The Nuggets Two Different Seasons

March 10, 2009
by Jeremy

By SleepyDog

I had to write this paper for school, figured i’d post it here, for your entertainment. very text-heavy, i know.

The Denver Nuggets have been two completely different teams this year. Well, actually three, because for the first 3 games of the season before the Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups trade, they had a completely different look than after. But between the time after the trade until now, they have looked like two very different teams. For the first half of the season, before the All-Star Break, they Nuggets looked to be one of the elite teams in the Western Conference. Despite missing their captain and best player Carmelo Anthony to a broken hand for three weeks, they were dominant at home, and were a top 10 offensive and top 10 defensive teams in the league.

The arrival of Billups had changed the mindset of the team from a one-dimensional offensive team to a defense-first, but balanced juggernaut. But there were some signs of weaknesses on the team; they had a tendency to come into the third quarter slowly, and gave up big halftime leads several times very quickly into the third quarter. Also, they would go through stretches of a game where either their offense or their defense would just go absent. For a few minutes, either they struggled to make a layup on one end, or they couldn’t stop anything the other team was doing.

For a while, they were able to get away with it, they could overcome their bad stretches by being utterly dominant in others, and generally being able to turn it on late in games and pull out a close game. They could do this because their two stars, Anthony and Billups, made a habit of being lights out in the 4th quarter. For the first half of the season, this formula worked beautifully, and the Nuggets’ name was beginning to creep into the discussion for the Western Conference Finals.

And then came the All-Star Break. Going in to the break, the Nuggets were 5 games into an 8 game road trip, and so far were 4-1, including finishing off with a huge win against the Orlando Magic. After the All-Star Break, many people were hoping to see the team come back strong, partly because Anthony had not been selected to the All-Star Team, and they hoped he would come back and play with a chip on his shoulder. Unfortunately, many things went wrong. After acquiring Billups, the Nuggets had not lost a single game to a team under .500, but since the All Star Break they have gone 4-7 overall and lost to 4 teams under .500. Anthony has been inconsistent since the break, battling injuries and a one-game suspension. Kenyon Martin has missed time with injuries, as well as backup point guard Anthony Carter. But more than the injuries it has been the overall style of the team.

Instead of playing well for most of the game and lazily for certain parts, recently they have taken to playing lazily most of the game, and only playing hard when they realize the game might get out of reach. They can still show the flashes of brilliant play on both sides of the ball that we know they are capable of, but it has become the exception rather than the rule. In fact, the Nuggets went from having a 3 game lead in their division to now being 3rd in the division, a game back of both Portland and Utah. The general attitude surrounding the team and fans has taken a hit, enough so that there are rumors of coach George Karl’s job being on the line. After not advancing out of the first round of the playoffs the last 5 years, many believe that Karl’s job rests on getting out of the first round.

In such a tough division, the Nuggets cannot afford to be so bipolar on the court. We know they have the skill to win the division and do well, but it is now a matter of showing it on a nightly basis. Despite the recent skid, the expectation for this team is still to make the playoffs and get out of the first round. They still have a good chance at accomplishing this if they can all get healthy and stay healthy, and then come together and realize they need to play a full 48 minutes every night to do it. If they don’t, expect to see some changed made to the team after the season, beginning with the head coach.

Posted on March 10, 2009 at 12:07 pm | filed in | No Comments

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