Golden Nuggets: Better on the road ...
by Andrew Feinstein on Feb 13, 2012 12:29 AM MST
in Denver Nuggets: Daily Links
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PrintOf all the bizarre things I thought might happen during this lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season, I never foresaw the Nuggets being substantially better on the road than at home.
Josh Kroenke and the Nuggets marketing team won't want to hear this, but maybe our Nuggets shouldn't play at Pepsi Center anymore. And while they're at it, maybe they shouldn't play in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone, either.
Wrapping up the weekend, the Nuggets hold the Western Conference's second-best road record (at 9-5) and are yet to lose a game - home or road - to an Eastern Conference team (at 9-0). And even though the Eastern Conference remains the Junior Varsity of the NBA's two conferences, you have to give the Nuggets credit for winning at Indiana, at Philadelphia, at New York, at Milwaukee and at home against Miami in emphatic fashion.
Nuggets Nation certainly didn't see this trend coming when forecasting the 2011-12 season.
Of all the teams best suited for the lockout-stressed season, it should have been the Nuggets at home. With their depth, speed, height and altitude advantage, the Nuggets should have had the NBA's best home record thus far this year by routinely feasting on road-weary teams having to play in Denver during a four-games-in-five-days stretch, or the second of a back-to-back, and so forth. Moreover, since arriving in 2005 head coach George Karl has overseen one dominant Nuggets home team after another. Instead, this season the Nuggets have played at home about as well as the Broncos have played at home since moving to Invesco / Sports Authority / whatever-the-hell-it's-called field. Meaning: mediocre.
Traditionally one of the NBA's best home teams, it's painful to watch the Nuggets drop games at home. Not only is it bad because a loss is a loss (period), but the more home games the Nuggets lose the more the mystique of playing at Pepsi Center begins to wear off. If NBA teams realize that cellar dwellers like the Hornets and Warriors, or three-games-in-a-row-losers like the aging Mavericks, or mediocre teams like the Rockets and Jazz can win in Denver on any given night, whatever psychological advantage the Nuggets once had at home could get negated.
In fairness to the Nuggets collectively, we knew February would be a rough month and the home losses started coming fast and furious as soon as Danilo Gallinari got unexpectedly hurt in that home loss to the Rockets last Monday. Prior to that game, the Nuggets were a disappointing (but not catastrophic) 7-4 at The Can. Now 7-7 in Denver, I think it's obvious to everyone who follows the Nuggets closely that Gallo is more important than we ever thought he might be.
Looking ahead to the remainder of February, the Nuggets have four home games and four road games ... all against tough opponents with the exception being the Suns who play at Denver Tuesday (although historically, Steve Nash's Suns have given the Nuggets fits, at home or on the road). Regrettably, not one of those eight games is against an Eastern Conference team. And two of the Nuggets upcoming home games - Minnesota on the 20th and San Antonio on the 23rd - will be the second of a back-to-back for the Nuggets.
So Gallo or no Gallo, the Nuggets must find a way to win at home (I can't believe I'm actually saying this) while maintaining their solid play on the road if they're to salvage what's been one of the roughest months during Coach Karl's era in Denver.
On to the links ...
Denver Nuggets, in search for a closer, challenge NBA notions - The Denver Post
Chris Dempsey notes that the Nuggets are 5-5 in games decided by less than 5 points, and they're 3-5 in those situations against teams that are plus-.500.
The N.B.A. Is Missing Its Shots in China - NYTimes.com
The New York Times catches up with Wilson Chandler in China.
The Denver Nuggets Won't Win a Championship, But Not Because They Don't Have a Superstar - Yahoo! Sports
Since last year's Carmelo Anthony trade, the Denver Nuggets have been sizzling as one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference and the NBA. The million dollar question is: Can they win an NBA Championship without a superstar?
South Stands Denver Fancast | Denver Sports Podcast - Blog view: It really is good to be a Stiff
There's nothing "stiff" about Denver Stiffs, says our friends from South Stands Denver Fancast.
Mile High Sports - Beyond Reproach
James Merilatt claims that George Karl gets a free pass in Denver when it comes to criticizing the Nuggets.
NBA -- Denver Nuggets winning with no stars - ESPN
The Nuggets are winning without a star, but even one of their players isn't sure if they're title material, writes J.A. Adande.
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Comments
First!
