The Nuggets were supposed to be sent off on their five-game road trip with a victory over the Utah Jazz. But tonight wasn't a real way to say bon voyage as the Nuggets lost to the hated Jazz 106-96, splitting the season series, thus far, at 1-1. And Denver failed to beat a team that was playing the second game of a back-to-back set. Could things get much worse?
Well, the four-game homestand did not go too well. The Nuggets finished 2-2 and are now embarking on a five-game road trip from Jan. 17th to Jan. 25th. It's hard to see a team get so pumped up to play an elite team like the Miami Heat and then come out against a division foe and play such a different game.
As you will see in this weird recap, I was able to score some nice seats to this game that will allow me to share a few, hopefully, unique points of view with you - the reader. Enjoy (or feel free to make fun of me for my awful photography skills, goofy face, and pictures in close seats ... I never sit close.)
About 30-minutes to tip-off, I ventured over to say hello to Vicki "The Sign Lady" and Russ. They had a great assortment of signs for the game and let me know that they are working on something special for Stiffs Night Out on January 21st. They have a great website over at MileHighFan.com that features some great photos and other Nuggets related info - go check it out. I wish I could attend as many games as they do! The sad part, we all agreed that the Nuggets would come out and win this game!
Nuggets strength-and-conditioning coach Steve Hess loosens up rookie Kenneth Faried. I guess I can run with, "the sad part" theme tonight. The sad part ... Faried is so buried on the bench that the only reason for him to stretch before the game is so he doesn't cramp up while sitting on the bench.
Remember in the movie Any Given Sunday when Al Pachino is too afraid to let his team throw the ball into the flat, and instead they run the same run play where L.L. Cool-J aka Julian Washington runs up the gut and fumbles the ball. The coach just couldn't trust his guys enough to know what was best ... reminds me of George Karl and his staff not trusting the Rookie enough to give him a sniff of minutes. I don't think you can learn your job by just sitting and mirroring people, at some point you must get hands on training! One day Faried will play and we'll all rejoice.
Yes, that's also Andre Miller with the giant rubber band getting loose. 'Dre doesn't need anyone to help him, ever.
I was pretty worried when this was how excited and energetic the Nuggets were while the starting lineups were being announced. These guys look about as comfortable with one another as a group of five strangers getting ready to play some pick-up hoops at the local YMCA. Are there even YMCA's around anymore? And how did they get the universal billing of recreation centers in references? I have questions and I don't have answers. Geez, even Rocky looks like a zombie.
This might be the best sports picture I've ever taken. That ref released the ball about 0.1 seconds later. I was actually tying to get the ball in the air ... I should have taken a "photo-journalism" course with my degree. The Nuggets started the usual suspects in Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Danilo Gallinari, Nene, and Timofey Mozgov. Again, the Jazz have replaced Derrick Favors in the starting lineup with Paul Millsap - that worked like gang-busters tonight as Millsap took advantage of Denver going very small in the second half on his way to a team-high 26 points. I do not think Millsap is anything special, and Nene did a great job on him early ... too bad Denver changed things up in the second half.
My first up close look at "Evil" George Karl this season. He was up off the bench quite a bit tonight, but he was also quite disgusted with his team's performance. After missed free-throws (there were plenty) and layups, Karl would often turn away and go sit down. A tough game to watch for any coach, or fan, or Mountain Lion.
Corey Brewer is sneaking his way into the lineup, or it just could be that he played 19 minutes due to Rudy Fernandez not being able to play in the second half with a strained right Achilles tendon. I listed the injury in the preview and wanted to monitor Rudy's minutes ... he looked good while on the floor, I don't recall seeing him aggravate the injury, but he was only able to go 9 minutes in this one.
Brewer did a nice job providing energy, but his offense wasn't working very well against Utah as he finished 2-6 from the floor and 3-4 from the foul line. The Nuggets, as a team, went 26-39 from the free throw line, leaving 13 points on the board and losing by 10 points. After one Afflalo miss, Chris Marlowe threw his hands over his head and I'm sure he said something witty on Altitude TV, right? Right?
Jazz rookie Alec Burks, who has apparently picked up Tyrone Corbin's complex system in Utah, played 18 minutes in the game and was a pain in the Nuggets' side by leading the bench with 10 points for the Jazz. I sure wish the Nuggets rookies could learn the team system. Burks must have had a total head start on the playbook and training camp period ... he didn't? All the teams started at the same time? Burks and other rookies are starting to play well? This must be a myth, rookies don't know how to play! Neither do 7-footers!
To start the second half, Mozgov went on a tear going 3-3 to open the quarter for the Nuggets. He had a nice dunk, hit a 17-foot jumper, and put home another jam. Mozgov is starting to use his body to block defenders when he's going up for jams and it's helping him not get his shots blocked and it'll perhaps start to earn him some And-1s in the future too. The Russian is learning and how is he being rewarded? Well, after making his third shot in a row at the 9:02 mark, he was pulled at the 6:31 mark and NEVER RETURNED TO THE GAME!
As reader InboundingLobPass pointed out in the game-thread: "Mozgov Plays 24 minutes we beat the Heat! Plays 18 minutes we lose to the Jazz!" This game turned in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets didn't play big and Millsap just ERUPTED like a damn volcano. The undersized power forward scored 16 of his 26 points in the final period, including 14 straight! Denver was at a much better advantage with Mozgov covering Jefferson and Nene on Millsap. The whole damn point to having Nene being able to play power forward, is to have him play POWER FORWARD! Al Harrington and Gallo are big guys for sure, but they are not great defenders against guys who thrive in the post. I guess experimenting with them guarding guys in the post is okay, but why isn't playing a rookie or young big (K2) an okay experiment too!?!? Somebody come bash my face in for me ... joking.
Late in the third quarter, Chris Andersen (who only played 9 minutes, but felt like 20) injured himself on a block attempt. He limped off the floor under his own power, grimaced a bit on the sidelines, but re-appeared minutes later in the fourth quarter. A bit of a scary injury for the Birdman and I'm glad he was okay. I'm still going to hope that Kosta Koufos and Kenneth Faried will get some minutes over Bird, but I don't want to see him get injured.
