nuggets were blown out and had no chance to win. Iverson and Melo combined failed to score as many points as either one is supposed to easily score on his own; they were a combined 9/26 for 24 points. It did not make for a very good show on the TNT cable television network. Although still too early, both sportscasters and fans are beginning to wonder whether the most promising pairing of basketball players in years will turn out to be just a few sparklers rather than a full scale fireworks display.
There is probably no better team than the very veteran Spurs for taking advantage of your problems, so the Spurs just allowed Denver to shoot itself in the foot over and over again and cruised to an easy win over the Nuggets, 95-80. The Spurs were held below 100 points only because they missed more 3-pointers than they usually do and because they were a miserable 14/27 from the free throw line. The Nuggets managed just 15 assists versus 21 for the Spurs. And the Nuggets shot just .425 versus .463 for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 17 points on 7/11 shooting and Manu Ginobili had 14 points on 6/8 shooting but the Nuggets would have lost even if none of the Spurs had done well.
Often a team can offset problem play by having a couple of players provide a spark, with some combination of high shooting percentage, dominant rebounding, and assists. But not one of the Nuggets was able to provide a spark in this game, unless you want to count DerMarr Johnson's 11 points on 4/4 shooting during 3 minutes of garbage time in the 4th quarter. To be truthful, it was a game with no hope, although it was only the 4th such loss for the Nuggets this season.
Back in Denver, Nuggets fans have started to point the finger at George Karl for how long it is taking for the Nuggets to play with more balance and consistency on offense, and for the turnovers, although they are still blaming individual players for lack of defensive hustle. Whether or not it is Karl's fault, and I can't say for sure it is yet, just about everyone is going to end up blaming Karl if the Nuggets fail to make the playoffs or if they get bounced in 4 games in the playoffs.
I will say this: Karl has just about zeroed out the playing minutes of various players too often, only to vastly increase the minutes after that player has 1 or 2 good stretches. For example, neither DerMarr Johnson nor Yakhouba Diawara would have played at all tonight were it not for all the garbage time. Yet these players were playing half the game or more not so long ago. True, this was during suspension and injury situations, but what I am saying is that Karl seems to be zeroing out too many players and therefore trying to rely on too few players in the rotations. How about 8-10 minutes instead of 0 minutes for players such as Johnson?
The game was not as close as the score makes it look. The Nuggets were smothered in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and were doubled up 54-27. During the pathetic 3rd quarter, the Nuggets had 9 of their 20 turnovers, made just 4 of 18 shots from the field, and were routed 30-10. They looked like a lower division college team that took a wrong turn and ended up in San Antonio instead of in College Station to play Texas A&M. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Nuggets were completely buried with the score at 79-48.
Both teams pulled most of their starters for the entire 4th quarter, as the two veteran coaches realized that the contest was almost certainly over. The entire 4th quarter was meaningless garbage time, and television viewers went to bed early.
So much for a promising start to the final 31 games of the season. But if you are a Nuggets fan, you should not throw in the towel yet. The Nuggets have fallen to 26-26 with 30 games to play, still good enough for 7th position in the Western Conference. The Nuggets have 2 fewer losses than the Wolves and Clippers and 2 more losses than the slumping Lakers. So the Nuggets are still in the hunt despite the fact that losing has definitely become a bad habit over the middle part of the season. After starting off 16-10 in the first 16 games, the Nuggets have gone 10-16 in the next 16 to arrive at 26-26.
Every team is going to have a few really bad games on the road just by chance. The problem is that the Nuggets have lost so many games at home that they can not really afford any games like this on the road, if only because it shreds their confidence that they can compete in playoff games in Texas, Arizona, Utah, or Los Angelas. Also, there are only two playoff spots for the six teams battling for them and the Nuggets, of course, still have to earn one of those two last slots.
DerMarr Johnson played for 3 minutes and was 4/4 and 3/3 on 3's for 11 points. Diawara played 13 minutes, took and missed one 3-point shot, and was 2/2 from the line for 2 points, and he had a block.
Reggie Evans played for 18 minutes and was 2/4 for 4 points and he led the Nuggets in rebounding with 9. Najera played for 18 minutes and was 0/3 and 1/2 from the line for 1 point, and he also had 2 rebounds. So much for the Najera revival streak. He is back to being a non-factor again.
J.R. Smith played only 8 minutes and was 0/4 and 0/2 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 2 steals and 1 assist. He left the game in the second quarter after hurting his left knee and since he is still the only major 3-point threat for the Nuggets, his leaving pretty much mathematically eliminated the Nuggets from being able to win. The fact things got out of hand is due to the poor games Melo and A.I. had.
Steve Blake played 32 minutes and was 4/10 and 0/1 on 3's for 8 points, and he had 7 assists and 2 steals.
Nene played 30 minutes and was 5/8 and 3/7 from the line for 13 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.
Camby played for 22 minutes and was 4/7 and 1/1 from the line for 9 points, and he also had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal. Camby played only 2/3 of his usual time, maybe because he aggravated his prior hand injury.
Allen Iverson, back from missing 8 of the last 9 games due to a bad ankle sprain, played 35 minutes and was 3/11, 0/2 on 3's, and 3/4 from the line for 9 points, and he had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. This was by far the least scoring that Iverson has had in a game this season, since his previous low was 16 points in Los Angelas against the Lakers on January 5. Iverson scoring in single digits and taking only 11 shots is very disturbing but he has been so good to the Nuggets so far that no one should get his or her hands anywhere near the panic button over this one game.
Melo was outstanding in the All-Star game but mediocre at best in this one. He played 29 minutes and was 6/15 and 3/4 from the line for 15 points, and he had 8 rebounds and a block. He missed 7 jumpers out of 9 and the 15 points matched his season low set on opening night in Los Angeles against the Clippers when he was ejected with two technicals early in the second half.
The next game is this Friday, Feb. 23 in Denver against the Jazz at 8:30 pm mountain time.
Even worse, the Nuggets had no substantial scoring from their players coming off the bench until, of course, the starters were pulled for the 4th quarter. This complete second team collapse was like the one in the game in Utah on January 26, except in this game none of the starters were having great or even good games, a combination which will always lead to a rout.
This was the 7th Melo-A.I. game and the Nuggets have managed to lose 5 of 7 of these. This was by far the worst of them, and it was the first such game where the Nuggets were blown out and had no chance to win. Iverson and Melo combined failed to score as many points as either one is supposed to easily score on his own; they were a combined 9/26 for 24 points. It did not make for a very good show on the TNT cable television network. Although still too early, both sportscasters and fans are beginning to wonder whether the most promising pairing of basketball players in years will turn out to be just a few sparklers rather than a full scale fireworks display.
There is probably no better team than the very veteran Spurs for taking advantage of your problems, so the Spurs just allowed Denver to shoot itself in the foot over and over again and cruised to an easy win over the Nuggets, 95-80. The Spurs were held below 100 points only because they missed more 3-pointers than they usually do and because they were a miserable 14/27 from the free throw line. The Nuggets managed just 15 assists versus 21 for the Spurs. And the Nuggets shot just .425 versus .463 for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 17 points on 7/11 shooting and Manu Ginobili had 14 points on 6/8 shooting but the Nuggets would have lost even if none of the Spurs had done well.
Often a team can offset problem play by having a couple of players provide a spark, with some combination of high shooting percentage, dominant rebounding, and assists. But not one of the Nuggets was able to provide a spark in this game, unless you want to count DerMarr Johnson's 11 points on 4/4 shooting during 3 minutes of garbage time in the 4th quarter. To be truthful, it was a game with no hope, although it was only the 4th such loss for the Nuggets this season.
Back in Denver, Nuggets fans have started to point the finger at George Karl for how long it is taking for the Nuggets to play with more balance and consistency on offense, and for the turnovers, although they are still blaming individual players for lack of defensive hustle. Whether or not it is Karl's fault, and I can't say for sure it is yet, just about everyone is going to end up blaming Karl if the Nuggets fail to make the playoffs or if they get bounced in 4 games in the playoffs.
I will say this: Karl has just about zeroed out the playing minutes of various players too often, only to vastly increase the minutes after that player has 1 or 2 good stretches. For example, neither DerMarr Johnson nor Yakhouba Diawara would have played at all tonight were it not for all the garbage time. Yet these players were playing half the game or more not so long ago. True, this was during suspension and injury situations, but what I am saying is that Karl seems to be zeroing out too many players and therefore trying to rely on too few players in the rotations. How about 8-10 minutes instead of 0 minutes for players such as Johnson?
The game was not as close as the score makes it look. The Nuggets were smothered in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and were doubled up 54-27. During the pathetic 3rd quarter, the Nuggets had 9 of their 20 turnovers, made just 4 of 18 shots from the field, and were routed 30-10. They looked like a lower division college team that took a wrong turn and ended up in San Antonio instead of in College Station to play Texas A&M. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Nuggets were completely buried with the score at 79-48.
Both teams pulled most of their starters for the entire 4th quarter, as the two veteran coaches realized that the contest was almost certainly over. The entire 4th quarter was meaningless garbage time, and television viewers went to bed early.
So much for a promising start to the final 31 games of the season. But if you are a Nuggets fan, you should not throw in the towel yet. The Nuggets have fallen to 26-26 with 30 games to play, still good enough for 7th position in the Western Conference. The Nuggets have 2 fewer losses than the Wolves and Clippers and 2 more losses than the slumping Lakers. So the Nuggets are still in the hunt despite the fact that losing has definitely become a bad habit over the middle part of the season. After starting off 16-10 in the first 16 games, the Nuggets have gone 10-16 in the next 16 to arrive at 26-26.
Every team is going to have a few really bad games on the road just by chance. The problem is that the Nuggets have lost so many games at home that they can not really afford any games like this on the road, if only because it shreds their confidence that they can compete in playoff games in Texas, Arizona, Utah, or Los Angelas. Also, there are only two playoff spots for the six teams battling for them and the Nuggets, of course, still have to earn one of those two last slots.
DerMarr Johnson played for 3 minutes and was 4/4 and 3/3 on 3's for 11 points. Diawara played 13 minutes, took and missed one 3-point shot, and was 2/2 from the line for 2 points, and he had a block.
Reggie Evans played for 18 minutes and was 2/4 for 4 points and he led the Nuggets in rebounding with 9. Najera played for 18 minutes and was 0/3 and 1/2 from the line for 1 point, and he also had 2 rebounds. So much for the Najera revival streak. He is back to being a non-factor again.
J.R. Smith played only 8 minutes and was 0/4 and 0/2 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 2 steals and 1 assist. He left the game in the second quarter after hurting his left knee and since he is still the only major 3-point threat for the Nuggets, his leaving pretty much mathematically eliminated the Nuggets from being able to win. The fact things got out of hand is due to the poor games Melo and A.I. had.
Steve Blake played 32 minutes and was 4/10 and 0/1 on 3's for 8 points, and he had 7 assists and 2 steals.
Nene played 30 minutes and was 5/8 and 3/7 from the line for 13 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.
Camby played for 22 minutes and was 4/7 and 1/1 from the line for 9 points, and he also had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal. Camby played only 2/3 of his usual time, maybe because he aggravated his prior hand injury.
Allen Iverson, back from missing 8 of the last 9 games due to a bad ankle sprain, played 35 minutes and was 3/11, 0/2 on 3's, and 3/4 from the line for 9 points, and he had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. This was by far the least scoring that Iverson has had in a game this season, since his previous low was 16 points in Los Angelas against the Lakers on January 5. Iverson scoring in single digits and taking only 11 shots is very disturbing but he has been so good to the Nuggets so far that no one should get his or her hands anywhere near the panic button over this one game.
Melo was outstanding in the All-Star game but mediocre at best in this one. He played 29 minutes and was 6/15 and 3/4 from the line for 15 points, and he had 8 rebounds and a block. He missed 7 jumpers out of 9 and the 15 points matched his season low set on opening night in Los Angeles against the Clippers when he was ejected with two technicals early in the second half.
The next game is this Friday, Feb. 23 in Denver against the Jazz at 8:30 pm mountain time.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Nuggets Badly Out Rebounded in Loss to Wolves 99-94
The Nuggets were leading the NBA in offensive rebounding going into this game and the Wolves were just about last, but each team played like the other usually does and the Wolves plastered the Nuggets with numerous second and third chance scores. The Nuggets, who had small leads most of the way but were intimidated on the boards by Kevin Garnett (17 rebounds) and Mark Blount (8 rebounds), fell to the large number of second and third chance Wolves scores and to yet another 4th quarter collapse, losing 99-94.
This was a battle between the two top rebounders in the NBA, Garnett and Marcus Camby, but it was not even close, as Camby had his clock cleaned by Garnett and finished with only 3 rebounds. Just as strangely, Nene had only 2 rebounds and Reggie Evans had just 4. Blake, Melo, and Kleiza led the Nuggets in rebounding with 5 each, in what could only be described as a total domination of the normally powerful Camby-Nene rebounding combination by the normally powerful Garnett-Blount rebounding combination.
Every one of the Minnesota guards except for backup Rashad McCants had miserable shooting nights, so Garnett and Blount had to score as well as dominate the boards if the Wolves were to win, and that is exactly what they did. Garnett had 19 points on 7/14 shooting and Mark Blount had 24 points on 11/19 shooting. Blount, who the Wolves obtained from the Celtics, is playing as a great low post partner for Garnett and his jump shot can be deadly as it was tonight.
Predicting how well the Nuggets will play has become a foolish thing to do and I, for one, have learned my lesson to never try to do it. More generally, being a Nuggets fan is not easy, and is recommended only for those who have alot of experience dealing with surprising bad things popping up out of nowhere in their life on a regular basis. You must keep a tough attitude and not break down and beg the Nuggets for mercy when they follow an outstanding game with another embarrassing choke. Or, more simply, you have to like really nasty rollercoasters.
The Nuggets outshot the Wolves .521 to .452, and were 6/16 from 3-point land versus 3/13 for the Wolves, but the Wolves had 93 shots on goal versus 71 for the Nuggets. To put that in perspective, for the season, the Nuggets are averaging 85 shots per game and the Wolves 78. It's bad enough to lose, but when the other team plays your way and you play their way that really gets the coaches and the fans upset.
The Minnesota fans who braved arctic weather to come to the game saw their team offensive rebound their way to a key win that brings the Wolves fully back into the race for the lower playoff seeds in the Western Conference while the Nuggets, for now, are holding the second from last (7th) seed.
