So what have we learned about the Nuggets?...

by Andrew Feinstein on Mar 10, 2008 10:10 PM MDT

Don't quote me on this, but I believe it was Jon Barry who - while calling the Nuggets last game in February, against the Clippers on ESPN - said something like "we're going to learn a lot about the Denver Nuggets over the next five games." Barry was referring to the Nuggets upcoming five games at Houston, home vs. Phoenix and San Antonio, and finally at Utah and San Antonio. (By the way, Jon Barry as a coaching candidate? Sounds good, huh? Anyone? Anyone? We'll get to that another day).

So what have we learned after going 2-3 on this stretch, with no road wins, culminating with tonight's tough loss to Los Spurs? I offer the following observations, excluding the obvious critiques that fans and the media have called out all season (like inability to commit on defense, inconsistent effort from one night to the next, etc)...

-The Nuggets can't win a road game against a well-coached team (i.e. Houston, Utah and San Antonio). In fact, the Nuggets are 2-10 on the road against Western Conference Playoff teams. One of their big road wins? At Dallas against Avery Johnson. Exactly.

-After two years with essentially the same set of players, they're still incapable of running any plays in a half court set down the stretch (as evident in tonight's loss when the Spurs went on an 11-2 scoring run at the tail end of the fourth quarter while putting the clamps on the Nuggets offense). Given that this was one of the main problems against the Spurs in the playoffs last year, you'd think after 10 months the coach would figure it out...or at least try to.

-J.R. Smith should have been getting significant minutes all season, and by not doing so may have cost the Nuggets a few games. He's admittedly a wild card, but so is Stephen Jackson (without whom the Warriors are 2-7).

-George Karl doesn't work the refs throughout the game, even though this could help in getting a tough call the Nuggets way down the stretch. Tonight's game against the Spurs was a perfect example of this as the late-in-the-game, close calls all went the Spurs way.

-Rocky doesn't always shoot his behind-the-back-half court shot between the third and fourth quarter, he sometimes performs this amazing feat between the first and second quarter.

-Most depressingly, we're probably not making the playoffs. Check out ESPN.com's Marc Stein's breakdown of the remaining schedules for the West's top nine teams if you want to gauge the Nuggets chances vs. their competitors. Ugh.

And even worse yet, we're in danger of becoming the New York Knicks of the West (ridiculously high payroll, talented individual players, lack of chemistry, questionable coaching and suspect management strategy, etc). I know this may sound a bit extreme, but we as Nuggets fans must demand accountability from top to bottom of the organization. There's just something awry. Something doesn't feel right. How can a team look so good against Phoenix and San Antonio (twice), and yet fail to show up against Houston and Utah, in the most important game of the season? Certainly Coach Karl deserves - as I argue - a great deal of the blame, but as I've said from day one there's more to the story here.

Is it all on Karl? Or the players? Or management? Or past management? I will spend the remainder of the regular season proposing and answering these questions as objectively (and sarcastically) as possible, and will inject Nuggets nostalgia whenever appropriate.

On a positive note, Rocky is leading in our coaching replacement poll. I can't wait to watch Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony run the trampoline dunk play in November!

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what are the five stages of depression? something like reluctance, fear, sadness, bewilderment and finally, acceptance? i'd say i'm in stage 5 acceptance that the nuggs will miss the playoffs

by Anonymous on Mar 10, 2008 11:46 PM MDT reply actions

You have posted your blog without mentioning the biggest Nuggets goof of the night and that would be the Nuggets alleged leader, Carmello the A. This dude needs to grow up in the NBA spotlight. Of course he was fouled and double teamed aggressively without the refs calling out the fouls but stop the freaking whining. What a cry-baby. He will get no respect if he does not man-up every night. Play the game, take the fouls without the refs having your back. The refs suck and we all know that but guess what Carmello baby it happens to the opponents as well. At least George benched him for some time to stop the mental bleeding. Tell Camby to stop shooting from anywhere except for two inches away from the rim. Most of the time it is a waste of a shot and the shot clock. I cannot believe that the talent on this team cannot set up an aggressive,selfless-team oriented pass the freaking ball 'till a player is set( see San Antonio offense )and then take the shot. Is JR finally growing up? His minutes are adding up and he is doing well. But this site is about GK. Well it is his team. Time is running out quickly. For those of us who love the lineup, ( me for one ) enjoy the last few games and if they don't get to the first round- there will be changes. If things get better and we get to the first round and get blown out-there will be changes. It is such a shame. What an essemble of talent. Shit I want to cry.

by markp on Mar 11, 2008 12:30 AM MDT reply actions

come on guys the game actually wasn't bad.. complaining after a 4 point loss in SA makes you look like Lakers fans before they got Gasol... for free. You can't tell me that wasn't annoying.

by aeneas on Mar 11, 2008 1:01 AM MDT reply actions

SnakefromHell checks in,

^Dude Nuggets have done this all season long, not just this game. So it's not just a "4 pt loss to the Spurs in San Antonio". It's much deeper than that.

After this game, I'm convinced all is the fault of the coaching staff, maybe just GK.

I can see players were out there trying, but there's a limit to what they can do.

