Roundball Mining Company We'll move the earth for a title! Fri, 26 Dec 2014 14:15:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 RCotW: Rebuilding Fri, 26 Dec 2014 14:14:50 +0000 Welcome to the Reader Comment of the Week, a recurring series where we’ll highlight voices from Roundball Mining Company community found in our forum, comments section, in e-mails and through Twitter rants.

This week’s comment comes courtesy of Sharkboy242

…I’m just desperate to see a competitive team… Im so tired of those games we’ve been seeing, like the one last night. Rebuilding just sounds awful.


Love him or hate him, one thing George Karl gave Denver every season was a competitive team… during the regular season, of course. The playoffs were another story.

Blowing up the team and rebuilding around a young core + veterans or a superstar would take time. Are the fans willing to endure a few seasons of 20-62 records to develop that kind of post-season promise? Take a look at the 76ers… do the fans want that?



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Rapid Reaction: Denver Nuggets 96 Brooklyn Nets 102 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:30:00 +0000 The Nuggets showed a much better effort after last night’s debacle in Charlotte. The Brooklyn Nets proved to be too much however as the Nuggets go into the Christmas break with consecutive losses.

Denver Nuggets 96 Final
Recap | Box Score
102 Brooklyn Nets
Kenneth Faried, PF 32 MIN | 8-11 FG | 4-5 FT | 14 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 20 PTS | +12Pretty much what you want from him when he doesn’t go into full-on Manimal mode. He was a force on the glass at certain times. He managed some competent plays for himself with the ball against athletic defenders, though he didn’t stand a chance going against Kevin Garnett. He started looking for his offense in the second quarter and by the time Garnett was on the bench for most of the second half he hit a stride.

Wilson Chandler, SF 38 MIN | 5-17 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 11 PTS | -4His physicality off the ball could add some value for a team looking to, uh, sorry. Chandler gave the Nuggets plenty of little things tonight. The kind of stuff that could really expand the market, no, um, don’t say the T-word. Don’t say the T-word. Chandler looked good tonight. I can see why so many teams might be interested in tra-ay! Let’s move on.

Timofey Mozgov, C 28 MIN | 1-7 FG | 3-4 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 5 PTS | +8Started slow but finished first quarter with a better effort. Never found his touch around the rim but his teammates made up for his 1-7 shooting. He wasn’t the best Russian on the court though.

Ty Lawson, PG 42 MIN | 10-20 FG | 5-6 FT | 4 REB | 9 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 29 PTS | -4Try as he might, Ty is learning that an All-Star effort only goes so far. It looks like his confidence isn’t all the way there with his jumpshot, but it was falling enough to lead the Nuggets with 29 points. He went into Ty The Orchestrator mode in the third but kicked it up a notch with some typical Lawson drives while building a second half lead. The engine didn’t have enough to finish the job as the Nuggets sputtered on offense in Ty’s last six and a half minutes of game time.

Arron Afflalo, SG 41 MIN | 4-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 11 PTS | 0Had a lively game but never found a rhythm that made any impact. 40% from the field is on par with what he’s been shooting as of late, something that really hurts a team that only has so many scoring threats. He never really got a crack at slowing down Joe Johnson who put up 27 for the hometown Nets.

Alonzo Gee, SF 17 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -12The first time he came off the bench he made zero effort to get involved defensively and provided nothing but headache-inducing mistakes otherwise. Unlucky for him his one wide open corner three was negated by a charge on Lawson.

Jusuf Nurkic, C 13 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-1 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -7After a few flawless plays when he first came in I typed “it’s getting to the point where he doesn’t even look like a rookie.” He then committed a bad foul and set a screen out of bounds. Oops. Nothing was bad enough to consider trimming his minutes. If anything he should be getting some different spots with certain guys. He hasn’t had a chance to team up with Lawson on a few possessions to see if there might be something there. Alas, you just hope rookies don’t make mistakes and he made plenty tonight.

J.J. Hickson, C 12 MIN | 4-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -13Certainly left a lot to be desired. He didn’t attack the glass and wasn’t really looking to take on a defensive assignment with great pride or determination. The on/off switch that controls this guy can be wildly unpredictable.

