Rapid Reaction: Minnesota Timberwolves 101, Denver Nuggets 97

January 3, 2013
by Kalen
Minnesota Timberwolves 101 Final

Recap | Box Score

 97 Denver Nuggets
Danilo Gallinari, SF 28 MIN | 4-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 12 PTS | -2

The Nuggets are a team full of inconsistencies, but Gallo might be the most inconsistent of them all. As I’ve said before, his jump shot is his crutch. It’s the most inconsistent part of his already inconsistent game and it’s what he relies on all the time. We’re nearly halfway through the season and he’s still barely shooting above the .400 mark.
Kenneth Faried, SF 25 MIN | 3-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 8 PTS | +4

It’s tough watching Faried’s energy level fluctuate so much from game to game. He had one aggressive rebound against the Wolves and was nonexistent the rest of the time. The book seems to be out on Faried: Get physical and you take him out of the game.
Kosta Koufos, C 26 MIN | 8-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS | +19

This was one of Koufos’ best showings of the year. He was making all sorts of crisp cuts to the basket, blocking out and getting much-needed put-backs against an imposing Wolves front line. For some inexplicable reason Karl chose to sit him the entire fourth quarter.
Andre Miller, PG 36 MIN | 5-12 FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 10 AST | 11 PTS | +11I

t’s always frustrating grading Miller. It’s funny because McGee takes a lot of heat for ill-advised and often quite flamboyant decisions, but Miller isn’t far behind. How many awful 3-pointers in tight games has he taken this year? How many terrible late-game turnovers has he had because he was being selfish? Miller has such a great overall game and can be a excellent point guard at times, but he also makes some of the worst decisions on the whole team.
Andre Iguodala, SG 36 MIN | 6-16 FG | 1-7 FT | 7 REB | 6 AST | 14 PTS | +6

Iguodala didn’t shoot well but I liked how aggressive he was. This has been missing all year from his game. He was simply teeming with enthusiasm against the Wolves. If he knocks down just a few more shots, this could have been a different and much more enjoyable contest from the Nuggets point of view.
Anthony Randolph, PF 4 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -3

Randolph looked pretty decent for only playing four minutes. He had a huge block and made some nice passes. Karl likes Mozgov, but Randolph is clearly the more talented prospect. Again, I’d love to see what he could do with 15-20 minutes at the backup power forward spot as I’ve seen nothing from him that would suggest he couldn’t handle it.
Corey Brewer, SF 29 MIN | 5-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | -12

Is Corey Brewer the most consistent jump-shot maker on the entire team? Think about that. It’s definitely possible. No Nugget is shooting a particularly good percentage from the field (not including dunks) this year. While this is good for Brewer, it’s absolutely awful for the Nuggets as a whole. Nevertheless, Brewer had a solid game. He was energetic, hustled twice as much as other guys and played great defense as usual.
JaVale McGee, C 13 MIN | 1-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -15

I rarely hand out F grades. In fact, I don’t know if I ever have. But I had to tonight. McGee played like he was high… or drunk… one of the two. He was all over the place, waiving his giant limbs around in an uncontrollable manner. He was falling over, making one completely bone-headed mistake after another. I just couldn’t believe how weird he was acting. Perhaps he was having a flashback from his days in Washington? I don’t know. What I do know is that Karl feeds off performances like this from McGee. This is exactly what he needs to use as an excuse to limit McGee’s minutes even more.
Timofey Mozgov, C 13 MIN | 2-3 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | -1

Mozgov played well. Quietly, he might be the Nuggets best one-on-one defender of all the bigs. He’s been showing more confidence lately and it’s showing in the box scores.
Ty Lawson, PG 23 MIN | 6-9 FG | 3-3 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 16 PTS | -25

Lawson nearly saved the Nuggets tonight. He was making all sorts of clutch plays when the team was down. His shot was falling, which certainly helped, too.
Evan Fournier, SG 8 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -2

Fournier does all the little things right, which is exactly what Karl wants. He had some really nice cuts to the basket and had active hands on defense. He needs to be more aggressive on offense though.
George Karl

Karl drove me nuts this game. I don’t think he went two minutes without making a substitution. The Nuggets started the game off with a good vibe that he immediately squashed by messing around with the lineup over and over. People didn’t even have time to get settled in. Worst of all, I couldn’t figure out why Koufos didn’t play in the fourth quarter. What’s the reasoning behind that? Here he is having the best game he’s had in a while and all of a sudden he’s benched? Karl does this way to often for my liking.

There was really only one thing I noticed tonight: little, nonathletic combo guards burning the Nuggets from everywhere on the floor. How the hell do J.J. Barea, Luke Ridnour and Alexey Shved combine for 48 points!?! This is something only the Nuggets tend to allow on such a consistent basis and it all comes down to defense. For whatever reason the Nuggets have always been lazy when it comes to guarding the pick-and-roll. Instead of communicating and at least trying to thwart their opponent’s offensive gameplan, the Nuggets simply switch — no matter who they’re guarding — and hope that at some point they can switch back or rely on last-second help from one of their teammates. Instead of stifling the problem where it begins, they try and patch things up after the bleeding has already turned into a chaotic mess. All night long the Wolves set a pick, isolated one of their smaller guards on a Nuggets big man and then took him to the hole or stepped back for a jump shot. My questions is: If Karl was dead-set on switching why didn’t he play a more advantageous lineup where, no matter who switched, the Nuggets would always have a guy capable of defending a Wolves guard? If the Nuggets could have eliminated this problem from the start, they likely would have won in pretty convincing fashion.

Posted on January 3, 2013 at 10:23 pm | filed in Analysis, Game Recap, Rapid Reaction | 109 Comments
  • Daniel Y

    Really a disappointing loss. Going small at the end costs us again. Can’t take much more of this. Thankfully the Broncos are legit, or else I’d be really depressed.

    • Thomas

      This is what a team will always get with GK running things – mediocre results.

      A five year old could have coached better. Small ball, no defense ( keeping Miller in and KK out) against a KevinLove-less eam at the end.

      BTW, AI 1 of 12 on FTs last two games. i’d bench him.

  • bm12

    Pretty awful effort on both sides of the floor. How do you not learn when JJ scores off the switch like 10 times in a row? Completely disgusting officiating to top it off. On a side note, Kevin Love might have surpassed CP3 and Griffin as biggest whiners in the NBA

  • Ban Johnson

    Well, it’s clear that being home is not the magical cure-all to all the Nuggets’ ills that so many have wanted us to believe it is. Bad loss. Time to start worrying about making the playoffs. Assuming the Warriors get in, there’s only 3 spots left in the West. It’s not at all clear that the Nuggets are markedly stronger than the Rockets, Timberwolves, Lakers, Jazz, or even Mavs (w/Dirk.)

    Iguodala’s ft shooting is unacceptably horrendous for an NBA shooting guard, let alone one making huge $. 3/16 the last 3 games. Yes, you read that right.

