Coach Karl’s Corner: Looking ahead to the second half of the season

As we move toward the All-Star break, the Nuggets have a good chance to end the first half of the season with consecutive quality victories. Winning four out of the last five for this team would be no small feat.

The first half of the season was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. The Nuggets were very inconsistent. But as the All-Star break approaches, strange results happen. Guys don’t show up or are so preoccupied with the break that they mentally check out. That creates a great opportunity to steal a couple of games.

Tuesday night versus Milwaukee was a prime example.

The bright spot of the first half of the season clearly has been Nikola Jokic. His stats are just part of what he has brought to the table so far. He’s starting to evolve as a not just a serious NBA player but the leader of this Nuggets team. I’m not sure how much longer he can carry this team on his shoulders, but I am very interested to find out how far he can push these guys forward.

The one part I will constantly be focused on, especially this year until they can find the guy to run the show, is the point guard position. Monte Morris has seen his time significantly increase in this role since the loss a week ago to Atlanta. I can see it is already definitely helping Jamal Murray find some consistency on the offensive end. Since being primarily in the shooting guard role, he has been scoring efficiently the past couple of weeks.

As the COVID-19 NBA season has gone on, we have been thrown curveballs daily. We are all collectively trying to figure out the sport together. Home-court advantage is a non-factor. Teams are more comfortable on the road.

Instead of going out at night, visiting teams are stuck in their hotels, antsy to get out and play. The momentum advantage for home teams and energy generated by fans is not present. It’s a considerable factor to consider moving forward. I hope we can get fans back soon because basketball just isn’t basketball without that extra energy.

The Nuggets are not an elite team. They have plenty of time to grow up, but as long as they try to be cool, it’s not going to get them as far as they were last year, or where I assume they want to go. Cool only works in the regular season. You want to see players that are willing to scrap for loose balls, take charges, play defense. All the little things necessary to win games are foreign concepts because young guys are more concerned with looking the part.

Some more star power or a legitimate point guard should help provide balance at the trade deadline, but we’ll have to wait and see if they decide to make a move.

You want to be playing playoff basketball in the regular season, and the final 20-game stretch is the final test to provide the necessary momentum for any chance at a playoff run. Looking at the Nuggets schedule, 16 of their last 20 games are against playoff teams. With load management, games like the Lakers and Nets may be gifts.

But at that stage of the season, the value of playing your best basketball is elevated significantly. As long as there is inconsistency with the roster, rotations, defensive effort this team will remain in the bottom half of the playoff table and most likely in the play-in tournament.