A Koufos sighting! I was excited to see how the Greek would stack up against Al Jefferson. The other "Big Al" eats smaller defenders alive as he has an array of post moves, but big guys can bother him. Mozgov did a nice job making Jefferson settle for jumpers (yes, he made some of them), but when Nene was on him he just was much more comfortable. K2 would only play the final 1:43 of the third quarter, then he was super-glued back to the bench.
The only other work Koufos got? Rocky brought a small kid out on the floor in the first half and the kid just couldn't get the ball near the basket. Rocky got Koufos to lift the kid to the rim and it still took the little guy three shots to put one home, but when he finally did ... the crowd rejoiced ... or I did ... maybe it was just me.
With the Jazz up just four points entering the fourth quarter, 77-73, it seemed like the perfect time for a high altitude rally. Utah had to be tired and Vicki's "We Believe In You" sign just seemed like perfect timing. But it wasn't to be. Millsap had his way with the Nuggets, like I said above, scoring 16 points in the quarter that included a stretch of 14 straight. You're going to let Millsap take over a game? The Nuggets had the answers to shutting Millsap down, but the stubbornness of Tony D'Amato aka Karl did the Nuggets in from the defensive standpoint.
The real stars of tonight's game ... the refs! I don't know how it felt on TV, but there were just too many damn fouls called in this game. Players were flopping (Devin Harris going into a flop before Lawson even made contact on a spin move, complaining (Raja Bell telling the ref with 3 seconds left that Nene was pushing the ball into him and the ref saying, "That's your last comment."), and just general sloppiness.
It was pretty cool being so close and getting to hear the sounds of the game and see the reactions of players that don't get caught on camera. Harrington was complaining after Michael Jordan aka Gordon Hayward (19 points) flew into him that Hayward led with his knee to Al's chest. When Harrington couldn't get sympathy from the ref near mid-court, he turned his attention to the ref under the basket. I enjoy the crap out of the little stuff and it was cool to see it up close.
This is probably the stillest shot of Corbin all night. This guy doesn't shut up! I have a feeling that he may get some results from his team for a few seasons, but eventually Corbin will lose the ears of his players and they will tune him out. During the third quarter some guy near me hollered for Corbin to "Calm it down." The coach actually went and sat on the bench after that ... but he was up again a few seconds later yelling, "PISTOL PISTOL," for the millionth time!
Speaking of little things ... I caught Julyan Stone and Koufos checking out the Kiss Cam! Nobody can deny the powers of the Kiss Cam! One day, I will be on the Kiss Cam ... mark my words!
Jordan Hamilton (street clothes) and DeMarre Carroll (street clothes, leather jacket) were both on the Nuggets bench. While Ham is just inactive, Carroll apparently has a hamstring injury. I'm not sure if either of them will ever see minutes for this Nuggets team, but if Fernandez is to miss time with his Achilles strain then one of these guys might actually suit up for a few games on the road trip.
Bon Voyage Nuggets! We'll see you back at the Pepsi Center five-games from now. Hopefully after a few big wins and after another successful Stiffs Night Out, this Saturday against the New York Knicks!
It'll be important to see how the Nuggets handle this road trip. Lawson, Gallo, Fernandez, and Birdman all got a little banged up on this home-stand. And now the Nuggets might set out without one of their leading bench scorers being able to contribute much. If Fernandez can't play in a few games then the scoring pop will be left to Miller and Harrington, but who will get Rody's minutes? Brewer filled in pretty well against the Jazz tonight, but this could open up some additional minutes for Mozgov or perhaps give Denver fans a better view of K2.
While the Nuggets might have experienced a failure to launch, there is no reason to expect the team to not deliver some big wins away from home, bon voyage indeed!
Nate_Timmons on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Nate_Timmons
ntimmons73@yahoo.com
0 recs | 131 comments
FIRST!
And at least the cheerleaders are still hot.
paidinfull87 - January 15, 2012
Eric B. and Rakim! Old School!
I found it odd that the cheerleaders do not try to play to both sides of The Can when they dance. I wanted to get an action shot, but didn’t want to just get a picture of the backs of their heads. There are other people at the game, cheerleader coach!
Nate Timmons - January 15, 2012
It's all good Nate
Don’t Sweat the Technique.
paidinfull87 - January 15, 2012
When they're facing away from you...
you look at the backs of their heads?
margabelle - January 16, 2012
Seriously
I mean, the shoulders are where it’s at!
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
i'm a back dimple man myself.
Patrick KB. Nugget - January 16, 2012
2 sides in reality,
But just like a crooked coin with heads on both sides – you can’t lose :)
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Great write up
Anyone still have any questions about playing Harrington at 4? Karl is as stupid does.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 15, 2012
I have a
question about Harrington playing the 4. Why is Harrington playing the 4?
paidinfull87 - January 15, 2012
not as pathetic as gallo playing the 4
skithebert - January 16, 2012
at one point
pretty sure I saw Miller guarding 4.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
Miami hangover
was hoping that wouldn’t be the case, but you could tell from the very beginning they didn’t take Utah seriously. This happens with young teams. This road trip may be the best thing for them to toughen them up mentally.
Jeffrey Morton - January 15, 2012
Or they can
just watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThlhSnRk21E&ob=av3e
paidinfull87 - January 15, 2012
Nate
I am sure glad you didnt make the kiss cam last week against the Nets. But were the players as lazy in person as they seemed on tv?
Army of Nugs - January 16, 2012
I wouldn’t say they were lazy, just missing a lot of tough layups, not passing enough, and just lethargic a bit. Arron Afflalo missed a layup late and after the whistle blew on the other end he was visibly upset with himself … pounded himself on the chest after letting out a disgruntled yell.
Nene sure looked like he could have had 4-5 dunks instead of layups or missed layups … just who he is, so frustrating.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
And he can't hit a free throw
Does he even practice them? Gallo can’t skate this one: He got smoked on defense and didn’t show up last night. They need to get their heads on straight. They’ve got four games on the road, 3 days rest (will that give the rookies, Faried some practice time necessary to get into the game because we sure needed his energy last night) and then another road game. We’re looking at 2-3 here, I think.
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
we are 1-2 when I didn't watch the game
Really though, when we had Carmelo, we would often lose to the mediocre/bad teams like the Jazz and step up for the games against the elite like the Heat/Lakers and win. I often thought a lot of this was due to our set of Egos in Melo, J.R, Kenyon etc. etc. as being unprepared.