    The Nuggets’ switching on every screen is so predictable, teams run picks just to get the switch. Mix it up a little at the very least. If they can get a big on Barea every single time down the court, you’re doing something wrong.

    Karl’s lineups at times seem generated randomly by a computer. Why did Koufos sit so much of crunch-time? He was having a great game! Was he banged up or something? And was this really the game to try out Anthony Randolph?

    Faried lets himself get psyched out against physical power forwards. That needs to stop.

    • googergieger

      Foul trouble bothers Faried. If he feels he can’t play physical or else he’ll get called for something, he becomes pretty useless out there. Also I agree with the rest. We are going to get into the play offs. However what was our fourth seed for the taking coming into this season, has now become our sixth seed at best, and probably a sweep and same crap next year, unless we get a new coach.

  • googergieger

    The refs DID keep Minnesota in this game throughout. Especially that first half. But once again Karl gives the game away when it is close in the fourth quarter. Same problems are still there. Want to know why so many people are inconsistent on offense? Because run all game isn’t an offense. Switch everything, isn’t defense. Playing small is effin pointless if you don’t have a center that can stretch the floor. I mean who on earth has ever heard of playing small with an undersized forward that can’t shoot and a point guard that can’t shoot?! Two guard line up again Karl?! See this is what happens with McGee when you constantly destroy his confidence and give him no time to develop chemistry with our best guys. Kofous have a good game? Sure. After he had three terrible games where you still gave him his minutes! Also please Karl speak up to the refs and get a tech if need be to let the guys know you care. To let the refs know it isn’t right.

    They played on a back to back night and we came out slow the entire game. Granted the refs didn’t let us play anything but slow, but still. If Lawson is hurt he is useless to us Karl. So rest him up until he is 100%. Granted when he was healthy he seemed disinterested in playing too, but still. He has an excuse I guess.

    God this is another horrible loss. Once again not beat by the better team, just let officiating get to us, and just give the game away with our stupid defense, our stupid offense, and our stupid coach.

    We weren’t supposed to beat The Clippers, but great we did. We were supposed to beat Minnesota rather easily and we are supposed to beat Utah, but now we have to settle once again. Houston is going to have an easy schedule. So is every other team ahead of us we are trying to catch up to. God please let this be Karl’s last year.

    • Zorba

      If koufos (not kofous) had been given three of McGee’s minutes we would have won… In this game javale would have developed more chemistry sitting on the bench…

      • googergieger

        If Javale would have been given two of his minutes in that Memphis game we would have won. For all the solid Koufos brought to the table tonight, he still gave up offensive rebounds, still was bullied by Pekovic, and still fumbled good passes, and not to mention that steal that was right in front of him he fumbled into Minnesota points. Mozgov was easily our best center tonight defensively.

    • Greco21

      I mean wow…

      That is a wrap up hate post.

      Terrible games? I mean against Memphis? Gasol with 6 points and Randolph held off a doulbe-double… You know what you are talking about? Are you aware what the duo of bigs can cause to a team?

      Man if you want show time just watch a Harlem Globetroters tape.

      Enough with the irony from my part.

      Look man. McGee can bring a lot to the table. He is scary just jumping above people. He makes penetrators think twice going without a pump fake but he has to make a lot of adjustments. He has freaky athletisism but especially on the defensive end he can become a liability. Not to mention him forcing things on the offensive end when its not just rolling…

      Concerning his confidence… meh… A guy that would try a dunk from the free throw line in a crowded painted area has no confidence issues. I mean his confidence is not an issue. I wish he had a confidence issue… That would make him think that basketball is a lot more than an alley-oop dunk.

      Now as far as it comes to Koufos. He will not force anything on offense when the game is not going his way. He made a step forward by making a cut from the weak side and that is a plus.

      He has certain weaknesses and for sure a confidence issue (much greater than Javales’ ) but he would not hurt the team on his own benefit.

      The fact the he got outrebounded by the 2nd best rebounding team is not his fault solely. Look at the pick and roll defense and you will find out the reason he was away from Pek. That caused 4 steals, couple of blocks and couple of fast break points… and hell yeah a +25 on the court.

      Talented wise he is not as talented Javale. Javale is gifted. But you have to reward guys when they have good games.

      P.S. I really like the two 7 footer line-up.

      P.S. And Kalen I promise i will never complaint about grades again

      P.S. The worst was that the team lost. A couple of Gallo makes, or Iggy free throws could hand in the win. The most scary thing though was the the ball was not moving on half court offense. And that is play-offs and points in the paint are not that easy against TALL teams.

      • googergieger

        Randolph started strong against Koufos, and when McGee came in Randolph stopped scoring and rebounding. Faried did a great job on Gasol and when Koufos switched on him he scored three times in a row. What about all the minus games he had by the way? Oh no, talk up all the solid, not great. Solid games he has. Karl logic for you. McGee played a very sloppy game last night. Okay. Has had plenty of other controlled games as well. Has he been rewarded for it? Again nobody talks up the fact Koufos struggles with good passes and often times over complicates an easy shot and misses it. Again, I see everyone quick to judge and blame Gallo, McGee, heck even Faried, but Koufos and Brewer always get a free pass even when they play mediocre or in Koufos’ case, down right turrible sometimes. But alright let’s get Matt Bonner. One of the kings of plus/minus last year. He’ll be the guy to right this ship!

  • totti

    two pgs again and again.
    and ty -24, really sucks.
    20 mil for him and mcgee:ahahahhah

    • LBJ

      A B+ for Lawson is absurd. He was worthless until the 4th quarter. A minus 25 pretty much says it all.

    • Sky

      Why was Miller was getting used in the last few minutes by Barrara… didnt see Millers hands go up to contend a shot. wtf!!!
      Think its time for a new PG in town…
      I like Lawson but he is not a starting PG and Miller is too old.

  • http://www.tshirtgroove.com Booker Addison

    Karl does not make good adjustments. I’d trade in the Clippers win for the 7 winnable games we lost because GK is the worst 4Q coach in the league. What metric is he looking at that tells him no center to end games is a good strategy. JJ Barea did the same thing to us in Minnesota. It’s a joke. If no one can stay in front of him (gimpy Ty or slow old man Miller) at least have a rim protector in there. Or how about stop switching on every PnR. Who would exchange a losing record in January for a Karl firing? I definitely would and I’m not just having a knee jerk reaction to one terrible home loss.

    • googergieger

      I think I would. Just because the sooner the better. Our young guys are losing much needed time to get better day by day. The game doesn’t look fun for Lawson anymore, and everyone of our young guys is constantly being put in situations to fail. Outside of maybe one or two people that Karl is in love with.

      • Ackdog

        You are right about Ty. since the start of the season he hasn’t looked happy…….. I wounder if Coach K is wearing on him??

        • Sky

          Yeah Lawson looks like he lost a step, he’s not pusing the tempo and cutting to the basket.

