Juwan's 20 points and leadership help the Nuggets finally end the 10 game losing streak in a very unlikely place.

Juwan and the Kids end the Streak

The Nuggets were looking for their first win of the new year, but they were actually looking for their first win after losing 10 straight - their first win since December 7th.

Going into Seattle - a place the Nuggets have had little luck in (recently lost 16 straight there) was not a place to look for the Nuggets to end their 10 game losing streak.

Give Bzdelik credit, for finding a way to keep his young club motivated during this stretch. I've recently heard a lot of detractors of the rookie coach, but any man that can find a way to keep a bunch of 22 and under players in nearly every game they play is doing something right. Other than Juwan Howard, there is absolutely no experienced active players on this club. Chris Whitney and Marcus Camby will help tremendously when they return from their injuries, but until then we are starting 4 guys who are either rookies or second year players. Amazing.

Okay, we do have one other veteran in John Crotty. While I agree with Kiki that we desperately needed some veteran help at point guard, I'm not convinced yet that he's the answer. Crotty has played 10 years in the NBA, most recently in Utah last year, but his knees look like they aren't going to last more than a few more games. He's only played three so far, and after not playing for anyone the first 28 games of the season - I'll give him a few more games to see if he's just out of shape. Still, I really hope he doesn't plan on shooting too much and concentrates on distributing the ball - he's got one of the ugliest jump shots you will ever see. Still - he had 8 points in this game, and every little bit helps with the Nuggets struggling to score.

Now, on to this game. For the most part, it was the Nuggets 3 H-Men - the frontcourt of Howard, Harvey and Hilario that won this game. They put in a combined total of 54 of the Nuggets 94 points, and had 29 of their 40 total team rebounds. They even had 12 of the team's 21 assists! That's domination. While Seattle does not have a strong frontcourt by any means, the Nuggets are definitely living and dying with their frontcourt guys right now.

Scoring runs of 8-0 and 13-2 to open the third and fourth quarters were huge. Over the losing streak, under performing in these quarters cost the Nuggets several games when they had a lead at halftime.

Til next game,

Alan