However, I now realize that the one who is unprepared is George Karl. He puts his team into the mentality of “we are better than the other team, thus we can coast the entire game through against the Wolves” and lose. This seems to be George Karl putting in his philosophy into making us unprepared and taking the bad teams lightly. Just another flaw in George Karl’s coaching.
CloudBurst - January 16, 2012
Yeah..
All those FTs missed as so GK’s fault.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Great comments Nate and Cloud
I was sick to my stomach before watching this game and now after viewing it had to puke. I am so tired of seeing Karl do the same things. So we are playing a team much like the hornets with good size and post up ability so Karl’s answer is to go small. I knew we were in for it when the Jazz put in Favors and Kantor and we countered with Bird and Al. As long as Al is going to play good offensive players like Milsap one on one we are doomed. Then when we doubled we were too slow….didnt seem like we doubled enough. Is there a particular reason that we can’t feature Nene in the post more, especially against a poor post defender in Jefferson. And is there a reason that Nene can’t power anything to the hole and has to ballerina it into the hoop? Can we ever make more than 75% from the line. Nice job Mosgov, I think I will sit you for the rest of the game while we wait for Al to regain his shooting touch, then I will complain about why we didn’t play better defense against Milsap. PLAY MOSGOV, PLAY KOUFOS and PLAY FARIED or resolve yourself to getting beat by the Milsap’s, Okafer’s and Kaman’s.
Bigdorph - January 16, 2012
nice pics!
chad iske reminds me of ryan gosling. cute!
moonchild808 - January 16, 2012
Haha, there was a guy in front of me, to the right, that was giving the refs a hard time all night – one even looked back at him. The point … this guy looked like Ryan Gosling. It was pretty funny, I wanted to ask if he was in the Notebook.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
its odd...
what is it about the nuggets that compells them (the team with the word "nuggets: on it) to beat good teams and lose to mediocre teams? this is basically a different team than the last team that used to do this (melo, chauncy, dante, camby, a.c., etc)… i just can’t figure out what the base part of this “nuggets team” is…
can you?
spokenwar - January 16, 2012
Team Destroyed by Jazz Bigs
This game was lost due to the dominance of Jefferson and Millsap. The Nuggets bigs were completely unable to stop the Jazz big guys and the Jazz had better energy and effort last night. This is definitely one of those games where they missed the toughness and defense of Kmart. We can be sure Kmart would have prevented Millsap from going off like he did. It probably would have been better to have Moz or KK on Jefferson and Nene on Millsap, but Karl’s preference is to play small, and had Al Harrington on Millsap duing key stretches to disasterous results. Just a bad beating all-around, and an ominous sign heading into a tough road trip.
I know we don’t like to talk about this, but the Andre Miller “cloud” continues, with an absent effort from Karl’s favorite player.
ACEIII - January 16, 2012
Gallo on Millsap
For a stretch in the 4th was the biggest mistake. Gallo hit a 3 to bring Nuggets to within 2, but then Millsap torched him for like 3 straight buckets. Forced GK to bring Big Al. But it was too late, Millsap had it going at that point.
As one expert said, lesson to learn? Do not go small against the Jazz.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Lesson to learn?
Stop playing more than two guards against anyone, and stop playing players out of position.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
This comment is very wise.
InboundingLobPass - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Consistent effort...
As mentioned by several stiffs, it is all about effort. This Nugget team plays its best ball when it overwhelms you with effort. The first sign last night that this was not up to snuff last night was missed FTs.
Nuggets played hard last night, but not hard enough to beat a determined Jazz team. Very similar to the Hornets game. Nuggets need to learn that effort and energy is their team identity. If they don’t bring it every night, they can get beat.
Bottom line, Nuggets need to learn to play with intensity every night. Until they do, they are just part of the mob in the West.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
How exactly can you make sure to come with effort? Perhaps Karl should start yanking guys from the game and replacing them with ones willing to push the pace and fly around on defense?
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
That is one way..
Right now, it is the biggest concern for this team. They have a game plan that can win. They are as healthy as anyone in the league. Now they need to bring the mental toughness every night.
Coaches can only do so many tricks. Bringing top notch effort every night is on the players. Great teams do it, good teams don’t. Right now the Nuggets are a good team. Have the tools to be a great team.. and that is why we watch….
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Very true.
Is mental toughness something you can learn or gain or do you think it is something you either have or don’t have? I tend to think you either have it or don’t have it. Perhaps you can learn how to harness it though.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
A Life Question..
Hah.. that is a deep question. I am not qualified to answer. I do think that Ty and Gallo give us hope on the mental toughness question. Ty tried to step up last night. And even though Gallo got crushed by Milllsap in the post. He also kept pushing. Last night wasn’t a total wash out.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
I agree about Lawson and Gallo, even Harrington.
Mozgov seems to have a bring it attitude every night as well – mentally … still trying to transition that into consistent play on the floor. Afflalo, same thing. AAA is struggling, but he’s a competitor. Fernandez, same boat.
Nene … not so much. His aggressive play is so inconsistent. Last night, while he was covering Jefferson, he would complain to the refs that Jefferson had a foot in the paint in the post and wanted a three second call. I saw Nene do this three times. They are never going to call that, no reason to get stressed out about it. Just focus on defending and play the game, he can get rattled by the smallest stuff.
Every game this young team plays is a learning process. I like what I’m seeing and think they will continue to grow.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
Hah..
Nene is Nene. Frustrating but too valuable to not be on the court.
AAA seems to pressing a little. If he calms down and just lets the game come to him. He is playing a lot better, last night he just squeezed the rock to hard. Missed FTs and layups.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Did Karl do this with Bird for the Miami game?
Altitude had a quote from him saying that he and bird kissed and made up after the Miami game. Was bird benched for performance, or some incident with Karl?
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
no idea..
I didn’t miss Bird at all in the Miami game. GK probably just didn’t trust him to play in that game. I think he is on his last legs and he got hurt last night.
The cries for 2K are about to be answered.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Agree totally...
Why not use that “deep bench” that everyone says we have?