  • googergieger

    Also if we do lose against Utah, we play Lakers the next night. So we are most likely going to lose that game. When the fuck are we going to go on a winning streak? At least a five game one, then lose one, then win some more. Everything about this team is inconsistent and that is what happens when your coach is someone that does everything by way of Manatee(South Park reference).

  • Mark from Charlotte

    Bad loss for the Nuggets tonight. Jham should have had some playing time tonight , the nuggets needed outside shooting.

  • googergieger

    Alright so next game Utah who is coming off a back to back night. We should win that one. Then Lakers next night for us, so we should lose that one. Then Orlando and Cleveland at home, so we should win those two. Then Golden State who is playing great right now, but we should be able to beat them as we match up great with them. Then Portland at home. So we should go 5-1 in the next six games. We should, anyways.

  • Mark from Charlotte

    Nugget fans I do not like GK as a coach, but this game is on the players as well 11 for 20 at the free throw line for 55% and 6 for 22 from the 3-point line for 27.3 %.

  • CJP32

    Bad loss, unacceptable really with Love going down. Gallo with 12 pts?? Iggy’s FT shooting is really ugly – get in the gym and practise. Ty was aggressive but obviously not helping the team with a -25.

    The Dre 3 was just wrong, this guy should not shoot threes or be in the game when we are down, with under 2 mins left. We need players who can defend and get to the rim quick, CBrew was having a good 4th qtr, he should have stayed in the game.

    Not sure what will help this team, and Wilson Chandler is not the answer. I think Masai would be getting pretty concerned now, the time to make a run for the Playoffs is now.

    • googergieger

      Feel bad for Masai, this team is underachieving big right now. Not much you can do to make this team better either, especially when you have no idea what Karl is going to do minutes/rotation wise. On top of which hard to get players that would be perfect for a “switch everything” defense. Think Masai just needs to sit down with the owner(s?) and talk about Karl. If Karl can’t make it out of the first round this year, time for a new coach that is going to teach these young players how to defend and how to run plays on offense.

      • Mark from Charlotte

        Jerry Sloan would be that coach to teach these young players offense and how to defend

        • googergieger

          Sloan or Stan Van Gundy. Sloan is a great PG coach, but Ty seems to be someone that wants to be a second or third option. Someone to just set offense up and score as a last resort. So in that case Sloan might be a good option. Stan I think could do more wonders with Javale. Build a defense around him, and if Javale can’t become a post threat, Stan is used to working with the drive and kick offense. In any case at least Masai would know what to do as far as trades and such go.

          • ryanvdonk

            sloan would be awesome, but does he want to coach again?

            SVG or McMillan seem like the best options among the others. stan would give us a different system which could work but our current personel seems poor for the 3pt heavy system. but he does have a stache, i like that.

            nate would be the better option if something were to happen mid season. similar system to george but more organized on offese, he has basic sets at least but like karl believes is spreading the ball around. on the good difference, he is a firm believer in defense. oh and he’s not afraid to go big. aldridge developed under him, also b.roy before his knees gave out. he actually even got ray allen to play d.

            • googergieger

              With a new coach Masai could get the right personnel. For Karl what do you go get? Go out and find players that bring “teamness” to the table?

            • Sky

              Nate would be a awsome Idea!!!

      • Brazil

        I hate to say this but maybe we need a couple of injuries to our starters so our young players can get some real time on the court. If it wasn’t for injuries to Gallo, Nene, etc. last year Faried would have never got minutes, let alone be starting. He went out and played hard because he knew even if he made a couple mistakes GK wouldn’t pull him out of the game because he didn’t have anyone else to put in there. Just saying.

      • al68

        In my opinion Masai has destroyed this team, first selling to Billups. Giving a lot of money by Nene and then change Mcgee. 3rd Iggy giving too much, we gave our best shot Afflalo, besides having great IQ.
        In the worst team we have this 3 years ago and it is worse futuro.Sobretodo a team full of players who have no IQ (Mcgee, Hamilton, Brewer, Lawson).

        • Chucho320

          I fully agree that Ujiri is destroying the team. Even if we had to trade Billups, we should have brought him back the second his contract was up. My love for GK dies a little more with each loss…and those are piling up rather frequently this year. Time for him to go and take Ujiri with him. Let them make Toronto a perennial 8th seed, 1st round loss team.

        • Guy

          I couldn’t disagree more. Nene put up mediocre numbers, came to camp consistently out of shape and was hurt half the time. He continues to be hurt playing with the Wizards. How are those Wizards doing anyway?? Do you really want to pay a guy $12 mil. a year to get 6 pts and 3-4 rebounds per game PAID. As erratic as McGee has been he’s won more game singlehandedy in less than a year than Nene won his whole time here.
          I really don’t see how Masai could have got a better deal in the Melo trade and at the time, giving up Billips and his big salary made sense. Remember he was hurt almost all of last season.
          Losing Affalo I think has hurt the most, especially with our lack of shooting. I think everyone overated AI or at least made him out to more than he is, which is a 3rd or 4th guy on a contending team.
          My biggest problem with Masai is that he seems to be letting Karl run the show at the detriment of the long term future of the team.

          • googergieger

            Afflallo took a step back on defense last year and it seems to have carried over to this year. Still he wasn’t much of a first or second option either. Iguodala was supposed to upgrade our defense and while he has, it hasn’t been to the degree we hoped. But that is what happens when your entire defense is switch everything. As far as shooting goes. J-Ham is right there. I do agree with Masai not stepping in and talking to Karl. Masai has done the best he could possibly do considering it is Denver and not L.A. If it is in Masai’s power to get rid of Karl or at least have a sit down with him and talk about priorities, then whoever does have the power to do that has to start doing it. Unless they are waiting for the end of January.

          • Ackdog

            Agree wih Guy. McGee is way better than Nene. McGee is always going to make a couple of bonehead plays per game… that is a given. But the difference that guy makes on the defensive end will never show up on a stat sheet. We haven’t seen that since the days of Dikembe. He is a game shnger on the defensive end. Don’t expect this team to do great things this year. Masai is till putting the pieces toghether. This team is one good reliable jump shooter from being a top 4 contender in the Western conference. Did anyone expect that when Carmelo was traded away. I think not. Gallo is not the answer he is to inconsistent so don’t be suprised if he gets traded for a lesser player that can actually hit 5 or 6 jumpers per game.

      • Thomas

        Don’t feel bad for Masai at all, it’s his responsibility for inking GK to a 3 year deal – what a crappy deal for the team and for fans.

        GMs need to make tough choices and not be emotional. Get rid of our awful coach now.

        • googergieger

          I’m going to ignore Al, cause that is some tarded b.s. But isn’t the firing of a coach up to the owner(s)?

  • Scott

    Koufos’ stat line does not show how terrible he played tonight. Getting abused by the Twolves bigs and not learning to catch the ball really hindered our team. Javake brings so much energy and game changing rim protection, as well as getting the crowd excited with his spectacular dunks. He needs more minutes.

