Watching the NBA playoffs can be nerve racking, disappointing, anxiety ridden, and simply tense. The games are contested. After all, these are the best teams in a league of giants. Reactions vary. Some people nervously pace, other fans peek down the hallway at the game as if the distance from the screen will lessen the impact of the outcome, and a few simply turn off the TV in a noble (and ridiculous) attempt at self denial. LA Lakers fans, I think, felt none of this during the first round match-up against the Denver Nuggets. Frankly, Nuggets fans should be at ease to. Frustrated, yes. Surprised, no. (This is not the place to talk about personnel changes, but Denver’s fans have to be fed up with their system. Five straight first round exits. Worst part: Iverson walks for nothing.)
The first three games were essentially lopsided and, from a basketball perspective, undramatic. The Lakers made shots (49% for the series) and the Nuggets missed them (42%). The Lakers passed the ball effectively to make those shots (30.7 APG) and the Nuggets stars held the ball only to miss the shot (18 APG). They were probably the least complicated three games I have seen between such talented squads. The much maligned Nuggets defense did not really matter because their offense was putrid.
The only question in these games was the who and when: which Nugget was going to get “T“ed up and when? Leadership, so prized in basketball, was totally absent from the eighth seed in the western conference. Leadership is a typically overrated buzzword used by commentators as a cop out to avoid, I think, research and statistics. However, Denver’s inability to keep their cool makes them what they are (relative to the stacked Western Conference): fun and not good.
This hotheadedness extended to Game Four, unarguably Denver’s best game of the series. At least tonight’s game was close and contested. The outcome, considering fresh Kobe off the bench and the foul situation, wasn’t in doubt. Though no technical fouls were issued, both Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony fouled out. Veteran and highly paid players fouling out in an elimination game. Enough said on leadership.
Offensively, the Nuggets already were bound to have problems with the Lakers length and preparation, but the Lakers’ perimeter defense stepped up. During the regular season, opponents shot 36% from downtown against LA, yet the Nuggets managed only 27%. Disregarding inexplicably bad shooting, the Lakers’ defense clearly improved and might even be something to contend with. Inside and out defenders looked good in the one-on-one sets the Nuggets play and this may discourage the Jazz (T-Mac is another story) from using isolation.
LA is clearly good, but they aren’t yet great. By no means should this momentum by considered unstoppable against a balanced team like Utah (though I feel a series against the Rockets would be a cinch). Kobe and his crew are the favorites, yet their old vulnerabilities did not melt away with this victory. Now to the questions that the Jazz or Rockets will help answer: Was the Lakers shooting a product of poor defense or marksmanship? Can their defense adjust to a structured offense? Are these blowouts flukes or tendencies? Can the bench players keep up their play?
Nuggets Are Garbage Denver does not deserve to be in the playoffs. They should at least be in the top four teams in the West. If either Melo or Ai was on a team were they were the go-to-guy either one of them could win the scoring title. That is irrelevant though, their problems are much deeper than that though. Playing championship caliber basketball requires a committment to offense and defense, not pick and choose. Marcus Camby understands that. No one else on the Nuggets does. The Nuggets are like watching an NFL team implode during the playoffs. All the tattoos and the attitudes, they lack composure and maturity. I love Ai, but when you have him on your team, you play his style of basketball. His teammates usually end up watching him because he is so fun to watch. Same with Melo. J.R. Smith is also starting to come on his own. They have so much individual talent that it’s usually a one-on-five game half of the time down the floor. And they do score which is why they’re so fun to watch. ALLEN IVERSON IS SO FAST!! Watching the Nuggets is almost like watching an NFL team they have so much athleticism. But they’re too concerned with offense and have no interior D. They get a lot of steals on the perimeter and in transition, but that’s about as deep as it goes. Camby is the only one that rebounds, and most of the players give up on D because they’re worried about getting out on the break. I love the run and gun and I like the players, but they do not gel toghether well.
Lakers are fine does anyone seriously think there’s any team standing in their way to at least the Western Championships? They may not be perfect, but I don’t believe they’ve played to their potential due to the crappy opposition the Nuggets put up.
- Freddie Footballer
Nuggets need to make some moves They manhandled the Nuggets and seemed to take it up a notch whenever they wanted. The could have used Ron Artest badly…
Regardless… The Lakers proved the Nuggets are garbage, about this there is no doubt. I just don’t see how the Lakers could play much better than they did. It’s good enough to cream Houston. Is it good enough to beat Utah? Probably. San Antonio? Questionable. New Orleans? That depends on David West making ridiculous shots (reference: 2nd half of game five vs. Mavs).