Nate Robinson, PG 18 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -10Gave almost enough steadiness early in the fourth quarter, but almost doesn’t cut it. He just hasn’t put together a full Nate Robinson game this season.

Brian Shaw
Had his players ready to go after an abysmal showing last night in Charlotte. Brooklyn was able to draw some Nuggets big men on the perimeter which led to a few made threes. Shaw usually seems to have a reluctance to go small, and that may be because he doesn’t trust those lineups to get enough rebounds. That was proven right on a key Mason Plumlee tip-in at the half and during a Nets run in the middle of the fourth. For a coach that has a different bench to work with each night it’s been hard to get any traction in terms of bench production. Regardless, the right buttons for bench production eluded Shaw tonight. He has to really lean on the starters, which creates issues in games where rest is vital.

Two Things We Saw

  1. It’s a shame Kevin Garnett has to play out his potential last season with a team hardly anyone could be even mildly passionate about in a building that has no life most nights.
  2. There was a guy dressed as a Christmas tree in the stands. Just thought I’d let you know.

Next up: Friday, Dec. 26, 7 p.m. (MST) @ Minnesota. Going to the game? Save money and get cheap Denver Nuggets tickets here.

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Reader Recap: Denver Nuggets 82 Charlotte Hornets 110 Tue, 23 Dec 2014 02:28:07 +0000 Unfortunately no recap tonight, but it also wasn’t much of a game. The Nuggets trailed wire-to-wire in a 28-point loss in Charlotte. Ty Lawson was the only starter in double figures for the second game in a row, and he broke a streak of 20 consecutive games with at least 9 assists, finishing with just 4 dimes on the night.

The loss moves Denver to 4-10 on the road, with another game at Brooklyn coming up on Tuesday night. The Nuggets have lost 8 of their last 11 games.

Due to none of our staff being able to recap the game, we welcome our faithful readers to chime in on what happened tonight.

Go Broncos?

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Danilo Gallinari has torn mensicus in good knee Sun, 21 Dec 2014 19:06:19 +0000 Late Sunday morning, the Nuggets announced that Danilo Gallinari is out with a right knee meniscal tear. Gallo has spent the better part of two years recovering from multiple ACL surgeries in his left knee.

Gallo apparently suffered the injury after scoring a season-high 19 points in 28 minutes in a win over the Pacers. Given his hard work on a long road to recovery, it’s just devastating to have Gallo tear his good knee just as he was regaining his form on the court.



Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post reports the initial timetable is out three weeks, and states that there is an expectation Gallo can return this season.

If there is a silver lining, it’s that playing again this season does look like a realistic possibility. In early 2014, Eric Bledsoe suffered a torn meniscus and returned after missing 33 games. He was injured in a Suns game on December 30th, underwent surgery then and returned to action on March 12th.

In other news Darrell Arthur is upgraded to questionable for Monday night at Charlotte. For now, add Gallo to a list that includes JaVale McGee and Randy Foye as guys who are expected to be out a while.

Update: Thanks to RMC contributor Tom Darrow we have a clarification from Gallo via his facebook. Apparently, it’s an older injury which hasn’t bothered him much, but got worse after the Pacers game. Tests showed a minor tear.

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Rapid Reaction: Denver Nuggets 76 Indiana Pacers 73 Sun, 21 Dec 2014 01:00:00 +0000 Neither team shot straight in one of the uglier games of the season. After 48 minutes the Nuggets held Indiana to 30.7% shooting and hang on for a 76-73 win. Denver moves to 12-15 and 8-6 at home.

Indiana Pacers 73 Final
Recap | Box Score
76 Denver Nuggets
Kenneth Faried, PF 25 MIN | 2-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +6

Faried finished the game with a flurry of energy despite going scoreless well into the fourth while generally looking horrible. With Arthur unavailable and Hickson and Nurkic as the only viable backups, sticking with Faried was a good call. The Manimal did enough but he must start moving around on defense and contesting shots with the same energy he goes after rebounds with. He’s always a step behind the action and David West abused him inside and out.

