Maybe we're just not tall enough...

by Andrew Feinstein on Apr 9, 2009 6:27 PM MDT

Nuggets/Lakers Recap...

Even though the game was tied at halftime and the Nuggets kept the game in the six to eight point range at moments in the second half, I never felt like the Nuggets had a prayer to win this game. Most unfortunately, as well as the Nuggets have played lately they quickly reverted to the Nuggets we've seen every time they step on that Staples Center floor. You remember those Nuggets, don't you? The ones who rush shots, take too many finger rolls that roll out, play porous defense, throw too many careless passes, and - the one thing we can't control - look too damn short out there.

Regardless of the Nuggets height deficiencies, there's never an excuse not to be aggressive. As noted on this blog several times before, whenever the Nuggets commit more personal fouls than free throws attempted, they're not dictating the energy of the game (as if you couldn't tell simply by watching it). And if the Nuggets attempt less than 31 free throws, they're in for a long night. Both things happened tonight. The Nuggets shot just 29 free throws while committing 32 personal fouls and sending the Lakers to the free throw line 46 times. Even with the standard issue homer favoritism given to the Lakers by the refs, the Nuggets can only fault themselves for getting walked over tonight. The bottom line is that until the Nuggets learn to take the ball to the rack consistently and punish the Lakers on the defensive end (as Boston did in the finals last season), they're not winning a game at Staples Center for a long time.

But we must move on.

As noted in the game preview, this wasn't a must-win game for the Nuggets and they/we can't let it distract from the immediate matter at hand: beating Sacramento on Monday night. I'm not exactly sure what the Nuggets 12 or so assistant coaches do all day, but they should put all hands on deck to scout the Kings properly and figure out how they lost to them in Sacramento on March 8th. Because that game's going to be a must-win now.

Nuggets/Lakers Preview...

In the past few weeks, the Nuggets have faced a pair of what Denver Stiffs claimed to be "the most important game of the season" - i.e. "must-win" games. The first was the Nuggets road win at New Orleans to prevent the Hornets from securing a possible season-ending tiebreaker. And the second was the Nuggets home win against division rival Utah to put enough distance between themselves and the Jazz, in addition to preventing the Jazz from holding a season-ending tiebreaker.

One week removed from that Jazz game and two weeks removed from that Hornets game, the Nuggets find themselves facing another big game when they face off against the Lakers in Los Angeles tonight. But is this a must-win game? Fortunately or unfortunately, no, it's not for our Nuggets. Even if the Nuggets lose tonight, they're still in prime position to secure the second seed in the conference and at worst, the third seed.

Not so for the Lakers. The Lakers are currently one game behind Cleveland, but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Should the Lakers lose tonight, their chances of having home court advantage throughout the duration of the playoffs and NBA Finals are greatly diminished. And with a possible loss looming at Portland tomorrow night (even this incarnation of the Lakers can't win in Portland), the Lakers will be putting forth their best effort tonight against a team they're confident they can beat.

Must-win or not, it's a big game for the Nuggets. The Nuggets continue to get disrespected by the nation's top NBA pundits as they're rarely mentioned in conversations about the West's top contenders. Every time you watch a commentary on the playoffs on either TNT, ESPN or NBATV, you hear about Utah or New Orleans or Houston or San Antonio (before Manu Ginobili went down for the season) possibly being able to contend with the Lakers, but never Denver. Even Jeff Van Gundy during last Sunday's ABC broadcast suggested that the Mavericks could beat the Nuggets in a playoff series. And of course we all remember Lakers coach Phil Jackson's derisive comments about the Nuggets last victory over the Lakers as a "garbage game."

A Nuggets victory tonight serves notice not just to the Lakers but to the entire NBA that their current eight-game winning streak isn't a fluke, that they can beat anyone anywhere and will be ready for the Lakers when the conference finals begin.

Go Nuggets!!

