Nuggets Get Desperate & Beat the Blazers in OT 114-107

With A.I. out due to a sprained ankle and the flu, and with the basketball world starting to talk about the Nuggets in the past tense, the Nuggets were desperate to avoid a fifth straight loss, especially since they were playing at home, where they have already lost too many times for comfort.

So with one engine out, and with one wing on fire, the Nuggets brought their damaged basketball plane in for a safe landing tonight. Steve Blake, on whom George Karl has bet the ranch, Nene, with his painful knee, Marcus Camby with his painful finger, and J.R. Smith, with his youthful temper and impulsiveness, refused to leave the burning deck until they narrowly defeated the Trail Blazers in overtime, 114-107. Nene, Camby, and J.R. were playing the overtime with 5 fouls, as George Karl knew that he had to win at all costs. However, had any of the three actually fouled out, the win would probably have slipped away, so this was a very close call.

The Nuggets scrapped and closely defended much more than usual, even at the cost of fouls. After all, Utah is leading the division and they commit more fouls than anyone, so fouls can't be all bad, right?

Karl also decided that he had to violate all of the rules the trainers set up regarding the caring for Nene's knee, in order to try to get something from the power forward position for a change. So the big man from Brazil played a staggering 38 minutes, and responded by chucking in 20 points on 8/10 shooting.

With 31 seconds to go in regulation, Marcus Camby blocked a Zach Randolph layup, one of his 5 blocks on the night. Diawara got the rebound, and the score remained 95-92 Nuggets. The Trail Blazers were now forced to foul, and Blake got one of two free throws. After Jarrett Jack drove to the hoop for a layup, he fouled Blake, who again only got one of two free throws, so it was now 97-94 Nuggets with 6 seconds left.

So the Nuggets had won, right? Of course not. Brandon Roy, the great rookie guard of the Trail Blazers, who was just named rookie of the month for the Western Conference for January, sunk a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left. Roy led all rookies in scoring (16.6 points) steals (1.69) and minutes (34.4) in January. He was second in assists (3.4) and third in rebounds (4.8). Melo hoisted a quick midrange jumper at the buzzer that missed, and Nene's tip-in was too late, so the Nuggets were forced into overtime as the fire threatening to consume much of their playoff hopes had flared up again. In fact, the flames were getting dangerously close to the fans in the front rows, and those fans were starting to think that Nuggets mania might be more hype than reality.

Steve Blake had already, after a whole series of games in which he was missing, come alive in regulation with 14 points and 11 assists. But in overtime, he stepped up even more and tried to do what A.I. would have done on the burning deck and he succeeded greatly. He made three successful drives to the hoop and made a nice jumper and a follow up free throw. J.R. Smith wisely followed the pattern Blake set up and had two successful drives to the hoop himself with about 2 minutes left in overtime. Aside from a Melo missed jumper at the beginning of overtime, the Nuggets did not miss any shots from the field in overtime.

The Nuggets finally realized that it is better to simplify their game as much as possible, rather than to keep making it unnecessarily complicated. They may be a complicated team, but it does not follow that they should play in a complicated way. They finally began to establish a team flow or rhythm and to take natural, high percentage shots rather than trying to force shots.

They finally started to cut down on lower percentage shots, meaning shots where the player does not have enough experience to sink the shot reliably. Shots should be at the right time, hopefully when the defense has broken down, and should be the highest percentage shot possible for the possession. Career development shots should be kept to a minimum.

For the Nuggets, it was a small step, but you have to learn to walk before you can run.

Melo went all out in the attempt, but remained short of the extremely high scoring accuracy he had before the suspension. 1/3 from beyond the arc, he was only 6/18 on jumpers inside the arc. Since he was 3/5 on jumpers from point blank range, he was only 3/13 on midrange jumpers. Melo has clearly been affected by the great amount of turmoil that has happened to his team in his fourth season. I think the midrange jumper requires alot of inner peace and pure confidence. Fans will have to continue to wait for the return of Melo's near perfect midrange jumper shooting.

