My end of the First Quarter, beginning of the Second Quarter Assessment

By my calculations, the first quarter of the season ended at halftime of the the 76ers game, and the second half of that game provided us with a taste of what's to come kicking off the second quarter of the season. Due to weather and other constraints, I wasn't able to watch last nights game, and likely will have to rely on ESPN's GameCast and play-by-play accounts online for the rest of the week, so instead of the usual game recaps, I'm going to go a little "A Christmas Carol" on you and take a look at the Ghosts of Nuggets' past (the first quarter of the season) and a brief look into the Ghosts of Nuggets' future (at least the next few games on the schedule).

Ghosts of Nuggets' Past (trends I've noticed through the first quarter of the season):

I've heard of "trap games," but never seen "trap weeks."

20 days passed from the time the Nuggets pounded the Pau-less Lakers to the shellacking they laid on D-Wade's Heat last Thursday. In between they faced nary a winning team. They went 6-2 during that stretch, with the losses coming against the bottom of the barrell Clippers in LA and the streak-ending Minnesota Timberwolves and the wins including a nail-biter against the Knicks and a variety of virtual blow-outs against the Raptors, Bulls, Nets, T-Wolves and Warriors. As bad as those (and the narrow victory over the Knicks) were, It's hard to complain too much about your team going 6-2 over a 3 week stretch. You're bound to have off-games over that period of time, and I'd rather have those at the beginning of the season that when it gets down to crunch time in the Spring.

Melo's production has tailed off from his torrid start.

Teams are coming into games focused on not letting Carmelo beat them and there has been more success recently than there was at the beginning of the season. It will be interesting to see how Melo responds to having his record-setting streak of 20 point games to start the year broken. My gut tells me he'll finally relax a bit and get back to his playmaking and electrifying post-passing that launched him into the MVP debate to begin with. It also could just come down to match-up problems. Combining Andre Iguodala's perimeter defense with Sam Dalembert's ability to protect the rim makes for a tough night for Melo. Fortunately, all that attention has allowed some of the other Nugget players to step up as Chauncey's 31 points last night proved. Over the course of the year, they're going to need some guys to step up like that when the shots just aren't falling for Melo.

Nuggets: Easy opponents, difficult schedule

Many people point to the lack of quality opponents when they talk about the lack of difficulty in the schedule so far for Denver, which is a fair point since I just mentioned they went almost 3 weeks without facing a team with a winning record. The problem with leaving it at that though is that you fail to take into account the logistical difficulties they have faced already this year. 3 of their 5 losses coming into tonight came on a 6-game road trip over the course of 9 nights. That road trip consisted of 3 back-to-back sets of games and they will be finishing up their 7th set of back-to-backs tonight, so 14 of their first 21 games have been part of back-to-backs and 11 of the first 21 have been on the road. Most teams have a pretty even home/road split at this point, but I mainly wanted to point that out so I could compare the logistics of the Nuggets season so far that of the Lakers.

Lakers: Average opponents, cake schedule

It's really unbelievable just how easy the Lakers have had it so far. It's one thing to favor a certain team, but they've had 15 games at home and a ridiculous 4 on the road. 4 road games so far! Unreal. Their road games consist of overtime wins against OKC and Houston, the blowout loss in Denver and a blowout win over Golden State. Seems like there's still a lot to learn about how they're going to handle things on the road this year. Combine that with their 3 back-to-backs and you start to get a picture of just how easy LA has had it so far this year. There's a lot of hoops to be played and there's no doubt the defending champs are still the team to beat, but I'm going to wait and see how they handle a little scheduling adversity before I pencil them in for another NBA Finals appearance.

The 8-man rotation

For the first time that I can remember, the Nugs have a well-defined and fully productive 8-man rotation. Barring garbage time and foul trouble, Junior Smith, Ty Lawson and Birdman take up all the meaningful minutes that the starting 5 spends on the bench. This is one of those things that grows out of being confident in your team in the off-season. The Nuggets front office took a lot of heat for essentially standing pat and losing Linas the Menace and Dahntay Jones for nothing, but look at what's happening with the Spurs now. They had a good system, a good rotation, then they went out and got Richard Jefferson and now the team is in disarray offensively. They're surviving on the strength of Duncan and Parker's abilities to beat their defenders one-on-one which is a far cry from the well-oiled machine we've known them to be for the last decade. Somehow with all the big names changing homes these past few off-seasons, people seem to have forgotten how important it is for players to have experience playing together. The only thing that worries me about sticking with 8 players at this point in the year is that they may wear down by the time the playoffs roll around. Hopefully there will be enough garbage time in the remaining games (with the Nugs leading of course) to keep the main rotation players rested.