Wilson Chandler, SF 29 MIN | 1-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -11

Chandler’s one make was maybe the biggest shot of the night so he’s also tough to grade. I commend him closing the game strong with a big shot and rebound, but he no-showed everything outside of the final 3 minutes. With Gallo not quite ready for huge minutes and a 15-minute stretch to close the game, going back to Chandler was a risky but understandable move.

Timofey Mozgov, C 36 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 15 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 5 BLK | 3 TO | 6 PTS | +2

Mozgov reduced former All-Star center Roy Hibbert to Kwame Brown status. He helped shut down the paint and was the only reason Denver stayed competitive on the boards and in position to win an ugly game.

Ty Lawson, PG 38 MIN | 6-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 1 REB | 10 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 15 PTS | +4

That’s 20 straight games of nine or more assists for Ty. He was the only starter in double figures and probably the only reason Denver is not one of the worst teams in NBA history. The Nuggets are a JV squad without him.

Arron Afflalo, SG 35 MIN | 3-12 FG | 2-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 8 PTS | +6

He looked a step slow from the start of the game. Playing Afflalo basically the entire first and third quarters is a terrible look, especially on a back-to-back. He missed everything to the left and right and forced more bad offense than he normally would. Otherwise a clearly tired Afflalo gave good effort.

Alonzo Gee, SF 7 MIN | 0-1 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -5

He wasn’t terrible but I’m not sure why Gee needed 7 second half minutes out of the blue. Either use him in a real role to spell Afflalo or don’t. Gee might do better if he had some idea what to expect on any given night.

Danilo Gallinari, SF 28 MIN | 7-12 FG | 4-5 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 19 PTS | +8

He was drawing contact and finishing left and right. Gallo is still regaining his touch around the basket but his ability to beat defenders off the dribble is the missing link in Denver’s offense. If that comes back, they’re suddenly a viable scoring team. Watch out if Gallo is able to parlay this into a good stretch and perhaps a 30-minute role soon. If he can do that, Denver’s a different team.

Jusuf Nurkic, C 12 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +1

Some of his fouls made no sense. There’s really no shot at reaching around a posted up, massive Roy Hibbert for a steal so why try? Nurkic just needs to be a little more solid rather than trying to make the spectacular play every time.

J.J. Hickson, C 21 MIN | 4-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +5

Faried set the bar low and Hickson provided some energy, stealing enough boards and firing up enough shots for some good numbers. So basically, JJ Hickson played.

Nate Robinson, PG 11 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -1

Nate thought he was still on fire in the first half and almost got a little out of control. He was able to pull it back for a decent-enough performance, but i think he could have been trusted with at least a few more minutes. It was a tight game the whole way and Brian Shaw just wasn’t comfortable resting Lawson beyond the absolute minimum, which is kind of a running theme this season.

Brian Shaw

It was an uncreative game from the start. He made enough obvious adjustments like pulling Faried early and letting Gallo cook for as long as he did. But he didn’t stagger lineups enough to create an advantage with depth and basically went to the starters late because that’s what Indiana did. It happened to work out.

Three Things We Saw

  1. If Denver is going to force feed the post early in the offense why are Faried and Hickson getting double the touches of Mozgov? The 1-4 pick and roll is the best option for Ty and the unfortunate Faried/Hickson duo at power forward. The Nuggets miss Arthur right now and their offense is purely reliant on Lawson and Gallo bailing out bad possession after bad possession.
  2. It was ugly, but credit the tired Nuggets for holding a team to 30.7% shooting on a tough back-to-back. It was enough to win, and the Nuggets did not make any glaring errors in the final minutes this time. For once, the execution late was okay.
  3. Once again I thought Mozgov was a force defensively and the Nuggets kind of rode him to victory, despite never looking to give him the ball. Mozgov just went and got it and kept a really ugly game within reach. Another understated, impressive effort by Timo all night.

Next up: Monday, Dec. 22, at Charlotte at 5:00 p.m. MST. Going to the game? Save money and get cheap Denver Nuggets tickets here.

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Rapid Reaction: Los Angeles Clippers 106, Denver Nuggets 109 Sat, 20 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000 From an amazing first half, to a ridiculously dreary 3rd quarter, followed by a crazy, technical laden 4th quarter, the Nuggets pulled out a very entertaining win. The Nuggets were able to pull together in the 4th quarter to make up for their offense’s inefficiency in the 3rd quarter, which made the difference at the end of the game. Hopefully the team takes this win in stride, as they showed some grit, but should still look to learn from their compounded failures in the 3rd quarter. In the end, the Nuggets came away with a much-needed W.