Najera fouled out half way through the 4th quarter. He played for 21 minutes and had 6 points on 3/4 shooting. He also had 3 rebounds. Even 6 points was a nice uptick for Najera. Kleiza played 18 minutes and was 2/6 and 0/1 on 3's for 4 points and he also pulled down 8 rebounds. Swingman Diawara played for 14 minutes and was 2/4, 1/3 on 3's, and 2/3 from the line for 7 points. Again, it is a huge improvement for someone to get 6 or 8 points rather than 2 or 3.

Nene played a staggering 38 minutes and was 8/10 and 4/6 from the line for 20 points, and he had 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal. Like a man dying from thirst who comes upon an oasis in the desert, the Nuggets finally had production at power forward just before they burned up.

Steve Blake played virtually the entire game and was 6/7 and 7/11 from the line for 19 points, and he had 14 assists, 2 steals, and 3 rebounds. Is this closer to the real Steve Blake or was this just another flash in the pan game? Or, to put it another way, is Blake going to largely make up for the loss of Boykins or not? The answer will go a long way in determining how much of a threat the Nuggets are in the playoffs.

J.R. Smith played for 27 minutes and was 7/11, 2/4 on 3's and 1/1 from the line for 17 points and he had 2 steals and an assist. Although he made two of them, Smith cut down on his over consumption of 3-point shots and went to the hoop much more in a wise move that increased the odds of victory in this particular game.

Marcus Camby was 3/9 and 2/4 from the line for 8 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 assists, and 3 steals. If Melo is the soul of the Nuggets and A.I. is the heart of the Nuggets, then Camby is the handyman who can fix just about everything in a game.

All-star Carmelo Anthony was 11/26, 1/3 on 3's and 10/14 from the line for 33 points, and he also had 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Melo could not and did not rise to the Michael Jordan level at the buzzer or in the game generally, but everyone should stay tuned for further developments. This suspension recovery thing is by no means over.

Both Melo and J.R. got technicals for jawing with referees at two different points in the game. This is a good sign. As long as it does not become a habit, most of the best players, and the ones most serious about winning, occasionally let a referee know about a perceived mistake he or she made. It is a sign of will to win and intensity.

Now if only Allen Iverson can return so that the Nuggets can win one easily for a change without all the drama. But A.I. is questionable for tomorrow night's game.

The next game is tomorrow night, Saturday, Feb. 3 in Sacramento to play the Kings at 8 pm mountain time.

Unproductive Nuggets Lose Ugly to Blazers 100-91

Melo hit a three-pointer very early and one very late, but in between, the Nuggets were in a world of hurt. The Nuggets lately have become like a worn out engine that is not firing on all cylinders. If J.R. is hot, Camby is not. If Camby is hot, then neither Nene, Evans, nor Najera hit much of anything. If Nene and Evans are scoring, then J.R. can't hit the side of the barn. And if A.I. is really hot, almost no one else is.

So there is a dangerous and frustrating lack of consistency in production, not only in actual points, but, worse still, even in the number of shots attempted. The Nuggets are consistently having players playing 20 or even 30 minutes and not attempting more than 1, 2 or 3 shots. What are they afraid of? Or, who is responsible for all the missed opportunities?

In a sluggish, sloppy, ugly game marked by many turnovers and offensive fouls, Zach Randolph and the Trail Blazers did not have to do much to defeat the sparkless and almost listless Nuggets. The Nuggets had 19 turnovers and the Trail Blazers had 18, where 14 is considered the mark for decent execution. The Nuggets failed to pass, distribute, and execute in a competitive way, and finished with a miserably low 13 assists. The Nuggets had a grand total of 6 fast break points. They not only lost, they lost ugly, 100-91.

Neither Carmelo Anthony nor George Karl has been able to motivate or to devise tactics that bring consistency to the play of players such as Steve Blake, Reggie Evans, and Yakhouba Diawara. The Nuggets are in a vicious circle, where each loss motivates the big name starters, A.I., Camby, Melo, and J.R. to try to do more, but they end up just forcing shots and missing opportunities to get the other Nuggets into plays. The Las Vegas style roll of the dice hope that someone will get a few lucky shots and help the starters is not working; Nene, Evans, Johnson, Diawara, Kleiza, and Najera have to be given significant opportunities to produce; they have to get the ball and shoot the ball more than once or twice a night.