Ghosts of Nuggets' Future

The immediate future

• Tonights game against Charlotte

A big second half run keyed the Nuggets win in an emotional game against Allen Iverson, so it'll be interesting to see how much they have left in the tank for tonight's game in Charlotte. They're 8-11 on the year, but they're coming off a two day break following a 1-pt victory over the road weary Phoenix Suns, so I think the Nugs best opportunity to run away with this one will be coming fast out of the gate before the Bobcats have a chance to work the kinks out. They're a young, scrappy, well-coached team that can score in bunches, so it would be a good idea to try and build a big lead before the fatigue kicks in.

• Thursday's game against Detroit

It would be nice to be able to close out this road trip with an emphatic win, but I see this as the upcoming game in which we're most likely to see a disappointing performance from our Nuggets. Detroit has been underwhelming all season long, but they still have a decent set of players that can put it together for a night here and there. The fact that teams are gunning for them this year along with a home date with the Suns looming a couple days ahead makes me a little worried about what the mindset of the team will be like at the end of their second-longest road trip of the season so far. That being said, with a win in tonight's game, they could have a chance to sweep all 4 games on the trip and put an end to the talk of Denver as a team that struggles on the road, and that may be enough motivation for these guys to keep focused.

• Saturday night against Phoenix

I really hope I'm able to find a way to watch this one, because I think it could be one of the most entertaining games of the year. The Suns are back to their run and gun ways, are battling for the second best record in the Western Conference and we'll get to see a match-up of two of the best point guards in the league in the twilights of their careers (fortunately for this game, their age has affected their defense and barely touched their offensive abilities). I won't get too deep into this game yet as I'm going to look more closely at the match-ups and post a more in-depth preview once we get closer to Saturday.

Beyond the upcoming week

I think it's safe to say that the Nuggets can be considered one of the NBA's elite teams right now after their 16-5 start to the season, but they've only played two games against division rivals (both wins against Portland and Utah) and and four games against teams that were thought to be contenders this season (all wins against Portland, Utah, San Antonio and the Lakers), so I'm excited that there's still so much to learn about this team as the Divisional games and NBA elite show up on the schedule. Hopefully by the time we're all back at work following the holidays, we'll be cheering on a team that has stood toe-to-toe with the best the NBA has to offer and that's getting themselves ready for the stretch run into the Spring.

Game Preview: Dec. 5, 2009, Nuggets vs. Spurs

This is a biggie

Since the Miami game turned out to be more of a pop quiz than a test for the Nuggets, tonights game against the Spurs in San Antonio will likely prove to be the first time this team has been truly tested in a looooooooong time. The Spurs don't have an elite record to start the year, but turned in a solid performance in a loss against Boston a few nights ago and if Michael Finley had been wearing shoes 2 sizes smaller, they had a good chance at coming away with a win in that game as well. Despite their early struggles, this is a team that many predicted to be the one with the best chance at unseating the Lakers in the Western Conference this year, so it will certainly be a challenge to beat them on the road. I have 5 questions leading into this game that I hope can be answered by the end of the night, they are as follows:

• How will the Spurs choose to defend Melo? With longtime defensive stopper Bruce Bowen no longer around, who's going to draw the unenviable task of trying to guard the Western Conference's reigning Player of the Month? Richard Jefferson will line up across from him, but has never been known as much of a defensive stopper. Looking at the roster, I really don't see a single player with the size and quickness combination to do it, so this will be interesting to see.

• How will the Nuggets contain Tony Longoria? Chauncey has had his issues with quicker point guards so far this season, so it's going to take a team effort to keep Mr. Eva Longoria from having a big game. The biggest asset the Nuggets have here is the athleticism of Nene, Birdman and K Mart. Assuming Parker makes his way past his initial defender a few times tonight, he'll still have to find a way to get his shots over the Nuggets' high flying trio of frontcourt players. He's a sneaky one, and usually manages to get his points, but this match-up should be a fun one to watch with the Nuggets' big guys playing as well as they have been defensively recently.