Tzime zone advantage here inAK.
by Alaskan4Fat on Feb 13, 2012 12:35 AM MST via mobile reply actions
I agree Andrew
Winning on the road and losing at home is just counterculture to Nuggets basketball. I’m really hoping they put the fdeaking hammer down on the Suns and blow them out. Don’t know how many more GS type losses I can take.
by Alaskan4Fat on Feb 13, 2012 12:40 AM MST via mobile reply actions
*apologies for thr typos.
These compressed smart phone keyboards are brutal – especially vombinef with Crown and Coke!
by Alaskan4Fat on Feb 13, 2012 12:44 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
nice article from dempsey
at least until the end when he perpetuates the utter myth that Kobe is the best “closer” in the game.
by Rainbow skyline on Feb 13, 2012 2:01 AM MST reply actions
Nice article, Andrew
The Nuggets 7-7 at home??!! Astounding.
You are certainly right that Gallo is important! Now with Nene down too, Ty and AAA will need to keep bringing it every night like the last couple of games. Brewer, Harrington, Miller and Fernandez can take turns stepping up, but those two need to lead, especially if we have to play the Suns w/o Moz.
At least the younger guys will get some experience – K2 in particular, who is starting to look like a pretty smart signing. Go Nuggets!
That Yahoo article
sure makes the Nuggets sound like garbage and all the other western conference teams like gold.
"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.
Ya...
and what’s up with Andre jumping on the, “we need a star” bandwagon!? Is he trying to talk his way out of town or what?
by UKnowULovedVanQwik on Feb 13, 2012 8:11 AM MST up reply actions
No
Passive aggressive fuck-you to the refs and the league who do tend to be biased with whistles to star players. And getting to the free throw line in crunch time is a huge advantage when it comes to closing out games.
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
you really think so huh?
I don’t know, I still get the feeling he doesn’t want to be here. And if the last few games are any indication, it may not be such a bad thing to move on. We play slow when he’s in there, and lately he has been serving up t/o like crazy! We’ve been a better team with him on the bench, as of late. Not to mention, I’d much rather see a true SG (AAA) in the lineup at the end of games to avoid those ugly mismatches on the defensive end. This coming from an AAA skeptic, nonetheless. He was money the last game on both ends of the court.
by UKnowULovedVanQwik on Feb 13, 2012 9:06 AM MST up reply actions
Dre frustration..
Andre was definitely frustrated last game. The 2nd Q was brutal. I think both he and Big All were the most effected by that brutal stretch of 7 games in 10 nights.
Think they will be OK. But yeah Dre was having some AC moments with those TO’s.. yikes.
I do think it was a slight at the league
But Andre does want to start. He’s said as much.
As a veteran player, a top point guard and an expiring contract, Andre is super lucrative trade bait. He very well may end up playing elsewhere. But it seems to me that he’s being a professional about it.
He has bad games. And then he has good games where he wins it for the Nuggets — see Philly or even that crazy shot against the Knicks.
I’m not worried about Andre.
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him moved before the deadline.
he’s a good player (most of the time), but it’s just not a good fit, and he’s been such a glaring defensive liability this year.
by Rainbow skyline on Feb 13, 2012 9:58 AM MST up reply actions
Trade for Lin? Haha
"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.
by love4nuggets on Feb 13, 2012 11:17 AM MST up reply actions
Would fit in to the lakers Odom salary slot . . .
Seems like a natural fit for a walk up team to pick up a wily veteran for him.
If we could only work that so that Howard and Miller to the Lakers somehow ended up with Pau to the Nuggets . . I would be happy.
I stopped reading
after he wrote something to the effect that KD, Westbrook, and Harden like to run, so the nuggets won’t be able to keep up…really?
Just don't hold on to the damn basketball!!!
Just an article of opportunity..
Good example of a writer who waits for a team to have a bad stretch, then uses it to bash a team he doesn’t like. Sure some of the stuff he says in generally true.
But every team in the West has flaws, even the mighty Thunder. The playoffs are going to depend on a lot of factors – health, matchups, refs, and shudder.. just who is hot in May.
Could be the Nuggets….. that is why we watch…
Couldn't have anything to do
with the Nuggets 7-12 record against the western conference could it?
Nuggets being 9-0 so far against the eastern conference is grade inflation for their record. The Eastern conference only has about 3 maybe 4 teams who would make the playoffs in the Western conference.
