Golden Nuggets: Compressed season taking it's toll
by Jeffrey Morton on Feb 7, 2012 10:59 AM MST
in Denver Nuggets: Daily Links
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In what some in the media are calling Monday Bloody Monday, last night, several NBA players went down with mild to severe injuries in one single night. Including a certain 6'10" Italian who's value to the team will be played out in front of Nuggets fans in the coming weeks.
Last night was a tough one Nuggets fans. The Nuggets were sluggish in the first half, but they seemed to have a certain confidence that they weren't going to lose the game ... that is until Danilo Gallinari went down early in the third quarter to a sprained ankle and a chip fracture in his foot. As Gallo drove the lane (the only Nugget who was bothering to do so) Gallo turned his ankle and, unluckily, Houston Rockets rookie small forward Chandler Parsons stepped on his foot at the same time. In that moment the collective shoulders of both the Nuggets team and Nuggets' fans sagged. It was a deflating moment which came on top of already missing Nene Hilario (ankle strain), Arron Afflalo (Groin), Timofey Mozgov (ankle) and Corey Brewer (father's funeral). You hate making excuses, but that may have been the straw that broke the camels' back for the Nuggets last night.
However, the Nuggets weren't alone in this. Last night Carmelo Anthony went down with a groin injury. Groin strains and hamstring injuries are generally a sign of too much play, and repetition using the same muscle. You could argue that is why AAA struggled so mightily in the back to back to back that the Nuggets just completed. Melo has already suffered from finger, wrist and elbow injuries this season.
The worst of all (career-wise) was old friend Chauncey Billups tearing his Achilles tendon last night. Worse because this is a potentially career-ending injury for the 35 year old CB1. Watching the injury in the highlights, you can see Chauncey go down, untouched, like he was shot. The injuries that happen with no contact always seem to be the worst. Makes me sad for Chauncey. Hopefully he makes a full recovery, but it's hard to see him coming back from this to continue playing.
What does this all mean? Well, we all knew that injuries would pile up with games being so close together. It's hit the Nuggets in a big way, and quite frankly they don't have many options to turn to right now. Wilson Chandler's team may go to the playoffs in China, postponing any potential signing of him untill March. Maybe the Nuggets bite the bullet and make a run at J.R. Smith? The trade Deadline is March 15th (beware the ides of March?) and until then the Nuggets will be without their best scorer and most lethal all-around talent (Gallo) for an extended period of time.
Gut check time folks. Lets see what the Nuggets are made of.
On to the Links
Short-handed Nuggets lose at home to Rockets, Danilo Gallinari injured - Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post
The beginning of the article, describing the fear on Gallo's face as he left Pepsi Center on crutches, is kind of heartbreaking. Here's to a speedy recovery Gallo
Clippers win but also suffer big loss; Chauncey Billups - Broderick Turner, LA Times
In another depressing article, secondary to the Clippers win (who cares?) Chauncey Billups goes down with an achilles tendon tear. Heal up soon CB!
Carmelo Anthony out 1 to 2 weeks with strained groin - Frank Isola, New York Daily News
In an injury that, much like AAA, can be chalked up to the compressed season, Melo will be sitting out 1 to 2 weeks nursing a strained groin. Maybe AAA should have sat out that long?
NBA Cut Day: 45 Players with Non-Guaranteed Contracts Await Fate - Scott Schroeder, SB Nation
In an important day for the NBA, players on non-guaranteed contracts can be cut today. Maybe the Nuggets will be mining this field for some 10 Day Contract help?
Twitter: @jmorton78 https://twitter.com/#!/jmorton78
mortonagency@juno.com
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Chandler?
The one positive is seeing the rookies develop. Maybe, with a few of the uninjured vets, they can still win a few. Let’s see how the end of the season checks out. And then the next two years! We need Chandler for sure, now.
by Charles R. Murray on Feb 7, 2012 11:04 AM MST reply actions
With the injuries
And the general grind of the schedule, I would be surprised to see the Nuggets make the 6-8 seed now. Their defense has regressed noticeably, from being way above average to start to dropping back precipitously as the season has worn on.