• Will Poppovich play any of his regular starters? Last season, when the Spurs were a little banged up and it seemed clear that the Nuggets were playing at a higher level overall, Coach Pop decided to hold out his best 3 players in a ploy to keep Denver from gaining a psychological edge by beating a full-strength Spurs team. The plan backfired big time when that game turned out to be the difference in playoff seeding at the end of the regular season. With the Nuggets firing on all cylinders at the moment and the Spurs still finding their groove, are there any other mind games that Pop has up his sleeves? It will be interesting to see.

• Can the Nuggets prove that they are winners on the road? Much has been made of Denver's "struggles" away from the Pepsi Center this season, but as you can tell by the quotation marks, I don't subscribe to this line of thinking. While they have yet to see many of the NBA's elite, logistically, the Nuggets schedule has been ridiculous to start the year. 3 of the 4 road losses came against solid teams on the Nuggets 6 game road trip that contained 3 sets of back-to-back games, the other road loss being the indefensible loss to the Clippers at the Staple's Center. I contend that the Nuggets have yet to have a chance to really prove what kind of road team they're going to be this season, and tonight's contest will go a long way towards showing us that.

And finally, the most important question of all...

• What sounds better, Manu Bartokomous or Balki Ginobili? And as a secondary question, who would his "Larry Appleton" be? As for the initial question, Balki Ginobili clearly has a better sound and flow to it, but Manu Bartokomous tends to make the absurdity of the name a little more clear. Maybe I'll go with Balku Bartokonobili. For the second question, you could say it's Tony Parker because they're partners in crime, or Coach Pop because he's always telling him what to do. Personally though, I'm going with Tim Duncan since the "Tim Duncan Face" reminds me a lot of Larry Appleton's expressions of exasperation.

• Pop Culture Bonus Question for readers: What popular sit-com was a direct offshoot of Perfect Stranger?

I won't be able to post a Recap after the game tonight, so I'm hoping that the answers to all of these questions will be evident by the time the final buzzer sounds. I think this is a good match up for us at this point, we have the bigs to limit Duncan and protect the rim against Parker, we have a stopper in Afflalo to limit Ginobili, and I think Melo will have a much easier time guarding Richard Jefferson than Jefferson will trying to stop Melo. It's looking good on paper and hopefully tonight we'll see a passing of the torch as the Spurs, despite their best off-season efforts give way to the new Western Conference powerhouse, our Denver Nuggets.

Game Prediction: Nuggets 112, Spurs 104

Nuggets vs. Heat, Dec. 3, 2009, Game Nuggets

Swaggerific!


I came into this game excited to see the Nuggets get their first real test in a really long time. It was not to be. Despite some extremely sloppy offensive play, the Nugs willed themselves to another blowout victory with opportunistic defense and smart 3 point shooting. The jumpers didn't fall often, but the 3's that they did make were wide open and very timely. It's late and it's hard to think of much to say after yet another 4th Quarter comprised entirely of garbage time, so I'll get straight to the Game Nuggetz:

• I was watching the TNT broadcast, but early on, I'm pretty sure I heard Scott Hastings yelling something about "boxing out."

• Arron Afflalo continues to impress. D Wade never looked comfortable in this game and holding him to two made shots in the 1st half went a long way towards setting the tone.

• I don't think i've ever seen the Nuggets with a double digit lead going into the half when they're shooting less than 40%
  

• This is probably the first game I've seen the Nugs shoot poorly from the outside in a blowout win. Hopefully they realize they can still dominate teams even when the jumpers are missing the mark.

• For the second straight game, the Nuggets bigs dominated the paint. Nene went with the soft lay-ins more than I would like to see (and missed a handful of them), but overall, Nene, K Mart and Birdman absolutely owned the area under both hoops.

• Birdman turned in his second impressive performance in as many games, so hopefully his health issues are behind him and he can get back to his form from last year.

• Chauncey's shot wasn't falling, but he still managed to get to the free throw line, get Chalmers in foul trouble and distribute the ball in a way that helped the O more than hurt it.

