Interesting subjects being discussed in today's GN. I'd like to give my thoughts on a couple.
Timofey Mozgov has been a revelation this season. Not only is he preforming well in Brian Shaw’s new system, but he seems to be enthusiastic and energized this season. Today at practice Brian Shaw spoke to me about Timo, and he said this (when asked about Mozgov’s verticality)
"The thing I've been most impressed with Timo about is, he has really figured it out," Shaw said. "He's sat back, and he's listened to what we've asked of our bigs, and he's saying, 'Oh, so if they ask me to rebound, roll hard, set good screens, run the floor and turn around and post up inside … then I'll get to play and have some success.' And he's had some success doing that. It's really simple things that he's asking and he's doing them."
It’s amazing the evolution Mozgov has undergone and he has been easily the biggest surprise on the Nuggets this season.
The conversation also turned to tanking. This is going to sound wishy washy but, I can definitely see both sides in the tanking debate. One parameter is we should completely stet aside the San Antonio Spurs as a conversation topic. losing a year and “tanking” while you already have a hall of famer on your roster is a model that is completely unique to the Spurs. Don’t think anyone has ever had two sure fire hall of famers, drafted number one, on the same roster before. If it has occurred someone correct me. Having Robinson made everything the Spurs did, including the development of Tim Duncan so much easier. It’s just like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant. Having KD made every move that Sam Presti made afterward so much easier.
I understand the merits of tanking. I also understand asking your fan-base to support a horrible basketball team is hard and will likely result in massive revenue loss. It depends on if the risk is worth it. As with everything, it's a gamble.
How's that for a non-answer? My worry is that teams get stuck in the middle, and can't get out. History is filled with countless examples of this, and it's not pretty. You have to have a "reason" to be hopeful, and you hope the Nuggets will be experiencing that. In the NBA you are either getting better or you need to get worse. Where are the Nuggets? that remains to be seen.