In other words, it is high time for Karl, Melo, A.I., and Camby to figure out how they are going to connect themselves with the rest of the squad, so that the rest of the squad can and does contribute consistently on both scoring and defense. If they can not do this, the Nuggets apparently will not even make the playoffs. The problem is that serious. Maybe A.I. can give a little speech at a team meeting explaining how it doesn't do anyone any good to be on a team where players are allowed to underperform and no one does anything about it. The reasons differ from player to player, but the common theme among almost all the Nuggets aside from A.I., Melo, M.C., and J.R. is very few shot attempts, very few points, and very few assists, and that is a formula for losing if there ever was one.

George Karl remains, for some mysterious reason, afraid to start and afraid to play J.R. Smith for as many minutes as he had before the suspensions, when he and Melo were the top scoring tandem in the NBA. With 9 1/2 minutes to go in tonight's game, J.R. was called for an offensive foul and then, 12 seconds later, a personal foul. Karl sat him for the entire rest of the quarter. Then, early in the fourth, he was called for a travel, which was one of his 5 turnovers, and Karl immediately brought in Steve Blake. Smith did not return until 5 1/2 minutes to play, and Brandon Roy's long ball made it 82-74 Blazers right after that. It would have taken at least a couple of 3-pointers from J.R. to give the Nuggets a chance, but Smith took only one such shot and missed it with 1:40 to go, although Nene did stuff it in on the rebound.

Unless J.R. Smith can get 28-30 minutes a night, even if Karl insists that Blake starts, the Nuggets are in trouble. But J.R. has earned starting, as well, and he has fewer turnovers and more confidence if he starts, so it is also important that he starts. The fewer minutes J.R. plays, and the fewer times he starts, the more trouble the Nuggets will be in.

A Camby layup with 51 seconds to go made it 91-88 Blazers, but Jarrett Jack buried the dagger in the Nuggets carcass by sinking a 3 with 33 seconds to go, to put the Blazers ahead by 6. The Nuggets were still behind 96-91 with 18 seconds to go after Melo's very late 3.

Reggie Evans played for 19 minutes and was 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Eduardo Najera played for 16 minutes and was 2/3 for 4 points and he had 1 rebound and 1 assist. Nene Hilario played for 24 minutes and was 5/8 and 4/8 from the line for 14 points, and he had 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

Steve Blake played 39 minutes and was just 2/5 and 1/2 from the line for 5 points, and he had only 3 assists and 3 rebounds. I hate to be blunt, but that is simply not enough production for that many minutes. Blake has had 3 productive games out of 10 starts, the others have been very unproductive. Earl Boykins would have won this particular game (and others) had he been in for the Nuggets.

Yakhouba Diawara played 27 minutes and was 0/3 and 0/1 on 3's for 0 points, and he had 1 rebound.

If Blake is such a great distributor, then why is it that Yak got only 3 shots? And what about J.R. Smith getting only 10 shots in 26 minutes, with no trips to the line for him either? And how did Marcus Camby end up with more assists, namely 5, than Blake, with 3. Why is Blake starting?

J.R. Smith played 26 minutes and was 4/10 and 1/5 on 3's for 9 points.

Marcus Camby was 6/12 and 5/6 from the line for 17 points, and he had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.

Melo Anthony was 11/25, 2/6 on 3's, and 9/9 from the line for 33 points, and he had 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. I hope Melo starts putting up at least 4 or 5 shots from behind the 3-point arc each game. This would be by far the biggest improvement Melo could make in his game, and his hitting some 3-pointers would be crucial for the Nuggets to have a chance in the playoffs (assuming they even make the playoffs.)

The next game will be Friday, Feb. 2 in Denver versus these same Trail Blazers at 7 pm mountain time.