• He had to play a few extra minutes to get it, but Melo continues to be the only player in the NBA to score at least 20 points in every game this season, and he got it on a dagger 3 pointer early in the 4th.
  

• One way to save up your energy for the playoffs is apparently to play well enough to rest your starters every 4th Quarter.

• Lawson seems to be adapting his game more and more as the season goes on. He's not forcing as many shots and getting stuck in the paint as often as he was a few weeks ago. It's hard to imagine just how good he may turn out to be, especially considering the extended learning curve for most point guards entering the league.

• The end-of-the-bench players looked a whole lot more organized during garbage time tonight. Maybe it was the opponent, or the fact that it was the second time in two games they've played an entire quarter, but they looked like they were willing to be patient offensively and let the scoring chances come to them instead of forcing things.

• They're defense, on the other hand, looked terrible.

In Summary:

It was another boooooooring win, but every win counts the same in the standings, and it's especially rewarding in that it came against a team that had just gone into Portland and knocked off probably our biggest division rival. None of the backcourt players played particularly well tonight and i'm hoping that these defensively induced blowouts become a trend. Nene, K Mart and Birdman are beginning to look and play like a much more formidable frontcourt than anyone expected as they make up for being somewhat undersized with their unparalleled athleticism. It was a nice, unexpected easy win tonight and i hope it provides the Nugs with enough momentum to start off this coming road trip the right way. There's no question the incentive will be there as their next stop is in San Antonio to play a Spurs team that just gave Boston all they could handle tonight and will be hungry for a win back on their home-court. The opportunities to prove that they're for real have been few and far between for this Nuggets team since the Lakers game, so I'm very excited to see what's in store on Saturday.

Until next time, good night and Go Nugz!

Nuggets vs. Warriors, Dec. 1, 2009 Game Nuggetz

They say the Warriors can't play defense. I happen to agree.

It was a worrisome 1st Quarter, but it didn't take long for this game to turn into the runaway victory for the Nuggets that it was supposed to be. There were a couple occasions where the Nugs got into a "jumpshooting contest" as Scott Hastings likes to call it, but they soon remembered that they're a whole lot bigger, stronger and more talented than the Warriors. Golden State has surprised a few teams over the past week, but they didn't seem to have anything left in the tank in the 2nd half and had absolutely no answer for the Nuggets trio of big guys. Here are a few Game Nuggetz:

• The Nuggets immediately attacked in the paint with Nene. Mikki Moore just has no chance of defending Nene 1-on-1.

• After some success inside, the rest of the Nuggets decided to see if their jumpers were falling. They weren't.

• Vlad Rad hit some shots early and looked to be heating up. Fortunately he went ice cold soon after.

• Anthony Morrow to the referee after fouling Melo: "What am I supposed to do?"

• Horrible start on both ends for the Nugs, allowing easy buckets defensively and relying on jumpers offensively.

• Great finish to the 1st Quarter with great defensive plays followed by excellent fast break offense got the Nugs right back in the game.

• Nuggets open the 2nd Quarter with Lawson, Billups, Afflalo, Junior Smith and Birdman. I like the creativity, but I don't necessarily like that the Warriors are the ones setting the tone for the game.

• Nuggets got back to attacking the hoop in the 2nd and the Warriors only hung around early because their jumpers were falling.

• Nene and Birdman are dominating the post defensively, every drive to the hoop is contested if not flat out blocked.

• Ty Lawson was the best player on the court in the 2nd Quarter, making plays all over the place.

• The Nuggets extended the lead to 19 with solid passing and movement for easy hoops.

• The Nugs tried exchanging 3's with Golden State to end the first half and managed to turn a 22 pt lead into a 14 point lead at the half.

• The Nugs came out in the second half looking to re-establish their dominance in the paint going to Nene or K-Mart, whichever one happened to be more open.

• Nuggets showed a lot of patience offensively as well, not forcing shots and working the clock until an easy shot opened up

• Golden State looked totally beat coming out of the gate in the 2nd Half Sloppy on offense with unforced turnovers and very little movement on defense as the Nugs made it look like a scrimmage.

• The Warriors shooting went cold and the Nuggets played hard all the way through the 3rd Quarter despite maintaining a 20-25 point lead throughout.