Los Angeles Clippers 106 FinalRecap | Box Score 109 Denver Nuggets
Kenneth Faried, PF 28 MIN | 6-9 FG | 2-3 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 14 PTS | +10The question still remains, why include Faried in the starting five if he is going to be pulled after a couple minutes to reserve his energy to play with the bench players? Would he be better coming off the bench to begin with? Faried finished out the game with a some nice offensive possessions, shooting a nice FG percentage overall. It would be nice to see more rebounds out of Faried, overall a decent effort though. It looks like his 1-on-1 meeting with Shaw helped Faried refocus his game, it will be interesting to see if he gets back to his standard level of play.

Wilson Chandler, SF 36 MIN | 6-16 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 16 PTS | -12At times when Chandler is being unselfish it hurts the team, Chandler should take the opportunities that are presented to him. He should maintain the offensive aggressiveness we’ve seen from him this season. He had a low 3-point percentage that hurt his numbers offensively, it would have been nice to see more of his shots fall from deep. He did nail an impact three towards the end of the 4th quarter that helped seal the Nuggets lead.

Timofey Mozgov, C 25 MIN | 6-8 FG | 0-1 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +6Mozgov for three? Mozgov sinking three long jumpers?!The Russian Assassin from deep?! He brought the energy early on, which helped carry the Nuggets through the first half. I love seeing this type of offensive production from Mozgov, which contributed to a solid night overall. I would have liked to see his offensive production carry into the second half, but that 3rd quarter doomed many Nuggets players.

Ty Lawson, PG 37 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 14 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 5 TO | 10 PTS | -1Lawson’s 3-point shot was falling in the beginning of the game, which is nice to see after the mediocre percentage he has put up so far this season. It has been noted before, but the Nuggets offense is completely different, and for the better, when Lawson is on the floor. Distribution is a key part of Lawson’s game, and it is a glorious thing when he has the assist machine running strong. He had a pretty decent game defensively as his assignment on Chris Paul resulted in limiting Paul’s opportunities, which is all you can ask for when guarding someone of his caliber.

Arron Afflalo, SG 32 MIN | 4-14 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 4 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | -9Afflalo provided an offensive spark in the beginning, as he was the only player able to take his defender off the dribble and create offensive opportunities on an individual level. He has the ability to step up and take the Nuggets through rough offensive starts before other players start contributing. Just a quick side note: Afflalo has an incredibly pure shooting form, he always has, and I’m always amazed when his shots don’t fall consistently.

Alonzo Gee, SF 9 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +7Gee came in and did a nice job with what he was asked to do, which is bring intensity on D and run the court when necessary.

Danilo Gallinari, SF 24 MIN | 2-5 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS | +2I would like to see more point production for the amount of minutes played, he still seems hesitant off the dribble. I believe he is making some nice progress, still waiting for his breakout game that hopefully leads to some consistent production. After a slow game on the offensive end, how about that 3 point shot at the end of the 4th and the huge offensive rebound to help close it out?

Jusuf Nurkic, C 17 MIN | 3-3 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +8His defense was leaky at times as his feet didn’t stay active enough to keep Blake Griffin in front of him. He did come in as a serviceable backup, and showed flashes of major potential, which is what I have been waiting for to be unleashed all season. He is still young and a rookie, I know I can be impatient at times.
J.J. Hickson, C 15 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -8Usually Hickson shouldn’t be taking too many one on one jumpers, like tonight for example. He was on the floor and he did some stuff, which is a simple way to say he didn’t really do anything memorable, good or bad, which is good…I guess. Oh, he did have some nice rebounds, that’ll do.

Nate Robinson, PG 16 MIN | 6-11 FG | 4-7 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 20 PTS | +12En Fuego!? Si! Nate went off at the beginning of the second quarter, this begs the question, do you want to see him keep shooting? Sometimes he can shoot himself out of a rhythm just as fast as he can shoot himself into one. Will his aggressiveness towards the rim persist? Shaw finally let Robinson back into the game towards the end of the 3rd, and he displayed an almost immediate impact with another 3-pointer. This was great to see, and even though the offense changes drastically when he takes Lawson’s place on the court, I can live with it if he is dropping the trifecta from deep, and often.

