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.