__Western - Northwest - GDHQNBA15_2pg-Denver Nuggets

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WESTERN CONFERENCE NORTHWEST DIVISION Denver In the 2012-13 season, the Denver Nuggets were quietly one of the best teams in the NBA. Thanks to a roster featuring a collection of valuable players, Denver finished with a 57-25 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. However, after a first-round playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors, Denver fired head coach George Karl, overhauled its front office, and then parted ways with defensive master Andre Iguodala. In comparison, the 2013-14 season was bitterly disappointing for the Nuggets. New head coach Brian Shaw seemed overwhelmed at times and had difficulty earning the respect of his players. Injuries hurt the roster, taking out contributors Danilo Gallinari and JaVale McGee. No adequate replacement was found for Iguodala’s defense. The result was a 36-46 season and a 21-win decline from the previous year. With Gallinari and McGee returning to the lineup, can Denver find its way back into the Western Conference playoffs? Defense The impact that the loss of Iguodala and the injuries to Gallinari and McGee had on Denver cannot be overstated. Iguodala is arguably the best overall defensive player in the league, a wing who can guard point guards and power forwards, and make life more difficult for just about anybody. Gallinari is a tall forward whose length causes problems for opponents. McGee is an undisciplined wreck but is also a prodigious shotblocker whose athleticism has to be accounted for by opponents. Without any of those players in the lineup, Denver’s defense suffered last season. The Nuggets finished 21st in defensive efficiency, and after taking a look at the roster, that was probably a good result for them. J.J. Hickson filled in for McGee at the center position, and got mostly bullied around by opponents in the post. Kenneth Faried brings a tremendous amount of hustle but is a relatively small power forward and struggles to guard larger opponents. Ty Lawson stands under six feet and isn’t enough of a threat on the ball to make up for it. That leaves Timofey Mozgov as Denver’s best defender, and while Mozgov does defend his position well, he really shouldn’t be the best defender on an NBA roster. The reality is that, by losing Iguodala in free agency, the Nuggets have been left with a roster that simply lacks plus NBA defenders. Getting Gallinari and McGee back should help, but neither of those players is truly worthy of All-NBA Defense consideration. McGee in particular is frustrating to watch, a player with tremendous athletic gifts who squanders them by constantly swatting shots out of bounds and often giving up position to go for a blocked shot. McGee will give the Nuggets more rim protection but he won’t necessarily improve the team’s overall defense. With a roster full of players who are simply adequate or worse defenders, there’s no reason to think the Nuggets will be a strong defensive team in the 2014-15 season. The only thing stopping Denver from being a bottom-five defense is the existence of a handful of teams who are not even trying to win games. Overall, the Nuggets are a small team that have some rim protection, but lack the versatile defender needed to force opponents to switch to a “Plan B” on offense. Offense While the Nuggets lack a true superstar to constantly draw double teams, they have a number of capable scorers who help give them a balanced offense. Their best overall offensive player is point guard Ty Lawson, who had arguably his best season last year despite shooting a career-low 43.1 percent. Lawson made up for that dip by producing his highest ever assist rate, by drawing more fouls than ever before and by remaining a threat from three-point range. Lawson is joined in the backcourt by the returning Arron Afflalo, who should represent an upgrade over last year’s starter, Randy Foye. Like Foye, Afflalo is excellent from three-point range, as he has made 39.2 percent of his threes in his career. However, Afflalo is better than Foye at attacking the basket and drawing fouls and is a better finisher at the hoop. The return of Gallinari should be a boost for the Denver offense Kenneth Faried Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images


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