(Boulder-CO) At first, it was labeled a groin pull. Now, Chucky Atkins reportedly has suffered a sports hernia and will be sidelined indefinitely.
What is there to say?
The Nuggets are always one piece short of the overall puzzle being complete. With a healthy and productive Chucky Atkins, the Nuggets are a good ten deep. Without him, the Nuggets still do not have a true starting point guard that can handle the full-time duties that this team’s workload has to offer. Now we have to wait and see if Yakhouba Diawara, J.R. Smith, or Von Wafer can support the Nuggets where they are the lightest. Anthony Carter is playing his brains out and no disrespect to him personally, but this team needs a proven veteran that has some serious playoff experience if they are going to go deep in the post season. AC can’t play the type of minutes that AI does. It’s just not possible. Therefore, he needs help.
Granted, this year we look like much more of a team. AI and Carmelo have been equally effective and having both Kenyon and Nene has been also beneficial up to this point, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The true heart of a team is its point guard.
Don’t believe me?
Maybe you’ve forgotten about what Tony Parker did to the Nuggets last post season. Or the performance of one Denver native, Chauncey Billups.
What is there to say?
The Nuggets are always one piece short of the overall puzzle being complete. With a healthy and productive Chucky Atkins, the Nuggets are a good ten deep. Without him, the Nuggets still do not have a true starting point guard that can handle the full-time duties that this team’s workload has to offer. Now we have to wait and see if Yakhouba Diawara, J.R. Smith, or Von Wafer can support the Nuggets where they are the lightest. Anthony Carter is playing his brains out and no disrespect to him personally, but this team needs a proven veteran that has some serious playoff experience if they are going to go deep in the post season. AC can’t play the type of minutes that AI does. It’s just not possible. Therefore, he needs help.
Granted, this year we look like much more of a team. AI and Carmelo have been equally effective and having both Kenyon and Nene has been also beneficial up to this point, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The true heart of a team is its point guard.
Don’t believe me?
Maybe you’ve forgotten about what Tony Parker did to the Nuggets last post season. Or the performance of one Denver native, Chauncey Billups.
4 comments:
Sam Cassell, Damon Stoudimire, Smush Parker, Jason Williams, Luke Ridnour, Mike Bibby, Marcus Banks, JJ Barea, Keyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo, Charlie Bell, Marco Jaric...? what does the Nugg Doctor prescribe? would Najera be too much to give up for a point guard? i think Karl would hate to lose Najera and we probably need him for insurance but not sure what else we could move, JR Smith expiring contract?
larksteel,
The guy I still like for the job is Antonio Daniels. He is big, defensive, a veteran, and has been to the NBA promise land.
But, of the guys you mentioned the only one move I would endorse is for Mike Bibby. He can hit the three and push the ball which are two things the Nuggets really need out of a pg. Plus, he is a gritty veteran that unfortunately ran into the Shaq/Kobe Lakers every year in the Western Conference Finals after the turn of the millenium. I just think playoff experience is key when talking about possible guys to bring in here to comandeer this team.
Another thing to consider when thinking about this is how much money Stan Kroenke is willing to shell out. The Nuggets are already the league's third highest total payroll at $79.9 million.
As for who we would give up, Najera may have a tremendous appeal in a city like Denver, but he is just a role player. Same goes for the likes of Linas Kleiza, J.R. Smith, or any combination of the three. The Nuggets need to solidify their backcourt. Otherwise, there is nothing spectacular going to happen come post season.
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
Arroyo would be pretty good for us IMO... yeah, he doesn't have the veteran tag, but the guy is a great passer and when he gets minutes and has talent around him (like this year in Orlando), he can really make some phenomenal plays. We'll get a fisrt-hand look at him tonight I guess.
And I dunno, I think AC is actually sufficient at the PG spot. If he plays 30 minutes or so, that only leaves AI playing 18 minutes max at PG (times when he can be paired with JR/Kleiza).
I know that you're an old-school PG-lovin' kind of guy, but AI will be the guy to lead us through the playoffs if anyone is going to do it -- especially not a PG coming to a new team mid-season. Carter provides enough of a motor (the pace is great when he's in 90% of the time), plays excellent perimeter defense, and seems to have gotten a better feel for his teammates on passes -- if he keeps making that mid-range shot and shooting high percentages, we'll be in good shape.
The real weakness is at SG when Carter is out of the game -- Kleiza has his moments to be sure, but he is simply not the caliber of shooter we need at that spot. JR is obviously the solution here with our current roster (w/Kleiza playing SF when Melo is out), but Karl will apparently never let that happen with any regularity.
Kenny Smith was talking last night about how bench guys (especially younger ones who are streaky) need consistency to thrive, and I think that's 100% correct. A guy like JR needs to know that he's getting 15 minutes every night and possibly more if he plays well, or he's going to be off-kilter the whole time, trying to fit into this or that role rather than just playing the game as he naturally would. When he got consistent time (early last season and to a certian extent earlier this year), he's played great ball and been the guy we needed at that spot.
Kleiza is a natural SF and knows that he shouldn't be taking 3-4 3pt attempts per game, but that's the role that we need from the SG, so he goes along with it. There are tons of open looks created for that guy, and Kleiza just isn't a good enough shooter to convert on them with regularity. He's great going to the basket, playing solid defense, and using his size/explosiveness on the boards... but he's not a natural shooter. He'll surely continue to develop that part of his game, but developing shooting stroke takes longer than developing defense, since it's mostly just attitude (especially with JR, who isn't lacking in physical ability). Yeah JR is younger and more immature -- but can't that be seen as an advantage? He has time to develop the attitude to play consistent defense and improve other parts of his game... but he already has that explosive scoring ability that Kleiza basically lacks.
Anyway, long post... but I think you know what I'm getting at. George doesn't seem to know his personnel and doesn't care to develop them because of personal resentments and stubbornness on his part. Throwing guys under the bus in the media and these sporadic DNPs for guys who should be part of the rotation totally kills their confidence and their "flow". If we can develop these younger players better, it would give AI/Melo/Camby more room to work and more time to rest... so we have them when we really need them (to prevent getting bounced in the Playoffs).
That was a great post, stumble.
Some thoughts for all of us:
George Karl is just a terrible manager of personnel. I think we would all agree on that. Just look at his track record. Ray Allen ended up hating him, Kenyon has had his blow ups, he routinely dodges the bullet of what/who is not pulling its/their weight, and at every opportunity possible he takes jabs at J.R. Smith.
Now, I'm not saying that everybody but George is innocent here, but there seems to be a trend developing when it comes to how Karl handles his situation and his players.
I agree with you that J.R. Smith has been dogged this year, but what is complaining about it going to do? As long as, like you said, "George is going to act so stubborn" J.R. is going to take a back seat to LK because he's the man dishing out the playing time. It's not because LK is a better player, in fact, I could argue that the other way, but Karl is being Karl and J.R. has tried numerous times to make things right.
It reminds me of some stuff I went through in my hoopin' days. I played with a guy that could do no wrong in the coaches' eyes, but screwed up as much as anyone if not more. The coaches just seemed to look the other way when he botched up as if they didn't notice it. On the other hand, there were guys that seemingly always had the microscope on them and their mistakes were highlighted over and over again to the point that it was detrimental to their games.
This kind of bias is why guys get lost at the end of benches when, in all actuality, they could be a tremendous help if given the chance at the right time to do so!
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
Post a Comment