Round 1, Game 5 Nuggetz

While I don't think it's going to crack my top 5 all time sporting events attended list, it was still great to be a part of such a rockin' crowd at the Pepsi Center. Everything's kind of a blur, but I'll do my best to piece together some Game Nuggetz from last night's series clinching win.

• The energy of the crowd was great, but the sophistication seemed to ebb and flow throughout the game. I was particularly impressed when you could hear the crowd buzz get louder and louder as the shot-clock wound down on a New Orleans possesion in the first half. It's one thing to cheer after the shot-clock violation, but even the crowd is finding this team's defensive intensity as exciting as the alley-oops and 3's at the other end.

• In my Game 4 recap, I mentioned that I thought this game could go one of two ways, either a close, back-and-forth affair, or a Nuggets rout. It turns out it went both ways.

• The Nuggets D kept them in the game in the first half, which is particularly impressive considering how poorly they were shooting the ball early on. It was only a matter of time before they warmed up, and when they did about halfway through the third quarter, it was over.

• More than just the team defense, Kenyon Martin's overall play kept the game close in the first half. Without his smothering defense and above-the-rim antics, the Hornets may have been able to give themselves a bit of a cushion heading into the second half.

• It took 5 games, but Carmelo finally realized that Peja "To do more than shoot" Stojakovic was guarding him in this series and proceeded to dribble around him for some easy buckets.

• It was neat the first time somebody started a "We Want Dallas" chant halfway through the 4th quarter, but a little unnecessary to continue to try to start it every 45 seconds for the rest of the game. The last thing we need to do as fans is get this team looking ahead. They've done a great job of focusing on every posession, so let's try to keep it that way.

• People were happy after the game, but I think the bar has been raised. While winning in the first round was an important landmark, it seems like everyone around this franchise knows what this team is capable of, and is excited for the challenges that lay ahead in these playoffs.

• I'm hoping that Mark Cuban will see my recent Mustache May post and take it as a Blogger's challenge. Let's see what you got Cubeman!

That's it for now. Just wanted to get a few of my thoughts out there early in the day. More to come...

A Dream Fulfilled...

A trip to the second round of the NBA playoffs? No.

A match-up with a team we swept in the regular season for a chance to go to the Western Conference Finals? No.

Hometown Hero Chauncey Billups leading the best Nuggets team I've seen in my lifetime? Again, no.

With a single minute and 4 seconds remaining in the game, my wildest dreams came true.

I was delighted to have seen Ryan Bowen enter the game with just under two minutes left, but it wasn't until that magical 1:04 mark that my heart filled with joy.

Balkman vs. Bowen.

Blankman vs. Captain Intangible.

The Showdown.

The Representer in the Pepsi Center.

They did not disappoint.

Within seconds, Ryan Bowen was running around like a newborn faun still getting used to its seldom used legs as he crashed into a confused Birdman and was called for a loose ball foul.

Balkman, on the other hand, managed to fill up two slots on his stat line with a single wide-open, beautifully airballed 3-point attempt. The slots of course being Field Goals Attempted and 3-Pointers Attempted.

The truth is though, the end-of-the-bench MVP honors for the game will not go to either of them. They were both outdone by the remarkably energetic play of Johan Petro. He grabbed a board, drove hard to the hoop to draw two free throws, both of which he made and also managed to notch a blocked shot. Well done, mon ami.

As it's now nearing 3AM and I've done my best to work off the caffeine I consumed to help me with my drive home, I'll leave you with one tidbit regarding the other 47 minutes of this glorious game: Thanks for keeping us in this game in the first half K-Mart!

Best Games I've Attended

This being the first NBA playoff game I've been able to attend this season, my anticipation and excitement has been growing since I woke up this morning. I'm hoping I can add tonight's game to the following list.

I've been to some significant Nuggets games during the Carmelo Anthony era including:

Carmelo Anthony's first game playing together with Allen Iverson, which turned out to be a fun, alley-oop filled drubbing of a Pau Gasol-led Memphis Grizzlies team. As soon as I heard about the AI trade, I figured out when Melo's first game back would be and bought the best ticket available. The Nugs won by 17.

The Northwest Division clinching game during the 2004/05 season against the Sacramento Kings. The Nuggets won this game by 20 points.

Denver's first home NBA playoff game in a decade which was played against Kevin Garnett's Minnesota Timberwolves, a game which the Nuggets won by 21. This game is easily in my top 5 sporting events that I've attended thanks to the energy in the crowd and resounding victory. The rest of my overall top 5 would probably include these:

All of the Colorado Rockies games leading up to the 2007 World Series starting with the regular season ending Arizona Diamondbacks series.

