i realize that analyzing from only one half of the spectrum has pitfalls (much like attributing defensive statistics to actual defense played) but i hope it provides some food for thought some stiffs might be missing by focusing heavily on the offensive numbers:

1st qtr: very even to start. 1st substitutions come at the 6 minute mark: anre in for a hot wilson chandler, al in for moz who is struggling with love/catching passes. why take out wilson at all, why not insert one of our numerous centers for moz? why compound this mistake by playing al on love when you could slide faried (who played very well on him previously) over to him and put al on derrick williams? we are severely undersized at this point in the game.

4 minute mark: javale comes in for faried. to guard love. minnesota counters by bringing in beasley for wesley johnson. al decides to stay in paint rather than show on beasley (after his man brewer missed a corner three and was out of position to catch up to beasley). beasleys wide open corner three makes it a 19-2 run. al's fault for doing what al does, but g.k.'s fault for failing to mach up. our transition defense is deplorable with this lineup which counter acts the slightly better half court offense it provides.

28 seconds left in 1st; hamilton comes in for a completely ineffective ty. mcghee is giving minesota problems on the offensive glass. end of first. 33-20 t-wolves.
=most issues thus far are simply being outplayed due to our poor perimiter/transition defense, but this goes hand in hand with g.k. failing to match up with the right guys at the right time. it's ok to be reactionary in basketball when something is wrong.

2nd quarter: al anre and hamilton are all refusing to leave no man's land between the paint and the three point line to guard the perimiter, leaving mgghee to guard any and all offensive rebounders. the nuggets are getting killed by offensive boards as a result. to g.k's credit hamilton is now replaced with chandler after only a couple of minutes. brewer has yet to get a blow and don't know that he can be since he is constantly covering the men being left open on the perimiter. may have to play him and chandler the rest of the game to get back into it and pray someone else can take the offensive burdon, (ty what the fuck?)

9:30 mark faried comes in for mcghee (rather than al). a moment later ty gives brewer his first blow. playing tiny ball again. (lawson anre chandler, faried, harington). visibly exhausted, al is called for an illegal screen. minesota is now small as well to react to denver's lineup. (lee ellington, beasley, williams and toliver) ridnour comes in for lee. without love in the game minesota is not attacking the paint (fortunately). they are making up for it by burrying wide open midrange jumpers however. conversely our tired unit is committing lazy turnovers on offense. might not be a bad time to replace anre and al. just sayin'. mozgov might catch passes the second time in if he ever got that chance.instead love comes in after a quick blow. ty and al are getting killed on the p&r. anre is being assertive on offense. unfortunately we aren't making headway since he can't guard anyone.

5:00 minute mark, anre and al FINALLY come out. hamilton and brewer replace them. still no center on the floor against a larger minesota lineup with love and toliver.

4:40 mark bird (who i assumed was inactive) comes in for faried. this energetic lineup is playing much better defensively and offensively than the oldies. minnesota however is making contested jumpers. chandler's jumper is keeping us (in the game? down 20). love is starting to abuse bird in the half court. it seems glaringly obvious that in the second half, when love is in the game, faried needs to be in the game and in his pocket. we'll see if g.k. sees this. wouldn't hurt to use a center along with him. minesota has no one who can match up with mozgov or mcghee defensively and it would free faried up on the offensive glass. kind of curious why hamilton got a second chance in the first half, in which he has played poorly, but timo never did. minnesota is starting to take this inexperienced lineup apart with the pick and roll.

halftime: 68-43 min. mostly execution problems. we'd be losing no matter what the way minnesota has played with our poor defense and their hot shooting, but g.k. didn't help himself by being too stubborn to be reactionary and relying on his trust guys for far too long. time for me to smoke two cigarettes at once.

third qtr: my opinion is that faried mcghee/mozgov chandler and brewer need to play the majority of the second half. not as one unit, but you know what i mean. my prediction is that karl is going to stubbornly ignore the score/reality and play small "since minnesota is, and i trust my small ball lineup against anyone". trouble is that minesota's undersized players all play half court/transition defense and rebound, while ours simply do not.

mcghee is starting the second half. mozgov appears to be in the gk doghouse for this game. we are playing them pretty even for the first several minutes. minesota is still making contested 3's. our transition offense is the best it's been however. minesota is having a lot of trouble guarding faried and mcghee down low. kevin love attempts to block faried's path to the basket with his testicles. that didn't work either. the nuggets are playing their best ball so far with this lineup. i certainly hope g.k. sticks with it. these guys are all young and CAN go extended minutes on the court. the scoreboard still says we are down 23 at the 6:45 mark but we are making headway in play.

5 minute mark the nuggets FINALLY have momentum in their favor, and as i type this we are down 18 and i see al heading towards the scorers table for what will likely be the next in a long line of 18 minute close out shifts. what the fuck g.k.? why on earth are you making a change when this lineup is CLEARLY clicking, and the defensive intensity has appeared for the fist time all day? al had better have just been coming to bring a towel or water to mcghee or faried. HOLY FUCK! gk changed his mind and al stays out. is g.k. not a complete fool after all? chandler and brewer are very tired but we can't afford to take them out.

3 minute mark: gk's two sons al and andre come in for mcghee and ty. not a horrible substitution a this point, and at least there aren't 2 pg's playing d at once, but i dislike most occasions when they both come in at once.

2 minute mark: hamilton comes in for chandler and javale comes in after a very brief blow, replacing faried. this could get ugly fast with hamilton anre and al in at once, and javale barely rested. where is timo? al quickly commits two slow footed fouls giving him 4 for the game. the athleticism drop when he and anre come in together is staggering. we are now traiding buckets for all of the obvious reasons. 3rd qtr ends with the score 93-75 minnesota. here's hoping that the breaks brewer and faried are getting coupled with the qtr timeout are effective and we can get them back in for the "son's" soon.

4th qtr. hamilton get's blown by guarding beasley. nuggets first two shots are three's by al (1-2). anre gets rejected on the next. so far it hasn't hurt as the minnesota jumpers are cooling off despite lackadaisical perimeter d. next possession lawson missed a three and mcghee fouls over the back. love hits a three of the lazy p&r defense. anre makes a nice driving layup. hamilton leaves beasley wide open for three and he luckily misses it. hamilton shoots one of his own and bricks. he needs to be replaced soon. first timeout break won't be the time as he is fouled going up for a transition dunk after leaking out hella early on d. PLEASE bring in chandler for hamilton asap g.k. please and thank you.

9 minute mark. would be the perfect time to insert brewer and faried to play out the game for better or worse. not happening. hamilton bricks both ft.'s and isn't into the game. beasly abused hamilton again for a bucket. lawson draws a foul, yet passes it off. typifies the way he's been playing lately.

8:00 mark. faried and chandler come in for hamilton and mcghee. al and andre are STILL in the game dispite looking dog tired. al ilustrates my point by badly bricking a three, andre defies it by getting an offensive board and putting it in, then quickly goes back to illustrating it by leaving ellington wide open for a three that he of course drills.

5 minute mark. this game is over. why isn't timo in there for al, and why isn't brewer in for anre? are we trying to develop the "son's" burgeoning skill sets?

at 3:45 visibly exhausted anre and al both look over to the bench after a foul, one begging to be mercifully pulled (al) one begging ty to instead go to the bench (anre). anre is successful. hamilton stone and mcghee come in for al, ty and chandler. who's the coach here? one minute later brewer finally comes in for anre.

2:40 mark: 114-92 minnesota. i refuse to do anymore analysis.