Not Sold on the Nuggets Yet
by Alaskan4Fat on Jan 30, 2012 6:02 PM MST
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PrintI'm as excited about the Nuggets as I've ever been. But there's a nagging realist in me that says this is not a top-tier team ...
A quick look at the standings 20 games in provides plenty of reason for optimism. Some of the leading indicators are also excellent (point differential, offensive and defensive efficiency, points off turnovers, and an outstanding 7-3 record on the road).
There are some concerning numbers though. While their 7-3 record at The Can is not terrible, the way in which they suffered each loss was (stinkers against NOLA and the Jazz, collapse against the Clips). On top of that, a few other wins regressed from blowouts into contested games late that kept the rotation from getting rest.
More concerning is the Nuggets record against winning teams. Unoffically, I have them at 10-1 against teams with losing records - which is great to see - but I have them at a pedestrian 4-5 against teams with winning records.
Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. Other than Arron Afflalo and Chris Andersen, every player has either played to or above expectations in my estimation. There is plenty of reason to believe that Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov will continue to improve and that AAA will get back on track. George Karl continues to do his thing. His rotations and decisions can be crazy-making, but he seems to have done a masterful job of getting his guys to buy into the team concept on both ends of the court. And he seems to have developed into a poor man's Phil Jackson. Maybe it's the goatee. Maybe it's the perspective gained in surviving two bouts with cancer. Maybe it's from surviving the Melorama, but he's got some Zen going. And of course, we have the best front office in basketball.
The Philly, Dallas, Miami and NY wins were outstanding. And the Nuggets have been in every single game this year.
But I need to see more.
Ten of the next 18 games are on the road. All 10 of those teams currently have winning records. Meat and potatoes time. If this team wins more than half of these games ... I believe I will begin to believe.
Write respectfully of your SB Nation community and yourself.
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I'm with you
the next few weeks will tell us everything we need to know about this team. I’ll be satisfied if we go 10-8 or better during the next 18, that schedule is BRUTAL
What's the David Obrien trophy?
Sounds awesome!
"All you fuckers who think we won't be good anymore, fuck you" - GK
Afflalo is Boss. But currently slumming in a high-level management position.
We lost one game
It happens, I don’t think we need to panic until we lose 6 in a row or something along those lines.
Am I sold on this team being a 50 win team? Yes, absolutely. Am I sold on this team winning a championship? Well there are times when they look like a championship team, and there are times when they look like they forgot how to play team basketball.
However, it isn’t like our championship window is dwindled. We have a lot of youth, we have our picks, we have the 2014 Knicks pick, which looks like a keeper itself.
We have a lot of stability for the future, so we have plenty of time to tweak things out as we go, but so far I’m happy for the future of the Denver Nuggets. We have an intelligent GM, we have a good coach and we have a strong core to build around.
"I do not threaten, I merely state facts"
Denverstiffs- home of the most bipolar fan base on the internet
OKC guard Reggie Jackson's goal in life is to make it on Wikipedia's disambiguation list.
Karl is a great coach
Not the greatest.
We all have problems with him. But he’s pretty fucking good.
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
Karl is an awesome coach
For regular season basketball. When it comes to playoff time I wish we could get someone who cares.
I'm not saying he is one of the all time greats
He is a good coach. I’m sure he knows a hell of a lot more about basketball than you, or anyone here for that matter. If you were the coach, you would be trading everyone left and right and no one would understand one damn word you said. You would be the worst coach of all time, mr. ice. Thankfully that will never happen, unless you went to go coach the Lakers, then by all means.. go ahead!
"I do not threaten, I merely state facts"
Denverstiffs- home of the most bipolar fan base on the internet
OKC guard Reggie Jackson's goal in life is to make it on Wikipedia's disambiguation list.
by CloudBurst on Jan 30, 2012 11:55 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
Unfortunately
If you let Karl coach the practices and let almost any of the regular posters here coach during the games, you would have a better team. You know, timeouts when needed, no stupid lineups, etc.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Jan 31, 2012 8:43 AM MST up reply actions
Karl is an average game day coach
I am tired of his unexplainable lineups…lack of timeouts…lack of trust in his rookies…I mean its freakin basketball, not rocket science…the concepts are pretty easy to pick up…his failures to bring in true energy players (even for a few minutes) to energized the team…we have the deepest team but some nights we go 7 deep thus tiring the starters out for the next game….hmmm i can probably come up with another list of about 5 to 10 things I think Karl will do to stop us from winning in the playoffs.