The Nuggets are most likely leading the league in the number of games lost where the losing team had a double digit lead. Perhaps they should try to win some of their games by falling behind on purpose and coming from behind for the win. That may be more than sarcasm, because I swear the Lakers have successfully employed that strategy in a good number of important playoff games during the last dozen years. Fool the other team into thinking they have got the game and then steal the game from them late when they are all comfortable. And seriously, many athletes play better with the extra motivation of trying to get a win from behind.
The Nuggets played relatively error free in the first half, but made more and more errors as the second half went along. The 4th quarter of games is when the Nugget's turnover machine frequently shifts into high gear. In this 4th quarter, Blake lost the ball to PG Mike James, Nene was called for an offensive foul, Melo made a bad pass, Blake made a bad pass, Blake was called for travelling, J.R. Smith was called for travelling, and a Camby pass was intercepted by Garnett. How can you win a close game with 7 turnovers in the 4th quarter? Obviously, you can't unless you have Michael Jordan having a 45 point game or something.
Like a recovering alcoholic who breaks down and goes on a drinking binge, the Nuggets broke down and started gorging themselves on turnovers again, as their coaches who thought they might have broken the terrible habit looked on helplessly in horror. Coaching players to not do things is more difficult than coaching them to do things, but you would think by now the Nuggets would have learned to be more careful and less reckless about moving and passing the ball in the 4th quarter when a game is on the line.
In the fourth quarter, with 2:30 left and the Nuggets leading 90-87, Blount was fouled on a third chance shot by Melo, and he hit both free throws. After Garnett intercepted Camby, Blount made a nice jumper. After a Melo layup, Blount made another jumper, so with 1:28 to go it was 93-92 Wolves. Steve Blake then violated the new "let's not have another 4th quarter collapse strategy" by hoisting a three instead of dishing to someone who could go to the hoop and make a layup or draw a foul. Kleiza got the rebound and he hoisted a long 2, thus also violating the new rule. The rule specifically states that "there shall be no lame jump shots during 4th quarter collapses". This rule was followed closely during the Nuggets 3-game win streak now ended.
The Wolves then chewed up half the remaining time until Randy Foye made a great driving layup with 23 seconds left for 95-92 Wolves. After a full time out, Melo made a driving dunk to make it 95-94 Wolves just when someone, preferably J.R. Smith or Kleiza, should have been shooting a 3 to try to tie the game. Instead, the Nuggets opted to see if the Wolves would miss a free throw after an intentional foul. There was no such luck, as Foye and later Garnett made all 4 foul shots from two intentional fouls.
After the Melo dunk and the Foye free throws it was 97-94 with 14 seconds to go. So J.R. Smith missed a shot from beyond the arc right? Wrong. Ok, so at least the choking Nuggets had their point guard Steve Blake, who in most games can not shoot all that well, take a 3-point shot for overtime, right? Wrong again. What actually happened was that Blake went to the hoop for two points just when the Nuggets needed three. Predictably, Blake's shot was rejected by the collapsing Wolves game closing defense in the paint. George Karl was enraged that a foul was not called, saying Blake had been hacked. But basketball life can be so miserable and unforgiving when your team has a turnover addiction and loses it's mind and also the respect of the refs from the effects of it.
For some unknown and probably a very bad reason, Reggie Evans, the number two Denver rebounder who gets about 8 rebounds per 20 minutes of playing time, was held out of the game and played just 5 minutes. With Camby and Nene taken to the cleaners under the hoop by Garnett and Blount, that was clearly a blunder.
Najera played 18 minutes and was 4/4 for 8 points, and he added 2 rebounds. Kleiza played 27 minutes and was 4/9 and 3/5 on 3's for 11 points, and he had 5 rebounds and two assists.
Nene played for 35 minutes and was 7/11 and 4/5 from the line for 18 points, and he had 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 steals.
Steve Blake played 40 minutes and was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he had 18 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal.
J.R. Smith played 23 minutes and took only shots from behind the arc. He was 3/7 on these for 9 points, and he added 4 rebounds.
Marcus Camby played for 36 minutes and was 6/10 for 12 points, and he had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist.
Melo played even more than usual, for the whole game except 3 minutes, and was 10/21, 0/2 on 3's, and 8/10 from the line for 28 points, and he added 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The next game, which will follow the all-star break, will be next Tuesday, Feb. 20 in San Antonio to play the Spurs at 6 pm mountain time.
This was a battle between the two top rebounders in the NBA, Garnett and Marcus Camby, but it was not even close, as Camby had his clock cleaned by Garnett and finished with only 3 rebounds. Just as strangely, Nene had only 2 rebounds and Reggie Evans had just 4. Blake, Melo, and Kleiza led the Nuggets in rebounding with 5 each, in what could only be described as a total domination of the normally powerful Camby-Nene rebounding combination by the normally powerful Garnett-Blount rebounding combination.
Every one of the Minnesota guards except for backup Rashad McCants had miserable shooting nights, so Garnett and Blount had to score as well as dominate the boards if the Wolves were to win, and that is exactly what they did. Garnett had 19 points on 7/14 shooting and Mark Blount had 24 points on 11/19 shooting. Blount, who the Wolves obtained from the Celtics, is playing as a great low post partner for Garnett and his jump shot can be deadly as it was tonight.
Predicting how well the Nuggets will play has become a foolish thing to do and I, for one, have learned my lesson to never try to do it. More generally, being a Nuggets fan is not easy, and is recommended only for those who have alot of experience dealing with surprising bad things popping up out of nowhere in their life on a regular basis. You must keep a tough attitude and not break down and beg the Nuggets for mercy when they follow an outstanding game with another embarrassing choke. Or, more simply, you have to like really nasty rollercoasters.
The Nuggets outshot the Wolves .521 to .452, and were 6/16 from 3-point land versus 3/13 for the Wolves, but the Wolves had 93 shots on goal versus 71 for the Nuggets. To put that in perspective, for the season, the Nuggets are averaging 85 shots per game and the Wolves 78. It's bad enough to lose, but when the other team plays your way and you play their way that really gets the coaches and the fans upset.
The Minnesota fans who braved arctic weather to come to the game saw their team offensive rebound their way to a key win that brings the Wolves fully back into the race for the lower playoff seeds in the Western Conference while the Nuggets, for now, are holding the second from last (7th) seed.
The Nuggets are most likely leading the league in the number of games lost where the losing team had a double digit lead. Perhaps they should try to win some of their games by falling behind on purpose and coming from behind for the win. That may be more than sarcasm, because I swear the Lakers have successfully employed that strategy in a good number of important playoff games during the last dozen years. Fool the other team into thinking they have got the game and then steal the game from them late when they are all comfortable. And seriously, many athletes play better with the extra motivation of trying to get a win from behind.
The Nuggets played relatively error free in the first half, but made more and more errors as the second half went along. The 4th quarter of games is when the Nugget's turnover machine frequently shifts into high gear. In this 4th quarter, Blake lost the ball to PG Mike James, Nene was called for an offensive foul, Melo made a bad pass, Blake made a bad pass, Blake was called for travelling, J.R. Smith was called for travelling, and a Camby pass was intercepted by Garnett. How can you win a close game with 7 turnovers in the 4th quarter? Obviously, you can't unless you have Michael Jordan having a 45 point game or something.
Like a recovering alcoholic who breaks down and goes on a drinking binge, the Nuggets broke down and started gorging themselves on turnovers again, as their coaches who thought they might have broken the terrible habit looked on helplessly in horror. Coaching players to not do things is more difficult than coaching them to do things, but you would think by now the Nuggets would have learned to be more careful and less reckless about moving and passing the ball in the 4th quarter when a game is on the line.
In the fourth quarter, with 2:30 left and the Nuggets leading 90-87, Blount was fouled on a third chance shot by Melo, and he hit both free throws. After Garnett intercepted Camby, Blount made a nice jumper. After a Melo layup, Blount made another jumper, so with 1:28 to go it was 93-92 Wolves. Steve Blake then violated the new "let's not have another 4th quarter collapse strategy" by hoisting a three instead of dishing to someone who could go to the hoop and make a layup or draw a foul. Kleiza got the rebound and he hoisted a long 2, thus also violating the new rule. The rule specifically states that "there shall be no lame jump shots during 4th quarter collapses". This rule was followed closely during the Nuggets 3-game win streak now ended.
The Wolves then chewed up half the remaining time until Randy Foye made a great driving layup with 23 seconds left for 95-92 Wolves. After a full time out, Melo made a driving dunk to make it 95-94 Wolves just when someone, preferably J.R. Smith or Kleiza, should have been shooting a 3 to try to tie the game. Instead, the Nuggets opted to see if the Wolves would miss a free throw after an intentional foul. There was no such luck, as Foye and later Garnett made all 4 foul shots from two intentional fouls.
After the Melo dunk and the Foye free throws it was 97-94 with 14 seconds to go. So J.R. Smith missed a shot from beyond the arc right? Wrong. Ok, so at least the choking Nuggets had their point guard Steve Blake, who in most games can not shoot all that well, take a 3-point shot for overtime, right? Wrong again. What actually happened was that Blake went to the hoop for two points just when the Nuggets needed three. Predictably, Blake's shot was rejected by the collapsing Wolves game closing defense in the paint. George Karl was enraged that a foul was not called, saying Blake had been hacked. But basketball life can be so miserable and unforgiving when your team has a turnover addiction and loses it's mind and also the respect of the refs from the effects of it.
For some unknown and probably a very bad reason, Reggie Evans, the number two Denver rebounder who gets about 8 rebounds per 20 minutes of playing time, was held out of the game and played just 5 minutes. With Camby and Nene taken to the cleaners under the hoop by Garnett and Blount, that was clearly a blunder.
Najera played 18 minutes and was 4/4 for 8 points, and he added 2 rebounds. Kleiza played 27 minutes and was 4/9 and 3/5 on 3's for 11 points, and he had 5 rebounds and two assists.
Nene played for 35 minutes and was 7/11 and 4/5 from the line for 18 points, and he had 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 steals.
Steve Blake played 40 minutes and was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he had 18 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal.
J.R. Smith played 23 minutes and took only shots from behind the arc. He was 3/7 on these for 9 points, and he added 4 rebounds.
Marcus Camby played for 36 minutes and was 6/10 for 12 points, and he had 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist.
Melo played even more than usual, for the whole game except 3 minutes, and was 10/21, 0/2 on 3's, and 8/10 from the line for 28 points, and he added 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The next game, which will follow the all-star break, will be next Tuesday, Feb. 20 in San Antonio to play the Spurs at 6 pm mountain time.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Nuggets Enjoy Unusual Easy Win Over Warriors, 123-111
Instead of scrambling and stressing, the Nugget's starters were enjoying extended bench rest during 4th quarter garbage time at the Pepsi Center as the Nuggets crashed the boards for 22 second chance offensive rebounds, J.R. Smith hit on 6/11 shots from beyond the arc, Melo's jumper remained dependable, and Nene and Camby made a good number of what were for them relatively easy layups and dunks as the Nuggets built up to a 24 point lead early in the 4th quarter and cruised to the win after that. Relatively complicated closing strategies were not needed in this one; for once there was no chance of a an ugly or chaotic 4th quarter collapse.
The Warriors give up more points than any other team in the NBA and they have not yet begun a defense improvement project as the Nuggets have. The Nuggets ended up with an astounding 37 assists, with Steve Blake getting 13 of them and Marcus Camby playing some PG and getting 7 assists. Now that is team play if I ever saw it, the center filling in for the injured guard.
The fans, still not completely sold on these streaky, yo yo Nuggets after having been badly disappointed at least one too many times, at least were able to leave the arena with some amount of confidence that they were not making fools of themselves by rooting for the Denver Imposters. They could go to sleep tonight knowing the Nuggets are not only on paper but in reality capable of being a really good team, although no one has the faintest idea what is going to happen when the Nuggets play teams such as the Mavs, Jazz, Lakers, and Suns in the many late season and playoff matchups still to come. Specifically, no one knows whether the Nuggets will be clumsy, tentative, and relatively lazy on defense during crucial games or whether they will instead be more skilled, aggressive, and energetic. The Nuggets love to rebound, but pressure defense still tastes like broccoli to them.
And no one knows whether the players will continue to choose their shots well and also get enough shot opportunities, so that they do not become a non-factor offensively that the opposing team can pretty much ignore. Only in the last half dozen games or so have the Nuggets more often than not been able to get everyone who is playing to actually contribute to the scoreboard. One example of this is Nene becoming a real functioning, scoring F-C. Another example is Najera taking and making shots. These types of things have reduced the double teaming of Melo. Whether these improvements will continue in the high pressure atmosphere of a game against teams like the Mavs or the Jazz remains to be seen.
The Nuggets had, by dominating the boards and by more often than not controlling the paint, built up a 102-87 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter when J.R. Smith hit a three at the buzzer ending the third quarter. After the short break between quarters, he hit another three. SF Matt Barne's pass was intercepted and J.R. got it and buried another 3, so the Warriors were treated to a "J.R. special deluxe," 9 points in less than 1 minute.
Now all of a sudden the score was 111-87 and the game was effectively over. Marcus Camby was out as of the end of the 3rd. J.R. was pulled out with 8 minutes to play in the fourth and Melo was pulled with 7 minutes to play, so the Nuggets had all their primary starters out with half a quarter to play, a luxury that the Nuggets have not enjoyed all season. The Nuggets, at least for now, have completely righted their ship and are sailing on a charted but still hazardous course toward the playoffs in late April.
PG Baron Davis, who is the only Warrior averaging more than 20 points a game at 20.7, did not play and will tomorrow have surgery on his left knee. The Warriors do not know when or even if he will return this season. The Warriors were led by the rookie SG Kelenna Azubuike, out of the University of Kentucky, with 23 points on 8/12 shooting, and by PF-C Al Harrington (of the Pacers until a trade a few weeks ago) who had 24 points on 11/23 shooting along with 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Allen Iverson, who has missed 7 of the last games with a badly sprained ankle, can rest easy again now that the Nuggets have won 3 straight and have proved or at east strongly hinted that it was mostly bad luck and defensive laziness that cost them those home losses that briefly made them a losing team. For now, A.I. doesn't have to worry about obnoxious television interviewers asking him whether he thinks he ended up in the same old losing situation after he was traded. The Nuggets don't look like they are going to test going under the win-loss waterline at any time the rest of the season, though you can never say never with this squad.
George Karl is coaching more like a wise and kind grandfather than an aggressive taskmaster type coach (like Larry Brown) who challenges individual players but is sometimes rejected by them as an out of touch pain in the neck. (See Iverson for more details.) The way that Karl is coaching involves emphasizing the importance of team play over individual heroics.
