Big expectations and slow start: That's Nuggets, too
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, November 14, 2004
A team with all manner of great expectations stumbles out of the gate at 1-4.
The offense is spotty, the defense porous, the players frustrated, the fans reckless.
OAS_AD('Button20');And it's not the Sacramento Kings.
Of all the NBA teams expected to take a quantum leap this season, the Denver Nuggets, in town tonight to face the Kings, appeared poised to muscle in with the Western Conference elite. That still may happen, but the early returns bear a lot of similarities to the Kings, the surprise outfit of the season for all the wrong reasons.
The Nuggets have what could be a lame-duck coach in Jeff Bzdelik, who oversaw the team's 17-win campaign two years ago to a 43-win club last season that finally reached the postseason.
But the honeymoon was short-lived when Denver was bullied and booted out of the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Denver signed a free-agent enforcer it thought make a difference in former New Jersey Nets bruiser Kenyon Martin. He's still working into the fray, with a few dunks and scowls but only one game of double-digit rebounds. And he was ejected in his last game, Thursday's 117-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.
After a favorable home schedule early, the Nuggets needed that decision over the defending NBA champions to right a ship that was careening off course. Carmelo Anthony had his breakout game of the season after a frustrating summer of Olympic play and early season. He had 34 points to help the team break a three-game losing streak. The second-year star had met with club general manager Kiki Vandeweghe every day last week in a show of support and mentoring.
But already, injuries have stalled the Nuggets (sound familiar?). Shooting guard Voshon Lenard could be lost for the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon (an injury all the more damaging after Jon Barry signed with Atlanta as a free agent just before the season). What's more, Marcus Camby left the Detroit game with a tender left hamstring.
And there's the Bzdelik factor.
Like Kings coach Rick Adelman, you wonder about job security. They captain teams that have owners and a fan base that expect a deep run into the postseason. And much like Adelman, Bzdelik isn't the sort to call out players publicly in an effort to defer criticism. "I'm not going to go there, I'm not - there has to be sanctity in that locker room," Bzdelik told the Denver Post last week. "It's not me. My philosophy, plain and simple, is that if I have something to say to somebody, I say it face to face, man to man."
Holdin', grabbin' in Seattle
The Kings don't much care for the physicality of the Seattle SuperSonics, who walloped Sacramento 108-78 on Wednesday."I mean Danny Fortson is physical, but the way Reggie Evans was playing, that's not physical. It's just grabbing and holding and pushing and shoving and hoping that they (officials) don't call it."
Added Adelman: "If they want to knock people down and they want to do all of that stuff and call it toughness, then so be it." Replied Sonics coach Nate McMillan: "I think we're playing defense. I don't think we're grabbing. We're getting to the ball and playing aggressive. I thought it was pretty good defense (Wednesday) night. We shot 40 free throws, they shot 39. So if it was (physical), it was on both sides."
more nba news here.
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Sunday, November 14, 2004
A team with all manner of great expectations stumbles out of the gate at 1-4.
The offense is spotty, the defense porous, the players frustrated, the fans reckless.
OAS_AD('Button20');And it's not the Sacramento Kings.
Of all the NBA teams expected to take a quantum leap this season, the Denver Nuggets, in town tonight to face the Kings, appeared poised to muscle in with the Western Conference elite. That still may happen, but the early returns bear a lot of similarities to the Kings, the surprise outfit of the season for all the wrong reasons.
The Nuggets have what could be a lame-duck coach in Jeff Bzdelik, who oversaw the team's 17-win campaign two years ago to a 43-win club last season that finally reached the postseason.
But the honeymoon was short-lived when Denver was bullied and booted out of the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Denver signed a free-agent enforcer it thought make a difference in former New Jersey Nets bruiser Kenyon Martin. He's still working into the fray, with a few dunks and scowls but only one game of double-digit rebounds. And he was ejected in his last game, Thursday's 117-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.
After a favorable home schedule early, the Nuggets needed that decision over the defending NBA champions to right a ship that was careening off course. Carmelo Anthony had his breakout game of the season after a frustrating summer of Olympic play and early season. He had 34 points to help the team break a three-game losing streak. The second-year star had met with club general manager Kiki Vandeweghe every day last week in a show of support and mentoring.
But already, injuries have stalled the Nuggets (sound familiar?). Shooting guard Voshon Lenard could be lost for the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon (an injury all the more damaging after Jon Barry signed with Atlanta as a free agent just before the season). What's more, Marcus Camby left the Detroit game with a tender left hamstring.
And there's the Bzdelik factor.
Like Kings coach Rick Adelman, you wonder about job security. They captain teams that have owners and a fan base that expect a deep run into the postseason. And much like Adelman, Bzdelik isn't the sort to call out players publicly in an effort to defer criticism. "I'm not going to go there, I'm not - there has to be sanctity in that locker room," Bzdelik told the Denver Post last week. "It's not me. My philosophy, plain and simple, is that if I have something to say to somebody, I say it face to face, man to man."
Holdin', grabbin' in Seattle
The Kings don't much care for the physicality of the Seattle SuperSonics, who walloped Sacramento 108-78 on Wednesday."I mean Danny Fortson is physical, but the way Reggie Evans was playing, that's not physical. It's just grabbing and holding and pushing and shoving and hoping that they (officials) don't call it."
Added Adelman: "If they want to knock people down and they want to do all of that stuff and call it toughness, then so be it." Replied Sonics coach Nate McMillan: "I think we're playing defense. I don't think we're grabbing. We're getting to the ball and playing aggressive. I thought it was pretty good defense (Wednesday) night. We shot 40 free throws, they shot 39. So if it was (physical), it was on both sides."
more nba news here.