Ah, the Western Conference Finals.
It’s a great way to finish a season – not the best way, but still pretty darn good – the kind of finish that might just encourage a team to kick back, smile and admire what it had just accomplished. And that would be understandable, even forgivable while sitting at 1-3 on the season at hand, considering that what the “Bubble” Nuggets did just a few short months ago was only the fourth time the franchise had made it that far.
However, losing two games to the Sacramento Kings – twice in the span of four games – has a way of bringing everyone right back down to earth. Regardless of who plays on the Kings these days, or what obstacles early scheduling might present, they’re still the Kings. And no proud Western Conference Finalist should be dropping a pair to the Kings.
This is a good thing.
The Nuggets are still a good team, but they needed to call a timeout from all the back slapping and positive press clippings. By season’s end, they’ll be fine, but a little reminder that they’re good, but not good enough, is just what the doctor ordered.
The Nuggets are not good enough to dismiss defense all together. Let’s face it; Denver, despite Michael Malone’s tirades and temper tantrums, isn’t a defensive team. They weren’t last year, and they aren’t going to be this year either.
They’re not good enough to assume – incorrectly for the umpteenth time – that Gary Harris a premier defender, on the Nuggets roster or any other. On the defensive end, Harris is good, but again, not good enough. Thus far this season, the opposition’s best scoring guard has yet to be held under 20 points. Not once. Even chubby ol’ James Harden sloshed his way to 28 points…in the first half against Denver. The Nuggets are not good enough to sacrifice offense for a decent defender who hasn’t really stopped anyone this season.
The Nuggets are not good enough to not try. More than one Nugget offered a lack of “effort” as a primary reason the defense failed, yet again, against Sacramento on Tuesday night. The Lakers might be able to get away with that; with a trio of gigantic rim protectors and the greatest player on earth, you might have to try as hard every night. But that’s the Lakers, not the Nuggets.
The Nuggets are not good enough to rely on Nikola Jokic’s triple-doubles as a means in which to win. Those come easy for Joker – and he’s been nothing short of stellar already this season – but he can’t be the only one producing.
And that’s just on the court.
The Nuggets are not good enough to lay an egg in the offseason and expect to pick up right where they left off.
It’s not that hard to figure out really. It’s no head-scratching dilemma that a team that let three of its best defensive players walk is currently struggling on defense. You can’t tell Jerami Grant, Torrey Craig and Mason Plumlee goodbye – and not really replace them with anyone of the same ilk – and expect the defense to perform the same or even close. The Nuggets are not good enough – Michael Malone is not good enough – to simply “coach ‘em up.” Every team needs the right pieces. It’s easy to blame Michael Porter Jr. or Paul Millsap for lackluster defense. But Porter Jr. is still incredibly young, not even yet completely physically developed for the rigors of defense in the NBA, and Millsap is old and slow. These are no secrets; the Nuggets knew this going into the season.
The Nuggets are good enough to turn down offers for the talented but cancerous James Harden, but are they good enough to win it all this season without him? Probably not. The same obstacles that stood in the way last season are still there (and, by the way, better), and in Denver, the Nuggets got just a little worse.
The best thing about the season thus far is that young Michael Porter Jr. is averaging almost 30 minutes of playing time per game. That’s good. Why? Because the Nuggets aren’t good enough to waste another season in which Porter Jr. doesn’t develop into the player they need him to be. Because the Nuggets aren’t good enough to win it all this season, the best outcome they can hope for this season is that Porter Jr. learns how to play effective defense by season’s end.
The Nuggets aren’t good enough – to take plays off, to take games off, to take offseasons off. At 1-3, the Nuggets are better than their record might indicate.
But they’re not good enough, something that should be remembered on Friday when they get another chance to prove otherwise.