The Karl-KMart battle of last season was due to KMart rebelling against Karl taking this approach to it's limits by limiting his playing time since KMart was not, in Karl's view, playing all the minutes he was getting in a way that was best for the team. Later,the total benching of KMart was due to the perceived disrespect of KMart toward his coach; it was not part of the coaching strategy itself. This season, with all the suspensions, trades, and injuries, Karl has struggled with limited success to get starting lineups and rotations correct, and these are very important components if the "grandfather coach" style is to succeed.
The grandfather kind of coaching can succeed spectacularly (better than the demanding type of coaching) if the team buys into the greater goal of winning and understands and implements team concepts. (See Phil Jackson for more details.) But that kind of coaching can fail with a whimper if players ignore their coach and play only for their pay checks, contracts, and careers. So Karl's coaching style is smart if and only if the players are smart and motivated to help the team as much or more than to help only themselves.
G-F Johnson played for 11 minutes and was 2/4 and 1/3 on 3's for 5 points, and he had 3 assists and 2 steals.
Najera played 19 minutes and was 2/5 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he added 2 assists and a block. Evans played 20 minutes and was 3/5 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points and he led the team in rebounding with 11 boards. He also had a block, a steal, and an assist. Kleiza played for 34 minutes and was 2/9, 0/2 on 3's, and 8/8 from the line for 12 points and he had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Steve Blake played 37 minutes and was 4/11 and 0/3 on 3's for 8 points, and he had the 13 assists and 2 steals.
Nene played 28 minutes and was 10/14 and 4/7 from the line for 24 points, and he added 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Marcus Camby played 27 minutes and was 4/5 and 0/3 from the line for 8 points, and he also had 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and a block.
The explosive J.R. Smith played for 23 minutes and was 10/18, 6/11 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 28 points, and he also had 4 rebounds and an assist. Fans continue to be advised to at all times remain in their seats or in front of their televisions with their seat belts securely fastened when J.R. is in the game; if you go away for even as little as a minute you can miss 9 points and perhaps the game being won.
Carmelo Anthony played 30 minutes and was 12/25, 0/2 on 3's, and 4/5 from the line for 28 points and he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a block.
The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 14 in Minneapolis to play the Timberwolves at 6 pm mountain time.
The Warriors give up more points than any other team in the NBA and they have not yet begun a defense improvement project as the Nuggets have. The Nuggets ended up with an astounding 37 assists, with Steve Blake getting 13 of them and Marcus Camby playing some PG and getting 7 assists. Now that is team play if I ever saw it, the center filling in for the injured guard.
The fans, still not completely sold on these streaky, yo yo Nuggets after having been badly disappointed at least one too many times, at least were able to leave the arena with some amount of confidence that they were not making fools of themselves by rooting for the Denver Imposters. They could go to sleep tonight knowing the Nuggets are not only on paper but in reality capable of being a really good team, although no one has the faintest idea what is going to happen when the Nuggets play teams such as the Mavs, Jazz, Lakers, and Suns in the many late season and playoff matchups still to come. Specifically, no one knows whether the Nuggets will be clumsy, tentative, and relatively lazy on defense during crucial games or whether they will instead be more skilled, aggressive, and energetic. The Nuggets love to rebound, but pressure defense still tastes like broccoli to them.
And no one knows whether the players will continue to choose their shots well and also get enough shot opportunities, so that they do not become a non-factor offensively that the opposing team can pretty much ignore. Only in the last half dozen games or so have the Nuggets more often than not been able to get everyone who is playing to actually contribute to the scoreboard. One example of this is Nene becoming a real functioning, scoring F-C. Another example is Najera taking and making shots. These types of things have reduced the double teaming of Melo. Whether these improvements will continue in the high pressure atmosphere of a game against teams like the Mavs or the Jazz remains to be seen.
The Nuggets had, by dominating the boards and by more often than not controlling the paint, built up a 102-87 lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter when J.R. Smith hit a three at the buzzer ending the third quarter. After the short break between quarters, he hit another three. SF Matt Barne's pass was intercepted and J.R. got it and buried another 3, so the Warriors were treated to a "J.R. special deluxe," 9 points in less than 1 minute.
Now all of a sudden the score was 111-87 and the game was effectively over. Marcus Camby was out as of the end of the 3rd. J.R. was pulled out with 8 minutes to play in the fourth and Melo was pulled with 7 minutes to play, so the Nuggets had all their primary starters out with half a quarter to play, a luxury that the Nuggets have not enjoyed all season. The Nuggets, at least for now, have completely righted their ship and are sailing on a charted but still hazardous course toward the playoffs in late April.
PG Baron Davis, who is the only Warrior averaging more than 20 points a game at 20.7, did not play and will tomorrow have surgery on his left knee. The Warriors do not know when or even if he will return this season. The Warriors were led by the rookie SG Kelenna Azubuike, out of the University of Kentucky, with 23 points on 8/12 shooting, and by PF-C Al Harrington (of the Pacers until a trade a few weeks ago) who had 24 points on 11/23 shooting along with 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Allen Iverson, who has missed 7 of the last games with a badly sprained ankle, can rest easy again now that the Nuggets have won 3 straight and have proved or at east strongly hinted that it was mostly bad luck and defensive laziness that cost them those home losses that briefly made them a losing team. For now, A.I. doesn't have to worry about obnoxious television interviewers asking him whether he thinks he ended up in the same old losing situation after he was traded. The Nuggets don't look like they are going to test going under the win-loss waterline at any time the rest of the season, though you can never say never with this squad.
George Karl is coaching more like a wise and kind grandfather than an aggressive taskmaster type coach (like Larry Brown) who challenges individual players but is sometimes rejected by them as an out of touch pain in the neck. (See Iverson for more details.) The way that Karl is coaching involves emphasizing the importance of team play over individual heroics.
The Karl-KMart battle of last season was due to KMart rebelling against Karl taking this approach to it's limits by limiting his playing time since KMart was not, in Karl's view, playing all the minutes he was getting in a way that was best for the team. Later,the total benching of KMart was due to the perceived disrespect of KMart toward his coach; it was not part of the coaching strategy itself. This season, with all the suspensions, trades, and injuries, Karl has struggled with limited success to get starting lineups and rotations correct, and these are very important components if the "grandfather coach" style is to succeed.
The grandfather kind of coaching can succeed spectacularly (better than the demanding type of coaching) if the team buys into the greater goal of winning and understands and implements team concepts. (See Phil Jackson for more details.) But that kind of coaching can fail with a whimper if players ignore their coach and play only for their pay checks, contracts, and careers. So Karl's coaching style is smart if and only if the players are smart and motivated to help the team as much or more than to help only themselves.
G-F Johnson played for 11 minutes and was 2/4 and 1/3 on 3's for 5 points, and he had 3 assists and 2 steals.
Najera played 19 minutes and was 2/5 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he added 2 assists and a block. Evans played 20 minutes and was 3/5 and 0/2 from the line for 6 points and he led the team in rebounding with 11 boards. He also had a block, a steal, and an assist. Kleiza played for 34 minutes and was 2/9, 0/2 on 3's, and 8/8 from the line for 12 points and he had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Steve Blake played 37 minutes and was 4/11 and 0/3 on 3's for 8 points, and he had the 13 assists and 2 steals.
Nene played 28 minutes and was 10/14 and 4/7 from the line for 24 points, and he added 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Marcus Camby played 27 minutes and was 4/5 and 0/3 from the line for 8 points, and he also had 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and a block.
The explosive J.R. Smith played for 23 minutes and was 10/18, 6/11 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 28 points, and he also had 4 rebounds and an assist. Fans continue to be advised to at all times remain in their seats or in front of their televisions with their seat belts securely fastened when J.R. is in the game; if you go away for even as little as a minute you can miss 9 points and perhaps the game being won.
Carmelo Anthony played 30 minutes and was 12/25, 0/2 on 3's, and 4/5 from the line for 28 points and he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and a block.
The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 14 in Minneapolis to play the Timberwolves at 6 pm mountain time.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Nuggets Engineer Win Over Bucks 109-102
The Nuggets went about their business digging themselves out of the big hole they are in by producing the second great team effort in two nights to defeat the Michael Redd-less Milwaukee Bucks 109-102. Although it was the second road game in two nights, it was almost a must win given how many home games the Nuggets have already squandered this season and given that the Bucks are almost as bad off as a car without an engine without Redd, who is one of the very best scorers in the League.
The game was tied at the half, and the Nuggets led my 80-74 after 3 quarters. The teams traded scores through the first half of the 4th quarter, but the Bucks were within 2 points, at 99-97, with 2:53 to go. Melo's drive to the hoop plus 1 made it 102-97, but the Boykins fire was still out of control and he made a three and a two on successive possessions to tie the game with 1:21 to play. But then the player who has been mostly missing from the scoreboard, Najera, made a jumper to make it 104-102 Nuggets. After SF Ruben Patterson, well defended by Najera, missed a jumper for the Bucks, Nene was unintentionally fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws for 105-102 Nuggets.
PG Mo Williams missed a running jumper and a Charlie Bell inbounds pass was intercepted by Blake with half a minute left to end any chance the Bucks had to send the game into overtime.
Were it not for PG Earl Boykins and G-F Charlie Bell, the Bucks would have lost big, because the Nuggets were firing on all cylinders. Boykins, who was a Nugget (known as Iverson #2) until a month ago, but had to be traded for budget reasons, was on fire, finishing with 26 points on 10/15 shooting, and 6/7 from long range. Boykins did all this wearing a splint on his shooting hand. Bell had 16 points on 7/13 shooting. The Bucks were a blazing 10/18 overall from 3-point land, whereas the Nuggets were a much more limited 5/18 from that distance, led by J.R. Smith who was 4/8.
For the second night in the row, the Nuggets defended with very few fouls, as the Bucks made 8 of the measly 10 free throws they had for the whole game. The extra defensive drills in Denver have clearly paid off. Meanwhile, at the other end Nene and Evans were fouled repeatedly, Evans apparently on purpose. The Nuggets made 22/32 free throws, with Evans accounting for half of the 10 misses.
Solid evidence that the Nuggets are serious about winning on the road to make up for losing at home was provided by their 11 steals, achieved while one of the all-time greatest pickpockets in basketball, Allen Iverson, was still trying to get the swelling and the pain from an ankle strain to subside. And even the assist count was up, to an impressive 28, with both Blake and Melo in double digits in the category.
And then there is the evidence of the Nuggets outrebounding the Bucks 44-35, despite being without the number 2 rebounder in the NBA, Marcus Camby, also out with an injury. For the second night in a row, the Nuggets' forwards crowded the backboards, aggressively positioned themselves, and limited the second chance opportunities of their opponents.
For the second night in a row, Eduardo Najera played at a level not seen from him earlier this season, with 15 points on 7/10 shooting and 4 important steals. Led by Najera and Melo, the Nuggets played with hustle, discipline and good execution, and had only 12 turnovers, a major accomplishment in itself. Nene made sure he got his points up close and wisely decided not to try to develop his jump shooting during a live must-win game. He layed in and dunked 6 of 8 opportunities at the hoop and pocketed a nice 17 points.
In summary, every single Nugget who played for 10 minutes or more made solid contributions and had a good game relative to his career average. And, gasp, the Nuggets are playing defense and using smart strategies to close out wins.
The Nuggets are now probably the only team in the NBA who are more dangerous on the road than at home. The pressure of playing for huge Denver crowds that expect wins every game due to the Iverson hoopla may have cost them some of those home losses. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether the across the board great effort and solid results that were seen on this golden little 2-day road trip will happen again when the Nuggets storm the arenas of the monster teams of the Western Conference. It is in places like Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, where very few teams win, that the real test will be, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Melo, who has talked about the need for himself to step up with A.I. and Camby out, and has also requested that the team have more fun as it turns things around, put his play where his mind is in this one, missing a so-called triple double by just 2 rebounds. In "Star Wars" it was "May the force be with you". In Nuggets basketball, it is "May Melo's jumper be with you". And for the second night in a row, it was with us.
Reggie Evans played 19 minutes and was 0/2 and 6/11 from the line for 6 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Kleiza played 27 minutes and was 4/8, 0/3 on 3's and 4/4 from the line for 12 points, and he had 4 rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
Eduardo Najera played 35 minutes and was 7/10 and 1/2 from the line for 15 points, and he added 8 rebounds, 4 steals, a block, and an assist.
Nene played for 34 minutes and was 6/8 and 5/7 from the line for 17 points, and he had 11 rebounds, 1 block, and an assist. Nuggets fans have to hope that Nene's knee continues to not swell up badly, so that the Nuggets can continue to enjoy his increasing defensive contributions, layups, and dunks.
Steve Blake played almost the whole game and was 4/14, 0/2 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points and he had 11 assists and a steal.
J.R. Smith played for 24 minutes and was 5/10, 4/8 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 16 points, and he also had 3 assists. The Bucks were treated to the "J.R special," which is either 6 or even 9 points in less than a minute or two. It happened to the Bucks late in the 3rd quarter, as J.R. buried two 3-pointers on back to back possessions as he has done so many times before. As long as the Nuggets are not being routed, they will never be out of a game as long as J.R. is in it, although sometimes he seems to be physically in the game but not really there, as if he were a ghost.
Melo played almost the whole game and was 13/28, 1/4 on 3's, and 2/4 from the line for 29 points, and he added 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals.
The next game is Monday Feb. 12 in Denver to play the Warriors at 7 pm mountain time.
The game was tied at the half, and the Nuggets led my 80-74 after 3 quarters. The teams traded scores through the first half of the 4th quarter, but the Bucks were within 2 points, at 99-97, with 2:53 to go. Melo's drive to the hoop plus 1 made it 102-97, but the Boykins fire was still out of control and he made a three and a two on successive possessions to tie the game with 1:21 to play. But then the player who has been mostly missing from the scoreboard, Najera, made a jumper to make it 104-102 Nuggets. After SF Ruben Patterson, well defended by Najera, missed a jumper for the Bucks, Nene was unintentionally fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws for 105-102 Nuggets.
PG Mo Williams missed a running jumper and a Charlie Bell inbounds pass was intercepted by Blake with half a minute left to end any chance the Bucks had to send the game into overtime.
Were it not for PG Earl Boykins and G-F Charlie Bell, the Bucks would have lost big, because the Nuggets were firing on all cylinders. Boykins, who was a Nugget (known as Iverson #2) until a month ago, but had to be traded for budget reasons, was on fire, finishing with 26 points on 10/15 shooting, and 6/7 from long range. Boykins did all this wearing a splint on his shooting hand. Bell had 16 points on 7/13 shooting. The Bucks were a blazing 10/18 overall from 3-point land, whereas the Nuggets were a much more limited 5/18 from that distance, led by J.R. Smith who was 4/8.
