I came to the conclusion recently that I am the worlds worst flirter. My infrequent attempts at ambiguously suggesting that I may like someone often come across as awkward and off-putting. When I do what I do best (writing, playing music) none of that seems to be an issue and in fact I am quite confident. I stick to what I'm excellent at, and there's no awkwardness, no fumbles and certainly no missteps. When I step too far outside of that and throw myself into a situation I'm uncomfortable with, that is when people look at me like a bug they just squashed on their shoe.
The same could be said for JaVale McGee and lobs from Andre Miller. It’s what he does best, and when he sticks to that he is deadly and can be a real asset to this Nuggets squad. While not a one trick pony, JaVale definitely has things he’s good at. Lobs are one of them. As McGee rained dunk after dunk after dunk on the Charlotte Bobcats, it made me wonder why he can’t be this way all the time. In the same way I should never step outside what I’m excellent at, neither should JaVale. Tonight, McGee had 17 points and had 5 lob dunks. That’s the way to do it Pierre. While he is still bad at boxing out and even functioning at a college level on defense, what he DOES do well can more than make up for it.
Ty Lawson had himself a pretty good night. 20 points, most came in the second half. He had to step in for a clearly ailing Danilo Gallinari (more on that below) and picked up some of the scoring load. As if this Bobcats team was going to put up too much resistance. As the Nuggets entered halftime with a five point lead, it was pretty obvious how this game was going to turn out. Ty was aggressive when he needed to be and understood when to keep the flow going. That shows growth on his part. Andre Iguodala was ballin’. He had 13 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds for a VERY NICE all around game. His ability to get people involved was key.
Corey Brewer and Kenneth Faried had up and down games. Brewer started slow (and gambled far too much for steals) but finished with 14 points. Faried finished with 15 points, but at several moments during the first half he seemed completely lost on defense. Particularly on the pick and roll which teams exploit again, and again, and again against the Manimal. We all love Faried, but he MUST get better with his team defense if this team is to go anywhere. You can’t be the high flying weak link on the defensive end.
Wilson Chandler stepped in and picked up some slack from Gallinari. He finished with 11 points and generally played within the flow of the offense. Andre Miller had an ok game. Took some questionable shots and had some iffy turnovers, but overall didn’t perform too badly at all. His lobs to McGee and Faried were quite entertaining.
Overall, nice bounce back win on the second night of a back to back. Nuggets move to 35-22 on the season.
Nuggets of Wisdom
Judging by how Gallo was laboring up and down the court tonight, it's very clear that he should not have been playing in the game. Particularly against the team with the worst record in the league. It makes me question both Gallo and the coaching staff for that decision. While Gallo sat from midway through the third quarter on, it is incredibly clear at this point that Gallo is one of the biggest keys to the Nuggets success. Against good to great games you NEED Gallo in there, otherwise this team tends to fall apart. There was no excuse to risk further injury by letting a nearly stationary Gallo play tonight. That being said, he played 15 minutes and had 6 points, 2 blocks, 2 assists on 2 of 3 shooting (two three point shots).
Still, you can't be risking that sort of thing. The Nuggets probably could have beaten the Bobcats tonight without Gallo, but they aren't good enough to beat the good teams in the Western Conference without him. Take care of that thigh Gallo, we need you on Monday.
Good win. Go Nuggets
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Twitter: @jmorton78 https://twitter.com/#!/jmorton78
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