Return of Nuggets 1: Forum Comments From Middle of April 2008, Part 1

Forum commentary I did from March 2008 through July 2008, when I didn't have enough time for the detailed and extensive reports I like to do, is being posted in early October, 2008. The primary themes are how the Nuggets are blowing a great (and expensive!) opportunity to play the game of basketball in such a way that respects the sport and that takes as much advantage as possible of who they have on the roster. The 2006-09 Nuggets have turned out to be an excellent case study of how not to run a basketball team; many things you should not do if you are a basketball manager or coach can be identified from what the Nuggets actually did during these years.

In these comments, do not look for the usual huge amount of detail and proof that you see in the ordinary releases here at Nuggets 1. Some of this is more like everyday conversation than like top quality sports writing. On the other hand, some of the comments do include some detailed reasoning and proof that I pride myself on in the primary reports I release.
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MIDDLE OF APRIL 2008 FORUM COMMENTARY ON THE NUGGETS, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THEIR MISTAKES

Yeah, you desperately need the win and you come out and give up 40 in the 1st quarter. That's lame and not what the owner of the Nuggets or Nuggets ticket buyers are paying for. Come on, 40??? Couldn't they have at least held it to 32 in the 1st? This was NOT a back to back game, so they don't have that excuse.
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Spurs, Lakers, Celtics, and maybe Pistons games are the important ones, because those teams have the great histories behind them. (A little joke.)
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Yep, and the Nuggets can still win 50 games mostly because of how they dominated at home this year. A big reason why there is going to be a 49 or 50 win team not making the playoffs this year in my opinion is the long list of highly experienced and very skillfull head coaches. The Nuggets, as we all know, are in the hunt regardless of coaching because of sheer talent.

Let's divide the coaches into 5 tiers, 6 coaches in each tier, and look at the coaches of the 13 best teams.

BEST COACHES IN THE LEAGUE (based on experience, team and game management skills, and track records)

1ST TIER COACHES
Phil Jackson-Lakers
Greg Popovich-Spurs
Jerry Sloan-Jazz
Rick Adelman-Rockets

2ND TIER LEVEL, STILL VERY GOOD COACHES
Mike D'Antoni-Suns
Don Nelson-Warriors
Byron Scott-Hornets
Avery Johnson-Mavericks

Byron Scott may be making a run for the top tier. Karl is 3rd or maybe even 4th tier.

The big problem this year is that there is not a weak coach in that bunch of 8 coaches the Nuggets are up against. If any one of them were coaching the Nuggets, and we still could not win 55 games with this roster, it would be time to make big changes like trading Camby before he is too old to move.

Look at the East by comparison:

Flip Saunders? 2nd tier
Stan Van Gundy? 3rd tier, 2nd at best
Doc Rivers?? 3rd tier probably
Mike Brown???? 4th or 5th tier

It's funny because of the 9 big West teams, Karl and Nelson are probably the weakest coaches of the 9 and, sure enough, here they are battling for the last playoff spot, whereas the 7 other coaches have already nailed down their spots.

I had some doubts about Avery Johnson, but the Mavericks defense has improved during the season, and I am pretty sure he is 2nd tier now.

Precisely because all 9 of these teams are very good teams, and closely matched, the final thing that decides who finishes where most likely comes down to team and game management.

So if the Warriors miss the playoffs, their fans on their discussion boards and blogs should be blaming Don Nelson for being too obsessed with scoring and for, like Karl, over relying on his starters.
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He thinks Smith is the steady, reliable Ginobili type 6th man. (A sarcastic but accurate joke.)
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Atkins had about 4 great games in a row about a month ago but after he had 1 or 2 not so good games in limited minutes, it sealed his fate: he was benched for the rest of the season. (A very sarcastic but accurate comment.)
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I think the Nuggets can shock the Lakers in LA in one of the first two games of the series and maybe possibly win either game 3 or game 4 in Denver. Don't think they can win more than 2 games against them though. (Wow, very unusually optimistic for me!)
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Karl is such a timid soul.
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Huge win, at least the Nuggets locked down the Pepsi Center this year and usually made the fans happy they came to see them.
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Dallas would be favored over the Hornets on Wednesday because it is a back to back road game for the Hornets, and those are extremely difficult to win. If Dallas wins, they finish with 51 wins. Also, I would predict the Lakers beat the Kings in their final game. Even if the Lakers lose that game, they hold the tie breaker against the Hornets. The Lakers also hold the tie breaker over the Spurs from a better Conference record.

So it is most likely that the Nuggets play the Lakers in the best of 7.
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Huge Playoff Series Mistake Waiting to Happen #22
Yak plays very, very little or not at all no matter how much Kobe Bryant torches the Nuggets.