Rather than recap the Nuggets latest pathetic loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in detail, I'm just going to link to past posts about the recent spate of Nuggets losses to the Lakers. Because, at the end of the day, all these games are exactly the same....
...George Karl is unable to put together a comprehensive game plan to make the contest competitive.
...Carmelo Anthony cowers and settles for bad jump shots with way too much time on the shot clock.
...The Nuggets rack up way too many turnovers.
...The Nuggets allow the Lakers to score at will, and right at the rim.
If you want to know more, I encourage you to read the following archived posts:
"The Nuggets just shouldn't play the Lakers anymore." (11/2/08)
"Yeah. We quit. Everybody." (4/27/08)
"Why was this game different from all other games?" (4/20/08)
"We got no shot to beat the Lakers." (4/17/08)
"Trust me, we really don't want to play the Lakers." (4/16/08)
I'm going to bed with hopes that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll just pretend this game didn't happen.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
New point guard, same results...
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13 comments:
Re: Nuggets can't play with Lakers
We're in the Chauncey Era now, but you've got to learn to walk before you can run. They're not up to playing the Lakers yet. Maybe that will happen in time...
However, the Lakers are loaded with quality Big Men (aside from having Kobe) and the Nuggets are not. And why is that the case?
Because Stan and the 3 Musketeers were cutting payroll, and those moves took away talent & size at forward and center.
When Nene gets hurt, this will get worse.
I thought we played pretty decent defensively to start the game, but Kobe stuck it to us early... he couldn't miss! That man is unreal. He was the only single reason why we were such in a big hole early. And from there, it went downhill...
The defense started to sag, sloppy plays mounted, turnovers piled up, the whole team started not to care about the game...
Billups and Kleiza kept missing open shots, KMart couldn't get going offensively (not that we should count on him to get going offensively), and if Melo wouldn't show up offensively what makes anyone including himself think he would want to show up defensively? His lazy self from last season took over his body and determination that he's going to be this "changed player"... Only J.R. was making shots, but he too was very predictable with either pull up threes or to the rack move. Had he been cold, it would have been so easy to shut the whole team down because they knew what he's going to do: 3 pointer or to the rim.
Only Nene was steady but he too lacked touches...
But the biggest disappointment has to be Melo's approach to the game. Not his outputs. If he's playing and showing up like there's no purpose playing the game or winning the game... then the whole team will just shut down because he's the team's leader. The energy level was very disappointing and I thought it negatively impacted the whole players, including Billups.
- Snake -
As opposed to last year, i felt like this loss to the lakers was just a poorly played game, rather than a team completely overmatched. Obviously the half court defensive rotations were terrible in the first half, but that seemed to improve right before our eyes.
You can have bad shooting nights in the NBA, and the Nuggets did just that. We had so many uncontested 3's and 20 footers, that if we shoot like we are capable of, this game would have been very close.
Melo's offense isn't very good right now, but the effort he has been putting into rebounding is awesome, and with his talent, all we can ask for from him is effort, and he seems to actually be providing it.
I'm not ready to jump up and say that this team is ready to be a #2 seed or anything, but i really enjoy watching this team put forth the effort and they seem to ACTUALLY be improving every game, rather than just talking about it.
There is a lack of confidence when the Nugs come to La. and when LA comes to Denver. You can see it just with their lack of committment on the court.
I think the Nugs are in awe of the Lakers and let them have their way.
The Lakers are just amused by the Nuggets. The Nuggets are like the Circus Clowns in for a night with plenty of entertainment and laughs and giggles for all at the Staples Center.
Time for a gut check.
I thought when Chauncey arrived I'd never have to watch Anthony Carter guard Kobe Bryant again. Then, last night, it happened again, and I couldn't take it. As soon as Karl assigned AC to guard Kobe Bryant, and the Lakers pulled ahead by 20, I decided to go to a bar that wouldn't be playing the game. A George Karl team might win 55 games, they might win a playoff series (as improbable as it may seem), but they will never, ever defeat a team as good as the Lakers in the playoffs.