Brian Shaw
There was some interesting news that came from an in-game report, the report described a 1-on-1 meeting between Shaw and Faried. It was noted that Faried admitted to a lack of focus, and might have a renewed sense of purpose on the team after the meeting. Thoughts? Here are a couple of the lineups that performed well on defense, even though it was primarily against the Clipper’s back ups: Chandler, Robinson, Nurkic, Faried, and Gallinari & Lawson, Faried, Robinson, Nurkic, and Gee, should this be considered luck or defensive lineup genius? Shaw executed a fairly consistent defensive plan, allowing only one of the Clipper’s stars to dominate offensively, that being Blake Griffin.

Three Things We Saw

  1. There were just too many turnovers and missed free throws in the first half. The Nuggets were still able to overcome these mental lapses, but it made for a much closer game than it should have been.
  2. The 3rd quarter shouldn’t have happened, it would be nice to pretend it never happened, but the Nuggets need to use it as motivation for improvement. Quick stat: Nuggets were outscored 31 to 12 in the 3rd quarter…yikes…They came out way too flat, and I’m unsure of whether or not this falls on the coach or the players. This leads me to question: what are they doing in the locker room during halftime anyway, napping?
  3. After a disheartening 3rd quarter, the 4th quarter kicked up a notch in terms of fouls and technicals. The game was out of control at times, but the Nuggets were able to capitalize by making the majority of their free throws in the second half.

Next Up: Saturday, Dec. 20 p.m. (MST) vs. Indiana. Going to the game? Save money and get cheap Denver Nuggets tickets here.

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This week’s comment comes courtesy of Furious_Stylez:




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Rapid Reaction: Houston Rockets 115, Denver Nuggets 111 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 01:30:00 +0000 A fun back and forth game and a spirited Nuggets performance was quelled by one James Harden doing what he does best, leaving Denver 10-15 on the season.

Houston Rockets 115 Final

Recap | Box Score

111 Denver Nuggets
Kenneth Faried, PF 32 MIN | 5-12 FG | 1-2 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 11 PTS | -14Faried’s blunder at the end of regulation kind of sums up his season thus far. He shouldn’t have been put in the position he was on that play and his subsequent drowning led to a critical mistake. Faried spent most of the game bodying up Howard or Motiejunas, and while he was able to outrun them down the court on occasion for some fast breaks, most of these matches ended in the Rockets favor.

Wilson Chandler, SF 35 MIN | 8-17 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 23 PTS | -21Chandler’s been great this season. Great. He is has become that wing player every team in the league would love to have on their team, with a bit left to be desired on defense. He’s nailing the three, he’s working off ball screens to perfection, he’s handling the ball when the offense needs him too. Seeing as this is a contract year, it will be interesting to see where Chandler will find himself come season’s end. (My vote is for the Nuggets to sell high, as soon as possible.)

Timofey Mozgov, C 19 MIN | 0-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 1 PTS | -9If there is any game Mozgov is really supposed to be useful in, its this one, against Houston’s hulking front line. And yet, Shaw spent the majority of the game going small and the time Mozgov was manning his post down low, things didn’t really go all that well. With Nurkic’s lurking in the rotation, Mozgov’s minutes are likely looking to take a bit of a dive.

Ty Lawson, PG 47 MIN | 4-12 FG | 4-4 FT | 1 REB | 16 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 12 PTS | -447 minutes. After two 40-plus minute games earlier in the week and with another game coming up tomorrow night. Shaw has a conundrum with Lawson’s minutes. The team is clearly lackluster on offense without him, directionless even with how Nate Robinson has been playing as of late. But the more exhausted Lawson becomes over the course of the game, the more ineffective he is late. Denver’s playing a zero-sum game with Lawson’s minutes and something has to give at some point.

