Finding their way

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”

– Aldous Huxley

Jamal Murray’s last-second shot was taking its second bounce off the rim before falling awry, and his head dropped as he walked back to the bench.

The Denver Nuggets were winding down the third quarter against the resurgent Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, and the Mavs had just whittled the Nuggets 12-point lead down to two. Both teams had had surges throughout the game, but the momentum had decidedly swung in Dallas’ favor as the quarter came to a close. The moment typified the Denver’s suddenly not-so-young season. The fourth quarter would seesaw back and forth to overtime. A win would bring their sputtering campaign to a .500 record. A loss would drop them to a head-scratching 3-5.

The Nuggets offense and defense have both had moments that you could see their potential, with threads of excellent play running through every game they’ve played this season. But inconsistency has plagued the team through their young season. While the bench has taken their fair share of the blame for Denver’s losses, the starters are still obviously finding their way as well. There are a few themes running through the first 11% of their year…

Nikola Jokic is going to be tired by season’s end. While he’s not perfect, and had a minus rating on Thursday, the team decidedly struggles when he is not on the floor. A good portion of the starters overall plus-minus rating could very well be coming from the Joker and his ability to raise all boats.

The other starters can’t quite keep the pilot light lit. There have been moments of stellar offense from almost every Nuggets starter this year, but they don’t seem to be coming with much consistency. Point-blank misses, hesitancy, and errors have plagued this crew in their early season. While Murray has had some exceptional games, he is struggling more often than he ought to be with Denver’s ultimate aspirations.

The defense is even more confusing at times. While there have been new pieces to get used to one the whole, there have been moments that the team on the floor is comprised of players who have played together long enough (and in playoff situations) to not suffer some of the lapses they have. It’s fair to expect improvement as the team continues to gel further on this end of the floor, but missed assignments and overextensions from guys who have shown better tendencies will have to be picked up as well.

The bench is as hit-and-miss as advertised thus far. It’s not horribly surprising that the Nuggets bench is having a tough time finding an identity thus far, with moments of impressive play from each of players 6-10, but only Monte Morris showing the sort of consistency you are hoping for out of your second line. When the starters find a way to keep the engine running, the team needs at least three or four from this crew to be able to hold the line when they take a breather.

They are well-known. And well-hunted.  The spotlight shown brightly enough on the team as last season’s bubble darlings that no one is surprised by what the Nuggets are bringing to the floor any more. Teams are finding better ways to sit on passing lanes and further close the gaps on the passing lanes that Jokic and Co. have feasted upon these past few seasons. While they’ve been well-scouted for years, they’re damned close to fashionable these days, and knocking them down a peg is a feather in any team’s cap this season. Everyone is bringing their best against Denver this year, and the Nuggets early rough edges only make it easier.

As you’re quite probably well aware, Denver’s starters did not find their way clear in the OT period against the Mavericks the other night, dropping them to 3-5. While it’s still early enough in the season to believe they can right the ship, the shortened nature of it means they are already over a tenth of the way through, and these early losses to Western Conference foes can come back to haunt them come playoff time. There’s still plenty of time. But if this Nuggets team is still suffering from the same issues in game 18, when the season is a quarter complete, you might start to see a few more questions arise. That’s 10 games away….

Coach Michael Malone has said that the team is currently not very good. I appreciate the subtlety of his candor, as the talent and history are there to know that the potential is there to remove the words “currently not” from that statement. There’s still a very good Nuggets team rumbling around in that Arena. Whether or not they can consistently find themselves in a timely fashion this season will be the ultimate tale of whether or not they can take the next step in their wild ride.