The Miracle in Michigan game in the Big House with a press pass that allowed me to watch the game with the Sports Illustrated camera man immediately to my left.

The Colorado Buffaloes 62-36 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

John Elway's comeback victory over Warren Moon's Houston Oilers in the 1991/92 NFL Playoffs.

I'm hoping that by the time I get back home after tonight's game I'll be able to make another notch on my significant sporting even belt and figure out where to put the Nuggets latest 20+ point playoff victory on my list. Who else is ready for our first second round appearance in 15 years?

Prediction: Denver Nuggets 111 - New Orleans Hornets 89

Statement of Intention: Mustache May

I hereby state my intention to shave my facial hair in to some form of mustache upon the clinching of a second round berth by the Denver Nuggets or the first of May, whichever comes first. Furthermore, I intend to continue growing said mustache at least until the end of the Denver Nuggets 2009 playoff run. Pictures will be included along the way.

My Nugs Dun Grown Up Before My Eyes (Round 1, Game 4 Nuggetz)

Before I get to the Game Nuggetz, I think it's important to note that this is easily the best game I've ever seen the Nuggets play. I am a fairly young man at the ripe age of 28 and have only been following the Nuggets for about half of that time, so I don't exactly have the historical perspective, but I think there's a good chance that we just witnessed the greatest game this franchise has ever seen. I realize it's a first round playoff game, but tying the all-time record for winning margin in a playoff game in a series that was supposed to be competitive is just ridiculously above anything else I can think of happening in Nuggets' history. Unbelievable.

Now on to the Game Nuggetz...

• Apparently the Nuggets figured out the secret to playoff success: score 2 points every time your opponent scores 1 point.


• The Nuggets role players are stealing all of the attention of the Hornets coaches, players and fans. While the crowd is busy booing Dahntay Jones and Anthony Carter, Melo and Co. are busy carving them up on offense and defense.


• The Hornets tried to play physical early in this game, but it's obvious that the Nuggets were so far in their heads that they had absolutely no chance from the tip. I've never seen so many airballs by the home team in a playoff game, which is especially surprising considering that Peja and Rasual Butler had been shooting so well coming into this game.


• This being the first game of the series I've been able to watch and listen to, I'm having a hard time deciding whether to believe Scott Hastings or Chris Paul and the New Orleans crowd as far as the performance of the referees.


• Speaking of the referees, is it me or does Davey Jones look completely lost every time the camera shows him. I'm not sure he knows where he is or what he's doing. Somebody should help him out.


• If it weren't for the free throws in the second quarter, The starters may have been able to sit out the entire second half. The Hornets went well over half of the quarter without hitting a single field goal.


• Sign of Maturity - First Half edition: Jumped out to a huge lead on the road after one quarter and still managed to outscore the "surging" Hornets in the second quarter.


• I just took the time to purchase a ticket to Game 5 in the middle of devising this blog post and will brave the 4-5 hour round-trip drive and sleep deprivation on Thursday for a chance to see this team officialy take the next step.


• This is the first game that Melo really looks completely comfortable playing playoff hoops. He's driving, hitting his jumpers, rebounding, finding open teammates and playing aggresive, opportunistic defense. This could be the beginning of a new Melo.


• Sign of Maturity - Second Half edition: The Nuggets came out determined to re-establish their physical presence in the second half. The referees were calling the game tighter at both ends, but that didn't deter the Nuggets defensively and they also stayed aggresive offensively, attacking and getting to the line, so once their shots started falling again, it was over.


• Well... more over than it already was anyway.


• Chauncey absolutely lives for the Dagger 3-pointer. Pulling up for that 3(turned out to be a 2 with his foot on the line) is his bread and butter. I'd like to see the stats on his 3-pt. percentage immediately following a turnover.


• Dahntay Jones - his D is getting the press it deserves - Did Chris Paul play tonight? - but he took advantage of every chance New Orleans gave him on the other end, every one of those 12 points were essentially bonus points for the Nugs.


• This game looked like it was a 1-seed taking on the play-in 16-seed in the NCAA tournament. Totally dismantled in every aspect, physically and mentally.


• Sign of Maturity - Bench edition: When the Nuggets bench was emptied, they followed the lead set by the rotation players. Focus on D, drive aggresively and look to set up teammates on offense.


