something more than last nights game to talk about.

Regarding #5, I would say #3 is the problem here, as Gallo and Harrington have been playing well, aside from #2. I would probably substitute Lawson’s lapses on defense at #5. It isn’t fair to expect Gallo to get rebounds against Okafor and Kamen.

Karl is recognized as one of the better coaches in the league and deservedly so, however, his rotations are and have been his weakness as a coach. It was part of the reason that we were eliminated by OKC in the playoffs ( going small with Felton and Lawson for too many minutes). He treats his “rooks” as if they are college freshmen instead of professional basketball players, hardly playing them at all. On nights when our starters are struggling (last night for example), would it hurt to throw Faried and Carroll in for 5 or 10 minutes to see what they can do? Leave Brewer in a bit longer, he’s working his tail off and creates defensive headaches for the other team. And I would like to see Koufos and Mozgov get some more minutes, although Koufos played a little more than 9 minutes last night with 0 points. I also agree that our offensive rebounding has been bad, with too many players hanging around the perimeter taking jump shots (and missing). I also agree that the defense has to be tightened up; not sure whats going on there, as they started the season playing pretty good D.

What, exactly, is keeping Karl from getting Mozgov, Koufus and Gallo to crash? I understand that if you crash the boards and don’t get the rebound, you will suffer in transition, but the Nuggets are a team that thrives on its athleticism. I feel we should be able to expect our bigs to be force in the paint AND run back in transition. I’m tired of seeing a shot get hoisted up and the bigs are already past halfcourt by the time it caroms off the rim.

Regarding caroms, I am sick to DEATH of watching Harrington and Mozgov contract Neneboarditis. By that I mean, “reach up and volleyball tap the ball, likely to the other team, instead of grabbing the rebound with two hands”. Seriously! These guys have to get BOTH HANDS on the ball and not expect a tapout to get to the right person. Nene gets away with it because he is fairly good at getting taps on the offensive glass (rarely), but it is absolutely maddening to watch Harrington and Mozgov do it on the defensive end.

Agree on #1. I’ve really been disappointed with his all around game so far. Keep hoping to see him pick it up a notch. Come on AAA!!!

I think he’s gotten a slow start for sure, but he might still be recovering from the bad hammy and is tentative. Also, given he seems to be a stand up guy, I think he might be putting more pressure on himself to carry the squad because of that big contract.

I hope the guy proves me wrong, but even with his work ethic, I think last year was AAA’s ceiling. You can only lockdown on D to a point; if you’re not the most athletic, only so much you can improve the other offensive skills in the toolbox; and it remains to be seen if he’ll get as many wide open looks beyond the arc without Melo drawing double and triple teams.

/rant

He hasn’t looked like himself… but really 44% shooting isn’t terrible, one of the better marks on the team actually. What’s definitely scary is the 3 point percentage and the shot selection. AAA is a leader of this team and when he’s missing wide open threes and taking bad ones, the team’s confidence and everyone else’s 3-ball seem to suffer.

However AAA’s defense has been pretty good, basically what we are used to. The thing is Afflalo is off to a slow start because he wasn’t even getting starters minutes until a few games ago – mainly because Harrington and Miller were playing well.

I’m curious as to what people expect out of Afflalo. He improved astronomically the past two years and it isn’t likely he’ll make as big a jump this year with the same or less minutes. I see Afflalo averaging 12-14ppg, 2 ast, 3 reb a game with outstanding percentages and great defense. I don’t see how people think he’s going to be like a 15-20ppg scorer without his outstanding efficiency taking a serious hit.

People underestimate how valuable a consistent 3 point shooter is – it’s probably a lot more valuable in terms of wins than a guy who averages 20 on below average percentages.

1. Birdman
2.AAA
3.GK
4. Birdman
5. Birdman

Did I meantion Birdman? Amnesty his ass please. I can’t even stand seeing him anymore. He looks like the black sheep of the Nuggets roster.

As much as we’ve heard that Faried is “extremely raw”, there’s no way he can be worse than Andersen is now. Sit that dude down!

starting with the first game against NO, is we have gone back to doing a lot of switching on picks – especially when Moz/Kouf are not in. The result has been that the picker – usually a big – has been able to establish position down low against one of our guards. This happened with regularity in the SA game and Dejuan Blair ended up with perfect offensive rebounding position time and again. If we continue this, not only will we consistently give up way too many offensive rebounds, but we’ll also find our guards getting posted up in mismatches. To me, switching on screens is a sign of lazy defense. I would much rather see us get back to hedge and recover (which Moz/Kouf do pretty regularly).

that AAA’s contract is really 38 million + 5 million certain bonuses. So he is paid about 7,5 million/year. Just wanted to let you guys know that. He is slowly getting into game shape, although he’s very far from where he was last year, but I think it’s understandable. He will be fine in a few weeks.
My main concern is the player formerly known as the Birdman. Whenever he checks into a game, the opposing coach goes straight to his man, and usually they have great success which translates into bad results for the Nugz. I hope that Karl will stop playing him, because at this point, there is no chance in hell that Faried is worse than him and at this point in their respective careers, one player can only go up and the other can only regress. I’ll stick with the one that can go up and that’s K. Faried.

just learned something new about the CBA. A team can only offer a player like Dwight Howard a two year extension on his current deal, which has one year remaining and an opt out option for the player, so a total of three years guaranteed. If the player waits and opts out this summer, he can get 5 years guaranteed to stay with his team, or 4 years to change teams. Either way, players like Howard are not going to be signing that extension with anyone. They will hit free agency and be able to talk with all 30 teams. Has to really hurt Orlando in terms of potential trade value.