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Does Andre Miller always act like he could give a rats a*s about being here? Or was it just the past few games his body language seemed like this? He just kinda seems to walk around with the attitude of im just here to get paid…maybe it just me and the recent story that came out
waterboy31321 - January 16, 2012
I don't think that Dre wanted to get traded from Portland
Plus he hates coming off the bench … he came off the bench at first in Portland and he wasn’t happy about that at all! His behaviour now reminds me of when he first came to Portland in that he’s going out and doing his job but otherwise doesn’t seem to care. It’s weird to see again because last seaon you’d see him smiling, waving towels and getting excited even if he wasn’t playing at the moment. I remember vividly seeing him waving his arms around trying to get the crowd amped (not that we really needed it at the time) in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Blazer/Mavs series when BRoy suddenly came alive and we came from 20 behind to win.
He’ll be a pro and do his job but I’m not sure he’ll really change much in terms of attitude which is a bummer but as long as you take him as a guy that will come in and be relied upon and leave it at that then don’t worry about it. He’s not going to be starting over Ty Lawson any day in the near or far future and it’s a short season.
somanluna1 - January 16, 2012
No... Andre always plays like that...
And has always been one of the best point guards in the NBA…. Here he was great, went to Sixers and did well, went to Portland and did well and except for the normal ebb and flow in a player’s game, he’s done pretty well here this year…IMO
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
not saying hes not good, just saying hes got seemingly poor body language
waterboy31321 - January 18, 2012
Al Harrington cuts off guys wood
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
Poor Gallo.
Kevin L - January 16, 2012
awesome recap of a horrible game!
Andrew Feinstein - January 16, 2012 via mobile
To slaughter a noun-verb, aka gerund, we didn't "effort" that one
So I guess this is where the Nugs learn they aren’t stars and can’t win by walking on the court. I’m very frustrated with the small line-up stubbornness. At some point GK’s got to start trusting and developing the bigs. So, fellow Stiffs, help me out. Here’s GK’s career:
Prior to joining the Nuggets, Karl served as head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks (1998-03), the Seattle SuperSonics (1991-98), the Golden State Warriors (1986-88) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (1984-86).
Q1: Has GK ever had a competent big man/men? I mean a center man.
Q2: Has he ever developed one?
I’ve been wondering if the small ball is an anti-big man bias. The old guard mentality about slower big guys. What do you think?
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
Shawn Kemp
Power Forward, but still, top shelf big man.
In terms of developing guys, I would rather lose that game last night while getting KK some minutes so at least he is developing some, than lose it playing three guards. If we’re going to suffer the pains, the team ought to be growing.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
Kemp was basically Kenyon Martin.
Undersized athlete, not a big man.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
yep
except about a billion times better.
Teekalong - January 16, 2012
Yeah, not focusing on who was better, that’s obvious. Just that they are of the same mold and not big men.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
I don't really agree though
given that kemp probably scored 75% of his points in the lane or in short elbow jumpers. Sure, he wasn’t Patrick Ewing, but he wasn’t one of the more modern face-up fours that launches tons of 3s. And I’d guess he was rather taller than Kenyon too. But whatever, he wasn’t a back to the basket guy and I suppose that’s the point. I’d compare him to Amare.
Teekalong - January 16, 2012
Kemp was listed at 6’10’’ and 230 … if you believe listed heights then he’s perfect power forward size. Kenyon Martin goes 6’9’’ and 240 pounds.
^ Those are not centers, in my opinion.
Timofey Mozgov: 7’1’’ and 250 pounds.
Earvin Johnson (not Magic): 6’11’’ and 245 pounds. Karl’s center in Seattle and Milwaukee for a short time.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
Shawn Kemp?!
As a former Sonics fan, I can tell you that Kemp was among the most frustrating players ever. Athleticism and talent galore. But when those traits are combined with stupidity, laziness and stubbornness, you get a serious bunch of bullshit. Sure, he was often featured in the highlight reels, but we all know that doesn’t take you deep in the playoffs.
Kemp could have come much closer to a championship on more than one occasion (yes, he also was unfortunate to play during the Jordan era), but his play was bizarrely stupid and inconsistent. In this regard he reminds me of none other than our very own Nene, though they are of course not the same type of player. At least Kemp seemed to want to win much of the time.
LongWindedHank - January 16, 2012
Love this. Haha
love4nuggets - January 16, 2012
Good point...
GK has NEVER been kind to his big guys nor his “stars”. Honestly, I’m not sure what he wants. And what’s sad is that he has the team that can play his “fast game” at altitude and win. Unfortunately when playoff time comes, the good teams can shut down and slow the pace of the game to the Nuggets detriment – see last year OK City. BUT, this year, he has the pieces to PLAY that half court game if he has to, but THEY ARE ALL ON THE BENCH as he continues his small lineup preference.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Tough game
The line-up in the 4th was terrible and there was no adjustment at all. Millsap goes off like that once every 4 or 5 games. He torched the Lakers as well the other night. We needed to put Nene or another big on him. Gallo and “big” Al weren’t getting the job done.
Pusherman - January 16, 2012
Have to agree
Moz and KK were giving Jefferson some trouble on the Nugs defensive end. BTW Kemp was an extremely mobile PF, not a center so I don’t count him as a center.
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
Andre Miller
RMC has graded Miller as an F against NO, an A against NJ (where he started) a D+ against Miami, and an F last night.
We all know what Miller said to the press about being unhappy here as a backup. Even if you think RMC is grading Miller too harshly, there is no doubt in my mind that Miller is playing a lot worse than he did at the beginning of the season.
Has Miller become a whiny malcontent who is bringing the team down? How much more of a leash do we give him before we ship him off somewhere? To me, I thought Miller was one of the main reasons we could not get it going last night, and if this is attitude related, then this is going to be a MAJOR problem for the Nuggets that could really jeopardize the season.
margabelle - January 16, 2012
I would not have given Miller an A
vs. New Jersey. He did OK. But he played like a back up PG getting a rare start, not like a starting PG whose been forced to come off the bench and was given an opportunity to show what he could do as a starter. Simply a C.
Otherwise, I agree with the poor grades.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
12 points and 12 assists vs. the Nets.
A pretty solid game right there. “A” worthy? I dunno about grades.
While Miller may have weird body language … he has always had weird body language. I’m sure the local reporters will be monitoring Miller’s attitude in the locker room now that Tomasson’s story is out. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this.