Blake just Mosgov'd Perkins
complete with throwing it in and everything (ie not really a dunk).
by Rainbow skyline on Jan 30, 2012 10:19 PM MST reply actions
That was a great dunk!!!
Faried takes over for KMart
Hamilton will be better JR Smith
Marketing Director of the Mozgov Militia!
by SD_Nugget_Fan on Jan 30, 2012 10:27 PM MST up reply actions
let's not forget...!
by InboundingLobPass on Jan 31, 2012 12:47 AM MST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Love that dunk...
… hate all the bullshit carry on afterwards.
Agree with above comments on
being optimistic but needing to see what we do in Feb. Fair enough.
I love these Nugs but a sign that I dont consider them an elite team, yet, is that I am rooting for OKC against the Clips.
Why, because with the schedules OKC and Denver will be facing in eb, it is likely that OKC will increase lead on us by end of Feb. But, the Clips could be a team that we compete with for seeding.
So, lets go OKC (it hurts, it hurts soooo bad)
Btw the same team someone called as a bad team
Is currently thumping the top seeded Thunder. So I think we did pretty well against them without Lawson.
Gotta love the haterz. Keep that hate a comin'
by JR15 on Jan 30, 2012 10:50 PM MST via mobile reply actions
I was just making this point
Throw It Down Big Man Throw it Down called the Clippers “vastly inferior”. And, there’s no way they are that bad with CP3, Chauncey and Blake. Not to mention Mo and DeAndre.
This Nuggets loss is not a big deal. They are going to lose plenty more. I am not going to let that shake my confidence that Denver has a legit shot at a title.
Of course, it all comes down to playoffs seeding and matchups. Denver could draw the Lakers and cruise. Or they could draw San Antonio and struggle Who knows!
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
They are inferior
at every position except coach.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Jan 31, 2012 8:44 AM MST up reply actions
So on that day
You are not only saying Vinny is a better coach than GK, but that Andre Miller> CP3??
yeah they are vastly inferior
Gotta love the haterz. Keep that hate a comin'
They play Reggie Evans 16 minutes a game
Reggie Evans. Nuggets were up 10 in the fourth quarter without their best player until the coach decided to screw them. Until that point the announcers were commenting on how surprised they were that the score was close, that it felt like a blowout.
Would you trade Ty for CP3 straight up today? I wouldn’t. Not with his knees.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Jan 31, 2012 10:02 AM MST up reply actions
I agree Ty is a special player
And if we had him we would have won. Plus Al burned Reggie on the offensive end.
I was surprised Reggie was getting away with so many over the back calls.
Damn it Ron Garretson.
Gotta love the haterz. Keep that hate a comin'
The Clips have the same problem the Nuggets do
Not the best coach for all seasons. Watching LA it looked like they were still trying to figure it all out, which is fair because as a team they weren’t together last year. If Chauncey was his usual 14 per night we would have dusted them even with bad coaching.
All the way.
This team is good. But all of the good teams have had bad losses. I don’t think Denver losing to a good LA Clippers team is a sign of anything.
I do not think and I did not think the Nuggets were going to be the best regular season team. OKC, Miami and Chicago are no jokes.
There is no shame in losing to the Clippers. And, with all do respect to Tiddy, the Clips are NOT a vastly inferior team. As I type this, they are well ahead of the OKC Thunder with six minutes to go.
I’m sorry, no vastly inferior teams beats the Nuggets and Thunder on consecutive nights. I’m afraid the Clippers just might be finding a groove with CP3 back and might just live up to the hype.
My prediction was for the Nuggets to finish somewhere in the top four, and once in the playoffs, I think the Nuggets are as deep and elite as the obvious favorites.
Trust me, Denver is going to struggle in February and a number of you are going to end up more grumpy than I was after Denver lost to the terrible Hornets and overrated Jazz. The Nuggets are not the 1996 Chicago Bulls. But they better than last year’s Nuggets, and that was a good time that had this misfortune to face a tough Thunder match up.
