Watching last night's game I noticed a few trends that I think should be corrected given the state of the Nuggets. It was apparent last night, that our team as a unit, couldn't hit the side of a building from deep or even mid-range. K-Mart went 1-4 on jumpers, Chandler 2-10, Lawson 0-6, Afflalo 2-8, JR 1-8, Harrington 0-7, and Felton with 2-4. It was apparent by the second quarter that the shots just weren't falling for us. So what did JR and Harrington continue to do? Shoot more jumpers.... I think we would have seen a lot less JR and Harrington tonight, had Afflalo stayed healthy and Gallinari been in, but the question still begs, WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO SHOOT??? I've seen George Karl in interviews and even during practices preach about not settling for jump shots. Yet JR and Harrington still continue to launch shot after shot. I'm no coach, and have never had to deal with someone as immature and crazy as JR, but I don't understand why George doesn't tell JR that for every jump shot he misses, he has to go to the hole at least twice before he can take another jump shot. I think that would solve at least one problem. When JR is driving to the basket he doesn't always score, but he makes the players around him open and thus in a better position to score (That or he gets to the line). When he takes ISO jump shots with hands in his face, he is just replacing Melo as our ball stopper. Whether it be the offensive system that George has in place, or just JR's lack of intelligence on the basketball court, something's gotta give here. It's great when JR is hot and hitting shots, but when he's off, he needs to drive to the basket.

Harrington on the other hand doesn't have the athletic ability that JR has, but the same point can apply. If Harington's shot is off he needs to pass the ball, or attempt to get layups. It's funny that a 6-9 power forward is seemingly allergic to touching the rim with his hands. Last night, Harrington missed all of his shots, but only two of them were in the paint. One was just inside the free throw line, and the other was a missed 3-foot layup. That wont cut it with this new look team. We need easy buckets for this team to have any shot at doing something in the playoffs. I think this is the reason Gallinari will be so valuable for us coming down the stretch. From the two games Gallo has played, it seems that he isn't afraid of going to the hole. In both of his games he attacked the basket frequently, but also took some outside shots. Gallo went 3-9 on jump shots, but went 4-5 on layups in the Portland game. This is something I can live with. I understand that players have to take jump shots, but if you aren't hitting them, you'd better get to the rim.

I think that for this team to be successful, they'll need to get great performances out of Gallinari, Chandler, and Afflalo on a nightly basis. If these guys can be consistent on the offensive end (i.e. attack the rim occasionally) and continue to play solid team defense, then I think we can go places. If JR and Harrington contribute, then that's the cherry on top, but we can't rely on JR/ Harrington to give us a consistent solid performance. With 10+ players that can actually play on this team we don't have the time for JR and his antics. If he isn't going to play intelligent basketball, then don't play him at all.