Last night Miller was up off the bench watching some plays closely and he has been really working the refs the last few games as well. I didn’t hear him chatter much on the floor, but I wasn’t totally focusing on him either. Miller didn’t rule out re-signing in Denver and he does need a new contract … his play will continued to be closely monitored by all parties … coaches, media, fans.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
I stand corrected
I had the wrong line from him in that game. 12 and 12 is pretty good. I’d say B+.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
Grades are weird for judging players in a basketball game
but RMC’s subjective standards for what they feel Miller is capable of versus how he plays to that capability show an alarming trend about Miller that matches my impressions of how Miller’s play this homestand was pretty piss poor, and how that coincidentally coincided with his statement to Tomasson.
I think this Miller thing is really pretty troubling and might portend another underwhelming season/post-season.
margabelle - January 16, 2012
I'm an Andre fan...
Haven’t we all played against guys in the gym like him? Just mosies along and does a little here and a little there and at the end of the game you think “That guy wasn’t even a presence, yet he killed us”. Andre plays a quiet solid game. And I do believe he is the consummate pro. Even if he’s not happy, he still has to perform to keep his marketability up to move to another team – but I just can’t question Andre Miller’s desire – he has been another surprise performance-wise this year – I thought he’d lost a lot of his game, but I don’t see it. He’s a competitor. He wants to start. And he is still playing really well. Altitude said he is 2nd in league in assist/turnover ratio or whatever that stat is – he’s a gamer.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
lhjg hgk j
Well, of course. But still, it is definitely time to panic, reassess our good thoughts about this team and go ahead and make those plans for the latter rounds in the playoffs.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
If you’re talking to me. First, you misquoted me! Second, I was only referring to last night’s game. I’m a game by game guy — still think this is a good team, but some early struggles finding their identity. Finding an identity as a young team is always a long process.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
I did misquote you!
Sorry. It was lost after the jump.
And I’m totally OK with taking a game-by-game approach. But in the last week and a half, I’ve noticed some alarming trends regarding effort. It drives me nuts when Denver can go out and beat a good team only to lose to someone they should beat. It happens all the time to good teams, I know. Losing a game or two even to a bad team isn’t cause to panic.
But this has been a hallmark of the Nuggets for the last four years. So it isn’t just a Melo thing or a team thing. And I’m pretty sure it is a coaching thing. We all saw Karl’s activity on the bench Frinight, it is pretty clear that he was more up for that game than Sunday’s game.
Two weeks ago we were talking about how being a young team was an asset for Denver this season because of the compressed schedule. Now we are saying that being young makes Denver struggle to find its identity?
I don’t buy it. Denver knows who it is: the fastest, most awesomenest high-scoring team in the west that will force turnovers and run you out of the building. I believe all of this is true. But the trouble is Denver is also a team that can’t be bothered to give a shit about the Hornets and the Jazz, etc.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
I see your points of concern for sure. I still say that the Nuggets will struggle as Lawson and Gallo look to take over the team. They are both very young and need to learn the ins-and-outs of how to have “their team”. It’s up to them to get everyone to care about the Jazz and Hornets of the world. Heck, the Jazz look like a playoff team.
But until Lawson and Gallo can bring intensity every night, they’ll be hard pressed to get their teammates going. Karl was pretty active last night, at least he was up off the bench quite a bit. Melvin Hunt was up barking orders when the Nuggets were on defense. There is no question that Karl placed a certain emphasis on the Miami game and that the team was more “up” for it, but everyone must learn not to take the non-elite teams lightly … not just coaches.
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
Maybe..
What we could say here is that there are a few games every season when a team is tired after a big game or mentally flat – that’s where the good coaches can eke out a win by recognizing this and utilizing his entire team rotations, time outs, and all the variables to compensate. The Nuggets will be Ok and will bounce back – we’re all avid fans, we just have to question how things are being led…
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Losses like this are the reason not many people, aside from Nugs fans
…consider the Nuggets true contenders. Bad effort. Bad rotations. No one able to step up and carry the team to a win. The Jazz are playing well…but this was the back end of a back to back for them, in Denver. NO loss, bad. This loss, worse.
Pusherman - January 16, 2012
Its easy to see
how some could doubt the Nugs when they absorb two terrible home losses in a week like this. Sandwiching those around a Miami win (and a scrimmage v. NJ) is just bizarre. This team is not good enough to win, even at home against bad teams, if it doesn’t bring the effort 100% every night. The old NBA doledrums, where so many games fly by when the players don’t have energy/don’t care. Those are the games the Nuggets should be winning with superior attitude and energy. Not acting like we’re better and will win a walkthrough. Hugely disappointed with last night’s effort.
And Karl absolutely needs to shake up these rotations when the rotation guys are slacking.
Teekalong - January 16, 2012
It's true about the doldrums
And maybe it is unfair for me to get so critical on the coaches and the players, when the NBA season is so ridiculously long.
The fact is, players can’t go out during the tedious regular season for a lot of reasons. And a lot of games to become terrible exercises of going through the motions.
All of this is to say that I understand how mentally challenging it must be to get excited about the Jazz on a Sunday when you are busy high-fiving people via Twitter after a great win on Friday.
But all teams face this, and the better ones find a way to motor through. I thought Denver was one of the better teams. I guess I was wrong.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
A lot of NBA players are so spoiled
they don’t realize what they have. Dre is a perfect player for us. But the years of bouncing around the league should show to him that teams don’t place top starter value on an average speed, non-outside shooting but wonderful team quarterback, especially at 35 years of age. Dre will get a hard wake-up call when no one guarantees he will start.
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
Yep, Andre is the calm when things get stormy...
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Recovery Time
Altho b2b games are recognized as difficult, it is equally as hard to recover mentally and physically from a game played at such an elite level as was Friday’s game. Bodies and minds are worn out. GK was fearful of this game. Two days is not enough to recover, as anyone knows who has had such an extreme workout. This schedule is brutal. Go Nuggets.
Dede - January 16, 2012
Where were the superfans last night?
There are two women at every game, right behind Marlowe and Hastings. You know the two. One with dyed red hair. Often wearing glitter. I didn’t see them last night. It was like Taco girl missing the Miami game.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
Nate, What an awesome night you must have had!