• The first 50 point lead of the game brought to you by: Johan Petro with about 7:15 to play.


• Sign of Maturity - Post Game edition #1: Denver has now outscored New Orleans in 14 of 16 quarters including all 12 quarters in the 3 dominant victories. This team is not going to let up regardless of the score/situation.


• Sign of Maturity - Post Game edition #2: Denver has now held New Orleans under 25 points in all but 3 quarters in this series and has yet to give up a 30 point quarter. That is some consistant defense folks.


• Sign of Maturity - Post Game edition #3: Carmelo's post game interview with Maya Starks showed that he was clearly hungry for more. In years past there's no question that Melo would have looked giddy walking off the court after a 58 point playoff win, but this team is different. This team wants more. I don't think anything less than a Championship will be good enough to satisfy them with the way they're acting on and off the court right now.


• Thoughts on Wednesday night's Game 5: Obviously I'm very, very excited for the chance to see the Nugs advance to the second round on the Pepsi Center court, but I do have some reservations heading into Game 5. Tonight, the Nuggets proved that they have matured, they have grown into a team that is playing for a championship and playing to win together as a team, so I'm no longer worried that they'll come out of the gate unfocused, I'm much more worried about all the pressure that's about to build up over the next 48 hours. This is exactly what they've been playing for all season, a chance to win a playoff series on their home court, a chance to get the first-round-exit monkey off Melo's back, a chance to show the world that they're no longer underachieving and that it's time to think of the Denver Nuggets as serious championship contenders. If the first few shots go down for the Nuggets, I think Game 5 will be over in a hurry, but if those butterflies creep in, I think it will turn into a game much like Game 3: A hard-fought, back and forth, heavy-weight fight, the only difference being the location, and I think that will be enough to swing the 4th Quarter tides in Denver's favor. Regardless, Chauncey's leadership will be just as, if not more important in Game 5 than it was in Game 1. But right now it's time to sit back and soak in the beauty of this historically dominant and record-breaking performance by our emerging, maturing and finally contending Denver Nuggets.

Quick Note: Based on the box scores, it seems that Ryan Bowen is inactive for this series or at least he has been for these games. This is a very disappointing development as I was hoping that in a game like this I would get to see one of my favorite ex-Nuggets get some minutes and show off his all-intangible, no discernible skill game. I think it goes without saying that the balance of this series has been severely tipped in the Nuggets favore by whomever is responsible for the inactivity of Ryan Bowen.

Gone Fishin'

Sorry for the absence this weekend, I was without TV, Internet and Technology availability as I was being trained in Wilderness First Aid.  The weekend did not go without work on content for this blog however as the videos I post will be sure to show.  

Tonight will be my first opportunity to watch a playoff broadcast, so hopefully it will allow for a more in-depth analysis of the game.  Let's hope for a good one!

Now how many other NBA bloggers out there are willing to post footage of their own hoops skillz?

Round 1, Game 2 Nuggetz

Final Score: Denver 108 - New Orleans 93
Denver leads series 2-0

• I know a lot of people thought the Nuggets had the potential to run away with this series fairly quickly, but did anyone see things opening with 2 blowout wins? I definitely didn't.

• As happy as I am with the performances so far, I'm still a little nervous about how the team will respond when Chauncey cools off. If Chauncey cools off that is.
  

• Due to the strange hours that I work and the spotty radio reception in the small mountain town where I reside, I was forced to take in Game 2 by the friendly interface of ESPN's GameCast. While it clearly cannot provide the emotion of watching the event live, I was treated to a few emotionally uplifting and deflating entries like this: "JR Smith enters the game, JR Smith misses 20 ft. jumper, JR Smith called for foul."

• Fortunately, JR redeemed himself in the 4th Quarter by logging this entry after hitting several 3-pointers in a row: David West Offensive Foul (JR Smith Draws the Foul). Just as I was about to make a note of JR seeming to be one of the few Nuggets who have yet to show a huge jump in maturity during this first round series, he managed to make a notch in the other column.

• One other GameCast Nugget that helps underline the maturity Melo has shown so far was this: "Carmelo Anthony blocks Hilton Armstrong's Layup." It happened right at the end of the quarter no less. I think it's clear that Melo is very focused and will not be satisfied with an early playoff exit this year.

• Weird stat-line for Melo tonight as well. His shooting was great, and he replaced his lack of rebounds with a plethora of assists, but I find it hard to believe that he wasn't fouled a single time during the course of this game. I wish GameCast had Game Log entries for things like: "Missed call by Violet Palmer," and "Bad call by Violet Palmer."