My odds to win the championship:
Miami: 30%
Chicago: 22.5%
OKC: 22.5%
Denver: 10%
LA Clips: 10%
Anyone else 5%
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
We can return the favor on Thursday!
After they take care of Memphis!!!
Faried takes over for KMart
Hamilton will be better JR Smith
Marketing Director of the Mozgov Militia!
by SD_Nugget_Fan on Jan 31, 2012 12:44 AM MST up reply actions
denver at 10% is too high
we have like a 1% chance this year…sorry to burst your bubble…i love this team since I was 4 but at the moment, I don’t feel like it is a championship team (at least not this year)
…only time will tell..
I'm going to Vegas next month
I’ll take that bet.
You are probably right
But who do you think has a better shot, aside from the three I listed above?
Every single elite team has some bad losses and some losses to good teams, etc.
When you look at the season averages, etc., Denver is right up there in all the statistical categories that matter.
The Nuggets are my team, so of course there is a bit of bias, but, the truth is, I’m pretty fucking even keeled when it comes to crunching the numbers.
The only point I will concede on is George Karl maybe not being a championship caliber coach. Maybe.
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
there is no maybe..
He had the best players in Seattle and lost to our Nugs in 1994…
after his coaching performance tonight, I dont think Karl will bring us a championship!
Well
Losing two games in a row after having a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter is enough to make me eat my words and say:
NEVER MIND!
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
So what you're saying is...
We got killed in the Melo trade.
by InboundingLobPass on Jan 31, 2012 12:49 AM MST via mobile reply actions
Mission 5 wins in 4 days starts in Memphis!!!!!
Faried takes over for KMart
Hamilton will be better JR Smith
Marketing Director of the Mozgov Militia!
What?
Which day is the double-header so I can set my DVR?
:P
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
I knew that didn't sound right after I hit the post button...
Faried takes over for KMart
Hamilton will be better JR Smith
Marketing Director of the Mozgov Militia!
by SD_Nugget_Fan on Jan 31, 2012 1:10 AM MST up reply actions
Correction...Mission 4 Wins in 5 nights!!!
Faried takes over for KMart
Hamilton will be better JR Smith
Marketing Director of the Mozgov Militia!
by SD_Nugget_Fan on Jan 31, 2012 1:08 AM MST up reply actions
I like this mission!
Jason Hammel : Feared Slugger was /2011'd
BigGiantHead of the Ubaldo Lover's Club;OG Thugget Loyalist #4, QPU Emeritus, Proud member PR Gynocracy
Beginning last Sunday
they have 16 out of 18 against winning teams, and as pointed out above, 10 on the road. According to G.K.’s rules, winning more than 2 of those games means the nuggets are an elite team!
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Jan 31, 2012 8:46 AM MST reply actions
I voted "GK enigma continues"
I think Chantech must be on to something with his analysis of the Nugs’ defense. 3-point shooters are getting left wide-open as a result of GK’s defensive scheme. Shouldn’t be surprising that Chauncey hit 6 long ones the other night. This kind of thing spells big trouble in the playoffs.
Also, the Nugs’ half-court offense is still very often ulcer-inducing to watch. This has been true in victories as well as defeats.
I’m not changing my tune because of one loss to a pretty good Clippers team. My tune’s been the same all along. This team is great fun to watch when everything’s working, and the roster is very deep and talented, and I expect a fair amount of regular season success. But while no team is perfect, and every team has weaknesses, the Nugs’ weaknesses, to me, will be very big liabilities in the postseason. I just can’t let my hopes get too high. I think the fast-break offense, and weird defense that leaves perimeter shooters wide open, is a bad blueprint for playoff success.
"There's no way I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team' ... I was trying to beat those guys." -Michael Jordan
by ParkHillNative on Jan 31, 2012 12:19 PM MST reply actions
I agree about the 3-point D
It pained me to see how many open looks the lowly raptors were getting the other night. Fortunately, they mostly couldn’t shoot straight.
I also agree about the depth. Failed to mention in the post that I think there depth is a huge strenght for this team. They really can go 11 or 12 deep and have tremendous diversity. Unfortunately, that also means GK can come up with some head-scratching arrangements at times….
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