I haven’t posted much as I trend towards the negative – I love the Nuggets, but am too analytical to be an “accepting fan”. But the Bird’s situation once again just irked me into participation. Why can’t a coach simply sit down with Bird and TELL him what he, the coach, expects and forego the drama of a benching? This is GK at his best(worst) and what drives me crazy. AAA plain and simple sucks this year and while he is seeing less time, GK doesn’t play those head games with him. And I can’t help myself, but for all of you AAA supporters that were projecting his stats of last year and claiming he was going to average 20 pts/game and be the star 2 guard – I’m just sayin’… HUGE contract and crap – I said this before – the guy can’t create his own offense – he reaped the rewards of Carmelo and JR and other real offensive threats that provided him with nice open shots which he can hit. Moz – there have been too many times where the guy has opened the game VERY nicely and then he just disappears onto the bench and we see the small ball lineup. And to show “fairness” in my rants, I was one who said Fareed wasn’t going to come in and dominate in the NBA and should be the rookie on the bench, but now, I am eating crow and think the kid should be getting some minutes and seeing if HE isn’t the one who should be getting the 10-15 minutes a game. Nate, how about a GK article so we can all rant, get it out of our systems and move on to try to keep from chucking our bottles at the screen at him?! :) Go Nuggets!!
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Huge contract is an overstatement
You make good points on AAA’s ability, but his contract is not ‘Huge" by NBA standards. He’s getting slightly above the NBA average salary. This isn’t Kmart 2.0 by any stretch of the imagination. AAA will be fine, and his contract won’t be an issue. Just as people were freaking out over Al Harrington’s contract, give it a little time. This year he’s in the conversation for sixth man of the year.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
I really hope you are right...
You’re right about Al too – I was on the bus that wanted him tossed and will again eat crow and say that I now see the extent of last year’s injury and what a benefit he is. NEVER thought I’d say that!! :) I guess my “huge” word was really meant that I thought it was “huge” for his value and thus far, he hasn’t played up to that value. And people keep saying “he wasn’t in camp” (abbreviated as it was), but most of the players STILL worked out and kept in shape. There was some promise last night as I saw him hit a few open jumpers, but he has the same stutter, crossover, between the legs, go nowhere move that he does and then he passes off and drifts to the 3 point line. I REALLY hope it’s legs because he’s a good slasher, solid D, and good open shot scorer – but we’re still missing that go to guy. And you are correct about time – I wasn’t real happy with the “jump up and down” for Ty crowd when he was scoring 17-18 pts, but averaging only 2-4 assists which CAN’T happen if the Nuggets are going to be solid – but now that his assist number up and as long as that’s the case, Ty can score as much as he wants :)
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
I've got something in the works my friend. Thanks for the post!
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
GK speaks..
The truth…
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
Kind of...
Was he too cool to put a legit big on Millsap after the 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th straight point?
Is that being too cool, or being too stubborn?
Pusherman - January 16, 2012
Yes.. that was a bad matchup..
Gallo and Al got killed. When Millsap gets going he is hard to handle. The GK haters are always going to find a way to crush him. Plenty of blame to go around for last nights loss.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
I'm not a GK hater...
As a fan, I have watched GK’s teams for many years – in fact I watched his Seattle teams and Milwaukee teams in person. This isn’t a “personality” thing – this is truly a coaching style that simply doesn’t appeal to me. I like brash, cocky and “do it my way” – heck I loved JR – but I played college ball all 4 years and while that is nothing compared to the pro level, I still say that I saw the value of leadership. We always knew that a team’s personality it tightly tied to the personality of the coach. Great teams had/have great coaches. Coaching has changed from the militaristic style that it once was and is much much more complicated – but one still has to have the respect of his/her players if one is to be successful. I call it the “magic place” – where a coach can garner his players’ respect, be able to teach and instruct them, can respect them in return and bridge the communications gap – all of this is next to impossible in today’s NBA – you have old school players coaching guys that are from a COMPLETELY different generation – so while I might have liked GK 20-30 years ago as my coach, I watch how he handles today’s generation of players and shake my head in frustration. I don’t like the work “hater” . I think it came into being during George Bush’s administration when people simply disagreed with him and instead of being able to disagree, they were labeled “haters”. That is intended to squelch differing opinions by labeling someone something drastically insulting. It’s like Tebow fans/non-fans – fans aren’t “haters” – they simply have differing opinions which makes being a fan fun. Let’s keep the “haters” label off our site.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Umm..
I do believe most people agree with your opinion. If the term offends, I can use the longer “people who want GK fired” crowd.
Which I think is funny because the Nuggets have had 50 wins the last 4 yrs for the 1st time ever in their history through all kinds of drama.
People expect the Nuggets to go deep in the playoffs? That is awesome. Used to be trying to count how many ping pong balls the Nuggets would get in the lottery.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
So we should be happy
to have a team that loses in the first round of the playoffs every year after massive coaching errors contribute mightily to the loss?
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
No..
But the reason expectations are this high is because of past winning. Think it should be played for a little longer before we starting calling for heads to roll.
Coaching isn’t the only reason we lost in the playoffs. One year GK wasn’t even there. And some of the other years players were hurt. And sometimes the Nuggets just plain got beat by a better team. But I know I am talking to the wall. The coach is the easy to blame for losing.
djyoung71 - January 16, 2012
I don't know djyoung71...
This has been going on for several years now… We’ve all applied the definition of insanity to GK many many times – trying the same thing over and over, getting the same results and expecting different results – isn’t this GK to a “T” ?
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
also bears mentioning
that in a league where more than half of the teams make the playoffs every year, losing in the first round is the very definition of mediocrity. I mean, I guess it’s better than being at the very bottom year after year. But nevertheless, it’s getting old, to me.
ParkHillNative - January 16, 2012
Just for argument's sake,
making the playoffs in the West is something of an accomplishment due to the stiff competition, but yeah, come on, it ain’t much to hang your hat on.
LongWindedHank - January 16, 2012
no, that's a good point
Being the 4th or 5th seed in the West means they could’ve been the 2nd or 3rd in the East.
ParkHillNative - January 16, 2012
Yet still not get very deep in the playoffs!
LongWindedHank - January 16, 2012
Great point...