Reality is, this hasn’t been a good team so far.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 13, 2012 3:21 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
Interesting 7-12
"https://twitter.com/Jay_Ru96" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Jay_Ru96</a>"
Formerly GForbesTheNuggetsAgentZero
by The U.N. Fab Five on Feb 14, 2012 9:41 PM MST up reply actions
Here's the thing:
Denver is one of the few places in the NBA with a legitimate home-court advantage. Between the altitude and Denver’s remoteness (teams have to travel farther to get here), there is a statistically relevant advantage to playing in Denver as the home team.
I can only guess that part of this funk is psychological and a better part of it is just injuries and fatigue caused by the league’s brutal scheduling.
By the time the full course of the short season plays out, Denver’s advantage at home will reinsert itself. Just hope Denver can keep winning on the road.
Denver has no more games against Eastern Conference opponents in February but it is worth pointing out that they will take several trips to the Central Time Zone, where they’ve lost just twice this year (I could be wrong, as that’s just off the top of my head).
Is your love worth the nausea it could bring?
This win helped with the psychological part, I hope.
If AAA can maintain his focus that will help a lot. But the injuries and insane scheduling remain.
I agree with this.
Even the Nuggets’ themselves may be re-acclimating to Denver’s altitude. As the season wears on and we get more experience in The Can, we’ll be able to weather the altitude while other teams will not. (in theory) It’s possible that it’s partly a home court disadvantage for some non-acclimatized Nuggs at the moment.
Acclimating
I could be wrong (usually am), but I remember reading that it takes about 3 days for the body to produce the extra blood cells needed to acclimate to a higher altitude, and the higher blood cells last for about 3 days after you leave a higher altitude.
indeed
You think about all the built-in advantages the Lakers have. The Nuggets have just the one, the home court advantage. The altitude, the geographical isolation (only one other team in the same time zone). Definitely not a good year when the Nugs aren’t taking full advantage of it.
2009-2010 season: Nugs’ record at home was 34-7
2010-2011 season: Nugs’ record at home was 33-8
So they’ve already lost as many home games as 09-10, and one more home loss will equal 10-11. I bet if I went back a couple more years, we’d see that they finished those seasons with 10 or fewer losses at home.
Just imagine if they could’ve been 4 games over .500 on the road one of those years.
"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 Feb 13, 2012 11:21 AM MST up reply actions
The schedule will turn..
The schedule will lighten up for the Nuggets. No more B2B2Bs and just one more extended road trip. And that is after a VERY extended home stand. If the Nuggets can get everyone healthy, I see them make a run. GK’s teams in Denver had traditionally play better in the 2nd half of the season.
But the reality is that the Nuggets are not the dominant team that could power through injuries and fatigue (as we all hoped). The home losses to bad teams will probably cost the Nuggets seeding in the playoffs. So it is a good thing the Nuggets have shown they can win on the road. Think they will need that.
Bizarre season. I never would have though Denver would be 7-7 at home. Just weird.
Hey don't we like road trips??
Now I am scared of the multiples games at home instead of the road lol.
Count me as one who is not worried. I like the under the radar way the Nugz are doing now. Also I told all the AAA haterz that he would slowly come around.
It is going to be frustrating, but can’t wait till March pops up and other teams have to face tough schedules.
Gotta love the haterz. Keep that hate a comin'
by JR15 on Feb 13, 2012 10:40 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
Schedule doesn't turn
Nuggets have already used up 9 of their 19 eastern conference games for the season, which means 28 more games against the western conference. If they keep winning those games at the same rate as they have so far, that’s 10-18 in those 28 games and probably out of the playoffs unless they sweep the entire year against the east.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 13, 2012 3:40 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
It will be a rough february but it gets better
once we get past this hellish february and the first two games of march, we will have 28 games til the playoffs. of those 28, we play playoff teams 12 times (this is not including the magic b/c d12 will be gone by then):
Kings, Cavs, Hornets (twice), Grizz, Hawks, Thunder (twice), Celtics, Mavs, Pistons, Jazz, Wolves (thrice), Bulls, Raptors, Bobcats, Magic (twice), Suns (twice), Warriors (twice), Lakers, Rockets on a home and home, and Clippers.
Playoff teams are the Grizz, Hawks, Thunder, Celtics, Mavs, Jazz, Bulls, Lakers, Rockets, and Clippers. Of those games, we play the Grizz, Hawks, Thunder (once), Celtics, Mavs, Rockets (once), and Clippers at home. 7/12 games at home at at time when we should be at full strength.
