The Denver Nuggets will open next season at home versus the Jazz and finish in Utah against that same division nemesis. With the release of the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 schedule on Tuesday, we see a clear focus on Northwest Division games when it counts.
The Nuggets were scary good when they were all healthy in the first half of ’09-’10. Kenyon’s potency at 100%, combined with Harrington’s added length (6’9”) off the bench and the inspiring return of coach George Karl could be enough to keep Denver afloat in the stacked West.
With a suddenly glaring weakness at power forward, the Denver Nuggets need to make a move to compete in the loaded Western Conference next season.
Unless the Nuggets’ front office can wheel and deal for the likes of Chris Bosh (Denver was not on his list of preferred cities to play in), then we will have to hope that Kenyon’s knees hold, that Birdman can be energy off the bench instead of a late season burnout, and that Denver never, ever has to rely on Johan Petro to start a game ever again.
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.
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.
Denver had a unique opportunity to crush the Jazz in Game 2, and they let it slip away. Utah is beset by injuries, losing Andrei Kirilenko & Mehmet Okur over the last few weeks. Granted, Deron Williams & Carlos Boozer had outstanding games in Denver, but the Nuggets’ bench was absolutely useless on Monday night. If Denver’s B-Team can’t beat Utah’s C-Team, the Nuggets don’t deserve to move on in these playoffs.
Now, with Jazz Center Mehmet Okur going down with a ruptured Achilles tendon on Saturday night, Utah will have to move PF Carlos Boozer to Center for much of the game. That gives Carmelo even more room to work on the perimeter, and likely spells doom for Utah in this series.
As dominant as the Nuggets were throughout the regular season series, the Jazz improved mightily in the final month of the season. Carlos Boozer came on strong after struggling for Utah since late last season, and the Jazz bench began contributing in a real way for the first time in years.
The doctor charged with overseeing George Karl’s treatment for neck & throat cancer is optimistic about the NBA coach’s recovery. In fact, Karl may yet return for his Denver Nuggets’ playoff run.