It’s the same old story with the Nuggets: they are an extremely efficient offensive team when they can run the break and create points in transition, but we all know the playoffs by and large are a half court slugfest. Danilo was showing signs of becoming a player that thrives in both areas of execution, but his inconsistency has underscored the fact that he still has a ways to go.
Denver can still make noise, but it will take a team commitment to playing defense (particularly against the 3), figuring out some half court offense, and executing in crunch time to get anywhere other than a first round exit – if they are lucky – this year.
Yes
1) If we defend the three
2) If we shoot the three
We win the Title
IF
three point defense is pretty random
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=576
I agree it’s time to start making 3s though.
i keep dancing on my own.
Getting a hand in someone's face
definitely has an effect on the probability of a shot going in. Wouldn’t you say?
yeah I would tend to agree with that
but teams haven’t really shown a consistent ability to keep opponent 3 point percentage down year after year. But I also see some lazy rotations by these Nuggets.
i keep dancing on my own.
Fair assesment
I think our over-aggressiveness in trying to cause turnovers in the half-court defense makes for difficult-to-impossible transitions, and easy 3 pt shots
I don't think it is in our case
our defensive philosophy is to trap on every screen, even against scrub ballhandlers, to try and force turnovers. Any PG who has scouted the nuggets for 10 seconds knows all he has to do is wait for the double and kick it out to the doubler’s man for a wide open 3.
Maybe if we get torched with the 3-ball enough GK will change it up…wait what am I saying?
by Rainbow skyline on Feb 7, 2012 12:36 PM MST up reply actions
They could go back
to switching every screen. You know, the good old days of Ty Lawson guarding the other teams center in the post.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 12:46 PM MST up reply actions
they need to take the 3pt shots at better times
often too early in shot clock with no one in any position to board, or when clinging to a small lead. the stop, wait, and pop 3’s don’t seem to work for them, better are the ones that are set up off screens or when they are in motion.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
indeed
seems like a lot of 3’s get heaved up in desperation because nobody can figure out any other shot to try.
“Random offense” sure can look ugly on the bad nights.
"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 7, 2012 1:21 PM MST up reply actions
plus being tired
but having no legs doesn’t help 3’s go in, maybe a shorter run backcourt on defense??
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
CB's achilles tear is bummer news.
That just sucks for CB.
Maybe it’s the dimethyltryptamine, but I keep having these visions where the Nugs fire GK and get Chauncey here as coach.
Waddaya say, CB? Bury the hatchet with the Nugs organization and come back as coach!
I Think CB Would Make A Great Coach
But I don’t he would work w our guys after they traded him twice.
i wonder if he'd reconsider now
even chauncey admitted he was surprised by the support and reception of the denver fans 1.5 weeks ago. he loves denver and he knows the fans love him. maybe that would tip him over into considering the Nuggets.
The flipside is that we know Chuancy loves winning, and w/ a weak coach like VDN but with a talented roster on the Clips, he could play a major coaching role into leading them to a playoffs.
Hochman tweets
nuggetsnews Benjamin Hochman
gallinari could be out a month, G Karl said but the chip injury in left foot isn’t as bad as thought: www.DenverPost.com/nuggets
Jason Hammel - permanently /2011'd
Happy Now?!
OG Thugget Loyalist #4, QPU Emeritus, Proud member PR Gynocracy
they say the chip was from a prior injury so it is being treated as an ankle sprain.
i keep dancing on my own.
That is good news
Reading that a piece of bone was ripped off by a tendon or ligament was very scary.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 12:29 PM MST up reply actions
That is interesting
Where’d you hear this? Not that I don’t believe you – but that is good news.
Gallo will remain in a walking boot for three to five days. Treatment will be for a significant ankle sprain. Today’s MRI determined that the chip was from an injury from before Gallinari played basketball.
Read more: Nuggets’ Gallinari could miss up to month with ankle injury – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_19911554#ixzz1lj9IcSkN
Read The Denver Post’s Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 12:47 PM MST up reply actions
this is relatively good news
doesn’t help us in this tough February, but could’ve been worse
Jeff tweets
Danilo Gallinari has “significant ankle sprain” but chip fracture from a long previous injury (prior to pro career). Could be out 4 weeks
which concurs with the comment above from atomiccafe
Jason Hammel - permanently /2011'd
Happy Now?!