The other 16 games are against the bottom feeders of the east (Cavs, Raps, Bobcats, the depleted Magic) and the west (Kings, Hornets, Warriors, Suns). Yes we lost to the Hornets and Warriors already, but I still consider them to be bottom feeders.
My prediction is we actually finish February under .500 but then go about 24-4 the rest of the way out to finish with around 42 wins and a 4-6 seed. You heard it hear first!
If they finish February under .500
Karl will be replaced at the asg
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 13, 2012 7:36 PM MST up reply actions
the MHS article was spot on
The players AND Coach Karl are not above reproach for their play the past two weeks. Excuses aside, plenty of teams are still winning games with top players not in the lineup and not going on 5 game losing streaks, or losing 5 in row in front of the home crowd. If this team is so fragile structurally that if they are not running they can’t score and win, nor employ basic defense when their starting center is out and resort to pointless switching leaving opponents wide open 3’s to torch us, then a lot of this has to point to the coaching. This team needs another voice on the bench that knows half court offense, and solid defense to help Coach Karl not look so helpless and confused out there when things aren’t going “his” way.
Home vs road record is puzzling, weird to see our own team have problems with the altitude, but the schedule could have something to do with it except last week when we had 3 games in a week at home. Perhaps the Nuggets have been taking the historic home court advantage for granted and don’t think they need to go all out for a good part of the game and are pacing themselves, which is not the way to go obviously. Coach Karl playing 2PG at once and 3 guard lineups don’t help either.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
they're best on the road
wearing their home aba whites.
I think
we would be so much better if we could add a good shooter.
It was huge having JR from the bench in home games, he could open opponent’s defences and get the crowd involved.
We cannot hit 3’s and give up wide open shots.
Then when you can’t build a good advantage in home games, opponents start to believe they can grab a win, they hit pretty much everything and the game becomes really tough.
kind of lame to have players that are only most effective at home
Like JR, or Bird before this year….would they agree to get paid less for only performing at home…no. This next road trip gives them a chance to avenge some losses the past two weeks, such as vs Dallas and Memphis.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
by jd80229 on Feb 13, 2012 4:17 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
no
They are in 100%. Jr’s team missed it because Chandler got in
Let's start a riot!
On twitter- @RobPalmerPeru
by Army of Nugs on Feb 13, 2012 5:09 PM MST up reply actions
RE-SIGN JR!!!!!!!!!!!
:p
"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.
by love4nuggets on Feb 13, 2012 5:36 PM MST up reply actions
YEAHHHHHHH
I truly believe JR is a better fit on this team than WC. Sure, he can’t play PF, but don’t we have like 9 other guys that can? We need someone to cover the 2 and 3 and who can score. JR is a SG by nature, but can cover the 3 when needed and brings some sort of half court offense with the pick and roll. WC is a good player, but not necessarily the best fit right now.
Let's start a riot!
On twitter- @RobPalmerPeru
by Army of Nugs on Feb 13, 2012 8:06 PM MST up reply actions
Couldn't agree more
"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.
by love4nuggets on Feb 13, 2012 9:21 PM MST up reply actions
damn i heard they are only 1 game ahead of the 9th seed
they play the 2nd best team, the 9th seed plays the worst team in the league
They clinched yesterday i think with another team's loss
Let's start a riot!
On twitter- @RobPalmerPeru
by Army of Nugs on Feb 13, 2012 8:02 PM MST up reply actions
i think so
they lost yesterday to the worst team in the league, falling from T-4th to 8th in the standings. Last game is on Wednesday against the current would-be 2 seed. Lose that and they may indeed not make it. I think.
by Gallo o' milk on Feb 13, 2012 8:41 PM MST up reply actions
Gallo tweets
danilo gallinari @gallinari8888
Great meeting our nuggets fans….you are great..I see you tomorrow..let’s get this win together..we need you..
Was there a fan fest or something?
Jason Hammel - permanently /2011'd
Happy Now?!
OG Thugget Loyalist #4, QPU Emeritus, Proud member PR Gynocracy
GSW or PHO
So who we rooting’ for tonight? We want the Suns to come in tomorrow feeling like they already had a successful roadie by beating GSW, or does it give them momentum comin’ into D? I guess the main thing is we should be rested and they’ll be getting in late tonight…. Triple OT tonight?
by UKnowULovedVanQwik on Feb 13, 2012 9:50 PM MST reply actions
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