Arron Afflalo, SG 34 MIN | 7-17 FG | 5-6 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 22 PTS | -1Afflalo, like Chandler, has generally been great this year. He did what little he could against Harden, which ended up being very, very little, but his offense was superb. And he’ll get the plus because lord knows how difficult that shot he hit was to get Denver to overtime.

Darrell Arthur, PF 28 MIN | 5-13 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +10Arthur needs to be playing 30-35 minutes a game minimum. He is too good not to. He’s far and away Denver’s best defender, taking on both Howard and Harden at different point in the game and doing fairly well on both, and his range on offense is always a boon. Anytime Hickson is on the floor these days, Shaw is letting those minutes go to waste. Denver is a better team with DA on the floor. It shouldn’t be that hard to tweak the rotation so he sees it more often.

Danilo Gallinari, SF 26 MIN | 4-8 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 16 PTS | -3Started out the game great, he had that deadly pick and roll game with Lawson that Denver used to murder teams with a couple years ago going and the three point shot in transition was there for him. But his jumper faded as the game wore on and he was short on a lot of his second half shots. 25 minutes is a good number for Gallinari to stick with right now, he just needs to be surrounded by the right kind of players, namely Lawson and Arthur.

Jusuf Nurkic, C 17 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +17This kid is going to be good. He really has no idea what he’s doing on offense yet but that’s okay because his mere presence on the court does enough on both sides of the ball. He already has a knack to get his massive hands in the way of passing lanes and Denver’s offense clicked well when the ball was in his hand and a cutter would wheel around him to the basket. He also gave Howard a lot of problems, which begs the question why he didn’t see the floor at all late in the game.

J.J. Hickson, C 21 MIN | 4-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | +5Hickson played 15 minutes too many in this game. With Faried, Arthur, Nurkic, and Mozgov all solidly in the rotation, Hickson does not need to see the floor this much. He bring nothing to the table that the four other bigs on the team don’t already have. You don’t need him to play small anymore and you don’t need him to go big. Denver doesn’t need him.

Nate Robinson, PG 6 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | 0Likely the biggest culprit for Lawson’s massive minutes load. Robinson has been really bad of late, so bad that the offense can’t be put in his hands for more than five minutes at a time. This is going to be a big problem if things don’t change soon, Lawson can only take so much of the point guard responsibility.

Brian Shaw
While not too many of them came back to bite him in the end, there were a lot of curious decisions in this game. Why was there so little Nurkic late? Why stick with Faried on Motiejunas and Hickson/Arthur on Howard for so long? Why trot out a lineup of Lawson, Gallo, Arthur, Hickson, Faried at all, in any context, for any period of time? What the hell was that last play of regulation supposed to be? Because any play that involves Faried doing anything but diving at the rim after a shot attempt is a poor one. Still, staying small at the end of the game did have its benefits as Faried and Arthur proved a decent enough combo to slow Houston up late in the fourth. But his love of Hickson and refusal to play Nurkic more than 20 minutes a game likely did not help matters either.

One Thing We Saw

  1. It was brief, but I really liked what I saw out of the Lawson-Chandler-Gallo-Faried-Nurkic lineup. Chandler and Gallinari where just curling around Faried and Nurkic screens possession after possession hunting for threes, and they ended up giving Houston’s defense a lot of problems. I’d like to see more of this in the future.

Next up: Thursday, Dec. 18, 7 p.m. (MST) vs. Los Angeles. Going to the game? Save money and get cheap Denver Nuggets tickets here.

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Rumors: Nuggets interested in Lance Stephenson, could field offers for Chandler Tue, 16 Dec 2014 04:32:58 +0000 The Denver Nuggets continue to be mentioned in trade rumors, this time in connection with the mercurial Lance Stephenson. After Denver’s small forward Wilson Chandler was mentioned in connection with the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio named the Nuggets in a roundup of Lance Stephenson trade rumors Monday.



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Rapid Reaction: San Antonio Spurs 99, Denver Nuggets 91 Mon, 15 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000 An exhausted Nuggets team fought about as much as they could in the second half, but the double whammy of a rested and superior team in the Spurs proved too much.

San Antonio Spurs 99 Final

Recap | Box Score

91 Denver Nuggets
Wilson Chandler, SF 36 MIN | 6-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 14 PTS | -9Chandler was probably the biggest reason Denver stayed in the game. A couple transition threes here a few steals there and Chandler had the Nuggets back in it. His stint guarding Kawhi didn’t go great, but other than that this was the kind of game Denver needs from Chandler.

