Essentials
- Teams: Denver Nuggets (19-31) at Detroit Pistons (19-31)
- Date: February 6
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Television: FSD
Get in the Game
The Detroit Pistons will host a Denver Nuggets team tonight that’s seemingly in shambles.
Detroit and Denver have identical records, and yet, one can’t help but feel like they are going in different directions. The Nuggets play in a tougher conference, which should actually make their record appear stronger than Detroit’s, but that’s not quite the case.
Teams often travel to Denver on the backend of road trips and face the Nuggets in high altitude after competing the night before. As a result, Denver enjoys a unique home court advantage that’s allowed it to collect wins over quality teams such as the New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks.
It’s worth reiterating, those are eyebrow-raising victories even with the altitude affecting opponents. However, one would assume that the Nuggets would boast a more impressive home record than 12-13.
In addition, the Nuggets trot out a quality point guard (Ty Lawson), good two-way shooting guard (Arron Afflalo) and a Team USA member (Kenneth Faried). Despite the talent and mile-high advantage, Denver has as many wins as Detroit.
Keep in mind, the Pistons have some really remarkable victories on their resume, most of which have been on the road. Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy had led his troops to wins away from home against the Suns, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors. There’s also a win at the Palace of Auburn Hills against the Houston Rockets to boot.
Thus, if forced to pick a “stronger” record between both clubs, the Pistons get the nod. But what is it that ails the Nuggets?
One would be hard pressed to come up with a different answer than head coach Brian Shaw. Granted, the entirety of the blame can’t be shifted onto him, given that the players play a big part into this, but everyone is willing to point the finger at Shaw.
The team just doesn’t look like a cohesive unit. Denver has adopted the mentality of the Sacramento team from two or three years ago, where players are mostly interested about getting theirs it would appear. For instance, when Lawson calls for a set and delivers the ball to one of his wing players, it’s quite unlikely that the action will shift back to Lawson or anyone occupying the other side of the floor.
The Nuggets push the pace, but the offense bogs down because the ball sticks with a player who is hoping to take advantage of his matchup. On nights when there is an actual mismatch to exploit, the offense looks good because it creates double teams, which lead to open looks.
On the flip side, when the players believe they have an advantage that’s actually not there, fans get stuck watching a bottom-third offense. The best way to illustrate the Nuggets is simply to imagine Lawson and Faried surrounded by the New York Knicks version of J.R. Smith at 2-guard and small forward.
That sounds like a disastrous recipe, and Shaw might not be the one to fix it based on the assessment of Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix:
"In the meantime, Shaw will continue to look for answers. He has tried everything to push his players, from blasting them in public to cajoling them in private, from threatening major changes to suggesting, perhaps kiddingly, that the team was trying to lose."
Ouch. But wait, it gets worse:
"His motivation tactics have swung from the conventional (see above) to the unconventional; recently, Shaw admitted to rapping a pre-game scouting report. The results have not been encouraging. A day after losing to Philadelphia — Philadelphia! — the Nuggets fell to Boston in a game where the team imploded due to poor execution in the final few minutes."
Put it all together, and one should surmise that Denver is underachieving. The team should be better. Don’t be fooled, though. The Nuggets are bad, but just remember, J.R. Smith has nights where he looks like the most electrifying player on the court…
You just never know when it’s coming.
Read about the Nuggets