Coach Darvin Ham’s emphasis on “energy, effort and urgency” needs to be a priority against Denver in Game 2 or this feel-good story might have a very sour ending.
DENVER — Does a team have to be smacked in the mouth, so to speak, to respond with urgency?with urgency, rather than displayng it from the very start, in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals?
“We have to be the tone-setter. And last time I checked, being a tone-setter requires you to throw the first punch.” That’s unacceptable from a team that has designs on winning a championship. And if the urgency isn’t there on the Lakers’ part from tipoff, beginning Thursday night, what has to this point been a feel-good story might have a very sour ending.
The Nuggets “got away from us in transition, the second, third, fourth opportunities that they were able to get on their offensive glass,” Ham said. “And us being more disciplined, you know, guarding the ball, having a better presence on the ball, defending without fouling and the other four guys being engaged and ready behind that initial defender on the ball.”
The Nuggets and their fan base probably will have issues with that characterization. But this matchup is not that lopsided, or at least it shouldn’t be.“It’s the Western Conference finals, man,” Davis said. “You can’t ease into games. Even though you say, ‘Oh, Game 1 is a feel-out game,’ anything like that, you never want to ease into a game, especially at this point in the season. … It’s never intentional, We don’t ease into the game and not play hard, not play with physicality and urgency.
Momentary discouragement may be understandable. But it’s not excusable. And this should be the bottom line:
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