J.J. Hickson, C 16 MIN | 1-2 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -9Hickson had a solid game. He ran the floor on both offense and defense (a rarity) and his defense inside was better than usual.

Timofey Mozgov, C 24 MIN | 4-12 FG | 3-4 FT | 13 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | 0Mozgov’s jumper is just good enough that he’ll take it when he’s wide open but just bad enough that defenses will never mind not closing out on him. Which generally means it’s not worth taking the shot. Still, the widely inconsistent jumper is probably better than his ability shooting around the rim. His defense remains solid and his rebounding very good, but Nurkic is coming for that job.

Ty Lawson, PG 39 MIN | 2-10 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 10 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 6 PTS | -6At this point, Ty Lawson is still fresh enough that the signs of the wear and tear of playing forty odd minutes in back to back games haven’t really surfaced yet, but everyone can see them coming. The offense was run mostly through Afflalo and Robinson late in the game because Lawson was likely too tired to dive into the teeth of the defense possession after possession, as he is wont to do. Which begs the question, given his shaky start as an off ball shooter, why is he out there at all? There’s going to be a breaking point if this continues, and, if history is anything to go by, it’ll likely come at the worst possible time.

Arron Afflalo, SG 40 MIN | 12-20 FG | 3-3 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 6 TO | 31 PTS | -3Afflalo is getting much better at running the offense as Denver’s primary offensive weapon. Denver seems comfortable enough with him now that they are content to give him the ball and let him go. That said, I’ve seen about enough possessions begin with trying to get Afflalo the ball in the post. He’s rarely going up against a smaller defender and he is not a good enough post player to beat a regular defender on a consistent basis. Throw in the Nuggets paltry amount of decent post entry-passers and this play is almost always a recipe for disaster. Have Afflalo stick to operating at the top of the key, initiating the pick and roll, or have him bouncing around screens hunting for the corners–the things he truly excels at. When the offense sticks to using Afflalo as he is meant to be used, he can have games like this one.

Darrell Arthur, PF 21 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | 0I really like how Arthur operates the offense from the top of the key. He has the shooting and passing ability to make the defense pay in multiple ways. His defense was solid as it always is in this game, but there were a couple of times he gambled off a shooter when he shouldn’t have. Still, it’s hard to miss Faried with Arthur’s ability to defend both rangy and powerful bigs.

Alonzo Gee, SF 17 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 5 PTS | -4Alonzo Gee is not good. Gee spent the beginning of the game with a green light on offense that should’ve been red, if not just off. The amount of minutes he got in this game is where Denver really misses Gallo. Putting him on Leonard was a crime, on both sides of the ball. To be fair to Gee, though, Denver threw everything they had at Leonard, Afflalo, Chandler, double teams, it didn’t matter. Kawhi is just a force of nature. And that dunk to cut the lead to five late in the fourth wasn’t too bad either. (It was just everything else he did in the game).

Jusuf Nurkic, C 18 MIN | 3-7 FG | 4-5 FT | 8 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS | -11Nurkic was good on defense in flashes, his athletic ability enables him to make plays no other big on the team really can. But he’s still a rookie and the Spurs picked on him enough to make him a liability on that end. He did have a pass early in the second quarter from the top of the key to a cutting Arthur that should make every Nuggets fan excited for his future. And going toe to toe with Duncan late in a close game is not too bad of an accomplishment either.

Gary Harris, SG 14 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 0 PTS | +5Gary Harris is going to be a really good defender. His length makes passing around him hell and he has an acute sense of when to attack a ball handler or cut off a shooter before he even sees the ball. His offense though…needs work. If he can ever nail down that three point shot, he’ll be an extremely valuable asset for Denver going forward.

Brian Shaw
He did what he could with a shortened rotation and a tired team. Gee probably saw too many minutes, especially late, but having Nurkic in the game for as long and as late as he did shows progress.

Up Next: Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8:30 (MST) vs. Houston. Going to the game? Save money and get cheap Denver Nuggets tickets here.

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