I remember when GK first came here. After Bdzelik (sp?) I was immensely relieved. And who can forget the big run we had when he took over. But then signs of how he was in Seattle and Milwaukee started to surface and then Carmelo seemed to bring out the old “star killer” quality in him and now, we are in full fledged GK mode. His quote that “rookies aren’t GIVEN time, they need to EARN it” – isn’t that a bit old school? There have been some windows of time when he could play those guys without impacting the game’s outcome and give them experience and see how they perform – but I guess they haven’t “EARNED” it? Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see GK’s contract bought out before his 3 year deal is up. And as for Jerry Sloan – there’s a GREAT topic for discussion. Jerry Sloan with last year’s Nuggets would, IMO, been a disaster due to the different personalities, but this year’s team, with a lot of youth, would benefit from Sloan’s ability to teach and his toughness. I loved Sloan’s toughness vs Karl’s “toughness”. Who would I want leading me into battle – GK or Sloan? – no contest. I wonder what the front office thinks about this – this is a very old source of contention with knowledgeable fans. The fast pace game puts people in the seats and gets us in the playoffs, but that is going to be it for as long as that is our only weapon. We can’t always play at 5280 and good teams are going to stop, or at least hamper, the uptempo game, slow us down and take advantage of our small lineups – see last night and last year’s playoffs.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Buyout
I honestly think this is Karl’s last chance. If they lose in the first round of the playoffs this year, I think he’s out. And this is the perfect team to be coached by Sloan.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
YES!
I agree – last year’s team had too many strong wills – this year’s is perfect. Maybe the seed can be planted here.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Not if
they walk around and bag it like they did last night. A 2-2 homestand is a bad thing for this team.
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
you've crystallized my feelings very well with that post
Look at the Nuggets’ record these past 4 years, with the 50-win seasons. They’ve gotten there by winning around 80% of their home games and 45-50% of their road games. They rely on home court advantage much more than the average NBA team.
Just to make the playoffs at all, they’re probably going to need to win at least 25 home games this year, and then their seeding will depend on how close they can get to winning half of their road games.
Which means that those two home losses in this last week are really really terrible, and will cost them A LOT, especially if they end up battling Utah for a seed at the end.
ParkHillNative - January 16, 2012
Great quote. Gotta learn from this home-stand!
Nate Timmons - January 16, 2012
Karl is correct
But he is just as much, if not more so, to blame for the mental let down.
Especially since there are quotes of him talking about how worried he was about the game well before tip off.
I’ll let everyone else rip on Karl for his rotations and small ball, the latter of which really doesn’t bother me as I’ll take the speed and scoring it brings. But when it comes to ripping Karl, I am going to be on about Karl’s failure to dig deep into his bench to find someone with heart and energy who can get Denver over these inevitable humps.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
Makes sense...
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Maybe GK is too cool to dig deep into his bench and find energy
Sorry, but I don’t like that quote, and I bet it doesn’t go over well with players, especially the ones that are very capable and aren’t getting any time.
Too cool to draw up a couple of plays for a tired team?
Pusherman - January 16, 2012
If you substitute "confidence" for "cool" I think it's telling...
He hates anything out of HIS control… and he has always been a confidence killer in his players… I’ll stop – he just drives me absolutely crazy!!
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Let me get this in line :)
I’m not a GK hater…
As a fan, I have watched GK’s teams for many years – in fact I watched his Seattle teams and Milwaukee teams in person. This isn’t a "personality" thing – this is truly a coaching style that simply doesn’t appeal to me. I like brash, cocky and "do it my way" – heck I loved JR – but I played college ball all 4 years and while that is nothing compared to the pro level, I still say that I saw the value of leadership. We always knew that a team’s personality it tightly tied to the personality of the coach. Great teams had/have great coaches. Coaching has changed from the militaristic style that it once was and is much much more complicated – but one still has to have the respect of his/her players if one is to be successful. I call it the "magic place" – where a coach can garner his players’ respect, be able to teach and instruct them, can respect them in return and bridge the communications gap – all of this is next to impossible in today’s NBA – you have old school players coaching guys that are from a COMPLETELY different generation – so while I might have liked GK 20-30 years ago as my coach, I watch how he handles today’s generation of players and shake my head in frustration. I don’t like the work "hater" . I think it came into being during George Bush’s administration when people simply disagreed with him and instead of being able to disagree, they were labeled "haters". That is intended to squelch differing opinions by labeling someone something drastically insulting. It’s like Tebow fans/non-fans – fans aren’t "haters" – they simply have differing opinions which makes being a fan fun. Let’s keep the "haters" label off our site.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
+1 for no hatin'
I don’t hate anything. Except maybe the letter “W”.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
Two of us on "W" :)
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
OMG!
You too!?
Doesn’t it drive you crazy how it is the only mulitsyllabic letter in the entire alphabet and it has three syllables! It makes abbreviations and acronyms nigh impossible if they start with “W”.
And: it’s not even a double-yoo, it’s a double-vee. At least the French and Spanish get it right. Might as well call it “upside-down-em”. What’s another syllable, you know?
I could go on and on. Hate the letter “W”.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
I think a lot of people in the Clinton White House agreed with you.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
Crack me up!
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
For Grins...
One example was John Chaney (Temple) – We played his teams and always dreaded it because he took some of the most raw talent and put his will, nastiness and desire into his players and they were always horrible to play. Of course he imploded and disappeared in a not-so-great way – but I just want to repeat and emphasize that A TEAM IS THE REFLECTION OF ITS COACH. In all sports, business, and anything in life – the leader injects his beliefs and personality into his team.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
how do you think the players feel....
we all have played sports to some degree and now what it feels like as a player when you are playing out of position(Gallo, Al) or when someone on your team that is riding the pine(Koufus, Faried) is better than who you are throwing out there (Bird). Yes we want Ty, Nene and Gallo to be assertive and step up as leaders but lets’ not forget, the leader of this team is GK. This is not a team designed to give to Carmelo, let him iso and ball stop, and take a bad shot while everyone else stands around. This team will go as far as their leader GK will allow them to. How do the players feel about their leader playing them out of position,and how do they feel about not getting into the game when they know they can help out or when their teammates know they can help. If we are grumbling, I bet the players are grumbling on the inside knowing the same things that we know. Only they saw firsthand how the Manimal dominates with rebounding and block shots, they know first hand how hard K2 works and how solid he is. That is why they can’t understand why practice time and floor time isn’t rewarded and they are probably dumbfounded as to why GK consistently wants Al or Gallo to bang with the big boys. Does their coach not know them at all? Are they losing confidence in their leader, GK?
Nate, I think it is getting time to start an open letter to our Nuggets leader, George Karl. Every time he is in iso he shoots a fall away airball by not playing his bigs appropriately. I think it is time that he shows accountability now that he has the players he wants and is about 12 deep. He is the leader and leaders must be accountable. Or is he too NBA cool?
