Nuggets vs. Bulls, Nov. 21, 2009 Game Nuggetz

Not a pretty game by any means, but they managed to get it done in the end.

The Nuggets were unsurprisingly sluggish coming out of the gate on the back end of their 5th set of back to back games, but a gutty, strong effort in the second half turned this into a rout once Chicago's shooters went cold from the outside. On to the Game Nuggetz:

• 10 of the Nuggets first 13 games have been part of a back-to-back set. I'm not sure what the league norm is, but that seems totally unreasonable. It's speaks a lot to their effort that they've managed to win 9 games already with that brutal scheduling.

• Early on, it seemed like the Nuggets were trying to play hard, but just didn't have it. They'd run out on shooters, but not really in time to actually challenge the shots.
  

• He still looked lost at times, but Birdman looked to be back to his old form. Getting good results from that MRI must have done wonders for his confidence, which is key for a player that relies almost entirely on his jumping ability to be effective.

• Nene, with mixed but mostly positive results, took it upon himself to keep the Nuggets in the game early on. He's looked soft for much of the early part of this season, and still had his moments of weak finishes tonight, but looked strong on the boards and driving to the rim right from the tip tonight.

• He looked tired doing it, but when Melo's shot missed the mark a few times early, he drove straight to the hoop and it looked like there was nobody on the Bulls who could do anything about it.

• It wasn't until Melo hit a jumper with about 9 minutes left in the 2nd quarter that momentum started to shift. Shortly after, Chauncey knocked down a 3, which thankfully led to his best shooting performance since opening night.
  

• They didn't look to being playing very sharp, but the fact that they started to knock down open shots, and the Bulls went cold, allowed the Nugz to get back in the game heading into halftime.

• Keeping with the end of the first half, the Nuggets, with the exception of Melo's passing, didn't do anything to showcase their skills in the second half, but swung the game on pure effort.

• The energy expended defensively allowed the Nuggets to run, move the ball on the fast break and get easy buckets.

• Teams are starting to figure out Ty Lawson a bit, and it seems like more of his shots are getting blocked, but he's still a very effective point guard when he comes into the game.
  

• Probably the biggest factor in this game becoming a blow out was Big Earl Smith the Third catching fire. You never know when it's gonna happen, you can't count on it, but when ES3 gets it going, it's an immediate 20 point swing in the game.

• Mentioned earlier, Carmelo showcased some unbelievable passing tonight. He'll show flashes of this ability in any given game, but the second half tonight seemed to be the longest sustained effort by Melo to get his teammates involved.

• Despite how they looked in the 1st quarter, Denver ended up shooting almost 49% from the field which is a minor miracle. Sure ES3 caught fire and Melo and Chauncey hit some shots, but I think the main reason is that their defense and passing led to a whole lot of dunks.

• Dunking isn't as easy as it looks in the NBA. I promise.

In Summary:

This game, after the ominous opening, proved that this Nuggets team is not afraid to get down and dirty, fight for rebounds and lose balls, and do what it takes to get the easy points. Defensively, the Bulls just broke down in the second half and allowed the Nuggets to play exactly how they want to play, and the Nuggets' effort on the defensive end, especially Kenyon Martin, remained remarkably consistent with the Bulls scoring 27, 25, 19 and 22 in each quarter.

Nothing happened tonight that makes me think this team is at the top of the championship contender list, but it was a character-proving game with plenty of opportunities to lay down and make excuses, but instead they managed to put their heads down, get to work, and turn this game into a laugher.

Good night, and Go Nugz!

Nuggets' Nuggetz has been re-activated!

I'm officially taking Nuggets' Nuggetz off of the Inactive List and pledge to give him ample playing time for the remainder of the season.

In lieu of a recap of the triumphant defeat at the hands of a short-handed Los Angeles Clippers team this evening, I've decided that my first post of the season, coming on this, the 20th day of Nuggvember, will be an attempt to sum up my feelings on the Nuggets moves that lead up to this day.

I was afraid that the Nugs' fast and successful start to the season would serve to diminish my optimistic opinions in the eyes (ears? brains?) of the readers, so maybe tonight's performance against LA's Other Team is a blessing in disguise.

