Five Mistakes The Denver Nuggets Made This Season

Feb 27, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari shoots the ball prior to the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Gallo Gamble

On Jan 22, the Denver Post reported on Danilo Gallinari‘s condition:

“Last summer, Danilo Gallinari and his team of doctors gambled on a nontraditional ACL surgery. On Tuesday, they lost that gamble when the Nuggets forward had to go back under the knife.”

What this meant was that the Nuggets allowed Gallinari to take a gamble with a procedure called healing response, which stimulated the ACL to heal by itself rather than reconstructing it via surgery. A traditional ACL surgery would’ve meant Gallinari would be out for six to nine months. That would’ve given Gallo around January or February to make a comeback, just in time for the playoff run. The alternative procedure was to give him an earlier return, but that unfortunately was not the case, and Gallo knows it.

According to that same article, on Danilo Gallinari’s Facebook page he posted:

“I would have preferred (it) not to happen and am partly annoyed.” He said that during rehab he continued to feel a “slight instability” in the knee and that “started creating doubt” that he’d be back and playing anytime soon.

With the second surgery, the possibility of having Gallinari for the playoff stretch was eliminated, and it also altered Brian Shaw‘s dreams:

“The fact that he hadn’t been here for any parts of it, I always kind of take the worst-case scenario. So we always did understand that this was a possibility that he may not be back. It’s kind of a tease as you watched him seemingly get closer and actually get out here on the floor, running up and down and shooting and things like that. Your mind starts to said, ‘OK, I can see him in the lineup doing this, doing that. ”

In a report by the Denver Post, Nuggets GM Tim Conelly said:

“It was recently determined that the procedure that Danilo underwent on his knee this past summer was insufficient. Danilo’s knee required that he undergo reconstruction of the ACL, which was successfully completed earlier this morning. Knowing Danilo’s drive and work ethic, we look forward to a full recovery and a healthy return to the court next season.”

Gallinari was averaging 16.2 points per game last season. Obviously, those figures are missed right now, especially since the point differential for the season for the Denver Nuggets is -2 points per game.

The Nuggets should’ve been on top of the injury, but they took a gamble. Now they’ve been paying the price for it throughout this entire season.