The name of this site needs to go back to Fire George Karl as soon as possible. The thing that did it for me was how before the game Karl adressed the keys to a Denver win and then didnt do a thing to make it happen. You can never ever let AC guard Kobe. Did he blackout the playoffs? JR actually played decent D on Kobe in the playoffs but AC was a total LIABILITY.
Melo needs to practice his stroke get GRG out there with him and get back on track. And if it isnt coming to him then take the freaking ball to the rim, there is a charity stripe but you would never ever guess he knew that was the case.
Finally LK. he needs to develop his mid range game and forget about the 3 for a while. He is at his best when he can cherry pick but he can be deadly when he can hit from further out. You know its not going right when you are Clanging wide open threes. And honestly if JR played like LK has in the last few games he would be riding the pine for at least a few weeks.
Andrew, I've emailed you before and commended you for your awesome insight into our Nuggies and you've been doing a great job this season. HOwever, I feel like their is just way too much Melo-hating going on and I have to comment on it. How is he seriously on the Stiff list ahead of Wark and K-mart? I do not see any justification in that. Say what you want about Melo, but if we all take a step back and look at the state of our franchise pre-Melo, how can we not be annointing him the savior? We all tend to forget that Melo is 24 years old, and has a long, illustrious career AHEAD of him, not behind him. I'm not saying Melo is error-free by any means, but we need to cut the guy a little slack. Anyway, keep up the good work, and even with this trouncing by the hated Lakers, I'm still very optimistic about the Nuggs in the ACB era, this season and beyond. GO NUGGIES!
I think we all saw last night why JR is still fighting for minutes too. Both he and Melo were horrendous last night.
Yeah, but they aren't gonna get out of their hole with Karl being the usual idiot he is and giving AC the role of guarding Kobe. Really a great choice George, especially when you have guys like the Incredible Balk, D-Jones and K-Mart who are all 10 times better off doing it. What an idiot.
Any time the Nuggets split a road trip, everybody should be happy. Split on the road, hold serve at home, and we've got a damn good team.
The bitching that goes on around here is ridiculous. Dave, why don't you go lose $40 million on a team and see how long you'd keep payroll sky high. This team is STILL in the lux tax, for chrissakes.
I also think Linas Kleiza needs to go. He plays absolutely NO defense, and his shoot first mentality is not good for the team. Especially since he's not a very consistent shooter. It's like he has no idea whats going on on the court. Trade him while he's still worth something.
I hate the Lakers as much as anyone..but they are just a better team than us. There is no shame in being the second best team in the west...
This loss does nothing to my belief that we are a better squad then last year. We are a team ready to bust out of the first round...not a team that is going to beat the Kobe's in the Western Conference Finals.
The swings on this blog (which I love...great work!) and here on the board are amazing. After we win a few everyone is giddy, and then after we lose a game where we didn't play great to a loaded team everyone is doom and gloom.
George Karl ain't great but there are a lot of worse coaches then him. Just like our front office ain't great, but there are worse ones out there as well. We should just be thankful that perhaps by GM brillance or by complete luck we are out of the groundhog day NBA version. (first round exit after first round exit)
I fully expect us to start a new streak against the bulls. If we don't maybe I will drink the "Blame Karl" Kool-Aid.
I thought the loss was pretty much par for the course! I wouldn't be as discouraged however, if I'd seen some indication that we might eventually be competitive with LA. Kobe has NEVER been tested by the NUggs- EVER! Chances are he'd pass whatever test they gave him, but right now we're no more than an irritant to Kobe & the Lakers! GKarl still has an entire season to tinker, & come up with a way to at least be competitive w/ LA. Also, this is the kinda game where my faith in Melo starts to falter! It's now year 6 of the "Melo-Era", yet we still need to discuss taking the ball to the rim? He simply regresses against good teams! I love Melo, but it's clear he's no Wade, Lebron, or even Bosh! Our star needs to show up- win or lose. He can't ALWAYS be a question mark- he's gotta be reliable.
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