Without further ado, my thoughts are as follows: (in somewhat, but not really chronological order)

2009 NBA Draft

Denver Trades Charlotte's 2010 (Lottery Protected) First Round Pick for Ty Lawson

• My belief that Lawson will become a great NBA Point Guard is pretty in-line with what everyone who follows the NBA thinks at this point.

• His ability to totally change the pace of a game much like Earl Boykins has been much written about, however, the fact that he's half a foot taller than Lil Earl makes him much less of a defensive liability.

• Approved.

Denver trades the rights to the 34th pick in the draft, Sergio Llul, to the Houston Rockets for 2.25 million dollars.

• Considering the Nuggets past with drafting international talent (with a few exceptions), I think I'll take the 2.25. And let's not forget the fact that he only has 4 letters in his last name, 3 of which are "L".
  

• The only true rumblings of disappointment I heard surrounding this move were about the fact that Dejuan Blair was still on the board. There's no question that Blair is a talented rebounder, and that rebounding is the one area that this current Denver Nuggets roster could improve on the most, but I doubt he would make much of an impact in that area behind Nene, K-Mart and Birdman. I also have trouble believing that a 6'6" Power Forward not named Charles Barkley could be successful in the NBA today.

• Approved.

2009 Free Agency and Trade Round-Up

Denver re-signs the Birdman

• Priority #1 for Denver this offseason was to get the Birdman under a long-term contract. While some might argue giving guaranteed, long-term $ to a guy with his track record is a mistake, they're probably not the ones who were counting up the receipts from his t-shirt, jersery, tattoo sleeve sales. Birdman is a uniquely gifted player, and one that understands and accepts his role. His past troubles, I predict, will only serve to drive him to become a more successful, team-oriented player. He doesn't have the opportunity anymore to play selfish ball, he's already been given a huge second chance, so I think he's exactly the type of player a team needs coming off the bench in order to win a championship.

• Very Much Approved.
  

Denver re-signs Anthony Carter

• It seems most Denver Nuggets fans have grown to despise the contributions of Anthony Carter. He's old, not athletic, doesn't have very good range and really doesn't bring a whole lot to the table. I would argue that as a 3rd point guard, and an insurance policy for Ty Lawson, AC is a great fit. While he's by no means a game changer, he's also a pretty good ball handler who you can trust to take up some minutes with minimal mistakes. He doesn't shoot the ball a whole lot, which is nice, considering the Nugs' firepower coming off the bench. With the emergence of Lawson early in this season, it's not a huge signing, but he'll be nice to have around as a mentor and as a backup option should Lawson hit the "rookie wall" down the stretch.

• Approved.
  

Denver re-signs Johan Petro

• Johan Petro rarely sees time on the court, and hopefully won't see much this season either. That being said, I'm still intrigued by his skills. He's a 7-footer who can move at least as well as our old pal Francisco Elson, but I've seen him consistently drain 3-pointers in pre-game shoot-around as well. I don't know if it's a mental thing or what, but it seems like he could end up as a decent back-up big in the league. At the very least, he's 6 extra fouls at the end of the bench. Besides, he's clearly the Nuggets' best French player since Yakhouba Diawara.
  

• Approved.
  

Denver allows Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza to sign elsewhere

• Somehow, NBA sportswriters managed to turn this into a negative for the Nuggets. Obviously, many of these writers only truly paid attention to Denver during their post-season run (Dahntay Jones), and their career stats (Linas Kleiza).

• Jones, for 90% of the season, was a serviceable role-player who played good perimeter defense and managed not to screw things up until it was time to bring in JR or Kleiza off of the bench for some scoring. It wasn't until he played a handful of games as the Chris Paul/Kobe Bryant pest that he earned his reputation as a lock-down defender. I heard a commentator say over Indiana Pacer highlights that Jones is "making the Denver Nuggets look stupid for letting him go." Ironically, it was the commentator who sounded stupid to me because he thought that Jones' 16 points per game (this season) were somehow missed by the Nuggets. Denver doesn't need another athletic, slashing shooting guard, they need a hard-working, role-playing, decent 3-point shooting guard to take up the minutes until Chauncey or Melo needs a breather and they found one for a whole lot cheaper, which I'll get to later on.