• A quick glance through his Game Log for the season shows that Melo only played in 3 games without attempting a free throw. One of those games was the one he left with an injury after 14 minutes and the other two were against Boston and Cleveland.

• Could have gone without the 3-point shooting contest between Chauncey and JR late in the 4th quarter. Fortunately for the Nuggets, the Hornets decided to participate in the contest as well, so it didn't really help or hurt either team all that much.

• We have yet to see a big-scoring game from Nene, we have yet to see JR loosen up to the point he was at to end the regulary season and we have yet to see Johan Petro fill up the fouls column on the stat sheet, so there's still a lot of potential hiding on this Nuggets roster.

• Favorite stat of the series so far:

  The Nuggets have outscored New Orleans in all 8 quarters of the series, and have only allowed the Hornets to score more than 25 in a quarter once so far.

• Most disappointing stat of the night:
  

  Renaldo Balkman - DNP - Coach's Decision
  Ryan Bowen - DNP - Coach's Decision

• It's going to be exciting to see how the Nuggets respond to being fully in control of a playoff series for the first time in a long time as they head into New Orleans. They didn't quite come out of the gate defending as well as I had hoped (The Hornets were shooting about 50% after the 1st quarter), but they threw the shackles back on David West and were a couple of Peja hot streaks away from a 30+ point victory in this game. I think this team is focused and will see the road game as something to rally around and challenge themselves with in Game 3. I'm not 100% sold yet, but if Chauncey keeps shooting like he has been, maybe I won't every have to find out how the Nuggets will respond otherwise.
  

P.S. - I'd like to call attention to the fact that I did pretty well on my first widely public score prediction for a game. My guess: 106 - 98, Denver wins | Actual score: 108 - 93 Denver wins.

P.P.S. - Thanks for the memories Dikembe, maybe the Nugs will finally have a playoff image to replace yours when all is said and done this season.

Round 1, Game 2 Preview

I think we're going to find out a lot about how these playoffs are going to play out for this team in the first few minutes of Wednesday night's game. Like I said in my Game 1 thoughts, a Nuggets team that comes out looking like they still have something to prove and that they're going to do it on the defensive end will be a huge departure from the Nuggets teams we've known over the past decade. I'd like to see the Nuggets continue to take more pride in their stops than in their jump shots. A few early defensive stands followed by some easy buckets in the paint at the other end, and the Nuggets will already have a decisive edge in the mental battle of Game 2.

Speaking of the mental battle, any time you have a coach who is more concerned with the match up between his superstar point guard and another team's defensive shooting guard that occasionally cracks 20 minutes per-game, than he is with the fact that his team was manhandled in all aspects of the first game in a playoff series, I think it's safe to say you're in a good position heading into the next game. I think that Byron Scott is making a huge mistake by playing up the physical play of Dahntay Jones. The last thing he needed to do was give the Nuggets a reason to re-focus defensively, and I think that's exactly what he did. Had I been in his shoes I would have done nothing but praise everything about the way the Nuggets played in Game 1. The Nuggets are team, even after the arrival of Uncle Chauncey, that struggles in games that don't offer some sort of challenge and now, thanks to Scott's comments, the Nuggets have a reason to want to get another big, physical victory in Game 2.

This isn't saying that if the Nuggets don't jump out to a big lead with a defensive focus, that they have no shot to win the game or the series, but I'll feel a whole lot better about the chances of watching Melo play into June if they prove that they can keep up the intensity they showed in Game 1 throughout an entire series. My cautious optimism could give way to sincere optimism by the end of the first quarter tomorrow night, and I think there's a good chance that will happen.

I still don't expect a sweep and I think there will be a lot to learn by seeing how they respond to their first game on the road, but I'm feeling good about what I've seen so far and I'm expecting the focus to continue into tomorrow night, even if the ridiculously hot shooting does not.


Game Prediction: Denver 106 - New Orleans 98

Round 1, Game 1 Nuggetz

• Cautious optimism. That's what I'm left feeling after Game 1. The Nuggets showed a lot of maturity in how they stayed defensively focused in a game where Chauncey couldn't miss. The old Nuggets probably would have let the Hornets creep back into it once they got a big lead and started looking for highlight reel dunks and ally-oops, but there's just a little bit more focus with this group. Could be the arrival of Uncle Chauncey, could be 5 early post-season exits in a row, either way I'll take it.

