Denver nuggets
Denver nuggets | ||||
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founding | 1967 | |||
history |
Denver Rockets 1967–1974 Denver Nuggets since 1974 |
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Stadion | Pepsi Center | |||
Location | Denver , Colorado | |||
Club colors | Navy, gold, red, blue |
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league | NBA | |||
Conference | Western Conference | |||
division | Northwest Division | |||
Head coach | Michael Malone | |||
General manager | Artūras Karnišovas | |||
owner | E. Stanley Kroenke | |||
Farm teams | Fort Wayne Mad Ants | |||
Championships | no | |||
Conference title | no | |||
Division title | 9 (1977, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020) | |||
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The Denver Nuggets are a Denver , Colorado- based basketball team in the North American professional league NBA . Despite the same name, however, there is no connection to the original Denver Nuggets, which played in the NBA in the 1949/50 season. The arena for the team's home games is the Pepsi Center in Denver.
history
From the ABA to the NBA (1967–1979)
The Nuggets were founded in 1967 under the name Denver Rockets as one of the founding members of the American Basketball Association (ABA). After the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, the Nuggets moved to the NBA with three other ABA teams. Already for the 1974/75 season the name was changed to the current name "Denver Nuggets". This happened because, in addition to Denver, there was also a team called the Rockets, today's Houston Rockets .
The Nuggets consisted in their first NBA season from the stars David Thompson , Dan Issel and Bobby Jones , as well as trainer Larry Brown . Denver won 50 games this season and qualified for the playoffs. By 1979 the playoffs could be reached. After eliminating in the first round in 1979, coach Brown left the team and was replaced by Donnie Walsh . Walsh failed to live up to expectations and was replaced by Doug Moe in 1981 .
Offensive basketball under Doug Moe (1981–1990)
A rebuilding began under coach Moe. The team has now been built around Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe . With high attack basketball, both players averaged over 25 points each. During this time, the Detroit Pistons also won a 186-184 victory over the Nuggets, after three extra times, in 1983. The game is still the most points-rich game in NBA history. With the philosophy of "Motion Offense", the Nuggets were among the most successful teams of the 80s. The average points average of 126.5 in the 1981-82 season is the highest of an NBA team to this day.
1984/85 the Nuggets reached the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers . Then you separated from Vandeweghe and traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers for Fat Lever . In the 1987-88 season they achieved 54 wins this season, the highest mark since moving to the NBA. In the playoffs, however, followed the early out against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. After two more playoff qualifications, coach Moe left the Nuggets in 1990. The Nuggets had reached the playoffs under him for the last nine times.
Rebuilding and the Mutombo Era (1990–1996)
The upheaval began under Paul Westhead . The aging star player English and Lever switched to the Mavericks. About the NBA Draft 1990 got Chris Jackson in third place, who later called himself Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf . With an aging team without star players, the Nuggets drove in the 1990-91 season only 20 wins, which meant a negative record. In 1991, the Congolese Dikembe Mutombo came in fourth place through the draft to the Nuggets. But his commitment was not yet successful. The nuggets improved marginally to 24 wins this season.
In the following season, the Nuggets formed one of the youngest and most talented teams in the NBA with Abdul-Rauf, Mutombo, Bryant Stith and LaPhonso Ellis . Dan Issel replaced the unsuccessful Westhead as coach. The nuggets improved to 36 wins. In 1994 they reached the playoffs for the first time since 1990 with 42 wins. In the playoffs they surprised as the eighth seeded playoff team, defeating the first seeded Seattle SuperSonics 2: 3 and thus ensured an "upset". In the second round, however, they were narrowly defeated by the favorite Utah Jazz 3: 4.
Spurred on by this success, they strengthened themselves in the summer of 1994 with the sniper Dale Ellis . You also got Jalen Rose through the 1994 NBA Draft . But during the 1994/95 season there were disagreements between coach and team and the Nuggets parted ways with Issel. In addition, young star Ellis was out for the entire season. Nevertheless, the Nuggets qualified again as eighth-placed team for the playoffs, but were eliminated without a win in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs . In the 1995 NBA Draft , the nuggets increased through a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers with Antonio McDyess . While McDyess was built up as the new face of the team for the next few years, Mutombo, Rose and Abdul-Rauf left the Nuggets in the following two years.
The unsuccessful 90s / 2000s (1996-2003)
In the late 1990s, the Nuggets were among the worst teams in the league. In 1996 the playoffs were missed. In the 1997/98 season , the Nuggets lost 23 games in a row, making them the longest losing streak in NBA history to date. At the end of the season it was only enough for 11 wins this season, also a negative club record. The years were characterized by a chaotic personnel policy and changing team owners, in which there were many barter deals and coach changes. The best known was that of Talent McDyess, who was transferred to the Phoenix Suns in 1997 , only to be brought back a year later.