• Kleiza, while certainly talented in a few areas, was just as, if not more frustrating than JR Smith. He had the ability to score 40 points if he was feeling it from the outside, he had the size and speed to be a good defender, he was arguably at his best when he would take the outlet pass and drive to the hoop, but for anyone who had watched the entire 2008/09 season, there were very few times that any of that came together. Kleiza was like a black hole when he came on to the floor for most of last season and had a knack for launching 3's in crunch time, despite the fact that he had been cold all year. While he still could develop into a very good NBA player (Denver still retains his NBA rights), he wasn't worth paying a premium for with the Nuggets' current financial situation.
  

• Approved and Approved.

Denver trades for the rights to Arron Afflalo

• I liked Afflalo at UCLA, I liked him with the Pistons and I like him even more now that he's on my team. He's basically Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza combined as far as his defensive ability, 3-point shooting prowess and athleticism. What I've always liked about Double-A (to borrow a nickname from the boys at Denver Stiffs), is that he just works hard no matter what. He's not putting on a show, he's not playing for a big payday, it seems like the guy just plays as hard as he can at all times. And considering he's taking the place of Kleiza and Jones (and arguably out-performing them) for just a fraction of the price, this move is clearly a no-brainer.

• Approved to the highest degree.
  

Denver trades for the rights to Malik Allen

• Ummmmmmm, approved?

Denver signs Joey Graham as a free-agent

• Joey Graham reminds me of a smarter, bigger (fatter?), less athletic version of Sonny Weems. Weems was clearly redundant as he was JR Smith 4 years ago and didn't bring much to the table for a team looking for a championship. Graham at least brings a reasonably athletic presence to the bench for when Melo needs a breather or finds himself in foul trouble.

• Approved.

Biggest Reasons the Nuggets will Win the NBA Championship in 2009/10

Earl Smith the Third, the 6th Man

• From this point on, I will be referring to the player formerly known as "JR Smith" by the name he briefly requested to be referred to as, which is his given name, Earl Smith III. Other possible variations are ES3, ESIII and Big Earl. The reason for this, other than honoring a man's request, is that I want to believe that ES3 has finally become the man and player that we've all hoped for. It's time for the flashes of greatness to give way to some consistency, because if they do, the Denver Nuggets will have by a long shot, the most talented 6th man in the league.
  

The Treacherous Trio

• Speaking of the bench, can any team boast a trio of bench players more exciting than Birdman, Lawson and ES3? I can't think of any. Each one is a unique player that can absolutely dominate a certain facet of the game, and fortunately for the Nuggets, each of those facets is different, so there's hope that these dynamic bench players could even make each other better. I think this is the most overlooked factor in the Nuggets potential success for this season.

MVP

• And finally, while I think I believed this all along, I'll admit that it wasn't until reading a few NBA Previews that I realized just how good Carmelo might be this season. Some guys pointed to his unusually poor shooting percentages from last year, some to his experiences on Team USA, but I think that unquestionably, the biggest reason Melo has launched himself into the MVP debate this year is because he finally got a taste. He fought toe-to-toe with the Lakers for 4 games before they shifted it into another gear and went on to all the glory. Carmelo has won at every level and considering where the Nuggets were when he came to Denver, it's hard not to think that just getting them to the playoffs every year was a "win". But getting so close to winning on the biggest stage could only make him hungrier, and judging by the early season performance, he's clearly playing at a different level than he ever has before. In the past, Melo seems to have developed his game as the season progressed, but this year, for the first time, we're seeing him with his entire offensive and defensive repertoire. If the Nuggets win the Championship this year, and I think they have as good a shot as anybody, it will be because Carmelo Anthony wouldn't have it any other way, and he has the perfect cast of characters to take him there.

...

(unless, of course, they have to play the Clippers to get there)

Anyway, I hope this post isn't too late to be interesting, and I hope that tomorrow night's game against Chicago proves to be a more interesting affair than this evening proved.

In addition to Post-Game Nuggetz and potentially Game Previewz for some of the bigger games, I plan on strengthening my position on the Nugz' championship chances by an occasional post titled: "Why (Insert Championship Contending Team Here) Will Not Win the 2009/10 NBA Championship." Creative, I know...

Until next time, good night, and Go Nugz!

Rockjuneber!

Once again, sorry for the delay in posting, but things are as busy as they get for me at the moment. I'll be posting some behind the blog photos soon to give a glimpse of what life is like for this blogger during the Nuggets offseason.

