| Still A Lot Of Work To Do Authored by Dennis Silva II - January 17, 2007 - 3:24 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
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On the surface, Denver is an explosive offensive bunch with a lethal transition game and scorers at both guard spots and at the wing. Both Anthony and Iverson are 30-point scorers and the team is fifth in the league in scoring at 104.8 points per contest.
But dig deeper and you see somewhat of a fraud; a team destined for regular season greatness but also en route to a quick exit in the postseason.
The Nuggets are Phoenix Lite. They can run the floor with the best and score in masses of bunches but they are missing one extremely significant asset that the Suns boast in abundance: shooting.
In what is becoming a yearly occurrence, the Nuggets are again in the bottom of the NBA in 3-point shooting. And while outside marksmanship is not necessary towards postseason success, it is when you play the style that Denver plays.
Denver hits on 32 percent of its 3-pointers. With the penetration that Iverson and Anthony create, it will prove to be beneficial that the Nuggets have at least one sharpshooter. But they boast none.
In short, what this means is that all defenses have to do is pack the lane. Zone. Force Anthony and Iverson to beat you from the perimeter instead of creating by using isolation opportunities or post-ups.
Coach George Karl obviously realizes that 3-pointers are a must-have, or else his team wouldn’t be hoisting 18 treys a game. And while the recent acquisition of guard Steve Blake (a career 38 percent 3-point shooter) will help, he’s not a shooter. He’s a creator—a pure point guard—and unless Karl can manage to get Blake to take about eight 3s a game, he won’t do too much damage.
As it is, the offensive end offers the only reason for hope of a long playoff run for Denver. The Nuggets are atrocious defensively, surrendering 104 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 46 percent from the floor. They are forced to beat teams by outscoring them, without the option of beating anyone from beyond the 3-point line. It makes that task a little more difficult.
With the trade deadline a little more than a month away, Denver needs to make some decisions.
Does it stick with its slashing style of offense and trade for an interior post threat who can rebound and score 12-14 points per game? Or does it go all-out with the whole scoring shtick and acquire a shooter or two. Names that come to mind are marksman like
Philadelphia’s Kyle Korver or the Grizzlies’ Mike Miller, swingmen who have a career 3-point percentage of 39% or better.
Denver has the right idea, particularly on the offensive end. To compete in the league nowadays, you have to be able to score in transition, have two or more legitimate offensive threats and be able to earn cheap points at the free-throw line.
But all of that will be for naught if no Nugget can hit a shot from beyond twenty feet. |