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Comments

totally agree wit u, not a must win

but hopefully we just send a clear message to the whole world tonight

by Bektur on Apr 9, 2009 7:11 PM MDT reply actions

I think Karl should start HART, WEEMS, KLEIZA, BALKMAN, AND PETRO. Then call this our "GARBAGE GAME"

by 1NUGS1 on Apr 9, 2009 7:12 PM MDT reply actions

LET'S GO NUGGETS!
This is the real deal.
Make a statement and show us what you're really made of!

by KnowKnow on Apr 9, 2009 8:21 PM MDT reply actions

Linas Kleiza is fricken KILLING this team tonite. Pathetic.

by KaiserSoze on Apr 9, 2009 9:40 PM MDT reply actions

i'm pretty pleased wit tonight's game, we hung around for most of the game

we were missing k-mart and now i really think we can match up wit LA

by Bektur on Apr 9, 2009 11:29 PM MDT reply actions

This loss.

I didn't like the way Carter played. I have the impression that he takes it personally that Melo and Chancey don't pass him the ball (because he is not a great shooter and is sloppy with the ball). Instead he ignores them, passes to other people (bench) and decides that he should take the shot when they are open. He made too many turnovers.

I am also mad that Balkman got marginal minutes. He was hustling and putting pressure on them.

I think that Melo was having a good game and the horrible foul calls were ignored on Melo and Chancey...then Melo got the foul. Just killed the momentum.

Also JR wasn't hot at the arch...so I could see Karl's frustration on not going to the rim.

They also didn't rebound well...they don't hustle and stay around for the rebound. I felt like Karl kinda gave up before the team did. Didn't insert JR back in until it was too late. Just a combo of those things from what I saw.

I think Lakers will beat Portland. But I am not sure if Houston will lose again...it is going to be tough to be Portland...on what may become the most important game of the year.

CB

by Anonymous on Apr 10, 2009 12:07 AM MDT reply actions

I got to see the whole game live!

I agree we are not tall enough. Although having Kenyon sit so Petro plays doesn't help at either end.

I reckon Birdman goes for too many blocks. The ones I don't like him going for are where he is under the ring and not that close to shooter but he still goes up swiping - if he gets it, it may well be goaltending, but he doesn't get it (they turn up on the highlights vids as well) and then we're one down on the rebound attempt. Case in point: first Lakers play of the second half, someone (Fisher?) shot over Nene, Bird goes for the block, misses, easy put-back for Gasol.

Refs suck in Lakerland, but they clearly played better.

I still think we need to post up Nene more if we are to go well into the playoffs.

by Julian from Australia on Apr 10, 2009 12:39 AM MDT reply actions

I really don't think you are giving the refs enough credit for the outcome of this game. 24 Laker free throws in the first half, 23 in the second. Petro, I've come to notice, is prone to foul trouble so I reall don't like him starting. I understand their was not much choice in this situation, but his presence at the start of the game gave the referees the opening they needed to "validate" their calls for the rest of the game. We had a solid chance the entire game. The 2nd half was much like the first and we had a very valid chance of storming back. But when Melo has his 5th foul with 9 minutes to go in the forth, it's just not gonna happen. I forgot that the playoffs in the NBA are more theater than athletics, and I see that David Stern is determined to get things jump started by making the Finals home court race go down to the wire. I can point you to many message board with Lakers fan posting rolling emoticons in response to how many touch fouls were being call on the Nuggets. Of course they didn't mind, but they had no qualms about admitting how ridiculous it was getting.

Anthony Carters full court pass attempts make me want to bathe with a powered toaster. Ironically, the ONLY Nugget who had a positive +/- was Kleiza. His box score is decent, but by watching him you can tell he is still in a funk.

I think the key to opening things up would have been JR's 3-point shooting. Maybe he needs some green UnderArmour or something. Neither team shot well from 3, so JR being hot would have definitely helped (until he woke up Kobe at least).

But it's hard to grind out a 2nd half comeback when the refs set the tone the way they did. Usually coaches say that you need to set an aggressive tone to start the game, and the referees will generally base their calls on the pace dictated by the aggressors. What are the coaches supposed to tell the Nuggets now? Overall we shot well from the free throw line, but we had 17 less chances than the Lake Show (and it was a "show").