Bigdorph - January 16, 2012
Wow. Couldn't have said it better and...
the perspective of players due to coaches like this is right on. Great comment.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Why do the Nuggets do this?
It really drives me crazy
NastyNessy71 - January 16, 2012
Me too!
Oh man. I was a wreck last night, throwing things, screaming at my computer.
I’ve mellowed down considerably since then. But, man, I’m really chapped. We ought to be in here back-slapping and cheering, instead it is bile and finger-pointing. I can only imagine that if it is like this on a silly sports blog that some tensions are developing in the locker room.
Fly Agaric - January 16, 2012
They don't have a leader
someone needs to step up rather it be Al, Dre, Ty or Nene, someones gotta take the reigns in the locker room. I think they are lacking that.
NastyNessy71 - January 16, 2012
It won't be Nene
he’s Rasheed Wallace 2.0 without the Techs. Could be Ty. I think Gallo is trying to do it, but he seems off lately. Like he’s injured.
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
I think it needs to be Ty
or Gallo or both would be best but im not sure. Ty doesn’t seem mature enough to handle it.
NastyNessy71 - January 16, 2012
Agree that gallo or/and Ty need to be leaders
but they both need another year, where they will play like all stars, earn team respect and then they could both lead.
For now, I think the interim leader should be AAA
PS Ty and Gallo should look to a couple of players and model selves after them. Gallo should look towards Manu for what Manu brings to leadership table.
Ty should look to any of the good young point guards for what they bring. He should probably become a student of Chris Paul because regardless of what ever else Paul is doing on the court, he is clearly always captaining his team.
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
Not andre, he wants to leave... remember hes a captian... what a joke
5baker5 - January 16, 2012
I'm not jumping on that band wagon yet
Age and experience in the locker room brings a lot of respect – we don’t have much age (I guess that’s good and bad). If I’d thought I’d be saying this a year ago, I would have gone out and jumped off a cliff, but Harrington is playing well, which players respect, he’s been around, which players respect, he’s vocal , which is needed. I cast my vote for Al – AAA doesn’t have confidence in his own game right now, so I don’t see him being able to step up right now, Ty is young, Gallo is new and young, Andre’s a new face without “new roots” here… Another perspective would be that with a team like this, with no real apparent leader, GK should be savvy enough to recognize this and HELP his team in this area. And I still think Andre is a great captain – he’s a great silent leader.
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
What a crappy sunday!
First Giants beat Pack which means next week we get to see Brother Inferior vs. The Grand Manager instead of All World Ever vs Flash. Get your popcorn ready, not!
I was OK though cause I figured that the piss taste would be wiped out of my mouth by a Nug win.
WE have too much talent to accept being sabotaged by Karl. Yes players ultimately have to execute but coaches can and do undermine teams. Gallo, Ty and Nene are fine players who are too often misused and mis-coached
Take the Packers game as an example. They have a fine coach, but keeping passing game in moth balls for 3 weeks cost them, cost them big
We have a coach that makes unfortunate inexplicable decisions on a daily basis especially his rotations, and how he develops or fails to develop players like Moz, Ty and Gallo
Oh, and Karl should put a boot in Dre’s ass because Dre looks like he’s on some sort of strike. I’d be for putting Dre at the end of bench and letting other PGs sub for TY. Enough is enough!
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
I have to laugh...
We may be REALLY droll in here today, but I do get some great laughs at our humor :)
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
Interesting game of the night
Dallas at LAL, who are 3.5 point favorites. Return of Odom to LA. And Dwight Howard visits NY mecca. Melo is back.
Plea for Intelligence - January 16, 2012
So much of this loss goes on GK...
Sure he didn’t miss the free throws, but his rotations really were the issue. Watching his players play out of position is so frustrating. They look like they"re lost out there, running around and then taking horrific shots as the shot clock winds down. Agree with all above who commented on Milsap’s run and GK kept his big men on the bench. Harrington has stepped up his game and is trying to be a leader (he’s talking to the young guys on the court and off the bench, but playing him in a mis-match position is not the answer. K2 needs to be on the floor – he has so much drive and energy. I kept wishing Faried would get some minutes – especially when it was clear in the third quarter that we were not going to win this game. We needed energy last night – our shooters were having a bad night. And GK just continues to do the same thing. A coach that the team seems to look up to is Melvin Hunt.
DenverNative - January 16, 2012
Knicks 6-7 and melo went 9-27 from the floor....
5baker5 - January 16, 2012
Do I detect
a little schadenfreude?
ThrowItDownBigManThrowItDown - January 16, 2012
a little schadenfreude?
Nah, TIDBMTID. More like weinerschnitzel
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
ya, ya,
But he still is one hell of a player – guy’s headed for the hall of fame. I didn’t care for the way he parted us, but I respect his game. I don’t like Kobe’s history in the state, but I respect his game, etc…
mtnmagic22 - January 16, 2012
is this a joke?
on me?
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
Again.
NY’s basically us pre trade.
Kevin L - January 16, 2012
No way
I know. I saw every minute of every game. When pre trade nugs faced knicks I salivated over AAA, Ty and nene and was completely turned off by Melo.
Denver had lots of talent around Carmelo.
WE (Knicks) were an avg but deep and developing team. Ujirii made sure to take care o that!
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
a mind is a terrible thing to waste
sgiustra - January 16, 2012
Dialogue during the third quarter
You’ll have to trust me that this is the way it went:
Disgusted, Henry thinks to himself early in third quarter, “The Nuggets are gonna lose this game.”
Melinda walks back into TV room a couple of game minutes later, and Henry voices the above. Melinda sits down, looks at score and says, “Oh come on, they’re only down by five.”
Henry: “Doesn’t matter, they’re playing extremely poorly and letting the Jazz kill them. They’re missing tons of free throws. This is the kind of game they lose. Just keep watching.”
LongWindedHank - January 16, 2012
YMCA
Nate – just a quick hit… my girlfriend I was with when I ran into you and your sister outside the arena… she works for the YMCA… so yeah it’s still around. And also, the little girls playing on the court at halftime… they were in the YMCA youth b-ball league. I’ll chalk it up as you musta been out grabbing a beer when they were hoopin… ;)
stiffy - January 17, 2012
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