• I'm sure this is covered in depth in every game recap, but the Nuggets dominated on a night when their two most consistent offensive weapons down the stretch (JR, Melo) had some serious butterflies. It was good to see Melo get a couple hoops both driving and pulling up late in the game, hopefully they'll settle into a rhythm now that Game 1 is out of the way.

• Melo showed the same growth that he had early in the season grabbing his 7 boards early in the game. As much as Chauncey has helped change the mindset of the team, when Melo is aggressive on the glass, things seem to go well for the Nuggets.

• Speaking of rebounding, Nene showed more life on the glass than he has in months, which bodes well in a series where the only physical rebounder on the Hornets (Tyson Chandler) is still recovering from an injury. The 14 rebound differential in the game can definitely be chalked up to the pride that Nene and Melo seemed to be taking on the boards.

• If you look at the shot-chart by quarter, you'll see the Hornets' shots moving further and further out as the game progresses. This can be attributed to the defensive contributions of the front-court trio of Nene, Birdman and KMart. The more frustrated the Hornets got by the physical interior play, the more they settled for outside jumpers.

• JR made nearly every shot that he took from inside the arc and missed every shot he took from 3-point range. I hope he looks at that and tries to be aggresive offensively in game 2. JR's 3's don't seem to start falling until he really gets into the flow of the game, and that never totally happened last night.

• Nice quiet night from Linas the Menace off the bench. It's nice when he can play a game with a few dunks and a few long-range tries with lots of hustle mixed in.

• The only thing that stands out to me as a negative looking at the box score is the turnovers. It's easy to forget about the necessary areas of improvement after a blowout win in the first game of a series, but the Nuggets racked up quite a few turnovers early in this game, which could spell disaster if the shots aren't falling.

• I'd like to see the Nuggets try to establish some offensive post-presence early in Game 2. Now that Nene has showed some of his mid-season rebounding form, maybe it's time to get him back into some of those 8 for 10 and 12 for 15 shooting nights too. They need to attack Chandler while he's still trying to regain his confidence. I'd like to see Chandler show up on a few Nene posters before this series heads down to New Orleans.

• Looking forward to Game 2 I will be very interested to see how this Nuggets team responds to such a huge victory. They handled themselves extremely well on the court last night, but now let's see how they do after a few days of hearing the media fawn over their performance. If a focused, defensive-minded team comes out of the gate on Wednesday night, then I think it's safe to say we've ushered in a new era of Nuggets Basketball and there's a good chance that we'll finally see a team that's able to live up to the level of talent on the roster. On the other hand, if we see a team trying to re-capture the hot shooting of last night with a little more focus on getting their points than stopping the Hornets from getting theirs, then I think it's safe to say there's still some room for growth. Regardless, Game 2 will be very telling, and like I said before, I'm cautiously optimistic that by this time on Thursday we'll be able to officially welcome a more mature version of the Denver Nuggets than we've seen in a long time.

edit:
I almost forgot the most important stat comparison of the night:

Renaldo Balkman: 3 Minutes Played
Ryan Bowen: DNP - Coach's Decision

If that keeps up, I don't think the Hornets have a chance...

Series Thoughts After the First Games

In order of appearance:

Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls
Game 1 Score: Bulls 105, Celtics 103 OT

Impressive win for the Bulls even with KG out for the C's. I don't know if they can keep it together long enough in a 7 game series to pull of the upset, but it remains to be seen exactly how Boston will be affected by the loss of Garnett. I see this being a hard-fought series that, much like the first game, goes down to the wire in 7, with the Celtics moving on to the next round.


Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons
Game 1 Score: Cavs 102, Pistons 84

Based on the first game, it would be pretty easy to call for a sweep. LeBron just would not accept anything less than domination. I'm not totally sold on the idea that the rest of the series will go this way though. King James is out to prove that he has the killer instinct of MJ, and it was clearly in full-effect on Saturday night, but I'm going to wait and see if that edge sticks around during the doldrums of the 7 game series. Regardless, I'm still picking the Cavs in 5.


San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks
Game 1 Score: Mavs 105, Spurs 97

A bit of a surprise here. I knew that losing WoManu would pretty much kill the Spurs chances of getting to the finals, but I thought they would still be able to handle the Mavs pretty easily. There's still a long way to go in this series and I suspect Timmy D. and Co. wont be too happy with their performance in Game 1. I think this is another series that will go down to the wire and I think the Spurs professionalism and business-like attitudes will prevail in 7.