It was not until 2000 that someone took over the team in the form of Stan Kroenke , who planned with them permanently. In terms of sport, an improvement was noticeable and the Nuggets won 40 wins under coach Dan Issel in 2000/01 . Important players at this time were, in addition to McDyess, point guard Nick Van Exel and center Raef LaFrentz . However, after McDyess was seriously injured and had to suspend the 2001/02 season, the Nuggets had no chance. The 2002/03 season ended with only 17 wins and had the worst season record in the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers .
The Carmelo Anthony Era (2003-2011)
In the 2003 NBA draft , the Nuggets were able to secure the rights of Carmelo Anthony in third place. In addition, the former player Kiki Vandeweghe became the team's new manager. Under Vandeweghe and coach Jeff Bzdelik , the Nuggets improved to 43 wins and reached the playoffs for the first time in nine years. There they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round with 1: 4. During the season, George Karl took over the position of coach with the Nuggets. Karl developed a flourishing offensive around star player Anthony. With Anthony, Andre Miller , Kenyon Martin , Marcus Camby and Nenê , the Nuggets had a talented team that was always eliminated in the first play-off round.
In 2006 superstar Allen Iverson was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers . Anthony and Iverson formed a dangerous offensive duo, each scoring more than 25 points per game, reminiscent of English and Vandeweghe from the 80s. On March 16, 2008 they achieved the highest victory in club history with a 168: 116 win against the Seattle SuperSonics . However, this combination did not bear much fruit on the field. Even with an increasingly aging Iverson, the nuggets did not get past the first play-off round. As a result, defensive anchor Camby was sold to the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer of 2008 . Iverson moved to the Detroit Pistons , in return Chauncey Billups moved to the Nuggets.
With the new star duo Anthony and Billups, the Nuggets increased to 54 wins and won their sixth division title. After winning the playoff series against the New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks , they lost 4-2 in the conference final against the eventual champions, the Lakers. In the following season 2009/10 the Nuggets were able to record 53 wins and qualified for the playoffs, despite numerous injury problems of their stars Anthony, Billups and Martin. Despite the home advantage, they surprisingly lost to Utah Jazz in the first round . Vandeweghe handed over the post of manager to Masau Ujiri after the season and the renewed first round in the playoffs .
Success with team basketball (2011-2013)
The 2010-11 season was marked by numerous speculations about star player Anthony. In the end, the Nuggets transferred Anthony to the New York Knicks in February 2011 in order not to lose him in the summer for nothing. With him also co-star Billups went to New York. In return, the Nuggets received, among others, Danilo Gallinari , Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton from the Knicks. Without star player Anthony, the Nuggets continued to play successful basketball and won 50 at the end of the season. In the playoffs, as so often, it was over in the first round.
In the shortened 2011/12 season you could get 38 wins in 50 games. Young players like point guard Ty Lawson , Gallinari, Arron Afflalo and rookie Kenneth Faried stood out , but veterans like Nene, Al Harrington and returnees Andre Miller also contributed to the success. This success based on team play reached its climax in the 2012/13 season , when the Nuggets set an all-time high in the history of the franchise with 57 wins this season and 15 defeats. They finished second in the Northwest Division behind the Oklahoma City Thunder . Part of this was due to new signing Andre Iguodala , who came to Denver from the 76ers before the season and strengthened the team defense enormously. In the playoffs the result was the same. Despite the home advantage against the Golden State Warriors , the Nuggets were eliminated 2-4. Head coach George Karl received the NBA Coach of the Year Award despite his early departure .
Missing the playoffs and rebuilding (2013-2019)
A few weeks after the end of the season, the Nuggets announced the separation from George Karl in order to set new impulses with a new head coach. Karl's contract was not renewed, although Karl was named Coach of the Year in the NBA last season. Ujiri, manager of the year winner, also left the Nuggets and joined the Toronto Raptors . Star player Iguodala was transferred to the Golden State Warriors after just one year.
Under the new coach Brian Shaw it was not possible to build on the successes from the previous season. Despite almost the same squad as in the previous season, the team only scored 36 wins and missed the playoffs after the last ten appearances in a row. The 2014/15 season showed no development, so Shaw was replaced by Melvin Hunt during the season . After missing the playoffs again, Hunt was replaced by Michael Malone . The team's previous point guard, Ty Lawson , was transferred from the Nuggets to the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2015 after repeated misconduct off the field .
