The Nuggets — playing all season without Kenyon Martin, dealing with injuries to Nene and Chauncey Billups and weathering the cloud that is an expected trade of Carmelo Anthony — have won 10 games.
The Miami Heat — with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — has won 10 games.
Funny how the same thing can look so different.
There is no hotter story in the NBA than the Heat (10-8), a de facto all-star team predicted by some to win upward of 70 games that for now is flirting with .500. In Denver, the Nuggets (10-6) have their own perspective about what is happening on South Beach.
“Maybe I was a little surprised that they don’t have a little more wins, but I also know the process of becoming a champion — and it’s not just names,” said Billups, a former NBA Finals MVP. “It takes time to work, man, it takes time. We’re 16 games into the season. It’s early, and everybody is going crazy that they lost some games. They have a lot of new faces and a lot of alpha males on that team, and it takes a lot of time to bond.”
The expectations of the Heat were as unprecedented as the way the team was built. During the summer, ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy, a former NBA coach, predicted Miami would win a league-record 73 games. Many others around the league predicted, at minimum, the Heat would make it to the NBA Finals.
The Heat still might win it all. But so far, Miami has lost to Memphis and Indiana. The Heat has lost four of it past six.
writer John Hollinger, whose player efficiency ranking (PER) is respected by coaches, wrote that James and Wade are on pace for their worst PER since their rookie seasons. Bosh? He’s on pace for his worst season since his second year as a pro.
“I think the two things in basketball that are underappreciated are ‘play hard’ and chemistry,” said Nuggets coach George Karl, who once coached Allen Iverson and Anthony, two of the league’s top scorers at the time, together. “It’s a team game. And if pieces don’t fit, it can be just as ugly as it can be beautiful. And when the pieces fit, it doesn’t have to be the (most talented) pieces.
“Your team magnifies your talents. The chemistry and character of your team usually magnify your success. And right now, (Miami) doesn’t have much team and chemistry. But it doesn’t mean they can’t figure it out.”
Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt coached in Cleveland, where current Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was “like a son” and, as for James, “I know his heart and his head,” Hunt said. Watching from afar, Hunt is confident that Miami will “get it figured out.”
But he knows the difficulties of coaching a King. Hunt watched James struggle at times to coexist with Larry Hughes, a player who also needed the ball to generate offense. And that was Larry Hughes, a far less talented player than Wade.
“LeBron James is a different kind of player. You get different kinds of shots with him on the floor, different kinds of opportunities,” Hunt said. “And I’m sure it’s the same with Dwyane Wade. You put those two guys together, sometimes it’s hard to find time to dance together. Sometimes you say: ‘It’s your time. And then I’ll dance.’ “
Billups, Hunt and Karl agreed there is plenty of time for the Heat to ignite. But Billups pointed out that Miami will always have a target on its back.
Hunt suggested that in “a lot of ways, when you have smaller amount of talent, it’s easier to manage.” Karl pointed out that most title-caliber teams are more defensive-minded.
“It seems (Miami has) gravitated to being an offensive team rather than a defensive team,” Karl said. “And that was kind of my struggle with Denver — when A.I. came here, we were definitely an offensive team. . . . When he got here, it was very evident that we had to coach offense and figure out defense. It seems like they might be having that same problem down there.
“But we play an 82-game season — plenty of time to figure it out.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Rough road ahead
The Miami Heat is off to a surprisingly slow 10-8 start. While many around the Nuggets believe the Heat will improve, the Heat’s schedule is challenging:
• Sixteen of Miami’s next 24 games are on the road.
• Of the eight home games in that stretch, three are against New Orleans, Dallas and Atlanta.
• LeBron James and the Heat play Thursday in Cleveland, the second game of a back-to-back set.
• Miami plays its only regular-season game in Denver on Jan. 13.
Benjamin Hochman, The Denver Post
Milwaukee at Denver
7 p.m., ALT, 950 AM
Spotlight on Brandon Jennings: Milwaukee’s 21-year-old playmaker from Oak Hill Academy (Va.) recently said Utah’s Deron Williams is the NBA’s best point guard. Jennings is pretty good too. He is averaging 18.4 points and 5.7 assists in his second NBA season. He has scored at least 25 points in four of his last five games.
Bucks: Andrew Bogut (back) has missed Milwaukee’s last four games. He is day to day. In a statistical oddity, Bogut is averaging a double-double (11.6 points, 10.9 rebounds) in the 12 games he has played but has only four double-doubles this season.
Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony returned to practice Tuesday feeling better and is expected to play tonight against the Bucks. Anthony removed himself from Sunday’s game against Phoenix because of illness. . . . The Nuggets have lost their past three games to the Bucks.
Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post
