Denver Nuggets: A hopeful year ends in disappointment
Nobody gave the team a chance once Carmelo Anthony left the team for New York Knicks during the mid-season transfer window. Post Anthony’s departure, Coach George Karl used the principle of team work on his young, inexperienced yet talented team and it got them results but only in the regular season and not the Playoffs.
The lockout shortened season was there first without Anthony and managed to be an above .500 team, yet their record was worst in the last 4 years of the franchise.
However entering the 2012 season, Danilo Gallinari was ready to steal the show, by make up for last year which could have been his best season based on the numbers he was putting up leading the Nuggets through the first 25 games of the season before falling to injuries . With the addition of Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers in a multi team trade, The Nuggets once again looked a strong team poised to make the post-season.
It was never making the post season which Nuggets struggled at. Since George Karl took over as head coach the Nuggets had made it to the Playoffs each season, the fact that the team couldn’t continue their form into the post-season and pass the first round was the most disappointing to the fans, players and management. Their only appearance in the Playoffs past the first round came in 2009, where they lost to the eventual champions Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals in 6 games.
They started the season with inconsistent streaks and never looked a competitive team. After a blowout loss to the Lakers, the Nuggets ended November with a record of 8-9. Analysts across channels started to write them off.
Under the calm influence of head coach George Karl, the players stayed focused and went on a dominating surge of 33-9 across the first three months of the New Year. The young team had started to forge a bond amongst each other which was reflecting in their performance. At 106.1 they led the league in points per game.
They ended the season capping of a franchise high 57 wins with 25 losses to grab home court advantage heading into the Playoffs as the 3rd seed set to face the 6th seed Golden State Warriors.
Their season included an impressive 38-3 home record at the Pepsi center. The only teams to beat them on their floor were the defending champions Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Inexperienced as they were, the Denver Nuggets were never short of talent and skill. George Karl and the coaching staff bought this unit together and made them understand the importance and effectiveness of team play. A balanced attack and team play were the major reasons for them ending at the top of the league in the category of points scored this season. 6 players in their roster averaged double figure points with 2 players averaging just above 9.
Post-season:
They would have to get through the post season without star Danilo Gallinari who they lost late in the regular season due to an ACL injury.
The Nuggets won a close contest in Game 1 thanks to a final second shot by veteran point guard Andre Miller. The next three games were won by the Warriors which put the Nuggets at the brink of elimination.
Returning home for Game 5, Nuggets stayed alive in the series by grabbing the game. They couldn’t afford to take rest as they still trailed the series 2-3. Despite knowing the effort required in the remaining games they could not stop the Golden State Warriors from wrapping up the series at home in Game 6.
Their best season in franchise history still could not get them past the first round of the post season. This was George Karl’s eight first round exits in his nine year tenure and ninth in 10 years for the franchise.
A promising season had given way to a repetitive predicted disappointing post season result.
Off-season:
One of the biggest headlines in the off season was that George Karl, NBA Coach of the year, and Masai Ujiri, NBA’s Executive of the Year, were both fired from their respective positions. While Ujiri took up the position of General Manager with the Toronto Raptors, George Karl joined the ESPN analyst team. Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw was asked the fill the position of Head coach.
They acquired Randy Foye in a trade which involved Andre Iguodala moving to the Golden State Warriors. They signed Portland Trailblazers forward J.J.Hickson along with Chicago Bulls point guard Nate Robinson to strengthen their bench.
For certain everybody at Denver would expect another postseason, but the fans would be delighted if the nuggets could go further.
Could the Nuggets repeat their regular season performance and get the monkey off their back by making it past the first round?