The Nuggets started the new season with a young team consisting of the rookies Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokić . Jokić played a good rookie season, Will Barton and Gary Harris improved, but the playoffs were again clearly missed. In the 2016 NBA draft , the Nuggets had three first-round picks with which they signed Canadian Jamal Murray , Spaniard Juan Hernangómez and Malik Beasley . The 2016/17 season resulted in a further increase in the Nuggets record from 33 to 40 wins this season. Especially the young Serbian center Jokić stood out. The playoffs were again, but just missed this season.
In the summer of 2017, the Nuggets strengthened with All-Star Paul Millsap with the aim of reaching the playoffs. Millsap was out for a large part of the season, however, thanks to the good performances of Jokic, Murray and Harris, the Nuggets managed to fight for the playoff with 46 wins of the season until the last day of the game. However, this missed the Nuggets due to a loss to direct competitor Minnesota Timberwolves .
The Jokić era begins (since 2019)
The 2018/19 season was very successful for the Nuggets. The relatively young Nugget team fought for 54 wins this season and surprisingly ended up second behind the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference at the end of the season . Above all Nikola Jokic, who received his first All-Star nomination, had a strong season. In the subsequent playoffs, the Nuggets were able to defeat the experienced San Antonio Spurs 4: 3, but in the Conference semifinals they were defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers 3: 4.
Current squad
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Honors and achievements worth mentioning
No. | Nat. | Surname | position | time |
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2 | Alex English | Forward | 1980-1990 | |
33 | David Thompson | Forward | 1975-1982 | |
40 | Byron Beck | center | 1967-1977 | |
44 | Dan Issel | center | 1975-1985 | |
55 | Dikembe Mutombo | center | 1991-1995 | |
432 | Doug Moe | Trainer | 1981-1990 |
Nat. | Surname | position | time |
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John B. McLendon Jr. | Coach and sponsor | 1969 | |
Spencer Haywood | Forward | 1969-1970 | |
Alex Hannum | Coach | 1971-1974 | |
Larry Brown | Coach | 1974-1979 | |
David Thompson | Guard / Forward | 1975-1982 | |
Dan Issel | center | 1975-1985 | |
George McGinnis | Forward | 1978-1980 | |
Alex English | Forward | 1980-1990 | |
Dikembe Mutombo | center | 1991-1996 | |
Šarūnas Marčiulionis | Guard | 1996-1997 | |
Allen Iverson | Guard | 2006-2008 |
Surname | current club |
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Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf alias Chris Jackson | Career ended |
Carmelo Anthony | Portland Trail Blazers |
Marcus Camby | Career ended |
Andre Iguodala | Miami Heat |
Chauncey Billups | Career ended |
Allen Iverson | Career ended |
Dikembe Mutombo | Career ended |
Nick Van Exel | Career ended |
Kiki Vandeweghe | Career ended |
Fat Lever | Career ended |
Antonio McDyess | Career ended |
Jalen Rose | Career ended |
Dale Ellis | Career ended |
Nenê | Houston Rockets |
Andre Miller | Career ended |
Ty Lawson | Shandong Heroes |
Surname | Award | year |
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Dikembe Mutombo | NBA Defensive Player of the Year | 1995 |
Marcus Camby | NBA Defensive Player of the Year | 2007 |
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf | NBA Most Improved Player | 1993 |
Doug Moe | NBA Coach of the Year | 1988 |
Vince Boryla | NBA Executive of the Year | 1985 |
Mark Warkentien | NBA Executive of the Year | 2009 |
David Thompson | All-NBA First Team | 1977, 1978 |
Alex English | All-NBA Second Team | 1982, 1983, 1986 |
Fat Lever | All-NBA Second Team | 1987 |
Antonio McDyess | All-NBA Third Team | 1999 |
Carmelo Anthony | All-NBA Third Team | 2006, 2007, 2009 |
Chauncey Billups | All-NBA Third Team | 2009 |
Bobby Jones | NBA All-Defensive First Team | 1977, 1978 |
Marcus Camby | NBA All-Defensive First Team | 2007, 2008 |
Dikembe Mutombo | NBA all-rookie team | 1992 |
LaPhonso Ellis | NBA all-rookie team | 1993 |
Antonio McDyess | NBA all-rookie team | 1996 |
Nenê | NBA all-rookie team | 2003 |
Carmelo Anthony | NBA all-rookie team | 2004 |
George Karl | NBA Coach of the Year | 2013 |
statistics
year | Victories: defeats | Wins [%] | Play-offs | ||||||||||
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Denver Rockets | |||||||||||||
1967/68 | 45:33 | 57.7 | 2-3 in the Western Division semifinals against the New Orleans Buccaneers | ||||||||||
1968/69 | 44:34 | 56.4 | 3: 4 in the Western Division semifinals against the Oakland Oaks | ||||||||||
1969/70 | 51:33 | 60.7 | 1: 4 in the Western Division Finals against the Los Angeles Stars | ||||||||||
1970/71 | 30:54 | 35.7 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1971/72 | 34:50 | 26.0 | 3: 4 in the Western Division semifinals against the Indiana Pacers | ||||||||||
1972/73 | 47:37 | 56.0 | 1: 4 in the Western Division semi-finals against the Indiana Pacers | ||||||||||
1973/74 | 37:47 | 44.0 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
Denver nuggets | |||||||||||||
1974/75 | 65:19 | 77.4 | 3: 4 in the Western Division Finals against the Indiana Pacers | ||||||||||
1975/76 | 60:24 | 71.4 | 3: 4 in the semifinals against the Kentucky Colonels | ||||||||||
total | 413: 331 | 55.5 | 24:32 in the playoffs (42.9%) |
- ^ 0: 1 in the Western Division tie-break against the Texas Chaparrals . Postseason is not included in the play-off statistics.
