Since it first came to wide public attention with the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the effects of altitude on athletic performance and the benefits of training at high altitude have been widely studied and exploited. In the NBA, two teams have high-altitude home cities, DEN and UTH. This season, neither appears to be trying to exploit this advantage. This is particularly true of the Nuggets.

The first indicator of this is that DEN is playing at the slowest pace of any NBA team, 97.05 possessions per 48 minutes. DEN is one of only four teams with a pace of under 100.0. In addition, DEN is playing slower at home, 96.12, than on the road, 98.0. This is the opposite of what one would expect if DEN were making a particular effort to exploit Denver’s high altitude.

A second indicator is the average team speed of player movement where DEN ranks 26th. Along similar lines, DEN has been 20th in fast-break points scored.

Why is this? One hypothesis is the Joker with his speed and related style of play. Indeed, of the 11 DEN players who have played more than 7 minutes per game, he is last in his average speed of movement.

The Nuggets' style of play has been successful, so the question becomes can the same style of play in the half-court be combined with imposing a higher rate of movement on opponents. Since DEN coaches are undoubtedly aware of the potential involved in exploiting altitude, they have clearly yet to solve this problem. How much emphasis should be placed on developing the ability to impose higher amounts and rates of play and player movement on opponents? How might they go about this?

Data Source: NBA.com