Denver Nuggets Becoming the Team We All Expected to See in 2014-15
DENVER — The Denver Nuggets didn't take long to reach rock bottom during the 2014-15 season. But the best thing about rock bottom is that you literally can't go anywhere but up.
Throughout the beginning of their redemption campaign, one that supposedly offered a second chance at the playoffs after their injury-caused false start in 2013-14, this team was one of the very worst in the NBA. The losses piled up to the tune of a 2-7 record, and the schemes looked atrocious on both ends of the court. No one could hit even the simplest jumpers, and the entire organization was put on a skewer by ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz, who questioned everything from Tim Connelly's competence as a general manager to Kenneth Faried's fit among his teammates.
But now the Nuggets are in the midst of a five-game stretch of undefeated basketball, one that has allowed them to even up their record and put themselves firmly back in the playoff chase, despite the difficult-as-always nature of the Western Conference.
While every facet of the game has looked better in recent days, there are three overwhelming positives that have keyed this run.
Ty Lawson's Re-Emergence
Though it was Faried who signed the massive contract extension during the offseason and drew most of the media attention, Ty Lawson remained Denver's best player. His No. 3 jersey might not populate the Pepsi Center to the same extent as his teammate's No. 35, but his ability to serve as the first line on both ends of the court makes him so crucial to the success of the organization.
Head coach Brian Shaw has harped about Lawson's importance all season.
Before the year began, around the same time the floor general told Bleacher Report that he expected to lead the Nuggets in scoring, Shaw discussed how Lawson needed to become more of a leader, even taking him to a Denver Broncos practice to see what skills he could glean from watching Peyton Manning run the show at quarterback.
And the discussions have carried over into the season, as Denver's coach finds a way to discuss Lawson at virtually every turn. He's highly critical of the 1-guard, demanding near-perfect play and constant improvement, but he also doesn't hesitate to compliment him when the need for positive reinforcement arises.
"I think that the biggest difference is that he has more weaponry this time around. I don't want to knock the guys who aren't here, but the different guys this year, different guys pose different threats in terms of who the defense has to honor, staying out with on the three-point line as well as inside," Shaw said before Denver's game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 21, referring to Lawson's improvement. "So he just has a lot more options in terms of what he's dealing with this year. I think he was aggressive last year as well, but more guys that can finish plays off for him if he can't finish them off himself."
He hasn't always been able to finish them off on his own, but NBA.com's SportVU data still paints a promising picture.
No player in the NBA has driven to the hoop more frequently, and the 15.9 points per game he's creating for his team in that situation—from both scoring and distributing—paces the league. Shaw is well aware.
"Ty is doing a great job of getting into the paint, and our shooters are now understanding the value of getting all the way to the corners to get the spacing that we need. Bigs are staying flat on the baseline and opening up [space] for Ty. We just heard yesterday that Ty is No. 1 in the league in drives, as well as points produced off his drives, so we definitely shared that statistic with the team to make them see even further that it's important for us to get guys to the corner.
"So as a result, Arron Afflalo, Wilson Chandler, Gallo [Danilo Gallinari], those guys are getting corner threes now, because now they're getting to the corners. And our bigs are able to play off each other better, staying a little bit flatter to the baseline as well as rolling to the basket harder. One definitely supports the other, and it still goes back all the way to Ty setting the table for everybody else. When he comes out aggressively and he's attacking the paint, it makes it easier for everybody else."
Nonetheless, there's room for growth.
Lawson could still stand to look for his own shot a bit more frequently, and it's something he's been doing more of during recent outings. During the five-game undefeated streak, the point guard has averaged 17.6 points and 12.8 assists per contest on 46.4 shooting from the field; prior to those games, he was putting up 16.0 points and 8.0 dimes but shooting only 41.8 percent.
"One of the things we've been talking about and trying to get him to do more is, ‘You're the first option. You have the ball in your hand. You take it until they stop you from taking the shot. And then your instincts will kick in and you'll make the right play,'" Shaw recently explained. "So I think he's taking on that approach a lot more.”
That mentality has allowed Lawson to create for his teammates wonderfully, and he's moving back up the point guard hierarchy as his team's record does the exact same thing in the NBA standings. But he's by no means the only reason this team is starting to re-assert itself as a playoff contender.
A Consistent Rotation
When you enter the Pepsi Center and prepare for a game, the Jumbotron over the center of the court, much as is the case for every team, displays a hype video, one meant to get the home crowd fired up before players are introduced. That process isn't unique, but the fact that the Nuggets claim to be the deepest team in the league during that tape is.
And it may be true, which was actually problematic during the beginning of the season. With 12 players who deserved minutes, Shaw wasn't able to get everyone on the court enough. Even while J.J. Hickson was suspended and formerly injured players had minute caps in place, he struggled to involve everyone properly, leading to a complete lack of continuity and a general feeling of uneasiness.
