10 Things We Learned About the Denver Nuggets After the Early Slate of Games

After an excellent offseason that saw the Denver Nuggets land All-Star forward Andre Iguodala, the Nuggets entered the 2012-13 season with plenty of reason for optimism. Unfortunately, coach George Karl and his young team have had a rough start to the season, winning just two of five games and showing some definite rust.

This subpar start has shown fans plenty of things, both good and bad, about this new-look Nuggets team. Let's take a look at 10 early observations about the Denver Nuggets. 

Scoring Will Be Balanced

As the rare competitive team without a true superstar, it should come as no surprise that the Denver Nuggets are a team in which points are distributed widely across the board.

Ty Lawson led the team in scoring last season despite averaging just 16.4 points per game and should put up similar stats this year as George Karl pushes his team to score from all angles and distribute shots evenly.

With such a deep roster, the Nuggets could conceivably have as many as six players averaging double-figure scoring, and it seems that almost any player could be the team’s leading scorer on a given night. 

Rookies Won't Get Much Run

George Karl is well known as being a coach who prefers to lean on his veteran players over inexperienced rookies, and this should continue to be the case during the 2012-13 season.

Former high school star Quincy Miller has yet to appear in a game, and Evan Fournier has played just 17 minutes while contributing minimally.

This team has no shortage of depth, and with so many great options at each position, it’s unlikely that two late first-round projects will earn much run. 

McGee May Be Best as Sixth Man (for Now)

JaVale McGee seemed to be primed to become the Nuggets’ center of the future after signing a major contract during the offseason. However, he has started the season coming off the bench, and it seems likely he’ll remain there for the foreseeable future.

This is largely due to the strong play of Kosta Koufos, who has served as a defensive anchor for Denver as the starting center through the first five games. Koufos lacks McGee’s elite athleticism and name recognition, but has quietly established himself as a solid inside option.

George Karl doesn’t seem overly concerned with who starts for his team, and consequently, McGee should still be able to earn big minutes while coming off the bench. And with Andre Miller there to feed him alley-oops, McGee should be just fine as a part of the second unit. 

Shots Just Aren't Falling Yet

Thus far in the season, Denver is shooting just 43 percent from the field, 64 percent from the line and 29 percent from outside. For a team heralded as an offensive powerhouse, these low shooting percentages simply will not do.

Fortunately, the season is young, and a five-game sample is nothing to be worried about. Rusty as they have looked early on, the Nuggets’ main problem may be that shots just aren’t falling yet. Given time, this team should have little trouble returning to last year’s terrific level of offensive production. 

Defense Still a Concern

Despite their offensive dominance last season, the Nuggets were mediocre defensively, a fact that kept them from being a true contender come playoff time. Consequently, Iguodala’s arrival was a cause for great excitement for Denver fans, as it signaled a change in the defensive culture of this club.

With Iguodala and McGee around full time, the Nuggets’ defense should be better this season without a doubt. However, it may not improve as suddenly and miraculously as some fans might have expected.

Iguodala is useful as a stopper against premier wing scorers, but he alone cannot hope to shut down opposing offenses. Defense requires a team effort, and thus far in the season, the Nuggets still look only average defensively. And though this would normally not be a huge issue, it remains problematic as long as Denver’s offense continues to flounder. 

Dunks Will Be Abundant

Andre Iguodala. Kenneth Faried. JaVale McGee.

Notice a trend? These guys can all throw down with ease, and on a team that stresses a fast-paced offense, they should be able to do so with frequency. 

The Nuggets are undoubtedly a talented team, but their athleticism is what allows them to flourish in transition and make such frequent appearances on the top play charts. As a result of these easy opportunities, fans should expect high scoring and high percentages from this up-tempo team. 

Chemistry Not There Yet

As is often the case when a star joins a new team, this new Iguodala-led Nuggets squad has yet to develop the chemistry that has been such a key intangible for championship teams in years past.

Though Iguodala looks to have blended well with his new teammates and is off to a solid start, the Nuggets are still in the process of establishing comfort between their players.

This is also evident from the high volume of turnovers being committed early on. The Nuggets currently rank sixth in the league in turnovers per game with 17.6, a number likely inflated due to the sloppiness that plagues teams early in the season.

As soon as the whole roster starts to gel, though, Denver should see a rapid climb in the wins column. 

Faried Was No Fluke

Kenneth Faried drew high praise from around the NBA scene for his tremendous rookie season during which he averaged 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while wowing fans with relentless hustle and impressive athleticism.

Now cemented in his starting role with the Nuggets, Faried has continued to impress early in his second season. Through five games, he has averaged 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds despite continuing to play under 30 minutes per game. Faried is one of the top producers of double-doubles in the league, and if he can work his way into full starter’s minutes, he could be set to really explode this season. 

This Team Can Rebound

The Nuggets have had a rough overall start to the season, but one area in which they have excelled has been the rebounding department.

Denver currently averages 49.4 rebounds per game, good for third in the league, and this is no surprise considering the size of this team at every position. Faried and the other Denver bigs are excellent rebounders, and Iguodala and Gallinari are both of above-average size for their respective positions. 

Not a Contender (Yet)

Although the trade that brought Andre Iguodala to Denver was most notable for also sending former Magic star Dwight Howard to the L.A. Lakers, Denver received high praise for the opportunistic acquisition of an All-Star wing player.

The addition of Iguodala even led some experts to crown the Nuggets a legitimate contender, citing the inevitable defensive improvement as a primary reason.

Though this team certainly has the potential to be a contender, it is simply too early to tell, and the Nuggets will need to develop both chemistry and consistency in order to have any shot at challenging the Miami Heat as NBA champions.