• Denver broke the Taco Barrier tonight with 2:30 left in the 3rd Quarter on a free throw by Chauncey.

• As baffled as Morrow was by guarding Melo, I'm surprised they thought he'd be able to guard K-Mart.

• The 4th Quarter was pretty unremarkable as the Nuggets bench took care of business against Golden State's exhausted short rotation.

• All 12 of the Nuggets players that entered the game managed to score at least one basket.

The bottom line tonight is that all of the starters and main rotation players played extremely well tonight, including Junior Smith who's starting to learn that he can have a positive impact on a game without doing much scoring. While you can't get to worked up about taking care of business against a tired-shorthanded team at home, it's nice to see the Nuggets get back into a bit of a rhythm with Miami coming to town on Thursday and a big game in San Antonio on Saturday. As teams focus more on stopping Melo, it's going to open things up in the paint for Denver's bigs and they definitely took advantage of that tonight. Until next time...

Good night and Go Nugs!

Nuggets vs. Knicks, Nov. 27, 2009, Game Nuggetz

"We didn't take a step forward tonight, but I don't think we took a step back."

-George Karl

I think that quote from Coach George pretty much sums up the game. It was a weird game from start to finish. The players all seemed more or less disinterested defensively and unfocused overall, the referees seemed like their minds and whistles were elsewhere and if it weren't for the incredible offensive output of Carmelo (50 pts), Billups (32 pts) and Al Harrington (41 pts), this game would have been completely forgettable.

Here are some Game Nuggetz:

• As sloppy as the game appeared, the teams only combined for 20 turnovers which I don't entirely believe, but that's what the box score says.

• The Nugs had 4 players with 5 or more assists in Nene, Chauncey, Melo and Lawson

• Lawson turned in a very Anthony Carter-esque performance with 2 points on 3 shots, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and no turnovers in 16 minutes. So not the difference maker we've come to know, but also provided some very effective minutes while Chauncey was catching his breath.

• Chauncey managed 8 assists along with his 32 points making it two great offensive games in a row. One more game of 20 plus points and I'll declare him back in form.

• Big Earl Smith the Third was quiet in the first half, but I like that. I think he's learning to pick his spots and that he doesn't have to start firing up 3's as soon as he comes in a game in order to be effective. He ended up with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting (4 of 6 from 3 pt range), 2 assists and no turnovers.

• Both Nene and K-Mart had 11 rebounds. They were the only two that ever showed signs of life on the glass, but even with that being said, with the amount of possesions and missed shots in the game, even they could have done a better job rebounding.

• Nene was the beneficiary of a few more nifty passes from Melo tonight, although the Knicks seemed a little better prepared against the interior passing than any other team has so far this season.

• Nene also continues to throw down powerful dunks. The only time I saw him fade away from the hoop in the lane, he had his shot blocked, so let's hope he learns from that.

• Afflalo only made two shots tonight, but I continue to be impressed with his shot selection and silky smooth jump shot. It's far from a quick release, but with all the firepower the Nuggets have offensively, I think he'll continue to have plenty of time to get his shots off.

• For the first time in a long time, Karl seems to have settled on a pretty standard 8-man rotation with Afllalo joining Melo, K-Mart, Nene and Chauncey as starters and the Treacherous Trio of Birdman, ES3 and Lawson off the bench. In 82 games, they'll need to have some help from the end of the bench, but it's nice to have a group of guys you can count on each night.
  

• I wasn't too worried about the 1st Quarter when the Knicks were torrid from 3-pt land, but was surprised at how easily they drove to the hoop from that point on. I have no idea why this happened.

• I really have no idea what was going on with the refs tonight. Maybe it's just that it was the day after Thanksgiving, but they were allowing all sorts of contact under the hoop for most of the game, then started calling touch fouls on the perimeter every once in a while and overall did an absolutely horrible job tonight on both ends. The Nugs benefitted as much as it hurt them, so I can't be too mad about it, but it was defnitely strange.