But that's no longer the case, as the rotation has been trimmed down to become much more manageable. The depth is now a luxury, not something that must be used each and every game.
On Tuesday night against the Chicago Bulls, 11 players made it onto the court. However, Gary Harris, the fresh-faced rookie out of Michigan State, played only six minutes, and six players topped the 20-minute mark. During the victory over the Los Angeles Lakers that came two nights earlier, five players were on the floor for at least 30 minutes; no one else topped 20, even if 11 guys received run once more.
The rotation actually works now.
Though Shaw won't hesitate to tinker with his bigs depending on matchups—Faried won't play as much against stretchy power forwards, for example—there's more of a clear-cut hierarchy, and it's led to players beginning to understand their roles.
Lawson is going to create offense and serve as the head of the snake at all times. Arron Afflalo, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari will always be there to space the court. Timofey Mozgov is the big body, though he's going to be spelled by JaVale McGee, especially when more of a rim-protecting presence is needed.
It actually makes sense, and it's not as though the Nuggets feel forced to give everyone minutes anymore. They're simply being doled out in a manner that's more conducive to success.
Defensive Commitment
"Probably next week and a half, two weeks [is when we’ll know we turned the corner]," Lawson explained after he helped hold Anthony Davis and the Pelicans to only 97 points. "First of all, our main goal is to get back to .500. From there, the sky's the limit. Keep playing hard. I feel like, on the defensive end, that's where we had to get better, and we're getting better. Didn't have 50…60 points in the paint. Didn't have the threes. Didn't give 'em 30 free throws. We're doing that now, and I think we're figuring it out."
The first goal is now accomplished, but is the same true of the defensive improvement?
Though the incessant fouling is still a bit extreme, the Nuggets have seemed to trend down in most of those categories since hitting rock bottom, especially when the overtime period against the Lakers is factored out. They've gotten better at keeping their men out of the paint, they've closed out on three-point shooters and they've tended to contest most every shot.
As Shaw explained before taking on NOLA, the team has played with a goal to hold the opposition under 24 points during each and every quarter.
"We're doing a better job defensively, in terms of not fouling, taking care of the ball so that teams aren't able to get out in transition and score easy baskets. Just the overall energy and intensity of our defense, flying around. We started to set more short-term goals. Quarter to quarter, trying to hold teams under 24 points. We know that for us, we do pretty well when we're able to hold teams under 100 points. In the games we don't hold teams under 100 points, our losses amount to more than when we do...I think the guys are just taking it on themselves to make a stand and not give up that one big quarter that puts us in a hole."
During the winning streak, the Nuggets allowed a max of 26 points in a quarter to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 26 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 26 to the Pelicans, 36 to the Lakers (though they still scored only 94, even with the overtime period) and 33 to the Bulls.
With the exception of that final game against a remarkably tough team, they've been meeting that 24-point goal literally half the time during their win streak, which is good news for a team that still ranks No. 25 in defensive rating. Most importantly, the big quarters haven't come early enough to put the Nuggets in a hole they can't dig their way out of. They're trending up in that area, and they're gaining confidence.
"It's helped," Lawson explained, referring to the 24-point-quarter mantra, "but I think clogging the paint and making them shoot threes has helped even more. "
While this team lacked any sort of defensive identity and displayed horrific rotations early in the year, it now seems as though everyone on the roster has bought in. Even if the team hasn't put up truly impressive numbers on the less-glamorous end, it's at least committed, and that's great news for future success.
Still Room for Improvement
As Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post has said multiple times, both in casual conversation and during radio appearances, the Nuggets have played bad games, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're a bad team.
The beginning of the year was fraught with difficulty, between the too-deep rotation, the players working their way back from injury, the lack of identity on either end of the court and the fluky inability to hit open shots despite producing them with a great degree of frequency. But that's changed as the year has progressed, and the games have been more good than bad in recent days.
Still, there are opportunities for this team to grow rather significantly.
Faried, for example, still hasn't reached the level so many expected when he was coming off his dominant run with Team USA. Denver is still fouling far too frequently on the defensive end. The many players who were injured last year—Gallinari in particular—are regaining their levels of comfort and have yet to play as well as they did prior to their various maladies.
There aren't any true star players on the Denver roster, but this is still a deep squad with plenty of talent at each and every position. The only issue has been the ability of those pieces to fit together seamlessly, and Shaw has been making that area look better as the wins have started to pile up.
Is it too early to claim the Nuggets are playoff contenders? Absolutely, but it was also too soon to write them off when they struggled their way to a 2-7 start.
“I think we turned it right now," JaVale McGee told reporters when asked if his team had turned the corner, and that was before Denver reeled off two more consecutive wins. "We're peeking around it right now. We're getting wins. We're playing together. But it's always good when you're winning, isn't it?"
But, as the big man said, "If we can keep it up, that's what matters."
Note: All quotes obtained firsthand.
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