The Nuggets demise. by George Karl and the front office.
by smoil on Mar 7, 2010 12:53 PM MST
22 comments
The past two years have been unbelievable being a Nuggets fan. We have been seeing things on the court that haven't happened in over 20 years. Unfortunately, I think this run is bound to end, and quite soon. With K-mart "possibly needing knee surgery," it appears that the Nuggets are about to take a turn for the worst.
So who's to blame? K-mart? The "physical" nature of basketball? No. I blame this on our front office and George Karl. The oldest, and most injury prone players on this team have been over used and it's finally catching up to us. If you have two out of three big men you play with Knee tendinitis, you are doing something wrong. Chauncey, K-mart, Nene, and Bird have all seen minute increases of at least one minute from their career averages. Why? Theses guys are not wine, and they are the most injury prone players on our team.
I do sympathize with Karl because he was not given another big man when he has publicly said that having another big is what he thinks this team could use. The fact is, we didn't get another big and other players need to be playing. Only playing 8 men the entire season is inexcusable. When given the opportunity, Malik Allen and Joey Graham have shown that they can at least step in for a few minutes a game and relieve some of the pressure off of our three main bigs. If you watch the Lakers games this year against us, you will notice that Phil has given other players like Powell, Walton, Vujacic and others meaningful minutes in the second quarter. Phil has a the bigger picture in mind. This is a long distance race, not a sprint. By playing people like Powell, Walton, and Mbenga he assures himself the opportunity to have his starters fresh and ready for the fourth quarter or more importantly "THE PLAYOFFS?" Karl uses 8 guys and that's it. For a team filled with players that have had serious health issues, this is just dumb.
The second reason we find ourselves in this dilemma is our front office and owner Mr. Stan. Stan has decided to go cheap on us and it's showing. This whole business of, "we tried to get _____" irritates me to no end. I don't care who you talked to, or who considered coming here. We needed a big and we got absolutely NOTHING. Was the front office and Stan watching the Lakers series last year? Did they see how we ran out of gas in the final two games, and just could not match up height wise with the Lakers? Apparently not. We have had ample opportunity to get someone in here. Does Dejuan Blair ring a bell? Does Channing Frye ring a bell? Instead we have decided to let Karl run our players into the ground. Better Luck Next Year....
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really now ?
first of all, I think any team that loses their starting Pf is going to take a hit in their playoff chances, no team has that kind of depth, not even the Lakers. I’m going to have to disagree with you that a 8 man rotation is inexcusable, you have to realize the race for the #2 seed extremely tight and the margin for error is very small. Guys like Johan Petro and Malik Allen just do not cut it, they are nice people to have around for injury depth but playing any meaningful minutes and we could very well be the 8th seed right now, maybe even lower.
"The Nuggets demise"
check the standings, that’s not called a demise. If the Nugs go on to have 5 straight years of below .500 ball than you can call it a demise.
March 14, 2010: The great one returns!
I agree
The eight man rotation has put wear and tear on old and fragile players. The PJ comparison is spot on. GMK talks a good game about the season being a marathon but he played the season like a sprint.
Stan K makes his trades with the Avs and appease their fans, but he leaves the Nugget fans hanging. As to say Fuck them.
demise is harsh
but Stan needs to open up his pocket. I would be curious to know if a team has ever won a championship while being under the salary cap. I’m too lazy to check. I’m not saying buy our championships a la the Yankees, but can we pursue a bit harder during free agency
Blair has a history of knee problems, check back in a couple years. Frye doesn't play defense.
And seriously, who do you trade for a legit big man? JR? How about that sack of potatoes we have lying around here?
Oh, wait, we’re currently using it because Ty is injured. Check back in a couple days for that one.
"All by their heads, he places crowns."
Matt Prater, pre-2009 season: Despised, lambasted, Josh McDaniels is derided for not replacing him.
Matt Prater, post-2009 season: Loved, praised, everone forgets the time when they called Josh McDaniels an idiot for not replacing him.
by Tempestuous Binary on Mar 7, 2010 3:58 PM MST reply actions
Thank you
This is the point I try and make every time someone’s up in arms about the mythical big man trade we’ve failed to pull off. Bottom line is we never had more than magic beans to offer, and there was no one out there worth giving up JR or Nene for. Does anyone really think we’d be in better shape if we’d swapped one of those two for Tyrus freaking Thomas?
blame melo and cb1
they were more concerned with their own scoring than the team winning. look at the record against teams below .500. the game against ok city is how the nuggets should have been playing all year. nuggets shot three 3 point shots in the first half. the sacrament games were typical of the lack of team play. games went into the 4th quarter or overtime to be decided. melo and cb1 are the captains and scoring leaders. they set a bad example on offense and it effected smith’s impulsive and inconsistent play. melo hurt himself in overtime of a game that should have been a blow out in the 3rd quarter.
pick up a calf every day pretty soon you will be picking up a cow
Riiiiiiiiight...
If only we didn’t have Melo & Chauncey holding us back. I mean, what have those guys ever done?
Not saying they haven’t had their issues, but what you’re saying is absurd.
those two All-Stars are teh suxxors. I'll bet no other would ever want them....