• I remember the last time Melo had a chance to score 50 he was triple teamed away from the ball in the final seconds just to make sure he didn't do it, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that this game remained close in the final quarter. I agree with Coach George that Melo's 50 point effort wont last long as his personal best, but it's nice to see him eclipse the half century mark on a night when he was scoring in every way possible. He was hitting jump shots, lay-ups, breakaway dunks, put-back dunks off of offensive rebounds and just as importantly, especially in the 4th quarter, he was great from the line tonight. Along with his 5 boards and 5 assists, the 50 pts are telling me that it's finally safe to say that Carmelo is beginning to realize his immense potential as an NBA players. Hopefully this is just another jumping off point for him.

In summary:

Not much to learn about the team in this strange game, but hopefully it's just a taste of things to come for Chauncey and Melo.

Good night and Go Nugz!

Nuggets vs. Nets, Nov. 24, 2009 Game Recap

We're not #1!

Despite an ominous beginning, the Nugs got it together defensively about halfway through the 1st quarter to break the fragile will of this young Nets team and cruise to their 10th victory of the season in 14 games while leaving the Nets searching for their first victory of the season. I was afraid that the early lead might jump-start the confidence of the New Jersey players after such an awful start to their year, but after the first dose of adversity, their energy level dropped off a cliff. I can imagine after losing 13 games in a row, then going on the road to face one of the NBA's top teams, it can be pretty frustrating once that team heats up and builds a double-digit lead in the first half. All that being said, the Nets have a few nice, young players to build around for the future in Devin Harris, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Brook Lopez. They have a long way to go, but having a solid backcourt and center is a good place to start.

I didn't get to watch the first 3 quarters, but judging by Jerry Schemmel's solid radio commentary, I can make a few observations. One is that it was nice hearing how often Nene was dunking the ball. It's extremely frustrating that a player with so much athletic ability and that is so physically imposing decides to finish so many drives to the hoop with soft lay-ins that are often blocked or just as often missed when there's contact in the lane. Nene is clearly at his best when he's throwing down emphatic jams. Another is that Melo continues to showcase his playmaking ability on fast breaks as well as passing out of double-teams. It's very nice to see and hopefully that aspect of Melo's game continues to develop throughout the season. It's also nice to see Melo continue to be an incredibly efficient scorer, finishing with 27 points on 18 shots tonight, including some incredible drives to the hoop through a variety of Nets players.

While their was a distinct lack of energy in the game tonight, I can't be too hard on the Nuggets for lacking a killer instinct. These guys have to feel for each other, and there's no bad blood as far as I know between any of the players on either team, so it's gotta be hard to really pour it on against a team that's had such a tough start.

The final score was good enough for me, and I'm also pretty happy that the Nuggets most dominating performance of the season so far is still the first game I made it up to the Pepsi Center for against the Lakers and that's all I have to say about that.

Good night, and go Nugs!

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!

A Dream Fulfilled and A Game 3 Preview/Prediction Posted

I don't have much time to post a preview today as I'm DJ'ing a wedding today in an hour and 15 minutes under the alias "DJ JD aka The Palindrome", but I wanted to throw up a quick post for a couple reasons.

One is that this could be the #1 game in the history of Nuggets' hoops.  I realize we throw around superlatives like crazy these days, in fact, this might be the most superlativest time in history, but I still think that with all the elements involved, this could be the most exciting NBA game ever played in Denver.  I had to switch out my ticket for tonight's game thanks to my DJ gig, but I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in the Can this evening.  I feel confident that the Nuggets will take care of business.  It will be another hard fought game, but I don't think this one comes down to the last shot:  Denver 112 - LA 104. 

Now on to the second, and most personally exciting reason for this post.  A friend of mine directed me to this story in the Denver Post about Linas Kleiza.  In my initial post I spoke of my intention for this blog.  Above all of the normal things I wanted to get out of this blog was the dispersal of my favorite nicknames that nobody else was using: Linas the Menace and The Blankman (Renaldo Balkman).  After seeing Linas the Menace used in the comment section of a Denver Post story online, I was pretty happy, but this...  this is a dream come true.  An objective completed.  It's in print.  It may not be my story, but my nickname has been published and I'm hoping that's just the beginning.  I suspect it will catch on like wildfire, especially if the Menace's hot shooting continues tonight.  I'm glad you could all be a part of this special moment.

I'm the luckiest man in the world!