For the second night in the row, the Nuggets defended with very few fouls, as the Bucks made 8 of the measly 10 free throws they had for the whole game. The extra defensive drills in Denver have clearly paid off. Meanwhile, at the other end Nene and Evans were fouled repeatedly, Evans apparently on purpose. The Nuggets made 22/32 free throws, with Evans accounting for half of the 10 misses.
Solid evidence that the Nuggets are serious about winning on the road to make up for losing at home was provided by their 11 steals, achieved while one of the all-time greatest pickpockets in basketball, Allen Iverson, was still trying to get the swelling and the pain from an ankle strain to subside. And even the assist count was up, to an impressive 28, with both Blake and Melo in double digits in the category.
And then there is the evidence of the Nuggets outrebounding the Bucks 44-35, despite being without the number 2 rebounder in the NBA, Marcus Camby, also out with an injury. For the second night in a row, the Nuggets' forwards crowded the backboards, aggressively positioned themselves, and limited the second chance opportunities of their opponents.
For the second night in a row, Eduardo Najera played at a level not seen from him earlier this season, with 15 points on 7/10 shooting and 4 important steals. Led by Najera and Melo, the Nuggets played with hustle, discipline and good execution, and had only 12 turnovers, a major accomplishment in itself. Nene made sure he got his points up close and wisely decided not to try to develop his jump shooting during a live must-win game. He layed in and dunked 6 of 8 opportunities at the hoop and pocketed a nice 17 points.
In summary, every single Nugget who played for 10 minutes or more made solid contributions and had a good game relative to his career average. And, gasp, the Nuggets are playing defense and using smart strategies to close out wins.
The Nuggets are now probably the only team in the NBA who are more dangerous on the road than at home. The pressure of playing for huge Denver crowds that expect wins every game due to the Iverson hoopla may have cost them some of those home losses. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether the across the board great effort and solid results that were seen on this golden little 2-day road trip will happen again when the Nuggets storm the arenas of the monster teams of the Western Conference. It is in places like Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, where very few teams win, that the real test will be, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Melo, who has talked about the need for himself to step up with A.I. and Camby out, and has also requested that the team have more fun as it turns things around, put his play where his mind is in this one, missing a so-called triple double by just 2 rebounds. In "Star Wars" it was "May the force be with you". In Nuggets basketball, it is "May Melo's jumper be with you". And for the second night in a row, it was with us.
Reggie Evans played 19 minutes and was 0/2 and 6/11 from the line for 6 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Kleiza played 27 minutes and was 4/8, 0/3 on 3's and 4/4 from the line for 12 points, and he had 4 rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
Eduardo Najera played 35 minutes and was 7/10 and 1/2 from the line for 15 points, and he added 8 rebounds, 4 steals, a block, and an assist.
Nene played for 34 minutes and was 6/8 and 5/7 from the line for 17 points, and he had 11 rebounds, 1 block, and an assist. Nuggets fans have to hope that Nene's knee continues to not swell up badly, so that the Nuggets can continue to enjoy his increasing defensive contributions, layups, and dunks.
Steve Blake played almost the whole game and was 4/14, 0/2 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points and he had 11 assists and a steal.
J.R. Smith played for 24 minutes and was 5/10, 4/8 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 16 points, and he also had 3 assists. The Bucks were treated to the "J.R special," which is either 6 or even 9 points in less than a minute or two. It happened to the Bucks late in the 3rd quarter, as J.R. buried two 3-pointers on back to back possessions as he has done so many times before. As long as the Nuggets are not being routed, they will never be out of a game as long as J.R. is in it, although sometimes he seems to be physically in the game but not really there, as if he were a ghost.
Melo played almost the whole game and was 13/28, 1/4 on 3's, and 2/4 from the line for 29 points, and he added 10 assists, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals.
The next game is Monday Feb. 12 in Denver to play the Warriors at 7 pm mountain time.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Nuggets Begin Season Rescue, Defeat Pacers 102-95
The Nuggets slinked out of Denver for their flight to Indiana knowing that many of their fans have abandoned them and that their season is now in danger of total ruin. The rescue of their season is going to require a dozen or more road wins. So they did what any snakebit but talented team does in that situation: they defied the predictors yet again by getting a win just when most were sure that they would lose.
There are alot of sports bettors who have lost alot of money betting on Nuggets games this year. (If you do wager, and you should not because the house almost always wins, at least never bet on a complicated team.)
The Pacers shot poorly at .427 versus .484 for the Nuggets. The Pacers shot themselves in the foot enough times in this one that the Nuggets could win it without the injured Iverson and the injured Camby, provided at least a couple of Nuggets stepped up. They did: it was Najera and Kleiza. It was the long lost Najera who was the primary spark to back up Melo. Najera had by far his best game of the season for the Nuggets; he had 18 points on 8/9 shooting. Linas Kleiza also excelled, scoring 15 on 3/6 shooting.
Although the Nuggets tempted fate yet again with 20 turnovers, the Pacers were hammered with 32 fouls, whereas the Nuggets got away with 23. Each team had only 36 points in the paint, so it was to be won or lost on jumpers. Although the Pacers outshot the Nuggets 8-4 on 3 point shots, the Nuggets were suddenly seeing jumpers fall that they couldn't bribe to go in during the last few weeks. Melo's lost midrange jumper was discovered dazed and ragged but alive nevertheless. Melo was 9/20 on jumpers, Kleiza was 3-6, Blake was 3-5, and Najera was 2/3. It has been about two months since the Nuggets shot jumpers that well.
And when the Nuggets did go to the hoop, they got alot of calls. The Nuggets were 32/43 from the line whereas the Pacers were 11/13. The Pacers undoubtedly felt they were robbed by the refs in their own building. Nuggets fans would rather think that the Nuggets are getting so tired of losing from missed jumpers that they were going to go to the hoop over and over, even at the risk of charge calls, which they largely escaped, a fact which enraged the Indiana coach.
The Pacers, who lost by missing practically half a dozen layups and tip-ins at the buzzer against the Sonics at home the other night, and who were also rattled by Jermaine O'Neill trade rumors and by being unable to gain any traction against the struggling Cavaliers and the imperfect Pistons, were in a bad mood and it cost them. There were 5 technical fouls called against Indiana, resulting in the ejection of Coach Rick Carlisle early in the 4th quarter for arguing a no-call against a Nene advance to the hoop, and PG Darrell Armstrong half way through the 4th quarter for arguing a loose ball foul against Jeff Foster (who also got a technical) too much.
Aside from being hampered by the injuries and the ongoing project of learning how to play together, the Nuggets seem to get a little stage fright in front of their own fans, because so much is expected of them by "Nuggets mania". So they may actually find it a little easier to win on the road than in Denver. And that is great news considering the Nuggets are now destined to play more on the road than at home in the playoffs. We can now say that the Nuggets will enjoy the road court advantage in the playoffs.
I, for one, am no longer going to attempt to predict whether the Nuggets will win or lose a game, because they are almost impossible to predict. Players who haven't played well in a month suddenly have a great game, or else players who have had 6 straight good games finish with 2 points and 5 turnovers or something. Only a fool would predict with that kind of extreme inconsistency.
The Nuggets, who have blown so many 4th quarter leads (most of them at home) tormented their fans through this 4th quarter but in the end got by the Indiana Pacers 102-95. The Nuggets led 76-63 after 3 quarters, but naturally the Pacers scored 11 straight points to begin the 4th and Nuggets fans were saying "we've seen this show before" and were already pencilling in a loss.
But it didn't go down that way this time. The Pacers tempted the Nuggets to break down and lose again but a new strategy was finally revealed for the Nuggets to close out games with: the "put up a lame jumper and you are benched" strategy. Or, in other words, the Nuggets were to do the exact opposite of what they have been doing in all those 4th quarter collapses.
The Nuggets were to aggressively go to the hoop over and over, unless every single lane was blocked. They were to get foul calls against tired defenders trying to close the gap in the score and then make their free throws. They were to crash the boards and fight for position and rebounds. Offensive rebounds chew clock and are especially great when you have the lead and time is running out. And the Nuggets were supposed to man to man cover closer than usual and not worry if a foul or two was called. Logically, the strategy had to work because it was the exact opposite of what the Nuggets have been doing in 4th quarters with leads, and so it did work.
So the new strategy was launched and, in a minute and a half, the Nuggets made 4 free throws, 3 technical free throws, and had Kleiza sink a three, versus 2 free throws for O'Neill, so that it was 86-76 Nuggets with 6:28 to play. However, successive 3-pointers by F-C Troy Murphy and F Danny Granger made it 89-87 Nuggets with 4:23 to go and once again everyone was assuming the Nuggets would lose.
Out came the new strategy again. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, the Nuggets went to the hoop over and over and actually made their free throws when tired defenders trying to close a gap were called by the closely watching refs. Hopefully the Nuggets learned a very valuable basketball lesson: the refs can be your best friends late in the game when you have a lead.
Evans played 28 minutes and was 1/5 and 0/2 from the line for 2 points, but he had 10 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Nene played 34 minutes and was 3/8 and 8/14 from the line for 14 points, and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
Linas Kleiza played 30 minutes and was 4/8, 3/6 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 15 points, and he added 5 rebounds and a steal to all this scoring. Eduardo Najera played for 29 minutes and was 8/9 and 2/4 from the line for 18 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and an assist.
With Melo getting 6 rebounds, every single Nugget forward had 5 or more rebounds, which went a long way to covering for the missing Camby.
Steve Blake played for 43 minutes and was 3/5, 1/2 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 11 points and he had 8 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal.
With the forwards all playing well for the first time this season, the coach limited J.R. Smith to 19 minutes and he was only 1/6, 0/1 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 4 points. On the night the other Nuggets were making jumpers, J.R. decided to not try too many. He was still smarting from his bad shooting in the loss at the buzzer to his prior team, the Hornets, from two nights ago.
All-star Carmelo Anthony played 45 minutes and was 11/24, 0/2 on 3's, and 12/13 from the line for 34 points, and he had 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Now if only his midrange jumper doesn't go into hiding again the Nuggets will be able to win some more on the road.
The next game will be tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 10, in Milwaukee to play the Bucks at 6:30 pm mountain time.
There are alot of sports bettors who have lost alot of money betting on Nuggets games this year. (If you do wager, and you should not because the house almost always wins, at least never bet on a complicated team.)
The Pacers shot poorly at .427 versus .484 for the Nuggets. The Pacers shot themselves in the foot enough times in this one that the Nuggets could win it without the injured Iverson and the injured Camby, provided at least a couple of Nuggets stepped up. They did: it was Najera and Kleiza. It was the long lost Najera who was the primary spark to back up Melo. Najera had by far his best game of the season for the Nuggets; he had 18 points on 8/9 shooting. Linas Kleiza also excelled, scoring 15 on 3/6 shooting.
Although the Nuggets tempted fate yet again with 20 turnovers, the Pacers were hammered with 32 fouls, whereas the Nuggets got away with 23. Each team had only 36 points in the paint, so it was to be won or lost on jumpers. Although the Pacers outshot the Nuggets 8-4 on 3 point shots, the Nuggets were suddenly seeing jumpers fall that they couldn't bribe to go in during the last few weeks. Melo's lost midrange jumper was discovered dazed and ragged but alive nevertheless. Melo was 9/20 on jumpers, Kleiza was 3-6, Blake was 3-5, and Najera was 2/3. It has been about two months since the Nuggets shot jumpers that well.
And when the Nuggets did go to the hoop, they got alot of calls. The Nuggets were 32/43 from the line whereas the Pacers were 11/13. The Pacers undoubtedly felt they were robbed by the refs in their own building. Nuggets fans would rather think that the Nuggets are getting so tired of losing from missed jumpers that they were going to go to the hoop over and over, even at the risk of charge calls, which they largely escaped, a fact which enraged the Indiana coach.
The Pacers, who lost by missing practically half a dozen layups and tip-ins at the buzzer against the Sonics at home the other night, and who were also rattled by Jermaine O'Neill trade rumors and by being unable to gain any traction against the struggling Cavaliers and the imperfect Pistons, were in a bad mood and it cost them. There were 5 technical fouls called against Indiana, resulting in the ejection of Coach Rick Carlisle early in the 4th quarter for arguing a no-call against a Nene advance to the hoop, and PG Darrell Armstrong half way through the 4th quarter for arguing a loose ball foul against Jeff Foster (who also got a technical) too much.
Aside from being hampered by the injuries and the ongoing project of learning how to play together, the Nuggets seem to get a little stage fright in front of their own fans, because so much is expected of them by "Nuggets mania". So they may actually find it a little easier to win on the road than in Denver. And that is great news considering the Nuggets are now destined to play more on the road than at home in the playoffs. We can now say that the Nuggets will enjoy the road court advantage in the playoffs.
I, for one, am no longer going to attempt to predict whether the Nuggets will win or lose a game, because they are almost impossible to predict. Players who haven't played well in a month suddenly have a great game, or else players who have had 6 straight good games finish with 2 points and 5 turnovers or something. Only a fool would predict with that kind of extreme inconsistency.
The Nuggets, who have blown so many 4th quarter leads (most of them at home) tormented their fans through this 4th quarter but in the end got by the Indiana Pacers 102-95. The Nuggets led 76-63 after 3 quarters, but naturally the Pacers scored 11 straight points to begin the 4th and Nuggets fans were saying "we've seen this show before" and were already pencilling in a loss.
But it didn't go down that way this time. The Pacers tempted the Nuggets to break down and lose again but a new strategy was finally revealed for the Nuggets to close out games with: the "put up a lame jumper and you are benched" strategy. Or, in other words, the Nuggets were to do the exact opposite of what they have been doing in all those 4th quarter collapses.
The Nuggets were to aggressively go to the hoop over and over, unless every single lane was blocked. They were to get foul calls against tired defenders trying to close the gap in the score and then make their free throws. They were to crash the boards and fight for position and rebounds. Offensive rebounds chew clock and are especially great when you have the lead and time is running out. And the Nuggets were supposed to man to man cover closer than usual and not worry if a foul or two was called. Logically, the strategy had to work because it was the exact opposite of what the Nuggets have been doing in 4th quarters with leads, and so it did work.
So the new strategy was launched and, in a minute and a half, the Nuggets made 4 free throws, 3 technical free throws, and had Kleiza sink a three, versus 2 free throws for O'Neill, so that it was 86-76 Nuggets with 6:28 to play. However, successive 3-pointers by F-C Troy Murphy and F Danny Granger made it 89-87 Nuggets with 4:23 to go and once again everyone was assuming the Nuggets would lose.
