Wednesday night the Nuggets beat the Mavs to advance to the Western Conference Finals. I think a round of hearty back-slaps, high-fives, and hugs are in order, so get to it.
My impressions from the series are as follows…
-I like Dirk Nowitzki. He has gone through some trying times in this series and through it all, he has conducted himself professionally. He hasn’t complained about the officiating, he hasn’t complained about the Nuggets and their aggressive D. He has commented on both issues frankly and honestly. His play in the series (horrible footwork notwithstanding) has been incredible.
- I am indifferent about the rest of the Mavs. Jason Terry was mediocre. Dampier isn’t worth discussing. J Kidd played well but he's showing his age. Bass was good but still, eh. The rest of them, meh.
-The Nuggets need to play more consistently to beat the Lakers. I know Denver beat the Mavs by double digits in 3 games this series, but I can’t shake the feeling that too many of the points we scored were streaky. I want to see less of JR banking in 3’s and more of JR taking it to the hole and tossing up an easy alley-oop to K-Mart. I want to see less of Melo draining a 3 with 2 seconds left on the shot clock and more ball movement from him out the inevitable double team so that the Nugs aren’t stuck in that situation. I’m not complaining about the Nugs performance, I’m just sayin’.
-George Karl needs to manage his players and their playing time, he just might need to get creative. Against the Lakers, George needs to pay attention to line-ups and respond accordingly. Please George, take some cues from Houston. I’m not fully briefed on the Lakers just yet but I do know we have some mis-matches and those need to be exploited. I know Derek Fisher can’t match up with Chauncey, JR, or Dahntay Jones. I think the Lakers are going to have a tough time matching up with Melo. On our side, we need to keep a good defender on Kobe at all times. We need to combat their lanky athleticism with some of our own.
-I repeat that advice if Houston wins out, amended to include the Rockets strengths.
-Melo is growing up. I think a lot of his growth happened this past summer at the Olympics but Chauncey has also had a lot to do with it. Last night after the game, Melo acknowledged that Chauncey was a leader, almost going so far as to imply C-Bill was leading the Nuggets. I think that is growth right there. Melo is aware of his own leadership limitations and he is mature enough to let Chauncey do his thing. That might seem simple but I think that a big step for Melo, a guy who has been the leader of the Nuggets since he came on board.
-JR Smith might be growing up. He looked off an open 3 last night and passed the ball.
Good job so far Nuggets, there is still work to be done.
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