Well, it’s been a while. About 4 months to be exact. I know
all three of my readers missed me, so I apologize for my hiatus and promise not
to do that again.
Just to recap a little: My last blog post was about the Denver
Nuggets and the state of their playoff run. At the beginning of the season I
boldly predicted a Western Conference Championship for Denver and let’s be
honest, everybody thought I was crazy. Heck, I think I partly thought I was
crazy. But something about this team had me excited.
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| Denver is on pace for a deep post-season run. (AP) |
The Nuggets have had their real ugly moments.
Sloppy decision-making, no defense, lack of the “star” player and questionable
coaching all seemed to be staples of this team for different stretches at a
time. But something changed during the course of the season. The “on” switch
was flipped.
Today, Denver stands as the #3 seed in the Western
Conference with a franchise-best 57 wins. They hold an absolutely
bonkers 38-3 record at home, average 106.1 points per game (1st in
the NBA) and have had excellent coaching down the stretch.
So where do I see the Nuggets finishing the season?
You probably could have guessed, the NBA Finals.
Here are 5 reasons why.
Number 1: Potent Scoring
As mentioned earlier, Denver averages 106.1 points per game. I
don’t care who you are, that’s just a crazy stat. But what might be more
ridiculous is HOW they’re doing it. Denver has no 20-point-per-game player. In
fact, they don’t even have a 17-point-per-game player. Ty Lawson leads the way
at 16.7. There are six players that average double digits per game (five
subtracting Danilo Gallinari because of his injury) along with Andre Miller and
JaVale McGee both averaging over 9. The Nuggets can attack a team from every
side. They can attack in the paint, they can run, they can lob, and they can
stretch the floor with deadly 3-point range. Basically, if you’re playing
Denver, you better have all five defenders back on D. And that still won’t be
good enough.
Number 2: Depth
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| My heart hurts when I see this picture, but Denver will survive (SI) |
“But Justin, Danilo Gallinari is injured. What ever will the
Nuggets do?!” I kind of laugh because when I first saw Gallo go down with an
ACL tear I asked myself the same question. But in the coming games I gained
perspective. The Nuggets will be okay. Yes, Gallinari’s injury wasn’t ideal,
but it wasn’t the end of the world. The fact that they’ll be okay without their
2nd leading scorer kind of speaks to the depth of this team.
Including the game Gallo went down, the Nuggets are 6-1 in that span. Their
only loss was an overtime game in Dallas. The team averaged 110.7
points per game during that same stretch as well. Just take a deep breath
folks. Denver is fine. Side note: I know Kenneth Faried and Lawson are hobbled
right now too but somehow, every night, a new player seems to step up. Evan
Fournier has average 12.3 points per game the last 9 games. Did I really just
say that? Yeah… depth.
Number 3: Wilson Freaking Chandler
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| "Ill-Will" is killing it. (SB Nation) |
I think I might have one of the biggest man-crushes on this
guy right here. Chandler has dealt with injuries right from the get-go with the
Nuggets. I feel this allowed the world to forget about how good he is. Since "Ill-Will" (might I point out he also has one of the coolest nicknames ever) has arrived at full capacity (I’m going to use his last 30 games as a
benchmark) he has averaged 14.9 points per game in just 27.5 minutes. Chandler
can drive the ball with the best of them and then he can take a step-back 3
right in a defenders face. He also may be one of the most underrated and
versatile defenders in the league. I’ve seen him very capably guard Kevin
Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, and the list goes on.
Number 4: Coaching aka George Karl
57-25, need I say more? Well obviously I do because everyone
seems to hate this guy. Yeah, sometimes I’m left scratching my head with some
of Karl’s strategies too. But this team has obviously bought into the product
he is selling. They trust him and he trusts them. And I know that all of us who
watch the games from TV are very reliable sources of determining what a good
coach is, but let’s just let the pro with over 1000 career victories handle it
for now. If he doesn’t win Coach of the Year this season, I will physically be
sick.
Number 5: Denver Plays Defense (kinda)
Yeah, the half court setup still isn’t perfect. Sometimes
players like McGee seem completely lost against teams like the Spurs or
Grizzlies that try to slow things down. But Denver has an ability to take every
missed shot, and often made shots, and flip the ball to the other end of the court
in like half a second, negating any progress their opponents made on the
offensive side. So essentially, their offense is their defense. And it’s pretty
solid. I mean the point of the game is to score more buckets than the other
team right? Also, having solid veteran wing defenders like Andre Iguodala,
Wilson Chandler, and Corey Brewer doesn’t hurt.