Out came the new strategy again. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, the Nuggets went to the hoop over and over and actually made their free throws when tired defenders trying to close a gap were called by the closely watching refs. Hopefully the Nuggets learned a very valuable basketball lesson: the refs can be your best friends late in the game when you have a lead.
Evans played 28 minutes and was 1/5 and 0/2 from the line for 2 points, but he had 10 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Nene played 34 minutes and was 3/8 and 8/14 from the line for 14 points, and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
Linas Kleiza played 30 minutes and was 4/8, 3/6 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 15 points, and he added 5 rebounds and a steal to all this scoring. Eduardo Najera played for 29 minutes and was 8/9 and 2/4 from the line for 18 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and an assist.
With Melo getting 6 rebounds, every single Nugget forward had 5 or more rebounds, which went a long way to covering for the missing Camby.
Steve Blake played for 43 minutes and was 3/5, 1/2 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 11 points and he had 8 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal.
With the forwards all playing well for the first time this season, the coach limited J.R. Smith to 19 minutes and he was only 1/6, 0/1 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 4 points. On the night the other Nuggets were making jumpers, J.R. decided to not try too many. He was still smarting from his bad shooting in the loss at the buzzer to his prior team, the Hornets, from two nights ago.
All-star Carmelo Anthony played 45 minutes and was 11/24, 0/2 on 3's, and 12/13 from the line for 34 points, and he had 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Now if only his midrange jumper doesn't go into hiding again the Nuggets will be able to win some more on the road.
The next game will be tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 10, in Milwaukee to play the Bucks at 6:30 pm mountain time.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Melo & J.R. Off as Nuggets Lose at the Buzzer to Hornets 114-112
In a story almost too sad to tell, the Nuggets led the entire game but Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith missed too many shots and the Hornets got too many second chance opportunities, including the one at the buzzer of the overtime as the Nuggets became a losing team by dropping yet another home game to a losing team, 114-112 in one overtime.
The Nugget's star small forward Melo badly missed a jumper in regulation that would have won it for the Nuggets, but at the end of overtime, the Hornet's small forward, Desmond Mason, was in position near the hoop to grab the ball off a Melo block of a short jumper by Chris Paul. Nene was close but Mason was in better position to grab it. Mason put in a mini-jumper with less than a second left that won it for the Hornets. So it was a small forward who won the game but it was not the Nugget's small forward.
The Nuggets had a 99-89 lead with 3:50 to play in regulation but were outscored 14-4 in that time. In this 3:50 period, the Nuggets had 5 missed shots, 2 turnovers, and committed 3 unforced personal fouls, while making two free throws and one tip-in. In short, they gave the game away, only they had to disappoint their fans further by playing in overtime, since it was 103-103 at the end of the 4th.
In overtime Melo made one jumper, missed one, and had one blocked by Desmond Mason. Blake made a nice layup but offset that by losing the ball out of bounds. J.R. Smith came in with 23 seconds left in overtime with the Nuggets losing 112-109 and promptly buried a three with 17 seconds left, setting up the Chris Paul blocked jumper and the Desmond Mason point blank jumper. Actually, all J.R.'s made shot did was increase the misery, since the Nuggets still lost and since his shot reminded fans that he was only 2/13 for 6 points in regulation time.
It is true, though, that if Marcus Camby had been at the hoop at the buzzer there would have been no Mason follow up. Of course, if Marcus Camby had been in, the Nuggets would have won it in regulation, despite the shooting problems of the once high flying Nuggets. Camby remained out for a second game with a groin strain. Predictably, the Nuggets were outrebounded, by a margin of 57-46. It is unusual for the Nuggets to be outrebounded, and they usually lose when they are.
When you have Eduardo Najera putting up and making enough shots to finish in double digits (11 points) for the first time in ages you know something is seriously wrong with the Nugget's offense. Aside from the jump shooting problems of the entire team except Iverson and maybe Kleiza of all people, Blake and A.I. are still trying to develop the best distribution patterns for the ball and George Karl is still trying to develop the best player rotations. But there is very little time left for these things to be improved.
At this point everyone is getting very tired and frustrated with these Nuggets, who had enough talent to go 50-32 this year but have had so many lost player games due to suspensions and injuries, and have had so many off games by key players, that many of their fans have at this point lost hope in them. Most fans can only stand so much disappointment, and the amount the average fan can take was reached tonight. Maybe Stern can give a couple of Nuggets a 20 game suspension so that the fans can throw in the towel on the season once and for all and immediately begin looking ahead to next season and the possible return of Kenyon Martin, assuming of course that K-Mart has been able to shake off the voodoo curse on his knee by then.
Enough already, the fans are saying. So at this point, the Nuggets will have to earn their fans back by winning 2 or 3 upsets on the road. Good luck. The Nuggets no longer have the benefit of the doubt. They now must prove themselves from scratch. If the Nuggets win a playoff series they will surprise their own fans as well as their opponents.
And at this point all Nugget's players and coaches can throw out all their own high expectations for the Nuggets and realize that the Nuggets are not even going to make the playoffs unless things change. It is going to take some road wins for the Nuggets to make the playoffs, and it is going to take some good fortune on the injury front, less inconsistency from J.R. and Blake, and more made jumpers from Melo for the Nuggets to win some road games. But hey, if that sounds too difficult, consider that the Hornets just won their 13th road game in their last 15. Yes, I said the Hornets. So it can't be that difficult to win some on the road.
Did someone put a voodoo curse on Allen Iverson that every team he ever plays for must be a hopeless, losing team? Maybe, because the Nugget's injuries and individual player performances are getting very creepy at this point. On the other hand, I am thinking of Iverson as more of an innocent bystander in this basketball horror movie. Melo this week said the team is "snake-bit", but I am thinking more in terms of a black magic spell. I'd say the curse is on the Nuggets as a team, not on Iverson, but then again, what do I know about black magic?
Kleiza played for 17 minutes and was 2/4 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he added 4 rebounds. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes and was 3/4 and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Najera played for 37 minutes and was 4/5 and 3/3 from the line for 11 points, and he had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Steve Blake played 38 minutes and was 6/12 and 2/7 on 3's for 14 points, and he also had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block.
J.R. Smith played for 20 minutes and was 3/13, 2/8 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 9 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Every once in awhile, J.R. decides he would rather shoot long jumpers all game and not look very hard for lanes to drive to the hoop. In these cases he will usually be the hero or the goat. Tonight he was the goat. Why does J.R. sometimes put himself under that much pressure? Why doesn't J.R. mix up his shots EVERY game and get a few relatively easy layups, dunks, and free throws every time out? This is part of the mystery of J.R. Smith that no human can figure out. At the very least, someone should tell J.R. that he is way to young to be only a 3-point specialist, a role reserved for older veterans in the NBA.
Nene played for 35 minutes and was 8/16 and 2/6 from the line for 18 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. It was a pretty good game, except that he, like the rest of the Nuggets, missed most of his jumpers. A Nene jump shot is too much to ask for at this point; he should stick to the layups, tip-ins, and dunks.
Melo played 40 minutes and was 9/23, 0/2 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 27 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. The bottom really fell out of his jumper; he was only 3/17 for that type of shot.
Allen Iverson, the innocent bystander to the train wreck that is the Nuggets, played the entire game despite coming off a severe ankle strain and was 9/21, 1/4 on 3's, and 3/5 from the line for 22 points, and he had 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. During breaks, Iverson iced his sprained right ankle on the bench.
Melo skipped his usual postgame podium stop and was said to have sat staring into his locker for several dozen minutes after the game. He knows he has lost many of the fans and will get them back only if he returns to the exact way he was shooting jump shots on December 16 and before then. There are very precise motions and thinking involved in any skill, and Melo's task is to reconnect with the exact motions and the thinking that had him making half his shots.
The next game will be Friday, Feb. 9 in Indianapolis to play the Pacers at 5 p.m. mountain time.
The Nugget's star small forward Melo badly missed a jumper in regulation that would have won it for the Nuggets, but at the end of overtime, the Hornet's small forward, Desmond Mason, was in position near the hoop to grab the ball off a Melo block of a short jumper by Chris Paul. Nene was close but Mason was in better position to grab it. Mason put in a mini-jumper with less than a second left that won it for the Hornets. So it was a small forward who won the game but it was not the Nugget's small forward.
The Nuggets had a 99-89 lead with 3:50 to play in regulation but were outscored 14-4 in that time. In this 3:50 period, the Nuggets had 5 missed shots, 2 turnovers, and committed 3 unforced personal fouls, while making two free throws and one tip-in. In short, they gave the game away, only they had to disappoint their fans further by playing in overtime, since it was 103-103 at the end of the 4th.
In overtime Melo made one jumper, missed one, and had one blocked by Desmond Mason. Blake made a nice layup but offset that by losing the ball out of bounds. J.R. Smith came in with 23 seconds left in overtime with the Nuggets losing 112-109 and promptly buried a three with 17 seconds left, setting up the Chris Paul blocked jumper and the Desmond Mason point blank jumper. Actually, all J.R.'s made shot did was increase the misery, since the Nuggets still lost and since his shot reminded fans that he was only 2/13 for 6 points in regulation time.
It is true, though, that if Marcus Camby had been at the hoop at the buzzer there would have been no Mason follow up. Of course, if Marcus Camby had been in, the Nuggets would have won it in regulation, despite the shooting problems of the once high flying Nuggets. Camby remained out for a second game with a groin strain. Predictably, the Nuggets were outrebounded, by a margin of 57-46. It is unusual for the Nuggets to be outrebounded, and they usually lose when they are.
When you have Eduardo Najera putting up and making enough shots to finish in double digits (11 points) for the first time in ages you know something is seriously wrong with the Nugget's offense. Aside from the jump shooting problems of the entire team except Iverson and maybe Kleiza of all people, Blake and A.I. are still trying to develop the best distribution patterns for the ball and George Karl is still trying to develop the best player rotations. But there is very little time left for these things to be improved.
At this point everyone is getting very tired and frustrated with these Nuggets, who had enough talent to go 50-32 this year but have had so many lost player games due to suspensions and injuries, and have had so many off games by key players, that many of their fans have at this point lost hope in them. Most fans can only stand so much disappointment, and the amount the average fan can take was reached tonight. Maybe Stern can give a couple of Nuggets a 20 game suspension so that the fans can throw in the towel on the season once and for all and immediately begin looking ahead to next season and the possible return of Kenyon Martin, assuming of course that K-Mart has been able to shake off the voodoo curse on his knee by then.
Enough already, the fans are saying. So at this point, the Nuggets will have to earn their fans back by winning 2 or 3 upsets on the road. Good luck. The Nuggets no longer have the benefit of the doubt. They now must prove themselves from scratch. If the Nuggets win a playoff series they will surprise their own fans as well as their opponents.
And at this point all Nugget's players and coaches can throw out all their own high expectations for the Nuggets and realize that the Nuggets are not even going to make the playoffs unless things change. It is going to take some road wins for the Nuggets to make the playoffs, and it is going to take some good fortune on the injury front, less inconsistency from J.R. and Blake, and more made jumpers from Melo for the Nuggets to win some road games. But hey, if that sounds too difficult, consider that the Hornets just won their 13th road game in their last 15. Yes, I said the Hornets. So it can't be that difficult to win some on the road.
Did someone put a voodoo curse on Allen Iverson that every team he ever plays for must be a hopeless, losing team? Maybe, because the Nugget's injuries and individual player performances are getting very creepy at this point. On the other hand, I am thinking of Iverson as more of an innocent bystander in this basketball horror movie. Melo this week said the team is "snake-bit", but I am thinking more in terms of a black magic spell. I'd say the curse is on the Nuggets as a team, not on Iverson, but then again, what do I know about black magic?
Kleiza played for 17 minutes and was 2/4 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he added 4 rebounds. Reggie Evans played 25 minutes and was 3/4 and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal. Najera played for 37 minutes and was 4/5 and 3/3 from the line for 11 points, and he had 9 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Steve Blake played 38 minutes and was 6/12 and 2/7 on 3's for 14 points, and he also had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block.
J.R. Smith played for 20 minutes and was 3/13, 2/8 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 9 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Every once in awhile, J.R. decides he would rather shoot long jumpers all game and not look very hard for lanes to drive to the hoop. In these cases he will usually be the hero or the goat. Tonight he was the goat. Why does J.R. sometimes put himself under that much pressure? Why doesn't J.R. mix up his shots EVERY game and get a few relatively easy layups, dunks, and free throws every time out? This is part of the mystery of J.R. Smith that no human can figure out. At the very least, someone should tell J.R. that he is way to young to be only a 3-point specialist, a role reserved for older veterans in the NBA.
Nene played for 35 minutes and was 8/16 and 2/6 from the line for 18 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. It was a pretty good game, except that he, like the rest of the Nuggets, missed most of his jumpers. A Nene jump shot is too much to ask for at this point; he should stick to the layups, tip-ins, and dunks.
Melo played 40 minutes and was 9/23, 0/2 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 27 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. The bottom really fell out of his jumper; he was only 3/17 for that type of shot.
Allen Iverson, the innocent bystander to the train wreck that is the Nuggets, played the entire game despite coming off a severe ankle strain and was 9/21, 1/4 on 3's, and 3/5 from the line for 22 points, and he had 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. During breaks, Iverson iced his sprained right ankle on the bench.
Melo skipped his usual postgame podium stop and was said to have sat staring into his locker for several dozen minutes after the game. He knows he has lost many of the fans and will get them back only if he returns to the exact way he was shooting jump shots on December 16 and before then. There are very precise motions and thinking involved in any skill, and Melo's task is to reconnect with the exact motions and the thinking that had him making half his shots.
The next game will be Friday, Feb. 9 in Indianapolis to play the Pacers at 5 p.m. mountain time.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Nuggets Without A.I. & M.C. Fall Just Short to Suns 113-108
The Nuggets have lost alot of games at home this year, where their record is just 13-13, but this one, at least, was a loss on paper only. The Nuggets won the intangible battle by playing with alot of intensity and spirit, by having most of their players substantially contribute, and by holding the Suns to a 5 point winning margin, despite playing without two of their three best players, Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby, both out with injuries.
With A.I. and M.C. out, it was a perfect opportunity for Melo, who was playing with a finger contusion, to expand the reach of his game. Sure enough, he had a "triple double" with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, Melo continued to be slightly off on his midrange jumpers; had he produced that shot at the same pace he did in November and December, the Nuggets could have won this or taken it into overtime. J.R. Smith had 18 points on 7/13 shooting and the dynamic duo from the early part of the season was back for this game in good form. And Nene staked out the paint and scored on 5/6 layups, 4/5 dunks, and even 3/8 jumpers, though he did not have enough experience to guard the likes of Stoudemire well.
