Comments on: Pickaxe Pulse for March 2, 2013

By: dynamo.joe

dynamo.joe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:02:39 +0000

Kelly Olynyk

Should be available around our draft position. Would make a good stretch 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoIJ8h-WnL8

I think the bigger Karl/Miller issue is a development issue.

You (Theo) and others maintain that we don’t have the talent to be a serious threat in the playoffs. If that’s the case why continue giving Miller so many minutes? Are we hoping that Miller is going to make “The Leap” next year? There was no choice earlier in the season; Stone out with injury, Ty underperforming. But now, shouldn’t Stone, Fournier, Hamilton be getting those minutes or at least some of them?

Fours and Jham don’t have to develop into all-stars, just better than Corey and for all the positives he brings, CBrew is a below average wing overall.

Stone already fits the the long athletic switching defensive scheme better than Miller. And honestly, their offensive games are similar.

We are missing a lot of data here, on the outside, looking in. But it seems like the only rationale is on the economic side. Don’t play Hamilton and Stone and you don’t have to PAY Hamilton and Stone (when negotiating extension). Play lots of Miller/Brewer/Chandler to drive up their market value.

By: John in LA

John in LA — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:23:28 +0000

You would think that, until you look at where the Nuggets shoot from…

They took 2792 shots from close to the basket(points in the paint) and 2123 total from “everywhere else”…

What would YOU rather have, a >60% chance at a <5 ft basket or a lower percentage shot from greater distance? I'll take the dunk, thank you.

I think if a couple of Nuggs can continue to improve from the 3pt. line… that would be enough. Get Ty(35%) and Gallo(37%) up a few to the 38-45% range of Ill Will(42%), JHam(38%), and Evan(45%), and the team would be fine. They only need to be just enough of a 3 pt. threat so that the middle doesn't get clogged up.

I for one, would hate to see Nuggets become a "Jump Shooting" team…

By: Michael (anotheraussienuggzfan)

Michael (anotheraussienuggzfan) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 07:02:09 +0000

Personally I’m not a fan of watching McGee swat the ball out of bounds. Yeah it looks cool but it doesn’t give your team possession. The other night was a prime example, McGee swatted the ball hard and into Brewers head and out of bounds. He could have easily caught or controlled the ball to give the Nuggets possession and more possible points.

As others have said on this forum and other places, I think it would be good for McGee and Faried to go back to “The Dream” and learn his defensive tactics/techniques. The Dream very rarely let a blocked shot go out of bounds instead trying to control it himself or to a teammate. True professionals and team first players realise that possession is more important than showboating.

By: theo

theo — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:11:53 +0000

Paying more attention to your takes from now on. Exactly. Not that difficult to get a serious 3 shooter. We had opportunities this off season and didn’t do it. Easiest path to contention. Maybe that shooter replaces Dre Miller or somebody else, makes no difference to me. We either need a stretch 4 or a back up point or backup 3 that can actually make shots from 3 and the perimeter.

Lots of folks here want to do it the hard way. Fire Karl. Unfortunately, the whole roster was constructed to play Karl ball, so firing Karl will require a roster remake that will take at least a couple of years or longer to fit into another approach. Basically, we’re talking about blowing up the roster. The obvious alternative is get a couple of shooters and let it play out. Might turn out out better than some believe.

By: theo

theo — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:44:57 +0000

Great take, but I’m more hopeful. Both are very young and at least one of them can learn to play some basic fundamental D. More important for them to visit The Dream this summer and learn his defensive positioning and footwork and solid fundamental D rather than his spin and shake moves down low. If either Javale or Manimal become even a decent defender we’re in the conversation.

By: googergieger

googergieger — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:10:55 +0000

In another news Lakers cheated their way to another win tonight against a team we’ll play tomorrow. Josh Smith the guy a few people wanted on our team looked bad tonight. If you thought our shooting sucked before, with him we’d be dead last in every effin category. His defense tonight looked bad as well, but that is expected. His defense depends entirely on what happens on offense.

By: Ban Johnson

Ban Johnson — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 04:06:39 +0000

Again…it’s not just personnel, it’s system. I’d argue it’s more system than personnel.

That 9.4 points per game difference is a function of both offense and defense. Karl doesn’t just believe in layups and free throws…he believes in eliminating the other team’s layups and free throws.

Since the Nuggets outscore opposing teams by 3.7 ppg, they clearly more than make up those 9.4 points in the paint and at the line. Yeah, it’d be great if they could make them up even more…or if they had less to make up.

But the fix isn’t so obvious, is it? There are clearly far better shooters than Iguodala, Brewer, and Miller out there, but which of them are available who could do what those 3 do in other areas of the game?

I still maintain that replacing Miller with a 3-point shooting backup pg would be the best easy fix for the Nuggets’ shooting deficiencies.

By: Getho

Getho — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:59:51 +0000

Ok let’s talk about 3s then..

Our opponents are second in attemps with 23 per game against us and they hit 36.9% (9th)..
That means they score 8,5 3s per game, 25.5 points per 23 attemps..
They score almost 111 points per 100 shots..

On the other hand we are 15th in attemps with 19.1 per game and we hit 33.9% (26th)..
We score 6.5 3s per 19.1 attempts..
So we score 101.6 points per 100 attempts..

There is a difference of 9.4 points per 100 attempts that shows that team lack of perimeter shooting..

By: Ban Johnson

Ban Johnson — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:47:42 +0000

I should add, the sucking so bad on mid-range 2s is yet another Faried and McGee (and Koufos) problem. Most teams have at least one big who can hit those.

By: Ban Johnson

Ban Johnson — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:45:32 +0000

on defense, that’s all by design.
Karl preaches again and again that long 2s are the worst plays in basketball — the whole defense is designed to encourage them. Unfortunately, that packing the paint also leaves A LOT of open 3s too.

those stats are a weird way to break it down, since 3-pointers are 23’9″. Why not just let 3s be its own category? Anyway — with as great as they are at paint points, Nuggets only need to be average on 3s to have a highly effective offense. (The coaching staff doesn’t want the team taking long 2s anyway, so sucking there only reinforces the whole approach.)