Deja vu was touching up its makeup, preparing to make its annual appearance, when the Nuggets suddenly spit in its face.
A postseason prior, the Nuggets lost a first-round series in five games — and they were primed to do so again this postseason. But in an incredible 96-hour span, the Nuggets stole Game 5, smacked the Lakers around in Game 6 and ultimately .
No, Denver didn’t win the series. But the executives, coaches and players continue to talk about the growth of their young team during the final three games.
“There’s still disappointment, but our face and our culture has changed to a better and higher standard,” coach George Karl said Monday, speaking publicly for the first time since Saturday’s Game 7. “The connection between players, coaches and the organization is better than it’s been in a long time. And there’s an enthusiasm. We feel we can be better. I think we’ve moved ourselves into a pretty good place. Every game that you win in the playoffs makes you a better team, makes you understand playoff basketball, because you have to feel both sides, winning and losing.”
The players came by the Pepsi Center on Monday for one final team meeting, before leaving with black garbage bags filled with memories of one crazy season.
“It was very obvious that the guys had a great energy early on, we kind of stumbled around for six weeks and then regrouped,” said Karl, whose team dealt with numerous injuries, had 20-plus starting lineups, traded Nene and nabbed the sixth seed as the youngest playoff team in the Western Conference.
Now looking back, Karl was asked how his team regrouped so well.
“Managing, perseverance, coaching, toughness, players staying committed, teamness,” said the coach, whose team won numerous key games in April, including back-to-back games against Houston, a road game at Phoenix and a road game at Oklahoma City in the final week. “The fun of sport is when you fight together and figure things out. I think that happened in a lot of ways. As an organization and staff, you’re excited because you don’t think there will be many changes. Though you never know in the NBA, there might be that phone call.”
Whether or not the Nuggets pull off a major deal this summer, front-office bosses Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri have put Denver in an enviable situation. The Nuggets have a bevy of budding players, some salary cap space and three draft picks (No. 20 overall and two second-rounders).
“I hope that the team is going to be exactly the same,” forward Danilo Gallinari said.
Karl said Monday that he can already pencil in four of his five starters for next season — and Arron Afflalo will make up the backcourt, Gallinari will play small forward and Kenneth Faried, in his sophomore campaign, will play power forward.
Who will start at center? It’s likely Denver will sign JaVale McGee to a long-term deal, but Karl liked him coming off the bench, so McGee could be teamed with point guard Andre Miller. But will Miller be back? Karl loves the veteran, but Miller is an unrestricted free agent with the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the sign of an NBA champion, on his mind.
One could surmise that McGee will be in Denver’s starting five next season, though the Nuggets also have Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos.
“I think all of them have had good starts in parts of the season,” Karl said.
The summer is here, which means it’s time for Karl’s facetiously favorite thing — “summer talk.” Basically, that’s the gossip and proclamations made about the upcoming season.
Heading into the coming months, there likely will be some summer talk about the Nuggets and their maturation in the Lakers series. They did have a heck of a 96-hour growth spurt.
Young at heart
The Nuggets were the youngest team in the Western Conference to make the NBA playoffs. Just how young are these guys?
StartersAge
Ty Lawson, PG 24
Arron Afflalo, SG 26
Danilo Gallinari, SF 23
Kenneth Faried, PF 22
JaVale McGee, C24
Reserves
Wilson Chandler, SF 25
Timofey Mozgov, C 25
Kosta Koufos, C 23
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