The Nuggets tried to outhustle and nickle and dime the Suns with good execution and heavy scoring in the paint, and they almost pulled off what would have been a monumental upset. Led by Nene, the Nuggets continued to try a tougher brand of defense, although they will probably never be as rough as the Jazz or as skilled as the Rockets on defense. They outrebounded the Suns 48-38 and they ran a great passing game and had 30 assists, with Blake and Anthony getting 10 assists each. And the Nuggets turnover problem was kept under good control in this one.
The Nuggets had the will to win and played almost as well as they could, but fate keeps intervening and removing players from games who the Nuggets need to win. The Nuggets have been routed only three times: in Dallas, in Los Angeles, and in Washington, and only 8 of the 23 losses have been by 10 or more points. 11 of the 23 losses have been very close games, where the margin of victory for the other team was 5 points or less.
The Nuggets have never completely surrendered any game, though they have had alot of defensive lapses and execution problems to get all these losses. Even in the 3 routs the Nuggets have continued to play hard. My point here, though, is to note the importance of the intangible of the will the win, which never leaves the Nuggets, even when they are playing in such a way that they can not possibly win. Or, to put it another way, if you are going to play poorly, at least keep believing you can win; if you play poorly and decide you can't win, then you are completely ruined, and the routs will start to pile up.
Both A.I. and M.C. were undoubtedly and correctly thinking while watching this game that the Nuggets would have beaten the Suns had either one of them been in. Had M.C. been in, C Amare Stoudemire, who had 36 points on 13/17 shooting, would not have had such an easy time of it. And had A.I. been in, the Nuggets would have had his shots instead of the lesser in number and more inaccurate shots from Steve Blake, DerMarr Johnson and Eduardo Najera.
So the Nuggets got a major consolation prize in this one. They indirectly proved that they can beat the Suns, at least at home. Despite being just 4-6 in the last 10 and 23-23 on the season, the Nuggets are still a potential threat when the playoffs begin in late April.
The Nuggets have lost so many home games at this point that, most likely, the best playoff seed thay can possibly get is the 5th, which would still be home court advantage for the opponent, so at this point losing an individual game is not really such a big deal anymore. The top four seeds are going to finish with better records than the Nuggets, the only thing yet to be decided is how much better those records will be. The Nuggets are destined to be without the home court advantage for the first playoff round and probably for any rounds after that as well. They should set their sights on the 5th seed, which is still possible to get.
These ramped up Nuggets had a shocker up on the scoreboard for a while. It was 60-51 Nuggets at the half, and when Diawara sunk a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the third, it was 67-57 Nuggets and fans were seriously thinking that they were watching a shocking upset. But then the Suns, who are so talented that they used just 5 players, Stoudemire, Bell, Diaw, Marion, and Barbosa for the great majority of the minutes, threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Nuggets (free throws, layups, dunks, jumpers, and 3-pointers) and it was 81-79 Phoenix at the end of the quarter.
In the 4th quarter, Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire dominated for the Suns. PG Steve Nash sat out the second half due to inflammation in his right shoulder. This was no problem at all for the Suns, because the backup PG Barbosa is better than many starting point guards. Barbosa had 12 points in the quarter, including two of his 4 three pointers, and Stoudemire relentlessly went to the hoop to get easy layups or trips to the free throw line. When you are playing the Suns, it may seem like you are being nickled and dimed by several good players, but the scoreboard tells the real story, which is that you are being buried by several great players.
It was 105-98 Suns with 46 seconds to go when Steve Blake missed a three-pointer that might have gotten the Nuggets back in it. The Nuggets still did not surrender though, as they committed 5 intentional fouls and narrowed the margin from 7 to 5 by doing so, before time ran out.
DerMarr Johnson played 14 minutes and was 2/8, 2/6 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 3 rebounds and a block. Diawara played 15 minutes and was 2/3 and 2/2 from downtown for 6 points.
Linas Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 4/6 and 1/2 on 3's for 9 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Reggie Evans, who was playing with a right ankle sprain, played for 21 minutes and was 1-2 and 2-2 from the line for 4 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Najera played 26 minutes and was 1/5 and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal.
Steve Blake was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he also had 10 assists, 2 rebounds, a block, and a steal.
Nene played a full 32 minutes and was 12/19 and 3/4 from the line for 27 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. He is not getting all the rebounds and blocks that Camby gets but on the other hand he more and more is finding it easier to score than Camby does.
J.R. Smith played for 29 minutes and was 7/13, 3/5 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 18 points, and he added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal.
Melo was 12/27, 0/2 on 3's and 7/8 from the line for 31 points, and he had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Anthony aggravated his injury, but postgame X-rays were negative.
The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 7 in Denver against the Hornets at 7 pm mountain time.
With A.I. and M.C. out, it was a perfect opportunity for Melo, who was playing with a finger contusion, to expand the reach of his game. Sure enough, he had a "triple double" with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, Melo continued to be slightly off on his midrange jumpers; had he produced that shot at the same pace he did in November and December, the Nuggets could have won this or taken it into overtime. J.R. Smith had 18 points on 7/13 shooting and the dynamic duo from the early part of the season was back for this game in good form. And Nene staked out the paint and scored on 5/6 layups, 4/5 dunks, and even 3/8 jumpers, though he did not have enough experience to guard the likes of Stoudemire well.
The Nuggets tried to outhustle and nickle and dime the Suns with good execution and heavy scoring in the paint, and they almost pulled off what would have been a monumental upset. Led by Nene, the Nuggets continued to try a tougher brand of defense, although they will probably never be as rough as the Jazz or as skilled as the Rockets on defense. They outrebounded the Suns 48-38 and they ran a great passing game and had 30 assists, with Blake and Anthony getting 10 assists each. And the Nuggets turnover problem was kept under good control in this one.
The Nuggets had the will to win and played almost as well as they could, but fate keeps intervening and removing players from games who the Nuggets need to win. The Nuggets have been routed only three times: in Dallas, in Los Angeles, and in Washington, and only 8 of the 23 losses have been by 10 or more points. 11 of the 23 losses have been very close games, where the margin of victory for the other team was 5 points or less.
The Nuggets have never completely surrendered any game, though they have had alot of defensive lapses and execution problems to get all these losses. Even in the 3 routs the Nuggets have continued to play hard. My point here, though, is to note the importance of the intangible of the will the win, which never leaves the Nuggets, even when they are playing in such a way that they can not possibly win. Or, to put it another way, if you are going to play poorly, at least keep believing you can win; if you play poorly and decide you can't win, then you are completely ruined, and the routs will start to pile up.
Both A.I. and M.C. were undoubtedly and correctly thinking while watching this game that the Nuggets would have beaten the Suns had either one of them been in. Had M.C. been in, C Amare Stoudemire, who had 36 points on 13/17 shooting, would not have had such an easy time of it. And had A.I. been in, the Nuggets would have had his shots instead of the lesser in number and more inaccurate shots from Steve Blake, DerMarr Johnson and Eduardo Najera.
So the Nuggets got a major consolation prize in this one. They indirectly proved that they can beat the Suns, at least at home. Despite being just 4-6 in the last 10 and 23-23 on the season, the Nuggets are still a potential threat when the playoffs begin in late April.
The Nuggets have lost so many home games at this point that, most likely, the best playoff seed thay can possibly get is the 5th, which would still be home court advantage for the opponent, so at this point losing an individual game is not really such a big deal anymore. The top four seeds are going to finish with better records than the Nuggets, the only thing yet to be decided is how much better those records will be. The Nuggets are destined to be without the home court advantage for the first playoff round and probably for any rounds after that as well. They should set their sights on the 5th seed, which is still possible to get.
These ramped up Nuggets had a shocker up on the scoreboard for a while. It was 60-51 Nuggets at the half, and when Diawara sunk a 3-pointer with 10 minutes left in the third, it was 67-57 Nuggets and fans were seriously thinking that they were watching a shocking upset. But then the Suns, who are so talented that they used just 5 players, Stoudemire, Bell, Diaw, Marion, and Barbosa for the great majority of the minutes, threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Nuggets (free throws, layups, dunks, jumpers, and 3-pointers) and it was 81-79 Phoenix at the end of the quarter.
In the 4th quarter, Leandro Barbosa and Stoudemire dominated for the Suns. PG Steve Nash sat out the second half due to inflammation in his right shoulder. This was no problem at all for the Suns, because the backup PG Barbosa is better than many starting point guards. Barbosa had 12 points in the quarter, including two of his 4 three pointers, and Stoudemire relentlessly went to the hoop to get easy layups or trips to the free throw line. When you are playing the Suns, it may seem like you are being nickled and dimed by several good players, but the scoreboard tells the real story, which is that you are being buried by several great players.
It was 105-98 Suns with 46 seconds to go when Steve Blake missed a three-pointer that might have gotten the Nuggets back in it. The Nuggets still did not surrender though, as they committed 5 intentional fouls and narrowed the margin from 7 to 5 by doing so, before time ran out.
DerMarr Johnson played 14 minutes and was 2/8, 2/6 on 3's and 1/2 from the line for 7 points, and he had 3 rebounds and a block. Diawara played 15 minutes and was 2/3 and 2/2 from downtown for 6 points.
Linas Kleiza played 20 minutes and was 4/6 and 1/2 on 3's for 9 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Reggie Evans, who was playing with a right ankle sprain, played for 21 minutes and was 1-2 and 2-2 from the line for 4 points, and he added 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Najera played 26 minutes and was 1/5 and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a steal.
Steve Blake was 2/8 and 0/3 on 3's for 4 points, and he also had 10 assists, 2 rebounds, a block, and a steal.
Nene played a full 32 minutes and was 12/19 and 3/4 from the line for 27 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. He is not getting all the rebounds and blocks that Camby gets but on the other hand he more and more is finding it easier to score than Camby does.
J.R. Smith played for 29 minutes and was 7/13, 3/5 on 3's and 1/3 from the line for 18 points, and he added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal.
Melo was 12/27, 0/2 on 3's and 7/8 from the line for 31 points, and he had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Anthony aggravated his injury, but postgame X-rays were negative.
The next game will be Wednesday, Feb. 7 in Denver against the Hornets at 7 pm mountain time.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Melo's Jumper Is Missing: Kings 94 Nuggets 87
Like someone looking for a lost child, Carmelo Anthony has seemingly become more and more frustrated in the last week or so about the fact his famous jump shot is missing. He is not getting easy scores like he did most of his career up until his 36 day suspension. Tonight, he went all out to find the missing skill. Even the Rocky Mountain Rescue Team bloodhounds were released to try to find it, but nothing was found.
True, Artest had a little something to do with it but he was certainly not the main reason for the large number of Melo misses. With only one layup and one dunk in this game, 22 of the 24 shots Melo took were jumpers, and only 5 connected, whereas he and Nuggets fans could have expected at least 9 or 10 to drop based on his previous play through December 16, 2006.
Overall, Melo was only 7/24 from the field, and with Iverson out, the Nuggets were unable to make up for the big shortage of Melo scoring, despite solid contributions from Nene, Steve Blake, and J.R. Smith. It was simply mathematically impossible to win this game with Melo held to 20 and no A.I..
So the Nuggets lost a very winnable game to the Kings, 94-87, to drop to 23-22 and now they are just barely hanging on to the last playoff berth in the West. Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, the team that is well ahead in the division that the Nuggets won last year, the Utah Jazz, beat the high flying Suns in their building, underscoring how far behind the Nuggets are in this years Western Conference. The Nuggets could not beat the Suns in Phoenix right now if it was 5 on 4. The team that many thought would roar like a lion is squeaking like a mouse.
And even if Melo had hit 4 or 5 more shots, though, the Nuggets might have lost anyway, either in regulation or in overtime. Both the Kings and the Nuggets were a very low 38% from the field. The Kings had no one off the bench going on a rampage like so many Nuggets opponents have had recently. Indeed, they had no surprises for the Nuggets to deal with at all, and they presented no major obstacles in the paint, and in general were very beatable and ready to be beaten. They were led by, predictably, SF Ron Artest and SG Kevin Martin. About all they had to do to beat the Nuggets was to protect the ball, which they did with a vengeance, finishing with just 9 turnovers.
The one thing you have to say in the Nugget's defense is that they were playing on the road with no rest, which whoever made the schedule has them doing alot. Meanwhile, the Kings were playing at home after two nights off.
The Nuggets, who came into this game tied with the Knicks, Magic, and Pacers for the most turnovers per game, almost certainly took over the lead in sloppiness with their 21 turnovers in this one. Melo had 6 turnovers, Camby had an extremely unusual 5, and Nene had 4 to lead the Nuggets in this negative category.
And check this, Allen Iverson and Ron Artest are two of the best pickpockets in the League. But with A.I. still out with an ankle sprain, Artest and the Kings picked the Nugget's pockets all game long: they had a huge 14 steals versus just 2 for the Nuggets. Artest had 4 steals, Martin and Bibby had 3 steals each, and 4 other Kings had one each for the incredible total of 14 steals. That, my friends, is having everything in all your pockets stolen.
There was one thing this game had that very few games have: alot of blocks. Marcus Camby, who probably surpassed Jermaine O'Neill as the number one blocker in the NBA with his 7 blocks, led the Nuggets who had a total of 10 blocks. But the Kings, who are just about the worst blocking team in the League, had 2 more than their typical number of blocks: they had 5 blocks.
So a quick way to sum up this fiasco is to think of it this way: Melo missed a ton of jumpers and the Nuggets had a ton of turnovers, while the Kings just laid back and let the Nuggets shoot themselves in the foot in these ways all night long and coasted to an easy but not a very well earned win.
This loss was like two losses in one; you had the actual loss and then the way it was lost. The loss featured an ugly lack of execution and the no show of the Melo shot. Even the Kings fans were curious about just where in the world Melo's shot has gone off to. The Nuggets are in real trouble until and unless these two problems are solved or at least mostly solved. Even with Iverson back in, the Nuggets in this condition still can not possibly beat the Spurs, Jazz or Rockets in a 7 game series, let alone the Lakers, Suns, or Mavs. You are looking at being almost swept in the playoffs, in fact.
The irony is that one problem that appeared to be big has been turning around during the last two games, namely, the severe shortage of performance outside of A.I., Melo, Camby, and J.R.. In the last two games, Nene and Blake have come on strong, and almost everyone else from the bench has contributed something, which is alot better than the almost nothing they were contributing.
