Loss to T-Wolves a sign of things to come for Nuggets?
The Denver Nuggets dropped a shocking home game to the Minnesota Timberwolves last night 106-100 after the Timberwolves came back from a 17 point deficit to dominate the 3rd quarter by outscoring the Nuggets 31-12 in the period.
The Timberwolves had just one win previously on the season and the Nuggets came into the contest winners of 17 straight at the Pepsi Center. With the loss the Nuggets became just the second team in NBA history with a winning percentage of .750 to lose to a team who had lost 15 consecutive games. The only other team to do this was the 1967-68′ 76ers.
Coach George Karl was understandably angry with his teams collapse and his frustrations could be seen during his post game press-conference.
“Tell me my play hard team, tell me the five guys I put on that court to play hard every position. I had a play hard team last year and I dont have a play hard team this year and it is making me very angry,” Karl said before leaving the podium.
This seems to be a theme for the Nuggets, who even in their wins have had a hard time playing physical under the basket and generating defensive stops. The team has been forced to win in high scoring affairs of late including the shoot-out with the New York Knicks who are also one of the worst teams in the NBA this season. The defense clearly needs to step it up to the level they played last year and the Nuggets cannot get lazy and selfish on offense when they are able to acquire large leads.
During a long NBA season there are going to be games in which the team blows big leads, but one would not expect a collapse of this nature during a home game against such a lowly opponent. With the benefit of the home crowd it should be the duty of the Nuggets to continue to play at a high-pace to entertain and excite the home the fans and guarantee victory. This team can score at will with guys like Carmelo Anthony, who had 32 points in the contest. But once they grab a lead it is important for them to maintain their intensity to keep the crowd energized, and, in turn, keep the team motivated.
This team simply cannot afford to get lazy on either end of the court and Karl has to be concerned with his team after they racked up 19 assists in the first half on their way to a 14 point half-time lead, only to finish the game with only 4 assists in the second-half to eventually lose the game.
A year ago, the Nuggets acquired Chauncey Billups largely due to his leadership and ability to motivate his team on the court in ways that a coach simply cannot. Knowing the heart of Billups, it is safe to say that he will not take last night’s loss lightly and he will use it as a motivating factor for the team for the rest of the season.
There are two possible results from a discouraging loss like last nights: either the team learns from it and rallies together to make sure it never happens again, or it becomes a sign of things to come for the rest of the year. The team is very talented and have demonstrated already at times this year that they have what it takes to get deep into the playoffs once again. A team that competes on the highest level cannot afford to lose games like this one and losing a divisional game in this fashion could come back to haunt them at the end of the year when they are battling with the Portland Trailblazers for the division title. If losses like this start to occasionally build up then it is hard to say how mentally strong the team can be during a long playoff run.
Billups will once again have to step up and show why he is one of the best floor generals in the league. In the Nuggets win against the Knicks he was able to recognize when the team was being lazy on offense and just standing around and watching. He challenged his team mates to drive hard to the basket instead of settling for jump shots and he went right back out on the court and began to lead by example. This is what he needs to do in practice now and in the Nuggets next game against the Golden State Warriors. He can instill a sense of responsibility and accountability in the team that they need to play at the highest possible level.
The team needs to come out and lay a thumping on the Warriors to show the fans and the rest of the league that they are as angry as Karl about this loss and it will be important for them to establish some new momentum before they face a tough start to December when they will try to avenge their previous loss this season to the Miami Heat before traveling to San Antonio for the first match-up with the Spurs.
If the Nuggets can come out in December firing then fans will quickly forget this embarrassing loss but it is important that the team does not. They need to keep this loss in the back of their mind all season to make sure a collapse of this nature does not happen again.
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