I haven't pushed the panic button yet, but it's nearby...
by Andrew Feinstein on Dec 20, 2008 9:59 AM MST
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I think we can safely assume the Nuggets won't be seeing the Cavaliers again this season. While this Cavs team might make it to the NBA Finals, if the Nuggets keep playing like this against good teams, they don't have a @#$%& chance.At 17-9 and still (barely) leading the Northwest Division, the Nuggets remain without an inexcusable loss to a bad team all season. What is alarming, however, is they are 5-8 against plus-.500 teams and have a number of inexcusably bad losses to some of those teams, including last night's drubbing by the Cavs at home.
What has perplexed me in both these two losses is head coach George Karl watching as the Nuggets to dig themselves into huge holes early, not calling timeouts to attempt to rectify the situation and not bringing in his "energy" guys - like J.R. Smith, Renaldo Balkman and Chris Andersen - earlier. (Balkman played less than four minutes last night after getting a DNP-CD in Houston and Dallas. What's up with that?!). This "I'll let them figure it out strategy" might work against Minnesota and Chicago, but it's clearly not working against these superior teams.
On the players' side, Carmelo Anthony's shot selection was totally irresponsible last night, and Nene and Kenyon Martin were completely ineffective. Last I checked, Zydrunas Ilgauskas wasn't exactly an intimidating inside presence and yet Melo, Nene and K-Mart combined for four free throw attempts. Four!! Including none for Melo. Inexcusable.
As of last weekend, all of us in Nuggets Nation knew that this week would be a big test for our Nuggets. And at 1-2 against good teams with two lobsided defeats to boot, the Nuggets are failing that test thus far. But just as we didn't get overly optimistic when the Nuggets seemingly could do no wrong, we don't need to get overly pessimistic quite yet and push the panic button (although we might do so on Wednesday if this trend of poor play against good teams continues).
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Karl's comment this morning in the News was another typical quote: "sometimes I don't know who you are" (meaning the team). If he cannot understand his team, perhaps this means that he doesn't have a clue on how to coach. Maybe we should give George the benefit of the doubt and have him checked out for Alzheimer's disease. He sures seems to forget a lot of imporatnt elements of running a basketball team.
by Anonymous on Dec 20, 2008 11:29 AM MST reply actions
by Simon on Dec 20, 2008 11:50 AM MST reply actions
by KaiserSoze on Dec 20, 2008 12:06 PM MST reply actions
by Anonymous on Dec 20, 2008 12:32 PM MST reply actions
by LB47 on Dec 20, 2008 1:45 PM MST reply actions
by Anonymous on Dec 20, 2008 3:32 PM MST reply actions
by Sea Note on Dec 20, 2008 6:48 PM MST reply actions
And to the guy who said Melo can't drive to the basket: You seriously sound like the type of "fan" who chooses his teams based on jersey colors and design.
And did anyone else notice how dead GK sounded while he was telling the team to be enthusiastic? I've asked this before and I'll ask it again: Other than a few more wins in the regular season, what has George Karl accomplished with the Nuggets that Jeff Bzdelic didn't?
by trasoul82 on Dec 20, 2008 9:26 PM MST reply actions
by Lucas Navarrete on Dec 20, 2008 9:31 PM MST reply actions
by Lucas Navarrete on Dec 20, 2008 9:33 PM MST reply actions
by andrew fisher on Dec 21, 2008 5:18 AM MST reply actions
This from the originator of FireGeorgeKarl.com
Will wonders never cease?
by Dave on Dec 21, 2008 8:40 AM MST reply actions
The song remains the same.
Karl needs to realize that J.R. Smith is not an "energy" guy. He's your actual shooting guard, and the quicker you figure that out, the better off you'll be come springtime.
I don't care if Smith starts or if he comes off the bench in the Manu role. But if he's playing less than 34mpg, Karl is fucking up.
Last year, I thought Smith's lack of minutes was all about the Nuggets (smartly) trying to hold down his value heading into free agency. But now he's under contract. WTF?
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And with Iverson gone and the Pistons my rooting interest, the Nuggets obviously can't be my squad anymore. I still root for them a bit, (and I KNEW Nene was going to make very good someday,) but I've got to say that they're only my second favorite in the West.
I dig Phoenix.
Shaq, Amare, and Nash together? And Shaquille looks spry. I wouldn't bet on them, but they've got a real shot at getting it all together at the right time...
by Petey on Dec 21, 2008 9:24 AM MST reply actions
One of these things is not like the other.
I know he's hurt, but Melo is not a superstar, and I don't think he ever will be. He can score, but just can't take over a game, at least on his own. Billups has all but disappeared in the past few games, and when he's in there is still no movement. He hoists up these stupid shots with 18 seconds on the shot clock. WTF? Must be Karl's influence, which brings me to...
It all comes back to coaching. No movement, no preparation for competing. The Cavs had our number, and we couldn't get anything going. Do we have ANY plays that we can run? In actuality we only had one really bad quarter, and looked ok for the remainder of the game, but it was too late. If we could have gotten somebody going (Melo, JR, Nene) we could have had a chance at a comeback, imo.
On the other side, LeBron can play. Holy Moses. He's HUGE, too. Melo looked puny next to him. Time to hit the gym, Melo. Maybe with some muscle you could begin driving to the hoop.
by Do We Have Any Plays? on Dec 21, 2008 5:44 PM MST reply actions
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