But for the Nuggets, as soon as one problem is reduced, another one or two problems sprout up big and ugly. So is there time to get these things under control? Yes, there is about 4 weeks to be exact, as long as the Nuggets don't lose every single game during the 4 weeks.
Diawara played 12 minutes, missed one 3-pointer, and had 1 rebound. Linas Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 3/6, 2/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Najera played 19 minutes and was 3/6 for 6 points and he added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and a steal.
DerMarr Johnson played 21 minutes and was 1/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 4 points and he had 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal.
Nene played 29 minutes and was 5/12 and 3/7 from the line for 13 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 assists.
Blake played 29 minutes and was 5/9 and 3/5 from 3-point land for 13 points, and he had 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
J.R. Smith played 25 minutes and was 4/10, 3/8 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 13 points, and he had 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Back to back 3-pointers from Blake and Smith in the final minute of the game pulled the Nuggets to within 3, but Artest then calmly sunk a jumper to ice the easy win for the Kings.
Marcus Camby played for 34 minutes and was 3/9 for 6 points. Aside from the huge 15 rebounds and the more huge 7 blocks, he also had 4 assists.
Melo was only 7/25, 1/4 on 3's, and 5/6 from the line for 20 points and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. If someone stole Melo's jump shot (I'm thinking Nate Robinson or Isaiah Thomas as the most likely thieves), would you please return it to the Nuggets as soon as possible? You can return it anonymously, and no questions will be asked. Thanks in advance.
The next game will be Monday, Feb. 5 in Denver against the Suns at 7 pm mountain time.
True, Artest had a little something to do with it but he was certainly not the main reason for the large number of Melo misses. With only one layup and one dunk in this game, 22 of the 24 shots Melo took were jumpers, and only 5 connected, whereas he and Nuggets fans could have expected at least 9 or 10 to drop based on his previous play through December 16, 2006.
Overall, Melo was only 7/24 from the field, and with Iverson out, the Nuggets were unable to make up for the big shortage of Melo scoring, despite solid contributions from Nene, Steve Blake, and J.R. Smith. It was simply mathematically impossible to win this game with Melo held to 20 and no A.I..
So the Nuggets lost a very winnable game to the Kings, 94-87, to drop to 23-22 and now they are just barely hanging on to the last playoff berth in the West. Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, the team that is well ahead in the division that the Nuggets won last year, the Utah Jazz, beat the high flying Suns in their building, underscoring how far behind the Nuggets are in this years Western Conference. The Nuggets could not beat the Suns in Phoenix right now if it was 5 on 4. The team that many thought would roar like a lion is squeaking like a mouse.
And even if Melo had hit 4 or 5 more shots, though, the Nuggets might have lost anyway, either in regulation or in overtime. Both the Kings and the Nuggets were a very low 38% from the field. The Kings had no one off the bench going on a rampage like so many Nuggets opponents have had recently. Indeed, they had no surprises for the Nuggets to deal with at all, and they presented no major obstacles in the paint, and in general were very beatable and ready to be beaten. They were led by, predictably, SF Ron Artest and SG Kevin Martin. About all they had to do to beat the Nuggets was to protect the ball, which they did with a vengeance, finishing with just 9 turnovers.
The one thing you have to say in the Nugget's defense is that they were playing on the road with no rest, which whoever made the schedule has them doing alot. Meanwhile, the Kings were playing at home after two nights off.
The Nuggets, who came into this game tied with the Knicks, Magic, and Pacers for the most turnovers per game, almost certainly took over the lead in sloppiness with their 21 turnovers in this one. Melo had 6 turnovers, Camby had an extremely unusual 5, and Nene had 4 to lead the Nuggets in this negative category.
And check this, Allen Iverson and Ron Artest are two of the best pickpockets in the League. But with A.I. still out with an ankle sprain, Artest and the Kings picked the Nugget's pockets all game long: they had a huge 14 steals versus just 2 for the Nuggets. Artest had 4 steals, Martin and Bibby had 3 steals each, and 4 other Kings had one each for the incredible total of 14 steals. That, my friends, is having everything in all your pockets stolen.
There was one thing this game had that very few games have: alot of blocks. Marcus Camby, who probably surpassed Jermaine O'Neill as the number one blocker in the NBA with his 7 blocks, led the Nuggets who had a total of 10 blocks. But the Kings, who are just about the worst blocking team in the League, had 2 more than their typical number of blocks: they had 5 blocks.
So a quick way to sum up this fiasco is to think of it this way: Melo missed a ton of jumpers and the Nuggets had a ton of turnovers, while the Kings just laid back and let the Nuggets shoot themselves in the foot in these ways all night long and coasted to an easy but not a very well earned win.
This loss was like two losses in one; you had the actual loss and then the way it was lost. The loss featured an ugly lack of execution and the no show of the Melo shot. Even the Kings fans were curious about just where in the world Melo's shot has gone off to. The Nuggets are in real trouble until and unless these two problems are solved or at least mostly solved. Even with Iverson back in, the Nuggets in this condition still can not possibly beat the Spurs, Jazz or Rockets in a 7 game series, let alone the Lakers, Suns, or Mavs. You are looking at being almost swept in the playoffs, in fact.
The irony is that one problem that appeared to be big has been turning around during the last two games, namely, the severe shortage of performance outside of A.I., Melo, Camby, and J.R.. In the last two games, Nene and Blake have come on strong, and almost everyone else from the bench has contributed something, which is alot better than the almost nothing they were contributing.
But for the Nuggets, as soon as one problem is reduced, another one or two problems sprout up big and ugly. So is there time to get these things under control? Yes, there is about 4 weeks to be exact, as long as the Nuggets don't lose every single game during the 4 weeks.
Diawara played 12 minutes, missed one 3-pointer, and had 1 rebound. Linas Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 3/6, 2/4 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 10 points, and he had 2 rebounds. Najera played 19 minutes and was 3/6 for 6 points and he added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and a steal.
DerMarr Johnson played 21 minutes and was 1/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 1/2 from the line for 4 points and he had 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal.
Nene played 29 minutes and was 5/12 and 3/7 from the line for 13 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 assists.
Blake played 29 minutes and was 5/9 and 3/5 from 3-point land for 13 points, and he had 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
J.R. Smith played 25 minutes and was 4/10, 3/8 on 3's, and 2/2 from the line for 13 points, and he had 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Back to back 3-pointers from Blake and Smith in the final minute of the game pulled the Nuggets to within 3, but Artest then calmly sunk a jumper to ice the easy win for the Kings.
Marcus Camby played for 34 minutes and was 3/9 for 6 points. Aside from the huge 15 rebounds and the more huge 7 blocks, he also had 4 assists.
Melo was only 7/25, 1/4 on 3's, and 5/6 from the line for 20 points and he had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. If someone stole Melo's jump shot (I'm thinking Nate Robinson or Isaiah Thomas as the most likely thieves), would you please return it to the Nuggets as soon as possible? You can return it anonymously, and no questions will be asked. Thanks in advance.
The next game will be Monday, Feb. 5 in Denver against the Suns at 7 pm mountain time.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Nuggets Get Desperate & Beat the Blazers in OT 114-107
With A.I. out due to a sprained ankle and the flu, and with the basketball world starting to talk about the Nuggets in the past tense, the Nuggets were desperate to avoid a fifth straight loss, especially since they were playing at home, where they have already lost too many times for comfort.
So with one engine out, and with one wing on fire, the Nuggets brought their damaged basketball plane in for a safe landing tonight. Steve Blake, on whom George Karl has bet the ranch, Nene, with his painful knee, Marcus Camby with his painful finger, and J.R. Smith, with his youthful temper and impulsiveness, refused to leave the burning deck until they narrowly defeated the Trail Blazers in overtime, 114-107. Nene, Camby, and J.R. were playing the overtime with 5 fouls, as George Karl knew that he had to win at all costs. However, had any of the three actually fouled out, the win would probably have slipped away, so this was a very close call.
The Nuggets scrapped and closely defended much more than usual, even at the cost of fouls. After all, Utah is leading the division and they commit more fouls than anyone, so fouls can't be all bad, right?
Karl also decided that he had to violate all of the rules the trainers set up regarding the caring for Nene's knee, in order to try to get something from the power forward position for a change. So the big man from Brazil played a staggering 38 minutes, and responded by chucking in 20 points on 8/10 shooting.
With 31 seconds to go in regulation, Marcus Camby blocked a Zach Randolph layup, one of his 5 blocks on the night. Diawara got the rebound, and the score remained 95-92 Nuggets. The Trail Blazers were now forced to foul, and Blake got one of two free throws. After Jarrett Jack drove to the hoop for a layup, he fouled Blake, who again only got one of two free throws, so it was now 97-94 Nuggets with 6 seconds left.
So the Nuggets had won, right? Of course not. Brandon Roy, the great rookie guard of the Trail Blazers, who was just named rookie of the month for the Western Conference for January, sunk a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left. Roy led all rookies in scoring (16.6 points) steals (1.69) and minutes (34.4) in January. He was second in assists (3.4) and third in rebounds (4.8). Melo hoisted a quick midrange jumper at the buzzer that missed, and Nene's tip-in was too late, so the Nuggets were forced into overtime as the fire threatening to consume much of their playoff hopes had flared up again. In fact, the flames were getting dangerously close to the fans in the front rows, and those fans were starting to think that Nuggets mania might be more hype than reality.
Steve Blake had already, after a whole series of games in which he was missing, come alive in regulation with 14 points and 11 assists. But in overtime, he stepped up even more and tried to do what A.I. would have done on the burning deck and he succeeded greatly. He made three successful drives to the hoop and made a nice jumper and a follow up free throw. J.R. Smith wisely followed the pattern Blake set up and had two successful drives to the hoop himself with about 2 minutes left in overtime. Aside from a Melo missed jumper at the beginning of overtime, the Nuggets did not miss any shots from the field in overtime.
The Nuggets finally realized that it is better to simplify their game as much as possible, rather than to keep making it unnecessarily complicated. They may be a complicated team, but it does not follow that they should play in a complicated way. They finally began to establish a team flow or rhythm and to take natural, high percentage shots rather than trying to force shots.
They finally started to cut down on lower percentage shots, meaning shots where the player does not have enough experience to sink the shot reliably. Shots should be at the right time, hopefully when the defense has broken down, and should be the highest percentage shot possible for the possession. Career development shots should be kept to a minimum.
For the Nuggets, it was a small step, but you have to learn to walk before you can run.
Melo went all out in the attempt, but remained short of the extremely high scoring accuracy he had before the suspension. 1/3 from beyond the arc, he was only 6/18 on jumpers inside the arc. Since he was 3/5 on jumpers from point blank range, he was only 3/13 on midrange jumpers. Melo has clearly been affected by the great amount of turmoil that has happened to his team in his fourth season. I think the midrange jumper requires alot of inner peace and pure confidence. Fans will have to continue to wait for the return of Melo's near perfect midrange jumper shooting.
Najera fouled out half way through the 4th quarter. He played for 21 minutes and had 6 points on 3/4 shooting. He also had 3 rebounds. Even 6 points was a nice uptick for Najera. Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 2/6 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he also pulled down 8 rebounds. Swingman Diawara played for 14 minutes and was 2/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 2/3 from the line for 7 points. Again, it is a huge improvement for someone to get 6 or 8 points rather than 2 or 3.
Nene played a staggering 38 minutes and was 8/10 and 4/6 from the line for 20 points, and he had 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. Like a man dying from thirst who comes upon an oasis in the desert, the Nuggets finally had production at power forward just before they burned up.
Steve Blake played virtually the entire game and was 6/7 and 7/11 from the line for 19 points, and he had 14 assists, 2 steals, and 3 rebounds. Is this closer to the real Steve Blake or was this just another flash in the pan game? Or, to put it another way, is Blake going to largely make up for the loss of Boykins or not? The answer will go a long way in determining how much of a threat the Nuggets are in the playoffs.
J.R. Smith played for 27 minutes and was 7/11, 2/4 on 3's and 1/1 from the line for 17 points and he had 2 steals and an assist. Although he made two of them, Smith cut down on his over consumption of 3-point shots and went to the hoop much more in a wise move that increased the odds of victory in this particular game.
Marcus Camby was 3/9 and 2/4 from the line for 8 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 assists, and 3 steals. If Melo is the soul of the Nuggets and A.I. is the heart of the Nuggets, then Camby is the handyman who can fix just about everything in a game.
All-star Carmelo Anthony was 11/26, 1/3 on 3's and 10/14 from the line for 33 points, and he also had 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Melo could not and did not rise to the Michael Jordan level at the buzzer or in the game generally, but everyone should stay tuned for further developments. This suspension recovery thing is by no means over.
Both Melo and J.R. got technicals for jawing with referees at two different points in the game. This is a good sign. As long as it does not become a habit, most of the best players, and the ones most serious about winning, occasionally let a referee know about a perceived mistake he or she made. It is a sign of will to win and intensity.
Now if only Allen Iverson can return so that the Nuggets can win one easily for a change without all the drama. But A.I. is questionable for tomorrow night's game.
The next game is tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 3 in Sacramento to play the Kings at 8 pm mountain time.
So with one engine out, and with one wing on fire, the Nuggets brought their damaged basketball plane in for a safe landing tonight. Steve Blake, on whom George Karl has bet the ranch, Nene, with his painful knee, Marcus Camby with his painful finger, and J.R. Smith, with his youthful temper and impulsiveness, refused to leave the burning deck until they narrowly defeated the Trail Blazers in overtime, 114-107. Nene, Camby, and J.R. were playing the overtime with 5 fouls, as George Karl knew that he had to win at all costs. However, had any of the three actually fouled out, the win would probably have slipped away, so this was a very close call.
The Nuggets scrapped and closely defended much more than usual, even at the cost of fouls. After all, Utah is leading the division and they commit more fouls than anyone, so fouls can't be all bad, right?
Karl also decided that he had to violate all of the rules the trainers set up regarding the caring for Nene's knee, in order to try to get something from the power forward position for a change. So the big man from Brazil played a staggering 38 minutes, and responded by chucking in 20 points on 8/10 shooting.
With 31 seconds to go in regulation, Marcus Camby blocked a Zach Randolph layup, one of his 5 blocks on the night. Diawara got the rebound, and the score remained 95-92 Nuggets. The Trail Blazers were now forced to foul, and Blake got one of two free throws. After Jarrett Jack drove to the hoop for a layup, he fouled Blake, who again only got one of two free throws, so it was now 97-94 Nuggets with 6 seconds left.