    • Scott

      Sorry I rushed that without proofreading. Javale*

      • LBJ

        Did you watch the game??? Javale was a freaking dissaster on both ends of the court. He doesn’t know how to block out, he is chasing point guards 40 feet from the basket and firing up wild ass shots all over the place. Any teammate that passes the ball to this bozo when he is further than 3 feet from the basket should be yanked!

    • John

      Scott, were you sharing a bong with JaVale before the game… he was terrible.

    • Zorba

      Koufos in 25 min had 8-10, 7 rebs, 4 st, 1 ast, 2 bs, +19 but he played terribly…
      McGee in 12 min had 1-7, 4 rebs, 1 to, 2 bs, -15, but brought energy…
      This wins “comment of the day”…

      • GIANLUCA

        Karl GALLINARI BENCH BREWER PARQUET ???
        is a bad coach

        ps RACISM
        BREWER B 29 minuts
        5-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | -12 plus/minus
        GALLINARI D 28 minuts
        4-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 12 PTS | -2

        WHY ?
        and the % 3 point of GALLO is >>> IGGY , TY , MILLER

        trade TY LAWSON .

    • Scott

      Wow I feel stupid not getting my point across that I meant overall and not this particular game. Ya javale was off tonight.

      • Scott

        Just forget I even started talking….

  • googergieger

    I agree with Scott. The bias against certain players is pretty obvious by the Round Ball crew. Koufos gets a free pass with all his awful games but when he has a solid one he gets an A. Probably why Karl always gives him his minutes no matter what. Except when he wants to go small anyways. Which is another problem entirely. Also once again no one pays attention to how many good looks Gallo had. Granted he didn’t attack as much as he should have, but on any given night this teams spacing can be down right atrocious. He did have a pretty awful game though. Still hit some big shots here and there. Also seriously does no one notice that when Faried gets in foul trouble he struggles? It isn’t about physical play. Griffin was slapping, pushing, and hitting him in that Clipper game. Faried still played strong. Also the first three quarters from Ty were absolute garbage. If he is injured, then don’t play him, but we’ve seen that look from him constantly this season. That look of, I’d rather be doing anything else but playing basketball right now. I.E. “Andrew Bynum” face.

    But yes Mozgov was easily our best center tonight. Koufos was bullied and once again was the reason a few of our other players got turn overs. How in the world you fumble a steal you just have to grab into a bounce to the Wolves for a wide open lay up is beyond me.

    • Kalen

      I’ve been in favor of McGee starting all year. He’s much better than Koufos overall. But we grade based on individual performances, game by game. We have to reward good performances and acknowledge bad ones. Otherwise, what’s the point in grading each game?

      • googergieger

        When was the last time Koufos got an F? I mean is it that so little is expected out of the guy and so much is expected from guys like Gallo and Faried, that if the stats are poor they get shat on, without taking anything else into account? Although to be fair, I’m starting to think no one on this team is to blame for their inconsistencies. Karl brings nothing to the table as far as that goes. Nothing to calm them down. Nothing to rely on. Just run, switch, and run again. I think the guys clearly love playing together, but sometimes it seems some don’t like playing basketball, or at least playing under Karl.

        • John

          When was the last time Koufos “deserved” an F…He has been bad D level, but usually that just means ineffective… Usually that happens against All Star level bigs…. He never singlehandedly dismantles the team the way an F suggests.

  • googergieger

    “We’ve got to pay attention to detail. We go through all this (preparation), pregame, shootaround. Before the game we have all this stuff written on the board, and no one’s really reading it. Not on the same page. And at the end of the game, that’s what happens. If we’re supposed to trap, and we don’t trap, they get easy buckets.”

    Ty’s quote. See this is where having a work horse for a coach helps. Some teams need to be ridden. Young teams especially. Phil Jackson is great for super star teams that need to be coddled. However this young team needs to be worked into greatness. Not just expect it to happen because it has super stars who have played in the league before and had success in it. At the very least I think Ty, Gallo, Iguodala, and Dre need to have a meeting together, and then have a meeting with the rest of the guys and talk about holding each other accountable. Not being afraid to give or get advice. This is a team that does everything by committee, and it needs to include the leadership mantle into that committee.

    • Murguz

      Sorry, didn’t notice your post

    • Charliemyboy

      Great response. GK will be GK, but he knows the rope might be getting shorter. Wish Faried was older; he has the passion. The team does need to meet and address their responsibilities. I see them looking at each other when a rotation is missed. They need to write down what their responsibilities are, as individuals and as a team-mate, and set goals and provide same to GK. He needs to evaluate their assessment and agree/disagree. It’s a business…millions of dollars on the line. Get with it guys; you can be replaced.

  • Murguz

    Look what Lawson said: “It’s kind of deflating, man,” Lawson told. “We’ve got to pay attention to detail. We go through all this (preparation), pregame, shootaround. Before the game we have all this stuff written on the board, and no one’s really reading it. Not on the same page. And at the end of the game, that’s what happens. If we’re supposed to trap, and we don’t trap, they get easy buckets.”
    That’s all we need to know.

  • John

    Ty Lawson a B… wow… if a player can’t run or jump off both legs… rest him. He is just going to make his Achilles strain worse.

    Ty was so slow tonight I am pretty sure my ‘Nana could’ve beat him up and down the court… and she’s dead. He literally made Andre Miller look like Usain Bolt out there.

    If you plan on throwing the game anyway Karl, play Fournier and JHam. At least they show some desire… at least when they get to touch the ball, unlike tonight.

  • Steve

    Miller can do no wrong in Karl’s eyes. If he followed his own sub rule he uses with JHam and McGee, Miller would never see the light of day. To sum up Miller play in one play, he isolates on the right side vs a smaller Luke R…takes most of the shot clock, does not back him down enough and then turns baseline and shoots a fall-away 16 footer.

    Tell me that or any of the 3pt he shoots are worse than anything Jham has done this season.

    KARL….PLEASE PLAY MAN TO MAN D! If every other team in the NBA can stick on their man, why the hell can’t we.

  • CJP32

    Right now after 34 games, the problem is pretty clear. These young guys are unmotivated. Ty, Gallo, McGee all have signed their fat contracts – they have nothing to prove. Why should they play hard every night?

    CBrew, KK and Faried actually turn up almost every single game. Reward the guys that try. Demote the ones that don’t.

    Gallo is not a special player. He still shoots 40% from the field. Iggy is horrendous as well from the FT line. Do these guys actually practise shooting? Ty just doesn’t know his role and he is clearly frustrated.

    Lord help JHam on January 13th – cause thats when his minutes will go to zero, thanks to the return of Wilson Chandler. Any remaining minutes will go to Evan. Mozzy is being show cased right now for a trade.

    If I’m Masai, I pull a trade pretty quickly for a player who can lead both on the court and in the locker room, cause right now it appears no one gives a F**K.