Portland Trailblazers vs. Houston Rockets
Game 1 Score: Rockets 108, Blazers 81

I always hear about how important previous post-season experience is once the playoffs come around, but I never thought it would make that much of a difference. This game changed my opinion on how the series will turn out far more than any of the other series' game 1's. All the momentum that Portland had built up over the last couple weeks of the season is essentially gone at this point and they're really going to have to regroup fast to get back into this one. I still think Portland is a more talented team than Houston, so I think they'll pull off a couple wins, but if the Rockets continue to take care of business like they did in Game 1, then I don't think they'll have a whole lot of trouble moving on to the next round. Rockets in 6.


Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz
Game 1 Score: Lakers 113, Jazz 100

This game started out just about how I thought it would with the Lakers seemingly cruising to an easy victory in Game 1, and likely continuing that momentum into a sweep of the struggling Jazz. While they never really challenged to win the game, I think that the fact that the Jazz showed some signs of life in chipping away at the Lakers' lead proved that they could still possibly steal a game. Lakers in 5.


Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Game 1 Score: Sixers 100, Magic 98

When I first started thinking about this game I wanted to write about how the Sixers are a team that could give the Magic a run, and that maybe the Magic just won't be able to dominate after plugging Rafer Alston in for Jameer Nelson, but then a single picture changed my mind. ESPN.com had a picture of Andre Iguodala celebrating his game-winning shot with Reggie Evans and Donyell Marshall. While I respect both players and loved watching Reggie play when he was with the Nuggets, I just don't see the Sixers competing in a 7-game series when they're throwing the likes of Evans, Marshall, Ratliff and Dalembert at the most dominant center in the league. I could be wrong, but I think Superman bounces back. Magic in 6.


Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat
Game 1 Score: Hawks 90, Heat 64

Wow. As far as I can remember, nobody has ever accused the Hawks of playing dominant defense. I know they're much improved this year and have had a great season, but I didn't see this kind of domination anywhere in their playoff futures. The media loves D-Wade and with the Hawks history, this was a series that seemed ripe for an upset, but I think those thoughts can be safely discarded into the nearest recycling bin now. Wade was killing himself all season long just to get Miami here and if he can't will them to any semblence of competetiveness in Game 1 of the playoffs, then I don't think the Heat have much hope here. Atlanta in 6.

Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Hornets

(to be continued)

Playoff Preview: Balkman vs. Bowen

With the better portion of a week standing in between the final games of the regular season and the opener of the Nuggets-Hornets series, there will be no shortage of articles and blogs breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of the teams. So instead of getting into all of the details and comparisons, I will be focusing on the match-up that I see as the most important to revealing the true strengths of the contending teams: Renaldo "Blankman" Balkman vs. Ryan "All-Intangible" Bowen. So without further ado, the breakdown playoff preview that you have all been waiting for.

Basic Stats:

• Balkman - 6'8", 208 lbs., 53 games,14.7 minutes/pg, 5.0 points/pg, 3.8 boards/pg
• Bowen - 6'9", 218 lbs., 21 games, 12.8 minutes/pg, 2.8 points/pg, 1.1 boards/pg

Despite the lack of size, the Blankman clearly outperforms Mr. Bowen in almost every other statistical category. This doesn't come as much of a surprise as Bowen does not excel in things such as "doing things on the court that are tracked statistically" and "getting into games." Regardless, I felt as though a statistical comparison was called for in this case.

Advantage: Balkman

Intangibles:

• Balkman - Do not underestimate the power of the hair. While it may seem like this category is pretty stacked in favor of Bowen, Balkman's hair is unquestionably intimidating for any opposing players. The main negative on this side is that Balkman could fall asleep at any moment on the court or on the bench. I'm pretty sure I've seen him doze off during post-game interviews with Julie Browman.

• Bowen - I refer to Bowen as All-Intangible because he has absolutely no discernable skill set, and yet positive things seem to happen while he's on the court. The nature of this category provides little opportunity for me to express this phenomenon in statistics, so you'll just have to trust me if you've never had the opportunity to see him play as a part of your team. In addition, Bowen provides the rare opportunity for a professional basketball team to have the equivalent of the college, walk-on senior that the crowd always cheers for when he comes into the game during a blowout.

