Denver will host the division nemisis Utah Jazz to kick off what could be Melo’s last year, month or week with the club… depending on which trade rumors you believe.
Bear in mind, of course, that this would not have happened in 2009. The ot-nine Nuggets would have simply overwhelmed the Jazz with the same barrage of offensive firepower that defeated New Orleans & Dallas. But without the commanding influence of one George Matthew Karl manually balancing Denver’s speeding keel, they routinely fell out of rhythm on both ends of the court.
The blame can be placed squarely on the shoulders of head coach Adrian Dantley, who was overmatched all series in the presence of Jerry Sloan’s masterful in-game coaching. The Denver Nuggets went out with a whimper in 2010, and the team will have a long offseason to consider what changes need to be made to improve in 2011.
Denver’s bigs couldn’t make layups, their bench had no spark, and their defense made lazy rotations versus the Jazz for the third straight game. Not coincidentally, after going up 1-0 to start this opening round playoff series, the Nuggets have lost the last 3 games.
The Nuggets could have won this game (and this series) with consistent effort. When they played hard at both ends they were clearly the beater team. But Utah simply out worked them. Melo was the only one who played hard all the way through (et to Billups?) and he missed time with foul trouble again.
George Karl won’t make an appearance on the Nuggets sideline for the remainder of the regular season. Worse, Karl’s girlfriend is now reporting that George will most likely miss the 1st round of the playoffs as well.
The rout was in question for a while, but the Nuggets pulled it out. Melo deserves the vast majority of the credit for stopping the bleeding. He owned the second half of the 4th quarter when the outcome of game was beginning to come back into question.
The Nuggets and Rockets each shot a solid 80% from the free-throw line, but it was the vast disparity in attempts that did the Nuggets in on Monday night in Houston.
Coach Karl has made his impression on each one of these players and it shows. When the Nuggets play in accordance with his principles, they don’t necessarily need him courtside to be successful.
Coach George Karl has announced he will be taking a leave of absence from coaching due to health issues. The team is expected to receive official confirmation tonight at practice.