Fortunately, I've also been too busy to catch more than 2 or 3 quarters of the NBA Finals, so I was happy to have missed seeing the results. Glad to see LA can riot when good things happen in their city as well. Now they just need to find a time to riot when things are just running along like normal.

Now, onto more important topics. ROCKJUNEBER! With the starting pitchers finally starting to show what we expected from them and more (Marquis and Hammel), the relievers showing some consistency and the bats starting to warm up, the team has finally gone on a run that puts them right back into the playoff picture. Another sub-par season similar to last year and all of the goodwill brought on by the 2007 run would have been gone.

The only problem I see is that I'm not sold on Jim Tracy and this is the type of run that could solidify his position as manager. I'm never a fan of retread coaches who weren't terribly successful the first few times around, so I'm hoping this is a different story. Anyway, here's to hoping the Rockies can keep this up!

Question of the week: Would a 110 game winning streak set a new record?

Sorry for the Break

I apologize for my lack of posting the last few days.  The end of the Nuggets season happened to coincide with the beginning of my busiest time of year at work, so I haven't found the time to post very regularly.  Once things get into a rhythm at work I'll do my best to get back on the blogging horse, so you'll be hearing from me again soon!  

Finals Note:  I'm looking forward to seeing how the Laker's bigs respond to Dwight Howard's strong post play.  I think that battle will determine the series winner.

Finals Pick:  Magic in 7

Postgame Thoughts

Basketball can be a complicated sport and the difference between winning and losing can come down to a variety of factors.

Game 6 was pretty simple:

The Lakers made their shots, the Nuggets didn't.

I'm going to take some time before I put together some thoughts about the season, but I'll leave you with this:

Here's to the best season in Denver Nuggets history, and here's to seeing an eager, hungry Denver Nuggets team back in the Conference Finals next year ready to take the next step.

Hair to the Throne?

LeBron may have had the best game we've seen in the playoffs in a long time, but who has the better hair?  It's a long-shot now, though still very possible, but if we're not treated to the long-awaited NBA Finals match-up between Carmelo and Lebron, at least we'll have this.

Credit goes to Blaze of Love for the Melo picture in their post on: 8 Reasons the Denver Nuggets are the Most Entertaining Team in Sports.

I saw the Bron picture on espn.com the same day I read that blog post.

I'm ready for a Nuggets win tonight.  If they play just as hard as they did Wednesday night, and a little smarter than they did in the 4th quarter, I think they'll be able to send this series back to LA.

Game 5 Recap

Turned out to be a great game, and a terribly frustrating 4th quarter, but in the end, Los Angeles protected their home court and now it's time for Denver to do the same.

The most frustrating aspect was definitely Carmelo's inability to draw fouls in the lane.  You can argue about whether that's due to the Laker's interior length or the referee's decision not to call fouls on contact on drives to the hoop, but as a Nuggets fan, you can probably guess where I fall in that category.

Regardless, the score was tied at the end of each quarter, and the Nuggets put themselves into a position to take another game in LA, but just couldn't hold it together in the 4th.  Los Angeles got production from both Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher, and that more than anything else was probably the difference in this game.  I can complain all I want, and I plan to, but the bottom line is that the Laker's played harder in this game than they have all series, and they did what they're supposed to do at home, so all I can do now is look forward.

Looking at the box score, there are only a few categories that really stand out after tonight's game.

• Fouls - My thoughts on this have already been covered.  I thought that the fouls were called fairly evenly, but the way the game was called favored the Laker's style of play.
• Blocks - See "Fouls"
• Assists - In game 4, Denver was constantly trying to find the best shot.  I don't think that mindset changed much, but LA's defensive intensity definitely hurt the Nugget's passing ability.
• 3-Point % - The Nuggets were actually significantly better here, but still shot worse than 30%.  The key is that Denver shot 8 more 3-pointers than LA while both teams were cold from long distance, so that means Denver was relying on something that wasn't working.
• FG% - The Lakers shot about 10% better than the Nuggets and that's the first time in a very long time that I've seen that kind of discrepancy for a Nuggets' opponent.  This will have to change for Denver to get a win in Game 6.

Overall I'm disappointed, but by no means did this game make me feel as if this series is over.  It's going to take another great home effort as well as a complete game in Los Angeles in the possible Game 7, but I still like how this team is playing overall, and I still like the Denver Nugget's chances to advance to the NBA Finals in 7 games.