Teamness Comparison: How the Nuggets Must Improve This Offseason

     As tough as it is to say, the Nugget's season is now over before the second round of the playoffs once again. I can already hear the voices coming back out of the woodwork, you remember, the voices who say "You can't win in the playoffs without a superstar". And while those who say you can't get out of the first round without a superstar have no argument (see the Grizzlies VS Clippers series), those who argue that you can't win a championship have a little more of an argument. The one thing us Nuggets fans can cling to is a championship team that did it without a superstar nearly ten years ago, the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. This Pistons team showed you don't need a superstar, but what you do need is players who fill every role greatly. So as we look at how the Nuggets need to improve this off season, let's compare these roles between this year's Nuggets team, and a team that won the championship on teamness.

1. Scoring:
Pistons:
Richard Hamilton 17.6, Chauncey Billups 16.9 PPG
Nuggets:
Ty Lawson 16.7 PPG, Danilo Gallinari 16.2 PPG


2. Rebounding:
Pistons:
Ben Wallace 12.4 RPG, Rasheed Wallace 7.0 RPG
Nuggets:
Kenneth Faried 9.2 RPG, Kosta Koufos 6.9 RPG

3. Assisting
Pistons:
Chauncey Billups 5.7 AST
Nuggets: Ty Lawson 6.9 AST

4. Defense
Pistons:
Ben Wallace 1.8 STL, Ben Wallace 3.0 BPG
Nuggets:
Andre Iguodala 1.74 STL, JaVale McGee 1.99 BPG

Now, Just looking at these stats, the Nuggets seem to be not very far behind the Pistons, but there are 2 areas I think the Nuggets need to improve in this off season.

1. Leadership.
When comparing these two teams, the most obvious area where the Nuggets are lacking is leadership. With the 2003-04 Pistons, there was no doubt who the leader was, Chauncey Billups. Who was the Nuggets leader? Lawson? Miller? Iguodala? The Nuggets need to develop better leadership to get far in the playoffs next year.

2. Consistent Shooting.

With the slashing, driving, points in the paint style of offense the Nuggets play, you have to have consistent outside shooting. If you can't hit from the outside constantly (as the Nuggets couldn't in their series against the Warriors) the opposing team will simply "pack the paint" and not allow inside scoring. When you look at the championship Pistons, they where filled with consistent shooters who could spread the floor, Billups, Hamilton, Prince, and Wallace. The good thing, there seems to be a lot of great shooters that will be free agents this year. Here are some free agents the Nuggets should look to acquire; Kyle Korver, Marco Belinelli, Francisco Garcia, JJ Redick, and Kevin Martin.

I know you get tired of hearing there's always next year, but I'm going to say it anyway. If the Nuggets can keep Iguodala, they can only get better. Remember, the Nuggets are the 3rd youngest team in NBA, the future is bright!

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