Overall, on the 2nd of a back-to-back and being on the road, I thought we played well.

by E on Apr 10, 2009 1:13 AM MDT reply actions

Holy crap what a game. Not really thrilled by the outcome of that one but I won't lose sleep over it. I had a really hard time with the refing tonight. I am not usually one to ever complain about the refs, ever, but tonight was just atrocious. It really made me sick to my stomach watching the refs of my favorite sports league dictate the outcome of the game in favor of the Lakers. Sure, we didn't play as good as them, but when a game is pretty tight for most of the time you can't expect our guys to keep giving it thier all when it was clear they weren't going to win.

I hate the Lakers, always have, always will. But I have never felf envy towards them, till tonight. I just wanted us to be the ones laughing at the sideslines at the end of the game, doing some rediculous 10 step handshakes to confirm the win with fellow teamates. It sucked. I am not one of the people that was "satisfied" with this game in any way. We are better than what we showed tonight.

by Goldennugget on Apr 10, 2009 2:51 AM MDT reply actions

The Laker front line is just ridiculous. Bynum, Pau, and Odom all know how to use their length and Pau and Odom can actually shoot from distance. Very hard to defend against these guys.

The only possible way to beat them is to be physical with Pau and Odom from the get go. Not after they have the ball, but when they are trying to roll into the paint. They should be punished with elbows and an extra body. We will fall behind early due to the open shots, but I for one am sick of all the shots they had in the paint. This will also reduce on offensive rebounds. With this scenario we will control the second half.

We need Pau and Odom to fall in love with their jumpers. Not just a couple times, a lot. Heck, let Walton and Farmar and Ariza beat us with their jumpers also. If that happens, it was just meant to be. Kobe will get his, but we should be able to keep most of the others out of the paint.

Tonight would have been a difficult win no matter what but with some toughness and discipline from the team it was possible, even with the horrible refs.

by NugzD on Apr 10, 2009 7:45 AM MDT reply actions

On another note, Anderson needs to understand the difference between playing OKC and a disciplined offensive machine like the Lakers. It's not going to be a block party, contribute in other ways.

I love Anderson, but he still needs to improve his game time IQ.

by NugzD on Apr 10, 2009 7:48 AM MDT reply actions

I think it is funny how after the Lakers lost here on the second night of back to backs, all they could talk about was how late they got in and how they were tired. Now, we go play in LA on the second night of back to backs (and we're clearly tired - see 2nd half), and there doesn't seem to be much mention of that. I hated that the TNT announcers started talking towards the end of the game about who can really compete with LA in the West, and totally dismissed the Nuggets because of last night's performance. We would have given them a better game if we were well rested.

by Bee on Apr 10, 2009 7:58 AM MDT reply actions

I can just see the memo coming down from Stern to the officials:
"Under no circumstances are the Laker to be allowed to lose in their upcoming game against the Nuggets. We want the race for playoff home court advantage between the Lakers and the Cavaliers to remain tight and we certainly don't want the Nuggets as the number 2 seed. We want to see the tight race for the seeding in the West to continue for as long as possible. Don't worry about your image or that of the league officiating. We stifled Donaghy so we're safe"

Or to put it another way: last night's game was fixed. Which is really sad because the Lakers had a real good chance of winning that one without any help from the refs.

Thursty

by Anonymous on Apr 10, 2009 7:58 AM MDT reply actions

Also, random thoughts and points of agreement with earlier posts:

1) foul calls. over the top.
2) Bird: he looked in a little over his head, and when he "flies" for an unrealistic block, Gasol was always there to clean up
3) AC: I think our team needs him for his pass first mentality, BUT he makes me nervous every time I see him dribbling and looking WAY down court. He, like Bird, looked out of his league, especially with the press.
4) GK's rotation in the 4th, once again, mystifies me. Why AC and no JR? For that long... his rotations take us out of the game.