Advantage: Bowen

Actual Contributions to any Given Game:

• Balkman - The Blankman is very inconsistent due in large part to George Karl's insistance that it's ok to yank his minutes around from game to game. When he gets consistent minutes, Blankman almost always contributes heavily on the defensive end, on the offensive boards and in the emphatic slam-dunk categories, the first two of which are arguably weaknesses of the Nuggets. Balkman has a realistic chance of helping the Nuggets take a game over in this series.

• Bowen - If Ryan Bowen is in the game, it could potentially mean one of three things:

1. One of the Hornets front-court is injured or in foul trouble, which could spell doom for the Hornets.
2. The Hornets are hitting on all cylanders and are now convinced that the Nuggets have no shot at winning the game.
3. The Nuggets are hitting on all cylanders and the Hornets are now convinced that they have no shot at winning the game.

Being that two of those options don't bode well for the Hornets, I think this decision is clear.

Advantage: Balkman

With all of this analysis in mind, the picture becomes a little more clear and helps me make my bold prediction that unfortunately falls in line with most of the "experts'" predictions:

Nuggets in 6

My Favorite Huge Loss of the Season

I tried to be disappointed. I really did. Every time I refreshed the page and saw that Portland had pulled away a little further, my first reaction was to try to act mad. I just couldn't do it. My mind kept going back to that Dallas/Houston score and I couldn't help but smile.

In a season that began with most NBA "experts" picking the Nuggets to be on the outside looking in at the playoffs, they managed instead to secure the second seed in the West and home-court advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Nobody believed it could happen. Nobody believed Nene or K-Mart could stay healthy. Nobody believed Chris Andersen could be an effective player off the bench after serving a mysterious two-year suspension. Nobody thought Melo could forget about his numbers and focus on the wins. Now the Nuggets will have to take it a couple steps further and get to the place that very few people believe is possible: The Western Conference Finals and a chance to play for an NBA Championship. (Not to mention the chance for me to collect on the ridiculous 40-1 odds I received on the Nuggets winning the Championship in Vegas just two weeks ago.)

Sure there's a lot that still has to happen in order for the Nuggets to reach that level, but if Dirk can throw down a 30-15 the same night Jason Kidd notches his second triple-double of the season to help the Nuggets secure the second seed, then I believe a nice playoff run for them is not all that far fetched.

Though before we get into too much prognostication and anxiety over the possibilities that lay ahead in the post-season, I think it's time to look back on the first season since Melo came into the League that the Nuggets could arguably be considered overachievers.

Thanks for a great ride this season and I'm looking forward to another month or two of watching the Nuggets prove the "experts" wrong.

Additional Game Nugget

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post:

Nuggets Starters +/-:

Carmelo -4

K-Mart -3

Nene +10

Dahntay Jones -7

Chauncey +5

Nuggets Bench +/-:

JR +23

Birdman +25

Linas the Menace +32

AC +19

Just thought that was interesting, it's nice to see the bench pick up the starters on an off night.

5 Quick Nuggetz from Denver vs. Sacramento 4/13/09

Due to the nature of my job, I was unable to watch this game on the television set, but fortunately the box score provided plenty of interesting tales to make for some quick commentary, so without further ado, tonight's 5 Game Nuggetz:

• Clearly there is a secret to beating the Kings. A secret to beating the worst team in the league you ask? Can it really be that much of a secret? Play average basketball? Don't melt down? Nay, the answer is quite clear: Score 118 points. In the Nuggets 3 victories over the Kings this season they have scored exactly 118 points. Had they scored that many in their only loss to the Kings, they would have been victorious by 4 points. The numbers don't lie folks.

• JR Swish, JR "Don't Call Me Junior" Smith, JR Sizzle, any of them will do for tonight, but none of them will quite capture the brilliance of JR when he lives up to his immense talent. Now I only wish his shot selection wouldn't be the same when the shots aren't falling. Let's just hope that now that JR has surpassed Abdul-Rauf's 3-Point record, he continues to stand during the National Anthem. Apparently, nothing can derail a sharpshooter's career faster than a slap in the face to Ol' Glory.
  

• Single-digit turnovers (9), double-digit blocks (10), double-digit steals (10). Those numbers tend to lead to victories, let's keep this up in Portland. Despite keeping this game embarrassingly close for most of the way, at least they came away with a victory in a classic trap game against the worst team in the league sandwiched between games on the road against the top team in the west and their closest division rival.
  