Nuggets Blocked by Okafor & Wallace; Bobcats Win 105-101

Marcus Camby could not find the hoop when he had the ball, Steve Blake was seemingly afraid to shoot, and J.R. Smith definitely did not have his usual shooting touch tonight, as the Charlotte Bobcats upset the troubled Nuggets 105-101. Emeka Okafor, the great center for the Bobcats, brought great hands and athleticism to a great defensive effort to block the Nugget's path to victory. Okafor had 5 blocks and 10 rebounds and PF Gerald Wallace had 2 key blocks and 13 rebounds to prevent the Nuggets from picking up what was in theory supposed to be an easy win. Camby had 6 blocks and the Nuggets overall had 9, but the defense away from the hoop continued to disappoint.

Allen Iverson was rock solid yet again, but Melo was repeatedly rejected at the hoop and went to the line only twice. To add insult to injury, Melo was called for an unusual number of unintentional fouls (4), including an offensive foul. He was an expert 4-8, though, on his great midrange jumper and was 1-2 from long range.

The Bobcats, led by Okafor and Wallace inside, outrebounded the Nuggets 43-36, and the Nuggets often lose when they are beaten on the boards. The Cats were a solid 7/18 (.389) from behind the 3-point arc, whereas the Nuggets were 4/17 (.235). The Bobcats were a solid .494 from the field, versus .462 for the Nuggets.

The Nuggets bench had a respectable 32 points in this one, but Steve Blake, who started at PG again, went into a shell and failed to score a single point on 0/2 shooting in 29 minutes. With J.R. well below his usual production, and with Blake a total non-factor, the improvement from the bench was cancelled out and the Nuggets were then vulnerable from their lack of defensive intensity and lack of control of the boards. The Bobcats, like most Nuggets opponents, took advantage of alot of great looks that the light outside defense gave them.

The complicated Nuggets are one of only 4 teams with a worse record at home (12-12) than on the road (10-8). (The others are the Celtics, the Pistons, and the Spurs.) It would be one thing if many of the 12 home losses were to top rated teams, but 7 of the losses have been to losing teams. So there are many tough home games still to be played against the top teams in the Western Conference.

As depressing as this loss is, there has started to be some progress in the Nuggets task of learning how to play together. Last month, I predicted that it would be late February before the Nuggets get on the same page and learn how to play as a team and it now appears it is in fact going to take about that long. And George Karl will probably need until then to get the starting lineup, the rotations, and the player playing minutes correct. When the Nuggets have worked out how to play their best as a team, much of the extreme scoring inconsistency of Camby, Nene, Blake, and J.R. will hopefully be resolved.

It was 81-79 Bobcats going into the 4th quarter, which was tight the whole way. The Bobcats used defense in general, and blocks in particular to hold off the Nuggets during the tightly contested final 12 minutes. J.R. Smith made his only successful 3-point shot of the night with 5:47 to go and then Anthony made an alley oop dunk with Camby assisting for 96-91 Nuggets with 5:06 to go. But SG Matt Carroll immediately sunk a 3. And with 3:08 to go, G-F Adam Morrison sunk a 3 just after J.R. had missed one, for 98-97 Bobcats.

Wallace got a tip in but Iverson responded with a finger roll plus 1 to tie it up at 100. After Carroll and Iverson misses, J.R. fouled PG Raymond Felton, who made both throws for 102-100 Bobcats with 1:29 to go. Melo missed a jumper but the ball came back out to him, and then Okafor fouled Iverson, who made one of two free throws for 102-101.

After Morrison missed a jumper, Anthony was expertly blocked at the hoop by Wallace with 41 seconds to go. Wallace then missed a jumper at the other end, but the Nuggets were forced to foul when the long rebound went to Felton with 17 seconds to go. Felton made both free throws for 104-101 Bobcats with 16 seconds to go.

In the Jazz game last Friday, Blake was designated to shoot the 3 to try to get the game into overtime, but he missed badly. So this time, J.R. was designated to take the tying shot. But J.R. launched the shot off balance and it did not have a prayer. So Karl and the Nuggets lately have been ending up with the wrong player at the right time or the right player at the wrong time in clutch situations.

