40-27 would be good enough for 4th place and a home playoff

[Ewingfan]

If the Nuggets played in the eastern conference they would be in the 4th seed. Even ahead of the Lebron led Cavaliers. Does anybody remember the last time the Nuggets played the Cavs what they did to them. Yes I have been disappointed in all the bad losses, the terrible defense and George Karl's iffy substitution patterns. I don't think George Karl is the problem though. The Nuggets dont play good enough on the defensive end as a team. They have one individual good defender but A.I, Carmelo, Carter and Kmart combined play lousy. Camby is a great shot blocker but he doesn't get out on the perimeter so at times he's a liability. Yes I said it. For some strange reason Iverson's steals are down(he usually is in the top 5) and many times he looks lost on defense. The other major reason why this team frustrates me so much is that they lack mental toughness on the road. They have a ghastly 12-20 record on the road. Is that Karl's fault. I don't think so. So if the Nuggets don't make it to the playoff's don't blame Karl blame their road woes. They are like Jekkyl and Hide home and away. 28- 7 at home. Their conference record is pretty good at 23-17. Their division record is 10-4. Is George Karl coaching badly on the road. I don't think so. Well we'll see what happens there's 15 games left. I'm disappointed with last night's lost in Detroit but Thank God Golden State lost too and they have a tough schedule left. So we'll see.

[denvers_finest]

If the Nuggets played in the eastern conference they would be in the 4th seed. Even ahead of the Lebron led Cavaliers. Does anybody remember the last time the Nuggets played the Cavs what they did to them.

We all know how bad the east is, but until someone moves the city of Denver closer to the Atlantic, we just have to deal with the confrence we play in, which this year is ridiculously good.

Yes I have been disappointed in all the bad losses, the terrible defense and George Karl's iffy substitution patterns. I don't think George Karl is the problem though. The Nuggets dont play good enough on the defensive end as a team. They have one individual good defender but A.I, Carmelo, Carter and Kmart combined play lousy. Camby is a great shot blocker but he doesn't get out on the perimeter so at times he's a liability. Yes I said it. For some strange reason Iverson's steals are down(he usually is in the top 5) and many times he looks lost on defense.

I agree on some of this. Camby gets over rated as a defender because he has an uncanny ability to block shots. His man to man defense is below average, and I don't know that I have ever seen him guard the pick and roll properly.

However, I don't agree that we have "one individual good defender". K-Mart is one of the best man to man defenders in the league. Carter is also very good in this aspect, though he gets exposed a little more by being forced to guard opposing twos as opposed to his natural position of PG. Najera is an above average defender, esspecially for his size. While the team defense isn't the best in the league, it is one of the top five defenses in the league. Of course it could be better, but I don't agree that defense is our main problem.

The other major reason why this team frustrates me so much is that they lack mental toughness on the road. They have a ghastly 12-20 record on the road. Is that Karl's fault. I don't think so. So if the Nuggets don't make it to the playoff's don't blame Karl blame their road woes. They are like Jekkyl and Hide home and away. 28- 7 at home. Their conference record is pretty good at 23-17. Their division record is 10-4. Is George Karl coaching badly on the road. I don't think so. Well we'll see what happens there's 15 games left. I'm disappointed with last night's lost in Detroit but Thank God Golden State lost too and they have a tough schedule left. So we'll see.

I have no idea why the Nuggets can be so dominant at home, and yet so lousy on the road. Just a .500 record on the road and we would be fighting for home court, not just to get in.

I don't blame Karl as much as most people on this board. I think he deserves his fair share of the blame, and the players deserve some as well. Karl doesn't get enough credit, IMO, for getting a team filled with so many "head cases" to play together well for the whole season, and with out a single incident. There aren't a lot of coaches who could deal with the egos and personalities on this team, and Karl has done a terrific job in that regard.

But really, I don't think there is a whole lot of "blame" to go around. This is a good basketball team. Is it great? No. But its hard to complain about a team that wins .600 of its games. Maybe I'm still used to the Nuggets teams that couldn't win 50 games in two seasons, but personally, if the Nuggets get 50 wins and miss the playoffs, I won't be disappointed in the least.

[eathy]

So what if the conference is tough?

No more excuses.

[Ewingfan]

So what if the conference is tough?

No more excuses.

You're right there are no excuses but if you tell me before the season that the Nuggs could win 48-50 i would take that. Unfortunately that may not be good enough. last year Denver won 45 games and they were a 6 seed. 45 games this year wont even get them in the playoffs.

[cavsfan_osiris]

Actually Denver might even be fighting for 3rd in the East with all the extra games against horrible teams. Watching basketball in the East is very painful right now. It's literally like watching a JV league compared to the intensity in the West.

[realfung]

Don't worry, Dallas would be the team missing the playoff with the best record.