    • googergieger

      Nobody knows their role. The blind KK love is asinine. Dude at best has games like tonight where he still gets owned by competent centers. And Brewer and Faried aren’t above criticism, but yes they do bring effort every night. Though plenty of players do, until they realize. “Going to be one of those nights where we are going to switch everything and our offense is going to be tossing up a prayer”.

      McGee made a lot of mistakes tonight but he clearly wants to go out there and play for a coach that doesn’t care about anyone but his favorites. Gallo, Ty, and Iguodala are clearly frustrated with the stagnant offense and Gallo and Iguodala especially are tired and frustrated with the constant switching on defense. I mean Iguodala is probably super pissed by it.

      Trading is tough for Masai as I said. Who do you move and for what? Karl is going to play who he wants to play no matter what. There is no such thing as a Karl proof roster.

      • allAround

        The “blind KK love is asinine”. What ?
        Jesus man what did KK did to you ?

        • googergieger

          What did Gallo do to everyone? I have no problem with Koufos as a back up or someone that gets back up minutes. But every time I see people get out of their figurative seats on this blog for him not fumbling a pass but curse out Gallo for missing an off balance three with the clock winding down, it is pretty asinine. Double for when McGee makes mistakes Koufos makes as well.

          • allAround

            So to support Gallo you are bitching about KK?

            Mistakes everyone makes. KK and McGee. But McGee has moved this mistake making issue to a hole new era. Come on now youtube is full with McGee´s bad plays.

            KK is not accepting honors by this blog or by no where.

            Have you seen his contract do you think this is much compared with what he brings?

            Have you seen what happened last year that was benched over Moz even if he was bringing more value?

            Have you seen how much bitching is around by fans only because he is not athletic enough?

            Have you seen what happens now with you ?

            Even though he is playing good you stick the label of the “Back Up” . I mean this gay is bringing effort and skills to the Nugs. He is smart and he plays for the team , why he should be labeled as back up from that age? He deserves our respect and also his chances to become a starter . And you know something he is taking them, since McGee even if he is more athletic he does not know so much about basketball. McGee can be better in track and fields sports , he can be better in 1 vs 1 , but he has not proven better when it comes to professional basketball.

            • Legalize Denver nuggets

              “I mean this gay is bringing effort and skills to the nugs” had to point out that hilarious typo.

              Since I’m posting, ill briefly comment on my perception of favoritism on this blog- in the nba, contracts always matter. There is no avoiding it. Gallo and McGee will be held to a higher standard. Koufos consistently gets mid to high grades because he knows what he can do and he does it consistently. Not many mistakes and is one of the few nugs who seems locked into their role. McGee will see a lot of highs and lows. Everyone wants to see him in beast mode all the time, but until he stops taking contested jumpers and silly shots like that, he will get bad grades on the regular.

              • googergieger

                So pretty much. “Yay Koufos didn’t let Kaman get one hundred points on him!” or, “Yay, Koufos didn’t let Randolph get eight thousand rebounds on him, even though McGee is the one that came in and slowed him down!”

                Alright good to know. Though Faried has a pretty cheap rookie contract and was in foul trouble tonight and other nights where he gets shite grades…

            • googergieger

              “So to support Gallo you are bitching about KK?”

              Nope. Gallo didn’t have a good game. Fine with his score. Koufos has much worse and plenty of games where he is simply out classed. We have a deep team that Karl refuses to use because of players like him. Much like the refs, my complaint is consistency. If it is because people expect so little from Koufos that tying his shoe is cause for a standing ovation, then fine. Just come out and say it.

              “Mistakes everyone makes. KK and McGee. But McGee has moved this mistake making issue to a hole new era. Come on now youtube is full with McGee´s bad plays.”

              For every mistake McGee makes, Koufos has fumbled more passes or missed more easy shots by the three fold. Spare me the Shaqtin-a-fool logic.

              “KK is not accepting honors by this blog or by no where. Have you seen his contract do you think this is much compared with what he brings?”

              Great. So he gets a standing ovation for tying his shoes. Good to know.

              “Have you seen what happened last year that was benched over Moz even if he was bringing more value?”

              What?

              “Have you seen how much bitching is around by fans only because he is not athletic enough?”

              Nope. I’ve seen a few acknowledge McGee needs more time to develop chemistry with our guys or at least be rewarded when he plays good.

              “Have you seen what happens now with you ?”

              What?

              “Even though he is playing good you stick the label of the “Back Up” . I mean this gay is bringing effort and skills to the Nugs. He is smart and he plays for the team , why he should be labeled as back up from that age? He deserves our respect and also his chances to become a starter . And you know something he is taking them, since McGee even if he is more athletic he does not know so much about basketball. McGee can be better in track and fields sports , he can be better in 1 vs 1 , but he has not proven better when it comes to professional basketball.”

              He is a back up. Nothing wrong with it. Everyone has their role. When he plays good, great. When he plays bad, and more often than not he does. Not his fault. He just gets over powered easily and can’t handle passes that aren’t practically hand offs. Even then…

              Still Koufos is given oppurtunity to play through his mistakes. Something McGee and a lot of others, aren’t. Koufos is one of Karl’s favorites. So he’ll have good games. He’ll have bad games. The people around him will contribute more or as much, or less, or whatever. Still won’t matter. He’ll get his minutes. Miller will get his minutes. Miller and Ty together will get their minutes. World keeps turning…

              • allAround

                “Have you seen what happens now with you ?”

                I ll help only with that part.

                Koufos played really well and you say the “The blind KK love is asinine” What blind seriously ?? he played well enough that is why he gets credits..

                I said you are sticking labels as “back up”, when this gay ( big smile ) is showing that he can bring more or he is trying ( wants) to do so . But no your majesty the king of Spain has decided that he can only be a back up … and all the time should be given to McGee to develop chemistry….

                PS I couldn’t resist with that
                “For every mistake McGee makes, Koufos has fumbled more passes or missed more easy shots by the three fold. Spare me the Shaqtin-a-fool logic.”

                Can you prove that ? The ratio that you suggest …
                “Spare me the Shaqtin-a-fool logic.” No , I want, I mean the guy has not clear thinking all the time , this is a fact , that is why others should play instead of him. H needs rest e so as to have clear thinking again.

              • googergieger

                Mavs, Memphis, Clippers, heck even that Lakers game. Terrible showings from Koufos but was given a free pass. McGee played great in all those games despite low minutes. Bad enough Karl gives him minutes even when he plays bad and doesn’t give minutes to McGee even when he plays good. You have the round mound patrol splooging over Koufos catching a pass the first try and getting angry at Faried for picking up a phantom foul he has no control over. Outside of getting confused for Lebron James for a second.

              • allAround

                OK even in those games that you are mentioning KK had less mistakes than McGee and less miss shots ….

                But anyway I do not think that this that you are saying can be proved

                “For every mistake McGee makes, Koufos has fumbled more passes or missed more easy shots by the three fold. Spare me the Shaqtin-a-fool logic.”

