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The Denver Nuggets played their first Summer League game of the year last night when they took on the Milwaukee Bucks. Let’s just say, it didn’t turn out the way any Nuggets fan hoped.
The Nuggets had high hopes heading into the Summer League, with returning players from last year’s team like Jordan Hamilton and Evan Fournier. Bobby Gonzales’ article on the Summer League roster displayed the hefty goal the Nuggets have for their first Summer League Championship.
Their first game was filled with disappointment as the Nuggets got routed by the Bucks in a 88-74 loss.
Some things I took away from this game were; we couldn’t guard John Henson. He did everything and anything he wanted that entire game. Henson finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. There is never an excuse to allow someone to completely dominate a game like Henson did.
Another thing that I took away as major contributor to the loss was the lack of shooting. The Nuggets shot 35% from the floor, and the Bucks shot 50%. The Nuggets shot 29.4% from the behind the arc while the Bucks shot 54.5%. You need to be able to knock a lot more shots than 35% of them. If they hit 5% more of the shots they took, the game is a lot closer.
The standout statistic was the amount of lead changes during the game. There were ZERO lead changed for the entire four quarters. Milwaukee flat out dominated.
Jordan Hamilton has to be the most disappointing player of the game. He was the leading scorer last season in the Summer League with 19.2 points per game, but in this game he only managed to score four points. He went 1-11 from the field. You read that right, 1 for 11. Hamilton has to step it up if the Nuggets want to have any chance at a championship.
The good news it was the first game of Summer League, and that it is Summer League basketball. While it’s nice to win, it isn’t the end of the world.