In the end, I think we can compete with the Lakers. Win a series? Probably not. But compete and push it to 6 games? Probably so.

by Bee on Apr 10, 2009 8:04 AM MDT reply actions

Too much whining on here about the refs. A couple of calls you might not like, but also stupid fouls in the backcourt by Billups, Jones, and Melo trying to guard Kobe at midcourt. A lot of unnecessary fouls that wound up putting the lakers over the limit early in quarters.

No K-Mart, No chance. Any Petro, No chance.

G.K. is back to the bad G.K. Bad rotations, played Jones way to much meaning Lakers didn't have to guard J.R. Coach Zen actually called numerous timeouts, while Karl only called one that I noticed. I agree with Bird hurting us on the rebounds. He is turning into Camby and not in a good way.

The good news is, the only way they see the Lakers again would be in the conference finals. If they get that far, it would be a great season.

G.K. = Marty Schottenheimer

by KarlSucks on Apr 10, 2009 8:46 AM MDT reply actions

I agree with KarlSucks...

Yeah, the refs are going to favor the Lakers in LA, this is predictable. But too many times last night we saw the Nuggets with planted feet, butt up in the air and hunched over. In other words, they weren't playing with sound defensive fundamentals (perhaps the result of fatigue from a back-to-back?). When they do this, they are in no position to stay in front of their man or fight through a pick, and end up reaching in and getting touch fouls on shots in the lane. Other than Steve Javie's hatred for Nene (what's with that?), I'd say the foul trouble was our own doing.

Also agree about Karl's failure to call timeouts during momentum swings. It's almost as if he's doing it intentionally and I can't for the life of me figure out to what reasoning. But even so, how many times did we give up 2 or 3 straight buckets following timeouts last night? Seems to me Phil Jackson "wins the timeout" against GK everytime. Give him credit for overachieving this year all you want, but an elite coach George Karl is not.

by MJKeenan on Apr 10, 2009 9:08 AM MDT reply actions

It's not like a lot of teams have solved this equation guys. The Lakers have been defeated at home FIVE times all season.

1. The Lakers are a very long team. "Position" rebounders generally will not succeed against long teams. Period. More box outs = more rebounds. And the Lakers were packing the lane all night long.

2. We had the benefit of DFish picking up some very early calls and did not take advantage of it. Outplayed by Shannon Brown? Please.

3. Melo looked great taking it to the rack. Maybe if KMart is in there doing the same, we pick up another 4-5 folus and wear them down a bit.

by My3Cents on Apr 10, 2009 9:25 AM MDT reply actions

3Cent,

Melo did look fantastic driving the lane. That is one huge advantage for the Nuggets - L.A. doesn't have the players to guard Anthony like a Bruce Bowen used to.

The daily dime on ESPN.com did two of it's articles on last nights game, and didn't mention KMarts abscense once. Him being healthy will be a big improvement.

In the end, last nights game might actually help. True playoff intensity and a wake up call just before the end of the season. Plus, they got a preview of a Lakers gameplan that L.A. didn't get of Denver because KMart is out.

by KarlSucks on Apr 10, 2009 10:54 AM MDT reply actions

I'm not too sure I see a whole lot that Kenyon will be able to do against Gasol or Bynum. He's a little too short to really guard those guys in the paint, so other than maybe absorbing some fouls, I don't see him being a difference maker. I think what it comes down to is that we don't match up well with them. Birdman gives up a lot of size and Nene seemed lost a lot defensively. It was probably the worst game I've seen the two of them play all year. We might be able to make it to the Western Conference Finals, but I don't see us beating the Lakers. Our front court has to improve a hell of a lot, defensively at least, to do that, I just don't think we have the personnel.

by Denverson on Apr 10, 2009 12:39 PM MDT reply actions

This was a game where David Stern and his Storm Troopers were so pathetic that everyone should now realize that the NBA is fixed. The MF that gave Nene a tech and then tried to itimidate him should be subjected to the same punishment that the other MF Joey Crawford was subjected. I listened on the radio and the way that Klaz, whatever his name is, was describing the incident it was fucked up. These Storm Troopers take away from the game, in fact I believe they think they are larger than the game.

by samiam on Apr 10, 2009 1:04 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.