                But bottom line you should admit McGee does more mistakes and actually more WTF mistakes. ( Anyway I don not want to give you the impression that I believe that KK is a beast. KK needs a lot of work on the offensive side and yes he should try harder in order to gain the trust from his team mates on offense. But this does not mean that he should be treated as back up, on the contrary it means that perhaps it should be given more chances to see if he can manage it as point on reference on offence. The same on McGee doing those mistakes does not mean that he cannot change , but doing those mistakes it means that he cannot be a starter and have starting minutes now…. Once he proves that he does not do those and that he can play good and solid D , then yes he can take all the minutes but till then everyone can challenge those minutes . OK enough said we are both Nugs , and perhaps we have quite opposite likes you like McGee you see a beast there , I am still mad with the trade… you do not like KK , I think that this kid is helping us and I like his attitude and I think he can bring more.

              • googergieger

                You are basing McGee makes a lot of mistakes on Karl’s proven lies and Shaq trying to sell his gimmicky segment to over compensate for the fact nobody really likes him on Inside The NBA. Don’t get me wrong he played bad in that Minnesota game, but he played great in four straight games before that. Still didn’t get minutes. Koufos played bad on those games and did get minutes.

                If you want next time there is a game, count how many fumbled passes or actual points/offensive rebounds are scored and gotten on Koufos. And I’ll do the same for McGee. I’ll even count how many bad shots McGee takes. Then let us see where things stand.

                Suffice to say McGee does have a higher ceiling, is losing days of development behind a stubborn Karl, and should be given more of an opportunity or at least the same opportunity Koufos, Brewer, and Miller get. Karl should hold everyone to the same standard. Then again Karl should do a lot of things. So who knows/cares. Maybe everyone’s energy should be better spent trying to get Karl fired.

              • allAround

                Are you psycho analyzing Shaq in order to say that McGee has not goofy -plays ?

                Anyway to your question I would say , If I had to bet my money on who is going to have a better career I would say KK., but who has higher sailing then McGee.

                You see I do not think McGee can reach his full potential cause of his brains. And brains are as important as jumping high. If McGee was stable then he would have shown that, and now most probably you would compare him with Howard and not KK….

                What I believe for McGee is that he can have mind blowing nights from time to time giving empty promises.

                For KK I do not know . What I see is that this is his first year taking big minutes, and no, he is not doing that bad.

                I am looking forward for the next game but no I am not going to count KK and McGees TO. I am actually expecting a good game from Gallo this time, this guy
                I can say I am a fan and I can see a big sailing there. For me he needs to take over now and make a statement that this is his team.
                PS

                I was checking the stats when I was speaking about TOs. Not to mention bad positions in D etc … I was watching the recap and I show McGee at 1.40 crashing CBr ….

              • allAround

                *ceiling where is this gay :) to laugh with my mistakes

          • dynamo.joe

            TO/48
            Javale 3.2
            Kosta 1.5

            Does K2 miss passes, ya, he does, but the big McGeezy does alot more damage as far as TO’s go.

            • googergieger

              That really isn’t a fair look at things. As Koufos is responsible for more turn overs of his team mates. When he doesn’t catch a pass the turn over isn’t his, it is his team mates. Sometimes he catches and drops it, other times it just goes through his hands or he can’t jump high/fast enough to get it.

  • Giovanni

    Motivation..
    See Carmelo and Jr Smith in New York…
    And compare to 7 and 6 years in denver with coach Karl..
    If Melo was drafted from San Antoni or Utah what player have becomed…

    • dynamo.joe

      Carmelo is not playing any better than he did in Denver. But the media is not capable of looking any farther than the “star” of the team to explain why they are winning more games.

      The reasons they are winning are Kidd and Chandler who are playing at Super Duper Star levels.

      JR did start off really hot from 3 but has fallen back to earth. But everyone here already knows that JR runs hot and cold.

  • GIANLUCA

    GALLO MUST PLAY 38 MINUTES ( = Lawson in this season )

    why Gallo is inconsisten for you ?
    for the SITE OF NUGGETS in Facebook GALLO is inferior to Lawson Igoudala Miller Chandler..
    but do tou see the GAME ?
    GALLO vs 2 time GOLDEN STATE , 2 time Memphis , Minnesota , San Antonio , Lakers , Dallas .. .ecc ecc WIN THE GAME 4 the Nuggets !

    i repeat , the Nuggets fan don’t see , BECAUSE in DECEMBER GALLO is the BEST NUGGETS PLAYER . stop

    % 3 lawson … 10 M
    % 3 iggy … 15 M

    IS THE KARL SISTEM THAT INVOLVED <% of 3 point !

  • GIANLUCA

    i WANT that DENVER TRADE GALLO…
    he win Nba with a good coach and without Lawson Miller

    • googergieger

      http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=azfe7ro

      There you go Luca. Wolves do what they do best. Lakers win the title this year. Denver isn’t all that much worse for wear, and get a pick or two from Minnesota.

      • dynamo.joe

        wow, thats a pretty good trade, who says no to that?

        Aside from Kevin Love who wants to get shipped to LA.

        Probably Minny, but they have to at least think about a deal that lets them keep their stars in Love and Rubio and adds a 3rd in Pau.

  • Alberto

    Gallo today didn’t play bad. Today we lost because of:
    1) referee
    2) Gk rotations
    3) last 3 minutes (all Miller’s posts)
    4) free throw shooting
    Gallo made his job: he made some big three and defended very well. I can’t understand why Brewer has so much minutes, it’s ridiculous to see him shoot everything he has on his hands…

  • Woobly o Balls

    This isn’t a bad team. This isn’t a great team.

    Realistically we all knew this team as currently constructed would be a 46 to 52 win team that would probably lose first round of the playoffs unless it got home court, then get knocked out in the second round.

    This is a team of assests. NOBODY IS SAFE. Lawson is probably the closest to that because he is a young PG who has shown he can play to a borderline all-star level but has obviously struggled this year. But for those asking for his head, tell me which PG better than him is on the market in the near future? I maintain we should have drafted Tony Wroten and groomed him as a potential successor if he worked out and Lawson didn’t, but that’s done.

    We need to make a trade and Ujiri knows it. He’s just waiting to see:
    a) how the team pans out when home/road balances out
    b) a young star to become available

    Demarcus Cousins is our answer and we can’t miss this opportunity to snare potentially the most dominant big man in the league.

    Cousins really thrived at Kentucky with John Wall. If we were to move Lawson, Wall is an interesting option. In the fast paced system he would thrive. Problems would be that he has had injury troubles and a potential reluctance from the Wizards to trade the kid they thought to be their franchise player.

    I think though it is possible to keep Iguodala, keep our picks and get these 2 guys.

    Gallinari
    Chandler
    Lawson
    McGee
    Faried
    Fournier
    KK
    Mozgov
    Hamilton

    Those players should be more than enough to get those guys but maybe I’m being optimistic.