Troy Tulowitzki - Best SS in the MLB - 2010 MVP
"With a guy like Melo, it’s tough to stop him with one person. You can’t. I don’t know one guy who can stop Melo on a consistent basis."-CP3
Brad Hawpe - Will prove the doubters wrong
PS Let's win the NL West in 2010, shall we?
the issue was too many minutes for key players
nuggets could have done it the easy way or the hard way. meeeelo and chauncemeeee decided to take jump shots early in the offense instead of getting a good shot in the context of the offense. transition 3 point shots are great when they go in. forcing things by shooting over, dribbling through or around double teams made winning difficult. the record on the road and against bad teams speaks for itself. selfish play got denver to this point. team play would have gotten denver a better record with less minutes for the starters and more minutes for the bench players. go over the stats yourself.
pick up a calf every day pretty soon you will be picking up a cow
"Selfish play" got us 20 games over .500 and within 4 games of the #1 seed in the West
Easy way, hard way – from where I’m sitting, that’s damn good.
team play gets denver the #1 seed and into the nba finals
which is way better from where i am sitting and the whole idea in the first place. the issue still remains too many minutes for key players. looking back to the golden state game where melo hurt his ankle in overtime and the ripple effect it had on the team. melo and billups are both having CAREER scoring years. denver has had the same 2 bad habits since last season. getting off to a bad start and or getting a lead and allowing the opponent back into the game. the cause is the same and it is a failure to execute the half court offense. cb1 is the point guard. his job is to facilitate the offense by passing the ball. melo plays the small forward position which means he REBOUNDS, scores INSIDE as well as from the outside. look at denver’s past 2 games. against a playoff team they played team ball. against a sub .500 team it was selfish play and as a result the starters played more minutes. the past 2 games are the nuggets’ season in a nutshell. denver could have had a better record AND THE STARTERS COULD HAVE PLAYED LESS MINUTES.
pick up a calf every day pretty soon you will be picking up a cow
I'm not blaming Melo and Chauncey
Yeah, sometimes they hog the ball, but they’re the players you want with the ball at the end right?
Besides, they’re not the reason why K-Mart’s knee is potentially screwed.
how do you blame Karl?
if the owner doesn’t want to pay, that’s the end of it.
Trades? Who would want Malik Allen, Johan Petro, AC and Balkman? What could we get for that. We offered a little package for Tyrus Thomas, but Charlotte offered them Flip Murray who is a pretty decent player. If we traded J.R., who leads our bench unit? Don’t tell me Ty Lawson would pick up the scoring slack if JR were gone, because he simply can’t. Ty’s got to work/learn on drawing fouls when he takes it to the hole. That’s what smaller guards have to do (a la Iverson).
Why are people still complaining about Blair?
He got drafted in the 2nd round for a reason, the guy has no ACLs. One knee injury to either knee and his career is over.
But we coulda had him and he's making the league mininum for the next 4 seasons
Even if he blows up his knee in his second season, he’d still be a very good value.
"Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford
""He’s a stiff." - The Legendary Doug Moe
"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors." - Weldon Drew
"I really didn't want it, but now that I've won it, it's nice. It's an honor. It's nice to know people don't think you're a total idiot. ... It must have been a poor year for coaches." - Doug Moe...talking about winning 1987-88 Coach of the Year award.
"We're just tough, man" - Chauncey Billups
Seriously guys, cut out the doom and gloom
I’m usually the one that’s supposed to be doing that, but even I feel positive about this season even with the bad injury-related news around us.
"Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford
""He’s a stiff." - The Legendary Doug Moe
"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors." - Weldon Drew
"I really didn't want it, but now that I've won it, it's nice. It's an honor. It's nice to know people don't think you're a total idiot. ... It must have been a poor year for coaches." - Doug Moe...talking about winning 1987-88 Coach of the Year award.
"We're just tough, man" - Chauncey Billups
Money does count, sadly
I’m enjoying this season, despite to aches and pains. Let’s see if Petro can continue rebounding and not foul out – that’s all he really needs to do. His length gives the Nugg D a different feel with more emphasis on shot-blocking. Could work out.
As to Cook, the only thing different from Malik Allen is 3-point range. Useful, I guess.
I think the Nuggs big opportunity will come in this off-season thru trading Kmart’s absurd contract. They should get a serious young PF or C plus another mid-level player, AND go down in overall salary.
Y'all quit this talk
I’m supposed to be the pessimist here. If you’re a true Nuggets’ fan, then you wouldn’t make a fanpost about how the Nuggets suck.
"Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford
""He’s a stiff." - The Legendary Doug Moe
"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all our games are played indoors." - Weldon Drew
"I really didn't want it, but now that I've won it, it's nice. It's an honor. It's nice to know people don't think you're a total idiot. ... It must have been a poor year for coaches." - Doug Moe...talking about winning 1987-88 Coach of the Year award.
"We're just tough, man" - Chauncey Billups
I guess it was that extended absence you had earlier this year
It created a vacuum and everyone just rushed to fill that particular role…
by Uh on Mar 14, 2010 6:56 PM MDT up reply actions
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