Any Questions? (WCF Game 2 Nuggetz)

None from me thank you.  The biggest remaining question for this squad was how would they respond to adversity in the playoffs?  Very well, thank you very much.  There's still a long way to go, but I think it's safe to say that Thursday night's win solidifies Denver's status as a championship contender, and I think we're in for a very entertaining Western Conference Finals.

• Much like Games 3 and 4 in the Dallas series, the recaps for Games 1 and 2 in this series can essentially be flippy-floppied.


• Carmelo was the most efficient scorer in Game 1, but was outdone by Kobe in crunch time and ended up scoring just a little bit less for the game.


• Kobe was the most efficient scorer in Game 2, but was outdone by Carmelo in crunch time and ended up scoring just a little bit less for the game.


• Who's the hungriest player on the court in this series?  Without question it's Melo.  Nobody else comes close.  Whichever area he's focused on, whether it's scoring, rebounding, defending or whatever, he seems to will his way to success.


• Second place goes to Pau Gasol, whose rebounding and dare I say, tough interior play, is keeping these games from being double-digit losses for the Lakers.


• Nene looks like the old Pau Gasol, flopping for fouls, occasionally dominant, but usually confused by the different beast that is NBA Playoff basketball.


• Forget the Playoffs, welcome to the 2008/2009 NBA season Linas "the Menace" Kleiza!


• Miraculously, the Nuggets were paced offensively, until Melo's scoring outburst, by Linas the Menace and Kenyon Martin.  Without their scoring, the Nugs go down by at least 20 early in the first half.


• I'm starting to think Mark Warkentein and Rex Chapman decided to assemble this team around the mold of Melo's NCAA Champion Syracuse Orange team with Chauncey playing the part of Gerry McNamara and the freakishly athletic Birdman playing the part of the freakishly athletic Hakim Warrick.  Here's to hoping the NBA Finals end with Birdman blocking an attempted 3-point shot.


• I have to admit I was absolutely frightened when I realized that both Steve "Jobbed Me" Javie and Dick "I hope he doesn't hurt himself" Bavetta were working this game together.  Fortunately each seemed to be favoring one team or the other, so it worked itself out in the end.  Apparently sometimes two wrongs do make a right.


• I haven't felt my heart beating as fast as it was in the last two minutes of this game in avery long time.  I'm not sure if that's a testament to the exciting finish, or to my lack of cardiovascular training, but I'm pretty sure it was the finish.


• Gasol and Odom got their share of uncontested putbacks, but this time the Nuggets countered by crashing the glass on their end just as hard.

With the series shifting back to Denver, I expect we'll see a little better production out of the Nugget's energy guys off the bench.  So I think Birdman, Junior and AC will all see a boost in the next two games.  If anything, I think Kobe will be even better in the Pepsi Center as he seems to revel in quieting rowdy fans on the road, but I do think guys like Ariza, Shannon Brown, Bynum and even the emotionally unsteady Lamar Odom could be affected.  So I'm expecting to see the games remain closely contested based on the play of Kobe and Gasol, but the bench play at home will give the Nuggets the overall edge.

And so it begins...

Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, no teams dominated like the Cavs and the Nuggets.  Cleveland barely broke a sweat winning both series' in the minimum 8 games.  Denver let their oppponents hang around a couple times, but ultimately posted the largest scoring margin through the first two rounds in playoff history.

You hear a lot about how a playoff series doesn't begin until a team wins on the road.  Well I say the playoffs have just begun for these two teams after tasting defeat for the first time early in a series.  I haven't followed the Cavs reaction much after their devastating loss, but I've been very impressed with Denver's maturity and professionalism following Tuesday night's last-minute defeat.

This is the first dose of adversity and the first true test of the 2009 playoffs for both of these teams.  Cleveland has much more reason to be scared after losing on their home-court, but they also have the best player in basketball, so you can't be too worried.  Denver is much more of a wildcard.  Many "experts" probably expect a significant drop-off from the Nuggets' Game 1 effort and enthusiasm, but everything I've seen so far the spring tells me that's not going to be the case.  Denver lost a game in New Orleans by two that it could have won, they lost a game in Dallas by two that they should have won and now the same thing has happened in Los Angeles.