    I think if we could build around Iggy, Cousins and Wall (and Brewer as a great 7th man) we would really have something exciting. Would then need to get a shooter next to Iggy on the wing.

    Never going to happen but I wish it would.

    Couple of other guys I want to trade for (independent of above scenario) are Alec Burks and Terrence Ross. Both really young future stud 2 guards. Perhaps if Chandler got healthy we could center a deal around him for Ross. (Toronto need a 3 and like Chandler)

    Basically to sum up, we should be circling the bad teams with good young talent because they can get desperate to show rapid improvement. Or we should be stock piling picks and assets to make a run at Jabari Parker or Wiggins in 2014.

    • dynamo.joe

      Wow, horrible on so many levels.

      Wall is awful.

      Cousins is worse.

      The NCAA is not the NBA.

      I wouldn’t trade dirty laundry for either of those guys.

  • Brazil

    Tough loss but where we really lost this game was on the boards. We really got beat up there. Our team relies on defensive rebounding to get easy point on the fast break transition, before teams can set themselves up well defensively. We also depend on the offensive glass to get the easy put backs and second chances because of our poor shooting guards. If we win the rebounding battle we typically win the game.
    Faried’s six rebounds just won’t cut it for what this teams really needs from him. If he’s not rebounding he’s really just a liability on the court.

  • al68

    bad game and we will have many this season, we also good. We are a team rather unbalanced medioy without outside shot.
    Yesterday we played without intensity and that’s what we sank, apart from the dismal first half of Lawson or negative that can be Mcgge as seen when we won 83-77 and a dreadful defending his and other pesima play in attack which caused a fast break put back to Minn team in the game again.
    Not good place to Miller and Lawson simultaneously create nothing positive.
    Not because it looked more the low-post game with Miller and that worked very well in the first period.
    We moved the ball very many more attacks reach the last 12 seconds without having achieved niniguna advantage and looking for a 1×1 Gallo that often end up in anything positive.
    All we trained we reward players who work every day in the coaches, so I think that now gives options instead Fournie has JH.
    Today I saw some arbitrators have hurt us much pointing faults that were not and letting us be more aggressive.

  • Ernie

    The top five 3 point shooting teams:
    OKC (40.1%), Miami (39.8%), GS (39.1%), SA (39.1%), NYK (38.9%).

    The bottom five 3 point shooting teams:
    PHX (33.4%), POR (33.2%), DEN (32.8%), WAS(31.2%), MIN (29.5%)

    The winning teams this year tend to be those good shooting teams from 3. The bottom 5 are all having disappointing years. When Larry Bird was the Pacers coach he had a rule: No one could shoot a three in a game unless they shot 100 3′s a day, every day. That amount can not be accompished in a regular shootaround or practice, it has to come with extra shooting every day.

    If Andre Miller (16.7%) shoots another 3 I agree with Jeremy that we should have someone punch him in the face.

  • ny nugs fan

    people have been making excuses for the nugs because of their “tough road schedule” but we’ll see if that’s the case in January

    last night the nugs went small ball with NO REBOUNDING IN THE GAME and that was the difference in the game folks; game over

    it’s now to the point where teams are just waiting for the nugs to go small ball and they jump all over it… it’s very sad that the coaches don’t see this

    i think the nugs need a veteran coach on the bench; not necessarily replace karl but get some more experience… i’d love to see what a guy like nate mcmillan is doing this time of the year; he’d be great

  • Cephus

    The 2 point guard lineup kills us in tight games. Karl got addicted to this when Felton & Lawson were the duo & team had streak post Carmelo trade. I admire many facets of Karl as a coach but this wrinkle is a dog. Minnesota stole one. This was a true team loss with both players and coach culpable.

    • slugdugg

      Karl was addicted to 2 PGs long before Felton. In Andre’s first tour with the Nuggets GK would end games with him and freaking Earl Boykins… then it was Anthony Carter.

      • Sky

        the worst was when he had Allen Iverson and Earl on the court…

  • googergieger

    And for all this, we don’t have as good a team as we thought. We do have a better team than Golden State, talent wise. They have two fantastic shooters, but all you need is ball denial on those two and they become useless. Jackson has just found a way to play to the team’s strengths while also getting a commitment to rebounding and a consistent effort on defense.

  • Chucho320

    Bad teams find a way to lose, and once again we found a way to lose. I’m SO tired of being average or sliiiiightly above average. Of having a team full of bench players. We are loaded with sixth men and nobody wants the ball in their hands at the end of games. There were 3 or 4 wide open shots at the end of the game last night, but everyone kept passing the ball to the next guy. Then when the hot potato landed in Lawson’s hands, you could see the complete lack of confidence as the clock was winding down and he lobs a clanking prayer. Puke.

    Why are we paying these guys? For the occasional highlight reel, apparently. As soon as Lawson got paid, he became as mediocre as they come. Don’t even get me started on Iggy. We’ve made him pretty much the face of the franchise and I’ve seen practically zero effort on his part to be the man. Meh.

    To get clowned by JJ Barea was embarrassing on an epic level. An injured soft Timberwolves team, yet we make them shine like All-Stars. That’s what we do. When I heard GK’s post game speech, saying, “That’s not us…” all I could think is yes it is. That is exactly us. That’s what we do. We give away games. We have nobody to step up and be a leader. Ty can’t. AI won’t. Gallo chokes. Everyone else are followers waiting for a leader.

    As big of a fan of George Karl that I am, I really do feel it’s time to let him go. He’s no longer getting the most out of mediocrity as he used to. Speaking of mediocre, Ujiri keeps stacking us with ‘pesky’ guys and drafting D-Leaguers. He’s terrible. Been a fan 40 years and the fact that I can still count our championships on NO hands utterly disgusts me. I’d love to fire the Kroenkes and bring in owners with a passion to win instead of visions of dollar signs.

    This may very well be my last season as a Nuggets fan. If I can even make it the whole season. I doubt the Nuggets will put in a full season’s effort, so why should we? Bleh.

    • Thomas

      I’ve been a fan for 22 years and I’m also getting tired of this act. It’s never about losing too much, if you are a real fan, it’s about the product they put out there. Right now, I don’t agree with the product, I don’t like the coach and his favorite players, I don’t see any possibility of us accomplishing anything special with this leadership.

      Kroenke’s priority is just $ and maintaining the status quo. GK the same. I’ve had it with both. Masai is a puppet until there is major change.

      Fire GK and trade away Miller, Iggy, Gallo and a few others. We need a real shooter, minutes for JHam and Fournier, a coach and a few players that want to win now.

      • Chucho320

        The product is terrible. I don’t know what they’re doing in practice, but it’s not working on their free throws or three pointers. We already have that awesome new record for worst three point shooting, going 0-22 (seriously?!) and we’re bottom dwelling as in free throw %. I can’t stand it. How are these clowns making it into the NBA if they can’t make a free throw? How do you get to that level without the basic fundamentals? Leave it to Ujiri to find them and stock the team full of them. Mind numbingly frustrating.