year | Victories: defeats | Wins [%] | Play-offs | ||||||||||
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Denver nuggets | |||||||||||||
1976/77 | 50:32 | 61.0 | 2-4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||
1977/78 | 48:34 | 58.5 | 2: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the Seattle SuperSonics | ||||||||||
1978/79 | 47:35 | 57.3 | 1: 2 in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
1979/80 | 30:52 | 36.6 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1980/81 | 37:45 | 45.1 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1981/82 | 46:36 | 56.1 | 1: 2 in the first round against the Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||
1982/83 | 45:37 | 54.9 | 1: 4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
1983/84 | 38:44 | 46.3 | 2: 3 in the first round against the Utah Jazz | ||||||||||
1984/85 | 52:30 | 63.4 | 1: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
1985/86 | 47:35 | 57.3 | 2-4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets | ||||||||||
1986/87 | 37:45 | 45.1 | 0: 3 in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
1987/88 | 54:28 | 65.9 | 2-4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks | ||||||||||
1988/89 | 44:38 | 53.7 | 0: 3 in the first round against the Phoenix Suns | ||||||||||
1989/90 | 43:39 | 52.4 | 0: 3 in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
1990/91 | 20:62 | 24.4 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1991/92 | 24:58 | 29.3 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1992/93 | 36:46 | 43.9 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1993/94 | 42:40 | 51.2 | 3: 4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz | ||||||||||
1994/95 | 41:41 | 50.0 | 0: 3 in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
1995/96 | 35:47 | 42.7 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1996/97 | 21:61 | 25.6 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1997/98 | 11:71 | 13.4 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1997/98 | 14:36 | 28.0 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
1999/00 | 35:47 | 42.7 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2000/01 | 34:48 | 41.5 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2001/02 | 24:58 | 29.3 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2002/03 | 17:65 | 20.7 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2003/04 | 44:38 | 53.7 | 1: 4 in the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves | ||||||||||
2004/05 | 47:35 | 57.3 | 1: 4 in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
2005/06 | 44:38 | 53.7 | 1: 4 in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers | ||||||||||
2006/07 | 45:37 | 54.9 | 1: 4 in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
2007/08 | 50:32 | 61.0 | 0: 4 in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
2008/09 | 54:28 | 65.9 | 2: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
2009/10 | 53:29 | 64.6 | 2-4 in the first round against the Utah Jazz | ||||||||||
2010/11 | 50:32 | 61.0 | 1: 4 in the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder | ||||||||||
2011/12 | 38:28 | 57.6 | 3: 4 in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
2012/13 | 57:25 | 69.5 | 2-4 in the first round against the Golden State Warriors | ||||||||||
2013/14 | 36:46 | 43.9 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2014/15 | 30:52 | 36.6 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2015/16 | 33:49 | 40.2 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2016/17 | 40:42 | 48.8 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2017/18 | 46:36 | 56.1 | Not qualified for the play-offs | ||||||||||
2018/19 | 54:28 | 65.9 | 3-4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||
2019/20 | 46:27 | 63.0 | |||||||||||
total | 1749: 1802 | 49.3 | 68: 108 in the playoffs (38.6%) as of: Reg.Season August 2020 |
league | Victories: defeats | Won [%] | Playoffs |
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ABA | 413: 331 | 55.5 | 24:32 in the playoffs (42.9%) |
NBA | 1749: 1802 | 49.3 | 68: 108 in the play-offs (38.6%) |
total | 2162: 2133 | 50.3 | 92: 140 in the play-offs (39.7%) |