The Denver Nuggets, communist basketball, and you
More Jock Itch
On Saturday, Jan. 28, the Denver Nuggets were riding high. Kicking ass and taking names, they were running people out of the gym left and right. They spanked the reigning-champion Mavericks, whipped the mighty Heat like it was nothing, and had just won their sixth straight, slapping down punks aplenty on a lengthy road trip. Since then, though, Denver has lost 10 of its last 13, with the Nuggets abruptly finding themselves stuck out in the cold, looking in on the playoffs.
Some of the losses were exasperating wastes of time, kind of like sitting through a bad slasher film. Listless and perfunctory, the games, like slasher films, only had surprises about which protagonists got the axe. (Spoiler alert: It was Mozgov and Gallinari.) Others were brutal collapses, like being in a bad slasher film—everything’s going great in happy-sunny-smile time, until you take a machete to the back 90 seconds before the credits roll. The other two (Portland on Feb. 4, Dallas Feb. 15) were demoralizing blowouts, akin to, let’s say, being stuck in a cheap motel room with No Strings Attached playing on every channel. For me, it may be preferable to sit in silence rather than watch an ass-whupping and/or an Ashton Kutcher movie, but it’s no fun either way. Friday brought a new permutation: Suck big time early in the game against Memphis, then raise everyone’s hopes by roaring back before blowing it in the final seconds. That kind of loss doesn’t have a movie analogy, because that movie would be so bad that no one would make it.
Friday’s format could have, however, been something to build on. Sports stories are constantly rewritten after the fact. Did you know the Giants weren’t mediocre, they just struggled at random times? Yeah! The Super Bowl was always their destiny! If the Nuggets would have tackled division-leading Oklahoma City on Sunday night, then the Memphis game would have become the story of a team finding its groove after a bad spell. Instead, it remains another chapter of that same old story: The Nuggets don’t have a leader. The Nuggets have sold their rudderless experimental squad as a team where no one hogs the ball, everyone looks for the open shot, and someone new can step up every night. They move so quickly and score so efficiently that naturally they’ll give up a lot of points—but if everybody’s a weapon, how can you guard ’em all?
That sounds great until you see that Denver is a paltry 2-7 against the top 10 scoring offenses. A fast pace doesn’t excuse letting teams shoot nearly 46 percent from the floor. Always looking for the open man too often leads to no one making sure the bucket is made. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to click away from Twitter during crunch time to save myself from just tweeting obscenities until I get locked out. The simple fact is, if there’s a shootout, Denver more often than not ends up bleeding in the dirt. Worse, so much heartbreak could be alleviated by simply making free throws. As you might have guessed if you’ve watched the team this year, Denver is bottom-10 in the league there, too. The team’s only good game from the stripe was Portland, where the Nuggets hit 22 of 24 ... and lost by 20 points.
Coach George Karl has been wading into uncharted waters with this headless Battlezord of a squad, but some of his rotational decisions have been downright bizarre. There may be some explanation dealing with egos and minutes, but very frequently fans are left shrugging their shoulders as the hot shooter rides the bench and liabilities log key minutes while Karl sits morosely in his chair. He may not be Kim Jong Il, but he might just be Kim Jong Un: We’re not sure how it’s supposed to work, but we’re pretty sure he’s not running it right. This may be armchair quarterbacking, but a little more transparency would be welcome.
Now, the season hasn’t been all woe and body bags. Injuries and frequent rotational exploits have allowed young guys like Kosta Koufos and Kenneth Faried to shine. Koufos has quick hands and good instincts (perhaps run from the command center in his schnoz), and Faried is a threat to explode on either side of the ball at any moment. Regardless of what happens this year, these two could grow into key pieces of the team in the future. This year, though, the Nuggets seem to be a squad designed to get just close enough to make you believe, but still remain just far enough to rip out your heart. Danilo Gallinari is the closest thing Denver has to a go-to man—and as a go-to man, he’s an awesome second fiddle.
Basketball communism is a great idea, but the Nuggets need a leader, someone they can count on in the clutch. I think I may have just the guy in mind. He’s been injured, stuck on a dysfunctional team marred by too many scorers demanding the ball. Under the brightest of spotlights, his clout has evaporated thanks to the emergence of a new breakout star. He could use a fresh start in a less-pressurized locale, on a team with a promising nucleus that’s desperate for guidance in those toughest of moments. Perhaps general manager Masai Ujiri should pick up the phone and put in a cross-country call. Do you think Denver would be an appealing destination for a guy like ... Carmelo Anthony?