The only difference this time around is that it happened in Game 1 instead of Game 3 or 4, so if recent history tells me anything, it's that not only will there not be a drop-off, but there will be a significant increase in focus, effort and team-play.  Keeping in mind the current opponent is undoubtedly more talented than Dallas or New Orleans, I still see Game 2 as a great chance for Denver to get a win on the road and even their playoff road record at 3-3.  A win tonight would be a great way to swing some momentum as the series shifts to Denver where the Nuggets have been unbeatable for over 2 months now.  It would make the Lakers think a little more about how many games they've played over the last couple weeks.  It would make the Lakers think a little more about how the altitude is going to affect their tired legs.  It would be just what the Nuggets need to take control of a series that most "experts" are now ready to hand right back to LA.

If I can see these things, then the Denver Nugget organization can clearly see these things and the players will be well prepared for a game that holds a wild amount of significance for this team.  With a couple home games coming before a return to Staples Center, by no means do I think this series will be over if the Nuggets can't pull out a victory tonight, but a win tonight will provide a significant boost throughout the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to watching this team respond to their first real challenge of the playoffs.

I don't see Melo scoring 40 tonight, but I see the bench playing much stronger.  Kobe may score 40 again, but I don't see Fisher and Ariza hitting every significant 3-pointer that they take.  Gasol, Odom and Bynum may have better offensive performances, but I don't see them dominating the offensive glass the way they did in Game 1 and most importantly, I don't see the Nuggets choking away another chance for victory in Game 2.  When the game is on the line, the ball will be in Billups or Melo's hands and if that's the case, I like our chances.

Game 2 Prediction: Denver 111 - Los Angeles 104

Western Conference Finals Preview

This is how it should be.

As nice as it would have been to take on a depleted Rockets team, keep home-court advantage and sweep through the Western Conference Playoffs as the favorite in every round, this is the match-up the Nuggets needed in order to be taken serious as a contender.

Much has been said of Denver's easy path to Round 3 of the 2009 Playoffs, and about how they have yet to really deal with any adversity, but I think that's more due to the performance of the Nuggets rather than the shortcomings of their opponents.  New Orleans was clearly not playing great hoops in the first round, but I would certainly take them in a 7-game series with the tanking Jazz team that took on the Lakers in Round 1.  Dallas didn't look up to the challenge against Denver, but had been playing their best ball of the season leading up and in to their first round victory over San Antonio.  There's no question in my mind that Dallas would have been able to knock off the McGrady and Yao-less Rockets in less than the 7 games it took L.A.

We've been watching a Denver Nuggets team that has embraced and conquered every challenge laid in their path this post-season, and playing the Lakers will just be the next on the list.  I don't doubt the talent that Los Angeles brings to the table.  Their front-line is very formidble and it will take the best effort from Denver's big guys to match up with them.  Phil Jackson will not be rattled in the way Rick Carlisle was, and will have his team prepared as far as X's and O's. Kobe is easily the best all-around talent in the Western Conference and won't be settling for fall-away jump shots nearly as often as Dirk was, but I think these are the things that will keep this Nuggets team focused.  

My biggest worry in the playoffs has been how the Nuggets will respond to their continuing success.  All season long, they've been able to play the "Nobody Believes In Us" card, and matching up with the Lakers will allow that to continue for a little while longer.  Denver only managed one victory over L.A. in the regular season, but if you look at the line-ups in each of the 4 games, you'll see that one team or the other had somebody significant missing in each game.  The season-opener came before the Billups trade and before Dahntay Jones had made his way into the starting lineup; the second game featured Vlad Radmonovic starting for LA and Birdman missing the game for Denver; game 3, Denver's dominating victory came with Bynum sitting out and the final regular season game was played without Kenyon Martin, who is unquestionably the Nuggets' defensive spark plug.

There's no more time for excuses now.  It doesn't matter who's hurt, who's tired, who got the better match-ups and who didn't, it's all about showing it on the court.  The Lakers have been written into the Finals in ink since the start of the season, and they've been playing as if they believe it's a foregone conclusion so far in the playoffs as well.  Denver has yet to fall behind in a 2009 playoff game by more than 11 and has yet to lose a 2009 playoff game by more than 2.  I don't expect either of those numbers to stand up throughout this next series, but just as the Nuggets' play has remained consistent, my series prediction will stay the same as I'm looking forward to stealing one of these first two in the Staples Center and continuing the dominant play at home:  

Nuggets in 6.