Of course, a team that wants to eventually play with the Mavs and the Suns should never be in the predicament of having to try to send a home game in to overtime against a lottery team in the first place.

Nene played just 15 minutes, but was 5/6 and 2/2 from the line for 12 points, and he also had 5 rebounds. Evans played 17 minutes and was 4/5 and 2/3 from the line for 10 points, and he had 4 rebounds and a block. And Najera played for 20 minutes and was 2/3 for 4 points, and he had 5 rebounds.

Steve Blake played 28 minutes and was 0/2 from behind the arc for 0 points, and he had 5 assists. (Blake did not take any shots inside the arc.)

Marcus Camby was 1/8 from the field and 1/2 from the line for 3 points, and he had 10 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 5 assists.

J.R. Smith played for 26 minutes and was only 2/12, 1/9 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 9 points, and he added 2 assists. Camby's misses put more pressure on Smith to score, but J.R. came up short due to an unknown reason or set of reasons. There is alot of mystery surrounding J.R. Smith and what kind of basketball career he ultimately will have. He could end up being a star, a scrub, or anything in between, though I believe he will end up at one of the extremes, namely the better one.

A.I. was 10/15, 1/2 on 3's, and 10/12 from the line for 31 points, and he had 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and a block.

Melo was 11/26, 1/2 on 3's, and 2/4 from the line for 25 points, and he had 5 assists, 6 rebounds, and a block.

The next game will be Wednesday Jan. 31 at Portland to play the Trailblazers at 8 pm mountain time.

Nuggets Give up 40 to Carter, Lose to Nets 112-102

Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Bostjan Nachbar led the Nets over the talented but tired and defensively challenged Nuggets 112-102. Nachbar moved up to second string SF as of a week ago, when Richard Jefferson was lost for the season due to an ankle injury and surgery. In 33 minutes, Nachbar had 22 points on 8/14 shooting. Jason Kidd was 4/5 from downtown and Vince Carter was 14/23, 0/5 on 3's, and 12/13 from the line for 40 points.

To state the obvious, Carter and company got too many good looks. The Nets took advantage of many of the Nugget's 14 turnovers, and had only 9 turnovers themselves. The Nets did a good job defensively against all three of the Nugget's best starters: Melo, A.I., and Camby.

The Nuggets, and specifically the three players the Nuggets are trying to over rely on, Melo, A.I., and Camby, were a little drained from their massive effort against the Jazz the night before. Melo and A.I. combined were just 11/33 and, although Camby had 3 blocks, Camby and the Nuggets were outrebounded by the Nets 45-38.

The good news is that the bench was a little more involved than in the Utah game last night. The bad news is that the bench was still not involved enough. It is true that the Nuggets bench is filled with at least as many problems as answers, but the solution can not be to have A.I., Melo, Camby and Blake playing 40 or more minutes every game.

Nene's knee limits his minutes, Evans has not developed a dependable shot, and Najera has all but disappeared off the shooting radar screen. As if to get back at the coach for no longer starting him, Najera is attempting even fewer shots per minute now than when he was getting major minutes. Tonight he played 16 minutes and attempted exactly zero shots. All of a sudden, Diawara is playing very little and Kleiza even less. DerMarr Johnson has been totally buried on the bench.

George Karl has fallen into a self fulfilling prophecy: he thinks the bench can not contribute much compared with the all-stars, so he is sharply limiting playing time for the bench. But how can the bench players contribute if they are almost never on the court?

More bad news is that George Karl is running the wrong starting lineup. Since Karl, like many veteran coaches, is relatively stubborn, it may be several weeks or even more before he makes the change to the better starting lineup. I think eventually he will be forced to make it because his starting lineup is failing in more ways than even I thought it would.

It is clear that J.R. Smith should start at SG and Allen Iverson should start at PG. In the 8 games Steve Blake has played as a Nugget at the point, he has 45 assists, or 5.6 a game. In those same 8 games, Allen Iverson at SG has 64 assists, or 8.0 a game. Iverson played the point very well and with no complaints whatsoever before Blake's arrival on the team. He will do so again when asked.