The coach creates the system and directs the players to follow the system.

But in GK's world, there's no such as "system". It's not in his dictionary.

So if there's no system, everything's left to the players to win the game... so when the Nuggets lose, it's easy to blame the players and not the coach. When, if you observe closely, it must be the coach's fault because there's no system in the first place.

Yes, Melo was frustrated and let the emotions get the best of him but we were there in the end even with him struggling. We needed the X and Os, the timeouts, the direction, the momentum to push us over the top in that type of situations.

It seems, in that situation, GK either does not have a clue what he should do, he just has this philosophy where it's up to the players to win the game and he can't be blamed for any other result.

Is he for real? Expecting people to do the job for him? Not even Michael Corleone was this gangster.

by Anonymous on Mar 11, 2008 2:45 AM MDT reply actions

Hey Andrew. LOVE the blog. I think you should have a new poll... would be good to see one on who the Nuggets should take as their lottery pick (and include some obscure, non-proven European talent in the answers)

by Geerten on Mar 11, 2008 3:28 AM MDT reply actions

yea well but we've been talking the rest of the season several times.. so we all agree that we are generally pissed... nevertheless i found this game quite an acceptable effort

by aeneas on Mar 11, 2008 5:37 AM MDT reply actions

^Effort is acceptable yes, but do we play like this every game for the season/ the past 3 seasons? No.

Did the good effort in this game produce a win? No.

Do we need to play with this effort from now on? Yes. But is it too late? Most probably.

How come Karl can't make the team play like this every game? According to him, it's on the players and he can't be blamed.

by Anonymous on Mar 11, 2008 8:30 AM MDT reply actions

AAHAHHAHAHA , what a joke this team is. When they miraculously decide to bring it they can't run a freaking play to win a freaking game. Karl hid himself behind every kind of excuses last season (ai not well integrated, suspensions, injuries), but now its time for him to pay for this waste of talent, money and time.

by Iverson Warrior on Mar 11, 2008 8:56 AM MDT reply actions

Why does this team tease me...they look great one night and i think they might be turning it around then another they look awful. I cant watch anymore, im shutting off the T.V. forever

by LB47 on Mar 11, 2008 9:14 AM MDT reply actions

Andrew I think you need to put this quote by Karl.

"I don't think I've ever played hotter teams," Karl said. "A 3-2 record would have been fantastic; 2-3 is acceptable."

3-2 fantastic? 2-3 acceptable?

Yes, they're 5 great teams.

But is this team even in position to worry about other teams than itself?

No. By saying that, it seems Karl has really reduced this team from "championship caliber team" to "8th seed caliber team".

I can't believe he keeps saying "we're in good position" when the Nuggets are not.

It seems like... he hates the Nuggets and the players.

What have the Nuggets ever done to him that he stands in the way of the Nuggets being the team it is capable of being?!?

by Anonymous on Mar 11, 2008 9:23 AM MDT reply actions

Nugs needs are numerous with this current lineup. Of all their deficiencies, and they are legion, the most disappointing is the utter lack of composure come clutch time.

This is something they've been doing since the Bzdelick era. Four years, two coaches and another superstar later, they still can't finish games 'gainst the good teams.

Time to start over, Silent Stan... time to start over.

by Anonymous on Mar 11, 2008 3:32 PM MDT reply actions

I caught this conversation between ESPN's Bill Simmons and ESPN's Ric Bucher on Simmons BS Report podcast:

Simmons: How dysfunctional on a scale of 1-to-10 (are the Nuggets)

Bucher: It's not dysfunctional, it's simply that you have a talented group of guys who all believe that 'if I play my game, we'll win', and nobody is sacrificing their game to make it work with the rest of the team. And George Karl is of the mind, and he started this way from the beginning, that I have a bunch of veteran crazy guys, I can't be Mean ol' George, I gotta be Nice George. There has never been a level of accountability there that you need. And once you go there, I don’t know that you can go back.

by Lord Sam on Mar 11, 2008 4:35 PM MDT reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

STIFF LIST (as of 4/26 by Andrew Feinstein)

1. METTA WORLD PEACE

Metta resorted back to Ron Ron last Sunday by clubbing James Hardenwith an "inadvertent celebratory elbow", landing him a 7-game suspension. Apparently, changing his name didn't prevent NBA commissioner David Stern from overlooking Metta's past behavior problems.

2. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

The 'Cats are on the verge of securing the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Given that the guy who runs the team - Michael Jordan - had previously drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, should this really be a shock?

3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The team that was supposedly built to overcome the lockout-shortened season managed to lose 7 of its last 14 games, ceding the Western Conference's 1-seed to the Spurs in the process. Their reward might be a first round matchup with defending champion Dallas.

4. BILLY HUNTER AND DEREK FISHER

With report after report coming out about NBPA union head Hunter's shady, nepotistic dealings and questions arising about Fisher's own role in dealing with NBA owners behind Hunter's back during the lockout, this off-the-court scandal could prove to be more exciting than the playoffs themselves!

5. STEVE NASH AND THE PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are on this list for squandering the last few great seasons from Nash. Nash is on this list for his stupidly stubborn loyalty to a franchise as awful as the Suns.