Denver Nuggets: Nuggets Need Kenneth Faried Soon
"“Awful.”"
The first word that Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried used to describe his season to the Denver Post was simply, “Awful.”
The Nuggets fourth-year forward has a point too. The player we all hoped would come into this season to put up 20 points and 10 rebounds a game isn’t coming close so far in the 2014-15 season. The Manimal is currently averaging only 26 minutes a night for the Nuggets this season, which is his lowest average since coming into the NBA.
Fresh off of signing a four-year, $50 million contact extension, Faried’s troubles is cause for concern in Nuggets nation.
The forward from Morehead State is only averaging 11.2 points and 6.9 rebounds a game this season.
That’s a stark decrease from his post All-Star averages last season of 18.8 points and 10.1 rebounds a game, which combined with the contract extension and being named All-Tournament at the FIBA World Cup this summer (with averages of 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in 21 minutes) led to all the excited surrounding the Manimal headed into the season.
The excitement we’ve become accustomed too from watching the Manimal soaring for an offensive rebound, or from one of Faried’s high flying dunks hasn’t arrived in Denver so far. The Manimal is struggling with the new contract, and even he knows it.
"“I just haven’t been playing my game,” Faried said. “I know it. My teammates know it. My coaches know it.”"
When asked what needs to change, he responded simply, “everything.”
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I don’t know if everything needs to change, but the Nuggets will need Faried to play closer to his averages, and better overall, if they want to make this season a special one by making a return to the playoffs.
The Manimal can make huge impacts on games with timely rebounds and momentum changing dunks, and the Nuggets are a team that can feed off his energy when they go flat (see, third quarter against Portland on Tuesday night and third quarter Monday night in Utah).
There are positive signs he’ll get back to the player we know. Although his 6.9 rebound a game average is the lowest average he’s had in his career,the Nuggets are still the seventh-best rebounding team in the league, suggesting that the team is better overall at rebounding and there are less to get.
Plus, Faried is still shooting an efficient 50.3 percent from the floor, and in the Nuggets last 10 games (with seven wins) Faried’s plus/minus is plus-4.5. That’s already improvement over his season average of minus-1.1.
Faried has also shown signs in his career that signal the high expectations were unwarranted. The Manimal typically takes awhile to get his ferocity, and struggles early on in the season. The Manimal only averaged 10.4 points and 7.6 rebounds a game pre All-Star break last season.
Plus the new contract seems to be concerning him a bit as he mentioned after speaking about how “awful” this season has been, and last season’s trade rumors thought us Faried when his mind is off basketball and is on business.
The Nuggets are currently in business after using their last ten games to get back to .500 after a 1-7 start to the season. Despite Faried’s “awful” play, the Nuggets are OK.
With signs that he’ll return to the player on the brink of an All-Star bid showing recently, there is hope that Faried can start playing like the Manimal and help the Nuggets get back to the playoffs for a memorable 2014-15 season.