Blake had 3 nice games, 2 against the Rockets and 1 against the Trailblazers. In Blake's 5 not so nice games, he was just 11/34 from the field. I know that looking at just those five games is not completely fair, so I will report that his overall shooting percentage is still a decent .453, but the trend is down, and the real problem is that he is only getting 9.9 points a game over the 8 games. That puts Blake in the bottom third of starting point guards in the League and it strongly appears that it is downhill from here.

Meanwhile, J.R. Smith is 25/57 or .439, from behind the long ball arc, which means Smith has quickly become one of the very best 3-point shooters in the NBA. There are only two players in the League who are making more 3-pointers per game than J.R. so far this season: Ray Allen and Gilbert Arenas. And J.R. is ahead of both of the Sun's major long range threats: Raja Bell and Steve Nash. Smith is also a fast break specialist, much more so than Blake, and I thought that was what the Nuggets wanted to do alot of.

Now let's look at a statistic not commonly looked at that can make a coach's lineup decision easier: points per minute played. J.R. has played 9 games since returning from suspension, and he has scored 145 points in 239 minutes, or .61 points per minute. Keep in mind that this includes the first two games back from the 3 week sit down, when some rust had to be brushed off his shooting. Since Blake joined the Nuggets and became a PG starter, his points per minute production is just under .30. Smith scores twice as much as Blake per minute on the court!

Let's take an even closer look at what J.R. is doing. Anything above .50 points per minute is considered very solid shooting production, anything above .60 points per minute is considered high level or expert shooting production, and anything above .70 points per minute is all-star level shooting. Only players such as Melo, Wade, and Kobe Bryant get more than .70 points per minute. Lebron James is at .66 points per minute. Melo is at .84 points per minute, which is basically off the chart.

The Nuggets are going nowhere in the playoffs without substantial 3-point shooting from somebody, and J.R. is the only somebody available because neither A.I. nor Melo have a dependable 3-point shot and Blake has yet to prove that he can get enough of the 3-point looks he wants or needs to shoot 3's. So clearly, the best starting lineup is to have A.I. at the point and J.R. at SG and have Blake come in off the bench. A coach should never make a semi-permanent starting lineup decision based on just 3 games, so I am hoping Karl's start Blake decision was only meant to be an experiment, and that the coach will make the right conclusion about the experiment sooner rather than later.

Melo's lack of a good or great 3-point shot is the thing that he needs to work on more than anything else, and it is the biggest thing which keeps him from being considered on the same level as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and so forth by many basketball analysts. Melo is more accurate than anyone out to about 19 feet, and then his accuracy drops off quickly.

Reggie Evans played just 13 minutes and was 2/3 and 1/3 from the line for 5 points, and he led the Nuggets in rebounding with 8. But if a player is going to get 8 rebounds in 13 minutes, you can forgive his poor free throw shooting.

Nene, who has admitted that he still has pain from his knee, played just 16 minutes and was 3/5 for 6 points, and he had 5 rebounds and a block.

Blake played 38 minutes and was 3/8 and 1/6 from downtown for 7 points. He also had 6 assists and 3 rebounds.

Camby was 5/9 and 3/4 from the line for 13 points, and he had 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 assists.

A.I was 6/19, 1/3 on 3's, and 5/5 from the line for 18 points, and he had 8 assists, 2 rebounds, a steal, and a block. A.I. used so much energy in his huge effort against the Jazz that he seemed a little tired in this one. Even A.I. does get a little tired sometimes, but he never admits it and hides it well. A.I. will be 32 years old in June. The earth would not explode if his playing time was kept at 40 minutes.

Melo was 5/14, 0/3 on 3's, and 13/16 from the line for 23 points, and he had 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Melo's suspension has temporarily cost him his pinpoint jumper. How long it will be before he gets back the almost perfect mid-range jumper he had before the suspension is a major question right now.

J.R. Smith played 28 minutes and was 9/17, 4/10 on 3's, and 6/7 from the line for 28 points, and he had 2 rebounds and a steal.

The next game is Monday Jan. 29 in Denver against the Bobcats at 7 pm mountain time