• Why can't Houston make things easy on the Nuggets? It seems like everybody that's chasing the Nugs blows out their best competition and struggles to close wins against non-playoff teams. Houston has won their last five games, including 10+ point victories over Portland, Orlando and New Orleans and a 4-point win over Golden State. Portland has also won their last 5, including wins over the Lakers and Spurs. At least Utah is playing nice; Out of the 6, 7 and 8 teams in the Western Conference, the Nugs probably match up the worst against them, so it's nice to see them playing their way into a matchup with the Lakers.

• Congratulations to the Nuggets on wrapping up the Northwest Division title. I was sad that I couldn't be there like I was the last time they clinched the division, but I'm hoping there will be pleny of opportunities to celebrate into late-May and June.
  

10 Quick Nuggetz from Denver vs. LA Lakers 4/9/09

• It's frustrating watching Johan Petro get big minutes in a game like this. At least he showed some signs of life with a nice dunk.

• Despite the lack of acknowledgement from the TNT broadcasters, the Nugz showed that they can hang with the Lakers in LA even in the second game of a back-to-back.

• Both sides of Linas the Menace came out tonight, though fortunately he gave up on shooting the 3 other than a shot clock buzzer beater in the 4th quarter. A quick glance at his shot chart shows that he didn't make a single shot from outside of the paint, including his two missed free throws.

• The officiating was very frustrating, it seems like every time these teams play, the officials call the game extremely tight.

• On that note, Steve Javie is either fluent in Portuguese or Nene has learned some powerful words in English in order to get T'd up that quick.

• Good to see Dahntay Jones getting up in Kobe's grill a bit. Could have gone without the 3 quick fouls in a row though.

• Solid game from Kobe tonight; his shot was on. The Nugz had done a pretty good job on Kobe this season up until tonight.

• Andrew Bynum looked pretty good in his first game back, but keep in mind that the Lakers are the worst match-up in the league for the Nugz when Kenyon, Birdman or Nene are out. Just too much size on the low post and that showed tonight.

• Carmelo showed some signs of getting that killer instinct back driving to the hoop. It's got to be frustrating for him when the officials are calling a tight game and he can't get a call with three Lakers slapping at his arms as he's looking to lay the ball in.

• Best sign of the night: When JR "Don't Call Me Junior" Smith knocked down that huge three at the end of the first half, there were no theatrics. It seems like something might have clicked for him and he's a little more focused on winning than looking good.

Nicknames

While I have been an avid follower of the Denver Nuggets for years and fairly well versed in the ways of the Internet for quite some time, I never had any real desire to begin blogging about my beloved Nuggets. Never, that is, until I realized that a blog was clearly the best way to disseminate my great ideas for some of the Denver Nuggets bench players.

So, because it is the reason for the existence of this blog in the first place, I decided that despite the fact that the Nuggets are on the precipice of clinching the division title, clinching home court advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, and proving to the NBA and ESPN that they are for real tonight with a HUGE game against the extremely hatable Los Angeles Lakers team, I will initiate this blog with a post regarding nicknames.

I hereby submit the following options to the general blog reading public for examination and immediate implementation into any and all Denver Nuggets related conversations:

• Linas Kleiza - Linas the Menace (But pronounced more like Minas.)
  

-I realize this nickname is awkward in its written form, but I can assure you through extensive personal experience that it is very catchy and fun to say. It is also the nickname that I've been using the longest and have been hoping the most that it becomes part of the general Denver Nugget fan lexicon. It also helps that the Minas can be both a menace to the opposing team when he's hitting his 3's and driving hard to the basket as well as a menace to the Nuggets when he keeps launching up bad 3 pointers despite the fact that he hasn't made one in a month.

• Renaldo Balkman - Two options:
  

1. "The Blankman" - This option is for those of you well versed in early nineties movies starring former members of the "In Living Color" television show. I think it fairly well encompasses the Blankman's blue-collar work ethic on the glass and on defense as well as his ability to disappear to the end of the bench at George Karl's whim.

2. Renaldo "Blockman" - This is for those poor souls who are not fortunate enough to understand the movie reference that was made in the previous option. It still emphasizes Blockman's defensive abilities albeit in a much less fun way.

Thanks for reading and I hope that if anybody is actually reading this and finds it entertaining, useful, informative or any combination thereof, that you will continue to follow this blog as I attempt to post on topics you may also be interested in like, "the games," "analysis," "the playoffs," "why kobe bryant fails at being a human being," "the fact that this is the most exciting season to be a Nuggets fan in many years," "the fact that I somehow got 40-1 odds on a Nuggets NBA Championship bet while at a conference in Vegas," and a whole lot more.

Go Nugz!