OG Thugget Loyalist #4, QPU Emeritus, Proud member PR Gynocracy
hollinger says in his chat j.r.’s most likely destination is NY. Will they petition the league to allow them to use three balls?
i keep dancing on my own.
It's as if players
have no consideration for what system best fits their skill set
They are...limited, for lack of a better word
at the guard position…..BUT JEREMY LIN’S GONNA BE THEIR ANSWER!!!!
Trust me: Amare wasn’t enough, Melo made them worse, no better with Chandler, but Lin’s the REAL DEAL
WILSON!
Sign that man ASAP and do whatever it takes to get him back stateside, best option right now barring a trade. Don’t see anyone off the street that would give any significant help.
Sad for Chauncey, tore my Achilles 3 yrs ago play football in the park, tough experience, but different for a pro athlete of course. If he has the will power to come back, he could do it, but would it be worth it to him?
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
jealous sigh
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/07/SPJT1N3LVO.DTL
LeBron James brashly announced he was taking his talents to South Beach in the summer of 2010. Last season, Carmelo Anthony forced his way from Denver to New York, and Deron Williams escaped Utah for New Jersey’s promise that it was moving to Brooklyn. Chris Paul got out of New Orleans in exchange for Los Angeles before this season, and Dwight Howard is trying to make a similar move from Orlando.
Then there’s Durant. He quietly announced on his Twitter account in July 2010 that he had signed a five-year, $86 million extension, keeping him in the league’s smallest market through 2015-16.
“When I was in college, I always wanted to play my whole professional career for one team,” Durant said. "Tim Duncan was a guy I always looked at as an example of something that was becoming unheard of. That’s what I wanted to do.
“I love the city. I love the people. I love my teammates. I’ve built relationships with the fans and the people who work in the arena. It’s more than playing for a franchise. I play for that entire community, and I am a part of that entire community.”
If only the Nugs had been in the lottery that year.
"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
or when Durant falls in your lap when the Blazers didn't know they were drafting the second coming of Sam Bowie
epic fail pt. 2
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
oh I meant it’s easier for Durant to commit to OKC rather than LeBron to the steaming garbage pile in Cleveland.
i keep dancing on my own.
the way LeBron did it was wrong but I don't blame him for wanting a change
have you actually BEEN to Cleveland? he grew up there, played 7 yrs for the Cavs, and wanted a change. He should have been more honest with Cleveland and given them the opportunity to get some value for him, but he did put that team on the map and made the franchise and Dan Gilbert millions, lest we forget. The NBA is not indentured servitude, these guys are lucky to get one chance to play where they want, if he had a choice I doubt he would’ve wanted to be chosen by the Cavs in the first place but since it was home he didn’t complain about it. Imagine what would have happened if Denver would have got the #1 pick that year.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
there’s no way they were going to trade him with what? The best record in the East? If they win the Championship that year he might not leave.
i keep dancing on my own.
might not...but what did they add to that team that could've helped win anything?
Overrated Jamison? Over the hill Shaq? 6th man at best Mo Williams? Hell, LeBron got them to the Finals earlier with a worse team and this was the best they could come up with, no thanks.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
oh yeah I agree Ferry etc. did a horrible job
just saying you can’t trade the best player in the NBA when you have a shot at winning it all. Whenever someone says the Cleveland FO did such a great job I always link this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q87IZngnKiY
i keep dancing on my own.
"indentured servitude"
I don’t think getting paid tens of millions of dollars per year to play basketball in Cleveland or Denver qualifies as “indentured servitude.”
"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 7, 2012 3:43 PM MST up reply actions
he made the Cavs more than he collected
and is within his rights to choose where he wanted to go after fulfiling his contract, he just should have handled the situation better but was under no obligation to stay.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
I can't really argue that, much as I'd like to
I just think that when terms like “indentured servitude” start getting thrown around for guys who are getting paid tens of millions of dollars to play a silly game, maybe a little perspective is in order.