  • googergieger

    I am wondering something fierce what is the point behind a small ball line up that doesn’t spread the floor, though. I mean even though playing Harrington at center last year was stupid, at least it made some kind of sense. But Faried is probably the guy on the team with the least amount of range. Already have Andre Miller out there who obviously doesn’t spread the floor. I mean at least Mozgov can hit a jumper pretty consistently. Heck that video of him practicing the three, shows he’d be a more consistent threat from beyond the arc than Andre Miller. Think Karl is just trolling the fans now.

  • Sky

    I am not a fan of KK system.
    WTF there is no movement, no screens, its all iso crap. then on D they raotate so slowly, but it starts at the PG and trickles down.
    Lawson is not a starting PG, Miller is too old. Having both of these guys isnt working. might be time to either trade one of these guys.

  • trank

    off topic but those refs at the arizona buffs game should be suspended for not looking at the side view that showed clearly it was a good three.

  • chris

    it look like rude gay is available according to realgm. com. if i was Masai Ujiri ill offer a package of gallo,brewer,and mozgov.

    • tommy in Sd Nuggets fan

      This would be great I wouldn’t mind it

    • Ernie

      Gay is 32.8% from the 3 point line this year (exactly what the Nuggets shoot already) with no defense. He is not the answer.

      Team needs a specialist to open up the floor. Ellington from Memphis shoots 39%, cheaper and a better option if Memphis is looking to deal.

      • chris

        not like gallo plays great defends himself, at least gay is somewhat consistent. gay prove he could be a 20 plus guy and hit big shots when he needs to.

        • googergieger

          They are essentially the same player except Rudy Gay is a lot more expensive. Only reason I wouldn’t be against the trade is it’d free up some of our logjam and allow more minutes to our younger players. Also we are a great team. Hamilton can shoot the three and he doesn’t get his minutes. Miller plays big minutes and he can’t shoot the three except on the third day of the third month of the third year of the third apocalypse. Really if you want to see this team hit three’s, have Karl play Iguodala, Brewer, Hamilton, Gallo, and either Mozgov or McGee as the center to hold down the paint on defense for about five minutes a game. Granted it might not help with our lack of offense but still.

          This team isn’t playing to its potential. No trade is going to help that until we get an idea of how Karl is going to use players and what kind of players are best suited for that. Considering all we know about Karl is “run” this is the perfect team for that. Outside of Dre who is the perfect out let passer.

          • chris

            that why i would like that trade to happen because of the improvement in the 3 position and we will free up mins for evan and j-ham and i know they could shoot the ball if giving mins and let them gain confidences in their self’s. they could spit mins in till chandler comes back and we know what he brings when he is 100%.

            • googergieger

              I don’t think Rudy Gay is an improvement over Gallo really. Both are the same player all said and done. Again though only reason he’d be a welcome addition would be because we have a log jam of wing players. I think the only way that trade would really benefit us would be if we found someone to take Wilson Chandler as well. Otherwise that is a lot of money commited to a player who isn’t a clear upgrade over Gallo.

              • chris

                hell yeah he is upgrade, not by a wide margin but he give you that consistent presents ever night. he is not shy to shoot the ball, unlike gallo. chandler when healthy is better player than gallo.

              • googergieger

                Have you not seen him play this year or in last years play offs? He was one of the main reasons Memphis loss last year to the Clips. He has had plenty of bad games this year. Also Gallo has a lot of faults but being afraid to shoot isn’t one of them. Again only reason I’d say yes to Gay is to open up minutes for more players. However with Chandler there, Hamilton and company would still get little to no minutes. Heck Faried is going to see a decrease in minutes as well when he comes back. So yeah probably for the best we wait till the end of this month to make a trade. By we I mean Masai. Chandler is supposed to be coming back soon and all.

  • jeff

    GK lost that game. How are you going to have Gallo as the center and expect to win? He did the same thing against Memphis. Last 2-3 minutes pulls the centers. I don’t about the Memphis game, this game kk, McGee, & moz all had fails to give

  • toluene_hawk

    You guys are starting to sound like laker fans with all these dumb trades. Just causethey arent nuggets does not make them better than the nuggets we go.

    The simple fact was thrown down by joel clatt and mike evans on the radio this morning. You cannot have a head coach that makes excuses for losses. You are in the multi million dollar business of winning evry gamr, you are supposed to be fucking mad when you lose not laugh and say “some games are like that hurr hurr andre miller hurr hurr”

    • googergieger

      Word. We have a great team that is under achieving big right now.

      • chris

        i wouldn’t call our team great because we lack in shooters. were one of the worst in shooting the 3 ball and worst at the line.

  • Mark from Charlotte

    Good blog on the wolves game. The Nuggets need another coach. Nugget management should not make a trade. The coaching staff is the problem. Hire Nate or Sloan as the next coach.

  • Zorba

    With players that can’t shoot 3s and aren’t strong rebounders how can you even imagine of beating more skilled teams without running? The more I see the more I understand GK’s choices…

    Ps: understand doesn’t mean agree…

  • http://www.yahoo.com prospector

    Two point lineup w/faried or Gallo at center = INSANE..
    Two point lineup period = loss..
    Karl does not know how to rotate his lineups, he likes hockey substitutions. He can’t wait to get his precious Miller in the game. He allows Miller to do whatever he wants with absolutely no accountability. This is beyond old, and tired…. We can and should run plays to help Gallo get into a groove. Allow Iggy to be Iggy, and run the point forward Pippen offense he loves.. Also let Iggy be the defensive enforcer by manning up a teams best backcourt player (NO SWITCHES).. Dump Miller for a cup of decafe, and give the keys to Lawson. If he doesn’t improve, find a PG that will take control… Take the shackles of our young players, and let them play freely. Give them structured minutes, and allow them to play without the fear of being banished to Siberia… Our losses haven’t been that bad, a real coach would have at least split those…. But my friends here lies the truth… A tiger doesn’t change it’s stripes, and Karl will continue to make the same insane mistakes over and over again. He clearly doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He is an egomaniac, and believes his system is flawless.. We only loss because of the players mistakes. An ego-maniac is incapable of learning from mistakes, because they feel like they never make mistakes.. Karl has been coaching over 25 years with only 1 conference title… JUST ONE!! This is a guy that couldn’t do it w/Kemp, Payton, Allen and others… A guy that choked as a 1 seed against an 8th seed.. So all our ranting is in vain… The MInn game will forever be the norm, not the exception.. Tonite I will be at the Utah game, and here is my prediction: If we are hitting our shot we win by 5 (Our 2 guard lineup will allow Utah to get back into the game.) If we have any shot problems or Faried foul trouble we lose again with Miller looking like a confused junkie that just ran out of money and drugs… KARL IS THE COACH… Expect the same garbage again and again…. This stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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