Denver Nuggets Sucking Blood. Refuse To Punch First

      

Okay, this will be my last time telling you that I saw this coming without blogging it out first. But I saw the Nuggets losing to Cleveland. I did not expect that they would also lose to Boston until they got beat by Cleveland, but I expected them to lose to Cleveland for sure. Kyrie Irving is a great player. He hasn't had a great season, but I recall the games that we've played in recent years and there seems to be something brewing there. Maybe he gets inspired by our North Carolina guard, he of Duke lineage.

       Whatever the case, I realized that it would be a grind to head into Cleveland and find the intensity we would need after the success of 7 straight victories. What I didn't expect is that we would start a game with a lid on the rim. No big deal, that happens from time to time, which is why you have to be able to win multiple ways to be a truly great team.

       We have an opportunity to be a great team.  However the process is chiselled in stone.  You have to go through the journey of adversity in order to recognize who you are and how you respond to challenges.  The Nuggets also have to understand that every weakness that they put on tape will get exploited by opponents.  The Celtics licked their chops on the Cav's video and the Nuggets got too deep to avoid the onslaught.

       Great teams start out as good teams searching for an identity and losing still and then become good teams that embrace an identity and can go on a run.  The problem with a run is that you are never as good or as bad as you think you are, so if you never believe you arrived at greatness then you keep pressing towards the mark.  Once you like what you've achieved, then you run the risk of coming up short. 

       The Nuggets are undergoing the natural transition from good to great.  Will they arrive?  If they all start to think like Timofey Mosgov, then we got a good chance.  He is fighting every play to get better and to never be satisfied.  His coach never has to coach effort in him.  The Nuggets have shown that kind of collective fight, but it has always been a guessing game as to who is going to throw the first punch for our team.  Nate Robinson may not always play smart, but he is always punching back and sometimes even punching first.  Randy Foye had better  get his ring work in soon or I envision a permanent line-up change at the 2 spot as Shaw seeks to embue some fight into the starting line up. 

       I would also expect a lot of punches from both teams when they head to Philly.  Remember, Philly saw video of the last 2 games as well, so they should be looking to swing first too.  If my coach is what I think of him, we should stand toe to toe and counter Philly with a stiff jab of our own.  What teams have discovered is that they must shoot well to beat the Nuggets who (even in losses) tend to beat you worse with backups than they do with starters. If the Sixers don't shoot lights out like the last two teams have,  then things might go our way early.  They should be  motivated by a common east coast fear; losing at home to the cow town Nuggets.  Expect to win this one late.