"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 7, 2012 4:24 PM MST up reply actions
I'll sign up for that type of servitude
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 4:33 PM MST up reply actions
Completely different circumstances
What he did is no different than all the other guys they listed. He signed the first extension with his original team. Same as Melo. Same as Lebron. Same as Howard. Same as Paul. He’ll be doing the same thing in a few years if they haven’t won a title.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 1:56 PM MST up reply actions
difference
My understanding is that KD has no opt-out clause for the last year of his extension, unlike Melo.
And he says he wants to model himself after Tim Duncan by sticking with the same team his whole career.
I dunno, maybe you’re right, maybe he does end up moving on, but at the moment I can’t help but feel like “How come our lottery prize ended up being a selfish, under-achieving prima-donna who bolted for the big market? Why couldn’t we land the guy with the great, relatively humble attitude?”
"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 7, 2012 2:02 PM MST up reply actions
Given the option
Would you reverse the trade and take Melo back tomorrow?
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 2:04 PM MST up reply actions
hell no
I just wish the Nugs had ended up with Durant instead
"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 7, 2012 3:44 PM MST up reply actions
because he knew the Nuggets weren't "all in" to get the pieces they needed to get to the next level
and that Coach Karl was not the guy to lead him there…in his mind
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
It's a very interesting case study to see what the Nuggets would have done if they kept Melo
no one knows for sure
Nuggets' commin'...best recognize (Fernandez/Manimal...oop of the year)
DenverStiffs.com
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by Jeffrey Morton on Feb 7, 2012 2:06 PM MST up reply actions
yeah because you have factor all that happened before Melodrama officially started
- Warketien/Chapman fiasco
- Signing Al Harrington, barely a notable FA signing at the time when a lot of better players were available
- Coach Karl’s relationship with JR
- Nuggets poor draft record (Ty Lawson the only exception)
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
the draft record was the result of having no picks due to the terrible Kenyon trade.
i keep dancing on my own.
not just that
AI trade blew picks also, and they guys we did pick were terrible. Julius Hodge? Ricky Sanchez? Axel (Foley) Herville? Linas Kleiza who we thought was worth more than the player formerly known as Ron Artest?
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
Exactly
the Kmart trade is what cost the team a championship window.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 2:37 PM MST up reply actions
may as weII throw in skita instead of stat, karI not showin up for the pIayoffs and bein cIueIess.
tradin camby away, and not havin anyone who can reb. we drafted a guy who they figured karI may actuaIIy pIay in ty, and traded away those picks for saIary dumps.
by Rys on Feb 7, 2012 2:48 PM MST up reply actions
Who was better than Harrington
that was available on the day he signed, and signed for the midlevel or less? There wasn’t anyone. They made offers to other guys, and they signed with other teams.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 2:36 PM MST up reply actions
They did make offers to guys
they chose other teams. No one wanted to sign with the Melodrama nuggets.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 2:51 PM MST up reply actions
Silver lining to a knee injury
Just got me out of unloading 4,000 pounds of pad from a semi. Nope, still rather be uninjured.
Formerly KS and CS
by ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown on Feb 7, 2012 1:58 PM MST reply actions
Masai
I believe he needs to make a move
Nuggets All Day Everyday
by TheMozgovCocktail on Feb 7, 2012 2:10 PM MST reply actions
not just player movement wise either
he needs to get a veteran assistant with head coach experience on the bench, someone that Coach Karl can bounce ideas off of, get different opinions, and could counter his decisions without looking insubordinate. too many yes men on the bench as assistants right now.
"1-2-3...HARD WORK!"
Karl
He needs to go IMO. He won’t get a veteran assistant head coach because he likes to run the show. That’s why he has a bunch of yes men like Welch and Iske
Nuggets All Day Everyday
by TheMozgovCocktail on Feb 7, 2012 2:23 PM MST up reply actions
I believe
Karl has a say in who is assistants are
Nuggets All Day Everyday
by TheMozgovCocktail on Feb 7, 2012 2:25 PM MST up reply actions
Interesting
Clippers waive Solomon Jones. Possibly making room for JR?
Nuggets All Day Everyday
by TheMozgovCocktail on Feb 7, 2012 2:16 PM MST reply actions
It's believed
That JR prefers to sign with the Clippers or Knicks
Nuggets All Day Everyday
by TheMozgovCocktail on Feb 7, 2012 2:22 PM MST up reply actions
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