So the Nuggets had won, right? Of course not. Brandon Roy, the great rookie guard of the Trail Blazers, who was just named rookie of the month for the Western Conference for January, sunk a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left. Roy led all rookies in scoring (16.6 points) steals (1.69) and minutes (34.4) in January. He was second in assists (3.4) and third in rebounds (4.8). Melo hoisted a quick midrange jumper at the buzzer that missed, and Nene's tip-in was too late, so the Nuggets were forced into overtime as the fire threatening to consume much of their playoff hopes had flared up again. In fact, the flames were getting dangerously close to the fans in the front rows, and those fans were starting to think that Nuggets mania might be more hype than reality.
Steve Blake had already, after a whole series of games in which he was missing, come alive in regulation with 14 points and 11 assists. But in overtime, he stepped up even more and tried to do what A.I. would have done on the burning deck and he succeeded greatly. He made three successful drives to the hoop and made a nice jumper and a follow up free throw. J.R. Smith wisely followed the pattern Blake set up and had two successful drives to the hoop himself with about 2 minutes left in overtime. Aside from a Melo missed jumper at the beginning of overtime, the Nuggets did not miss any shots from the field in overtime.
The Nuggets finally realized that it is better to simplify their game as much as possible, rather than to keep making it unnecessarily complicated. They may be a complicated team, but it does not follow that they should play in a complicated way. They finally began to establish a team flow or rhythm and to take natural, high percentage shots rather than trying to force shots.
They finally started to cut down on lower percentage shots, meaning shots where the player does not have enough experience to sink the shot reliably. Shots should be at the right time, hopefully when the defense has broken down, and should be the highest percentage shot possible for the possession. Career development shots should be kept to a minimum.
For the Nuggets, it was a small step, but you have to learn to walk before you can run.
Melo went all out in the attempt, but remained short of the extremely high scoring accuracy he had before the suspension. 1/3 from beyond the arc, he was only 6/18 on jumpers inside the arc. Since he was 3/5 on jumpers from point blank range, he was only 3/13 on midrange jumpers. Melo has clearly been affected by the great amount of turmoil that has happened to his team in his fourth season. I think the midrange jumper requires alot of inner peace and pure confidence. Fans will have to continue to wait for the return of Melo's near perfect midrange jumper shooting.
Najera fouled out half way through the 4th quarter. He played for 21 minutes and had 6 points on 3/4 shooting. He also had 3 rebounds. Even 6 points was a nice uptick for Najera. Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 2/6 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he also pulled down 8 rebounds. Swingman Diawara played for 14 minutes and was 2/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 2/3 from the line for 7 points. Again, it is a huge improvement for someone to get 6 or 8 points rather than 2 or 3.
Nene played a staggering 38 minutes and was 8/10 and 4/6 from the line for 20 points, and he had 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. Like a man dying from thirst who comes upon an oasis in the desert, the Nuggets finally had production at power forward just before they burned up.
Steve Blake played virtually the entire game and was 6/7 and 7/11 from the line for 19 points, and he had 14 assists, 2 steals, and 3 rebounds. Is this closer to the real Steve Blake or was this just another flash in the pan game? Or, to put it another way, is Blake going to largely make up for the loss of Boykins or not? The answer will go a long way in determining how much of a threat the Nuggets are in the playoffs.
J.R. Smith played for 27 minutes and was 7/11, 2/4 on 3's and 1/1 from the line for 17 points and he had 2 steals and an assist. Although he made two of them, Smith cut down on his over consumption of 3-point shots and went to the hoop much more in a wise move that increased the odds of victory in this particular game.
Marcus Camby was 3/9 and 2/4 from the line for 8 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 assists, and 3 steals. If Melo is the soul of the Nuggets and A.I. is the heart of the Nuggets, then Camby is the handyman who can fix just about everything in a game.
All-star Carmelo Anthony was 11/26, 1/3 on 3's and 10/14 from the line for 33 points, and he also had 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Melo could not and did not rise to the Michael Jordan level at the buzzer or in the game generally, but everyone should stay tuned for further developments. This suspension recovery thing is by no means over.
Both Melo and J.R. got technicals for jawing with referees at two different points in the game. This is a good sign. As long as it does not become a habit, most of the best players, and the ones most serious about winning, occasionally let a referee know about a perceived mistake he or she made. It is a sign of will to win and intensity.
Now if only Allen Iverson can return so that the Nuggets can win one easily for a change without all the drama. But A.I. is questionable for tomorrow night's game.
The next game is tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 3 in Sacramento to play the Kings at 8 pm mountain time.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Unproductive Nuggets Lose Ugly to Blazers 100-91
Melo hit a three-pointer very early and one very late, but in between, the Nuggets were in a world of hurt. The Nuggets lately have become like a worn out engine that is not firing on all cylinders. If J.R. is hot, Camby is not. If Camby is hot, then neither Nene, Evans, nor Najera hit much of anything. If Nene and Evans are scoring, then J.R. can't hit the side of the barn. And if A.I. is really hot, almost no one else is.
So there is a dangerous and frustrating lack of consistency in production, not only in actual points, but, worse still, even in the number of shots attempted. The Nuggets are consistently having players playing 20 or even 30 minutes and not attempting more than 1, 2 or 3 shots. What are they afraid of? Or, who is responsible for all the missed opportunities?
In a sluggish, sloppy, ugly game marked by many turnovers and offensive fouls, Zach Randolph and the Trail Blazers did not have to do much to defeat the sparkless and almost listless Nuggets. The Nuggets had 19 turnovers and the Trail Blazers had 18, where 14 is considered the mark for decent execution. The Nuggets failed to pass, distribute, and execute in a competitive way, and finished with a miserably low 13 assists. The Nuggets had a grand total of 6 fast break points. They not only lost, they lost ugly, 100-91.
Neither Carmelo Anthony nor George Karl has been able to motivate or to devise tactics that bring consistency to the play of players such as Steve Blake, Reggie Evans, and Yakhouba Diawara. The Nuggets are in a vicious circle, where each loss motivates the big name starters, A.I., Camby, Melo, and J.R. to try to do more, but they end up just forcing shots and missing opportunities to get the other Nuggets into plays. The Las Vegas style roll of the dice hope that someone will get a few lucky shots and help the starters is not working; Nene, Evans, Johnson, Diawara, Kleiza, and Najera have to be given significant opportunities to produce; they have to get the ball and shoot the ball more than once or twice a night.
In other words, it is high time for Karl, Melo, A.I., and Camby to figure out how they are going to connect themselves with the rest of the squad, so that the rest of the squad can and does contribute consistently on both scoring and defense. If they can not do this, the Nuggets apparently will not even make the playoffs. The problem is that serious. Maybe A.I. can give a little speech at a team meeting explaining how it doesn't do anyone any good to be on a team where players are allowed to underperform and no one does anything about it. The reasons differ from player to player, but the common theme among almost all the Nuggets aside from A.I., Melo, M.C., and J.R. is very few shot attempts, very few points, and very few assists, and that is a formula for losing if there ever was one.
George Karl remains, for some mysterious reason, afraid to start and afraid to play J.R. Smith for as many minutes as he had before the suspensions, when he and Melo were the top scoring tandem in the NBA. With 9 1/2 minutes to go in tonight's game, J.R. was called for an offensive foul and then, 12 seconds later, a personal foul. Karl sat him for the entire rest of the quarter. Then, early in the fourth, he was called for a travel, which was one of his 5 turnovers, and Karl immediately brought in Steve Blake. Smith did not return until 5 1/2 minutes to play, and Brandon Roy's long ball made it 82-74 Blazers right after that. It would have taken at least a couple of 3-pointers from J.R. to give the Nuggets a chance, but Smith took only one such shot and missed it with 1:40 to go, although Nene did stuff it in on the rebound.
Unless J.R. Smith can get 28-30 minutes a night, even if Karl insists that Blake starts, the Nuggets are in trouble. But J.R. has earned starting, as well, and he has fewer turnovers and more confidence if he starts, so it is also important that he starts. The fewer minutes J.R. plays, and the fewer times he starts, the more trouble the Nuggets will be in.
A Camby layup with 51 seconds to go made it 91-88 Blazers, but Jarrett Jack buried the dagger in the Nuggets carcass by sinking a 3 with 33 seconds to go, to put the Blazers ahead by 6. The Nuggets were still behind 96-91 with 18 seconds to go after Melo's very late 3.
Reggie Evans played for 19 minutes and was 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Eduardo Najera played for 16 minutes and was 2/3 for 4 points and he had 1 rebound and 1 assist. Nene Hilario played for 24 minutes and was 5/8 and 4/8 from the line for 14 points, and he had 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Steve Blake played 39 minutes and was just 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had only 3 assists and 3 rebounds. I hate to be blunt, but that is simply not enough production for that many minutes. Blake has had 3 productive games out of 10 starts, the others have been very unproductive. Earl Boykins would have won this particular game (and others) had he been in for the Nuggets.
Yakhouba Diawara played 27 minutes and was 0/3 and 0/1 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 1 rebound.
If Blake is such a great distributor, then why is it that Yak got only 3 shots? And what about J.R. Smith getting only 10 shots in 26 minutes, with no trips to the line for him either? And how did Marcus Camby end up with more assists, namely 5, than Blake, with 3. Why is Blake starting?
J.R. Smith played 26 minutes and was 4/10 and 1/5 on 3's for 9 points.
Marcus Camby was 6/12 and 5/6 from the line for 17 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
Melo Anthony was 11/25, 2/6 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 33 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. I hope Melo starts putting up at least 4 or 5 shots from behind the 3-point arc each game. This would be by far the biggest improvement Melo could make in his game, and his hitting some 3-pointers would be crucial for the Nuggets to have a chance in the playoffs (assuming they even make the playoffs.)
The next game will be Friday, Feb. 2 in Denver versus these same Trail Blazers at 7 pm mountain time.
So there is a dangerous and frustrating lack of consistency in production, not only in actual points, but, worse still, even in the number of shots attempted. The Nuggets are consistently having players playing 20 or even 30 minutes and not attempting more than 1, 2 or 3 shots. What are they afraid of? Or, who is responsible for all the missed opportunities?
In a sluggish, sloppy, ugly game marked by many turnovers and offensive fouls, Zach Randolph and the Trail Blazers did not have to do much to defeat the sparkless and almost listless Nuggets. The Nuggets had 19 turnovers and the Trail Blazers had 18, where 14 is considered the mark for decent execution. The Nuggets failed to pass, distribute, and execute in a competitive way, and finished with a miserably low 13 assists. The Nuggets had a grand total of 6 fast break points. They not only lost, they lost ugly, 100-91.
Neither Carmelo Anthony nor George Karl has been able to motivate or to devise tactics that bring consistency to the play of players such as Steve Blake, Reggie Evans, and Yakhouba Diawara. The Nuggets are in a vicious circle, where each loss motivates the big name starters, A.I., Camby, Melo, and J.R. to try to do more, but they end up just forcing shots and missing opportunities to get the other Nuggets into plays. The Las Vegas style roll of the dice hope that someone will get a few lucky shots and help the starters is not working; Nene, Evans, Johnson, Diawara, Kleiza, and Najera have to be given significant opportunities to produce; they have to get the ball and shoot the ball more than once or twice a night.
In other words, it is high time for Karl, Melo, A.I., and Camby to figure out how they are going to connect themselves with the rest of the squad, so that the rest of the squad can and does contribute consistently on both scoring and defense. If they can not do this, the Nuggets apparently will not even make the playoffs. The problem is that serious. Maybe A.I. can give a little speech at a team meeting explaining how it doesn't do anyone any good to be on a team where players are allowed to underperform and no one does anything about it. The reasons differ from player to player, but the common theme among almost all the Nuggets aside from A.I., Melo, M.C., and J.R. is very few shot attempts, very few points, and very few assists, and that is a formula for losing if there ever was one.
George Karl remains, for some mysterious reason, afraid to start and afraid to play J.R. Smith for as many minutes as he had before the suspensions, when he and Melo were the top scoring tandem in the NBA. With 9 1/2 minutes to go in tonight's game, J.R. was called for an offensive foul and then, 12 seconds later, a personal foul. Karl sat him for the entire rest of the quarter. Then, early in the fourth, he was called for a travel, which was one of his 5 turnovers, and Karl immediately brought in Steve Blake. Smith did not return until 5 1/2 minutes to play, and Brandon Roy's long ball made it 82-74 Blazers right after that. It would have taken at least a couple of 3-pointers from J.R. to give the Nuggets a chance, but Smith took only one such shot and missed it with 1:40 to go, although Nene did stuff it in on the rebound.
Unless J.R. Smith can get 28-30 minutes a night, even if Karl insists that Blake starts, the Nuggets are in trouble. But J.R. has earned starting, as well, and he has fewer turnovers and more confidence if he starts, so it is also important that he starts. The fewer minutes J.R. plays, and the fewer times he starts, the more trouble the Nuggets will be in.
A Camby layup with 51 seconds to go made it 91-88 Blazers, but Jarrett Jack buried the dagger in the Nuggets carcass by sinking a 3 with 33 seconds to go, to put the Blazers ahead by 6. The Nuggets were still behind 96-91 with 18 seconds to go after Melo's very late 3.
Reggie Evans played for 19 minutes and was 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Eduardo Najera played for 16 minutes and was 2/3 for 4 points and he had 1 rebound and 1 assist. Nene Hilario played for 24 minutes and was 5/8 and 4/8 from the line for 14 points, and he had 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Steve Blake played 39 minutes and was just 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had only 3 assists and 3 rebounds. I hate to be blunt, but that is simply not enough production for that many minutes. Blake has had 3 productive games out of 10 starts, the others have been very unproductive. Earl Boykins would have won this particular game (and others) had he been in for the Nuggets.
Yakhouba Diawara played 27 minutes and was 0/3 and 0/1 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 1 rebound.
If Blake is such a great distributor, then why is it that Yak got only 3 shots? And what about J.R. Smith getting only 10 shots in 26 minutes, with no trips to the line for him either? And how did Marcus Camby end up with more assists, namely 5, than Blake, with 3. Why is Blake starting?
J.R. Smith played 26 minutes and was 4/10 and 1/5 on 3's for 9 points.
Marcus Camby was 6/12 and 5/6 from the line for 17 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
Melo Anthony was 11/25, 2/6 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 33 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. I hope Melo starts putting up at least 4 or 5 shots from behind the 3-point arc each game. This would be by far the biggest improvement Melo could make in his game, and his hitting some 3-pointers would be crucial for the Nuggets to have a chance in the playoffs (assuming they even make the playoffs.)
The next game will be Friday, Feb. 2 in Denver versus these same Trail Blazers at 7 pm mountain time.
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