Thursday, February 22, 2007

Trouble in no-title town

The Nuggets are in trouble...big trouble.

They jumped out to a 13-4 lead against the Spurs on Tuesday, but couldn't hold on, losing 95-80. The Nugs are 0-17 when scoring less than 100 pts. Read that again....0-17. That's a horrifying number. Hell, as little as three years ago only one TEAM averaged 100+ pts per game. If you're an idiot, what this means is that if the Nugs don't score...they don't win. There's no middle ground with these guys. Score a ton of points or go home a loser.

They cant play D, especially with Camby riding the pine for massive chunks of the game. He's an overrated defender anyway. He blocks a shot every 12 - 15 possessions...wow. He's a liability on offense. I've never seen a "center" play so goddamn far away from the basket. Hey Marcus, how about posting up occasionally? He's brittle, fragile and massively overhyped.

They no half-court offense. None. They score on fast-breaks, lob passes, clear outs for Melo and Iverson, etc. Rarely do you see a pick and roll, rarely do you see anyone cutting or any passes zipping around the perimeter to the open guy.

Iverson is still hurt (badly), JR Smith (as streaky a shooter as I've ever seen - usually on a down streak. He's a gunner when the last thing this team needs is another gunner) is gone for a minimum of 3 weeks and Camby is still hobbled. Not to mention Kenyon Martin being out for the season.

The only bright spot as of now (excluding Carmelo - he's fuckin' sick, and he's getting sicker by the day) is the play of Steve Blake and Nene. Nene's starting to (somewhat) earn his crazy-ass $80M contract. If he can keep it together (read: avoid snapping his ACL) he's got a shot a being a very good PF/C in the Karl Malone mold.

Anyone, my mid season prediction is an 8th seed and yet another one-and-done playoff series. This time though, it'll be the Mavs that sweep us out.

No comments: