(Boulder-CO) It was comically fitting that Altitude Sports and Entertainment was experiencing technically difficulties throughout the second half of tonight’s contest because, to be honest with you, the numerous momentary breaks were a welcome surprise as the Nuggets flat out stunk during the second half. What isn’t funny about this 110-96 defeat is how the Nuggets are still not capable of winning a game when they do not score 100 or more points. Denver is now 0-20 for the season without the century mark with this loss.
The Warriors starting five really taught the Nuggets a lesson about offensive balance. Just read these numbers; Baron Davis led all Warrior scorers with 22 points and nine assists, Al Harrington scored 20 points to go with his nine rebounds, Stephen Jackson pitched in 18 and eight assists, Jason Richardson filled up the box score with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three swats, and the big man Adris Biedrins squeezed 15 big rebounds to fit nicely with his 12 points and three blocked shots. That’s all five starters combining for 88 points-plus a gaggle of intangibles!
On the other hand the Nuggets couldn't have been more one dimensional.
Allen Iverson tried to be everything the Nuggets needed in the first half with a blistering 24 points, but would cool off considerably in the second to finish tonight’s game with 35 points, six rebounds, and three assists. DerMarr Johnson, in a rare start, was the only other Nugget to reach double figures in scoring with 15 points on 6-16 shooting. And you can have the rest of the Nuggets’ box score because it’s just crumbs.
What still dumbfounds me is how the Nuggets are routinely putting up quarters where they do not even score twenty points. In tonight’s game it was the 11-point third quarter that did the Nuggets in. There is no question about the fact that both teams played a sloppy quarter of basketball, but the difference was Golden State still managed to score 22 points and because of so blew this game wide open. It’s a damn shame too because the Nuggets did have a pretty good game going for them up until the halftime breather. In what one argue was a bad omen of things to come; Denver entered the break down one after a ridiculous foul by DerMarr Johnson on Baron Davis 30 feet from the basket which resulted in three made free-throws.
With this loss the Nuggets are now 29-30 on the season and still barely clinging onto their playoff hopes. Up next for Denver is a home game against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. The Pistons are 37-22 so far this season and have really toughened up since adding hometown favorite Chris Webber. The Nuggets are going to need a spirited effort to compete with ‘Troit, but win, lose, or draw it should be a fairly clear barometer for where this team is ultimately going this season.
3 comments:
I had the “pleasure” of seeing this game in person tonight. The nuggets reminded me of me and my friend’s pick up team (that’s not a good thing). They were fairly confused at both ends of the court. Offensively, I’ve heard that George Karl doesn’t really like to call set plays, preferring that the players improvise. That they did, to disastrous effect. They really have no clue what they are doing. Much of the offense predictably became the “stand-around-and-watch-allen-iverson” offense. This wasn’t so bad, in that it resulted in points and/or fouls, or a wide open shot that was subsequently missed by the Demarr Johnsons and Linas Kleizas of the team. I also saw a lot of the “stand-around-and-watch-steve-blake” offensive. That didn’t go as well. Defensively there was a lot of effort in the first half, but not much intelligence. This is understandable. I mean, why guard someone who doesn’t have the ball? If they don’t have the ball, they can’t score, right? Might as well just leave them open by the 3 point line. Of course, as the game became a blow out, the nuggets did seem to lose interest. This is a huge coincidence, because around that time I lost interest as well. All in all, this is a game where we finally saw Reggie Evans get some minutes, and those minutes were spent doing things like guarding Baron Davis on the perimeter, and walking the ball up while AI and Steve Blake headed for the paint. What I'm tryin to say is that this is a team where every player knows their role, but no one knows why they have that role. Certainly not me. For example, George Karl is the nuggets’ “coach.” Why?
If you are an NBA team and you want to beat the Denver Nuggets here's what you do:
1. Get 3-4 guys that can shoot the 3-pointer on your team
2. Glue their feet to just outside the 3-point arc
3. On offense, pass to one of these miraculously always wide open players and let them do their worst
It's a creative way of saying, the Nuggets play D like this is the NBA of 1971, because they forgot about a 3 point line.
I wonder what the Nuggets record has been the last 3 years when the team they have played has made less than 10 3 pointers in a game. I imagine it would be a winning record. What is it going to take to help these Nuggets figure this out? Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Utah, Chicago, Golden State, Houston have owned the Nuggets in this department the last 3-5 years, and most of them have a winning record against Denver.
Newsflash Nuggets: Teams know they can shoot the 3 ball on you and will do it night in and night out because they know you guard the perimeter with ANY consistency.
Here's my take...the Nuggs were missing thier 30 pt man. The Nuggs needed to play team offense to have any chance to win. Since the Nuggs don't play team offense when they have Melo, they have no clue how to play it without him. At this point in the season the defense probably is as good as it's gonna get, sad but true. The Warriors got hot from outside and Denver had no answer or should I say no "Answer"? As for Karl, he knows the game, but as the saying goes...you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I would bet the farm he isn't telling them to give up open looks from the outside the arc. I would bet your farm the players know that.
Post a Comment