The Denver Nuggets are the poster child of waffling performances this season; they have yet to string together more than a handful of performances that resemble something to be confident in. It’s not just one thing I can point to, but a variety of circumstances ranging of shooting inconsistencies to lack of coaching adjustments. Nevertheless, the Nuggets have an issue that’s hard to make any sound determination on, considering their horrendous schedule first two months and it’s not a shock they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 81-72, during an eye-numbing rock fight.
The Ugly…
The offense was just, to but it bluntly, uglier than watching Stevie Wonder shoot free throws. Players that were outstanding Friday night – Hey, Inconsistency – were dismal from the field during this game.
Andre Miller – who I’m biased towards – was just a turnover machine. He’s traditionally lackadaisical on second-legs of a back-to-back, he’s in his late thirties and isn’t in the athletic shape he needs to be to perform well during these games. Ty Lawson, even with his Achilles injury, has been dismal, all but a handful of games, this season. His injury doesn’t excuse his piss poor performance all season, but I’m sure fans and the team will do just this.
Danilo Gallinari followed up his red-hot 39-point night with a dud of a game; scoring 7 points on 8 shots with 6 boards and one dime isn’t going to cut it. If you don’t believe me when I say he’s been inconsistent just look at these numbers: followed a 23-pt game, with 13 points; 21 points with 9; 20 points with 9; 28 points with 6 and so on and so forth. The way he follows acceptable scoring performances with duds is something that may be a mental block, but being one of Denver’s better scorers, its inexcusable to settle for long-range jumpers.
The Bad…
George Karl, surprise!!! Karl flubbed up the 4th quarter with playing favorites (Miller) over making adjustment based on the opponents’ lineup (McGee). I’ll be fair and state, Karl did recognize his mistake, but that only matters if he corrects this mistake in the future. I’m known as a “Karl defender” because I employ logic over reaction, but its quite hard to defend him with the way he botched up that 4th quarter. That’s not even touching the fact he left Kenneth Faried In with 5 fouls and playing center. At some point, you’d imagine for it all to clique for Karl, but its difficult for that to become a reality.
The Good…
There are a few positives from this game such as Kenneth Faried’s typical rambunctious self, just fell to early foul troubles. Despite the usual boneheaded plays, JaVale was the best Nuggets with 5 blocks, 9 rebounds, and 12 points and for once I’m with the McGee apologists and he needed more minutes and especially in the 4th.
Despite this ugly game, Denver is in a good position – 17-15 – going into a 15-game homestand in January given their complete basketball bi-polar tendencies.
Let’s all pray that 2013 will bring out the Denver Nuggets we all know and love.
