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. 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!

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.

Dunkfest 2: Electric Boogaloo (Round 2, Game 2 Nuggetz)

Excellent performance by nearly the entire team tonight, hell, even Linas the Menace got into the action a bit. It was a somewhat sloppy first half for both teams, an excellent 3rd quarter that was everything I've been expecting of this series and another unbelievably dominant 4th quarter for this Nuggets team. Great to hear the Pepsi Center rockin' on national TV.

On to the Nuggetz:

• I started watching this game part-way through the 1st quarter when the score was tied 14-14 as I was busy being dressed up as the Monopoly Man's evil twin and chased around by 20 6th graders demanding I return their brownies.  All part of the job as an educator I suppose. 

• Dirk got his points again, but he seems entirely unable to score any points against Denver's post players.  He's got an ugly shot to begin with, but it seems to get uglier as the game goes on, and more importantly, it stops going in.

• With apologies to Nene, who had a great first half, JR Smith was the reason the Nuggets went into the second half with a lead.  He settled a little too much for his outside jumper for my liking, but once again he showed off his all-around play and decision making.  Other than his terrible shot that lead to Jason Kidd's half-ending 3-pointer, JR was spectacular.

• It was very disappointing to lose Josh Howard for the game, he's a solid player and I would have loved to have gotten to see him battle with Melo.  Hopefully the long break will get him enough rest to make another appearance in this series.

• I've been very surprised at the Denver defensive approach this series so far.  They have shown absolutely no desire to fight through screens and seem content to switch out and play out the rest of the shot clock with those match-ups.  Other than an equally surprising switch to zone early in the 3rd quarter, this has been the base defense and somehow has kept Dallas out of the paint for the most part.

• One area I'd like to see Denver improve in as they head into Dallas is defensive focus coming out of timeouts.  I didn't keep track, but it seemed like every time Dallas came out of a time out, they got an easy hoop or free throws.

• JJ Barea seems completely uncomfortable out there in this series.  Denver's guards are quick enough to stay with him, and the bigs are too intimidating in the post for him to even attempt a shot in the paint.

• I think I would have reacted in exactly the same way Kenyon Martin did when Ryan Hollins was cupping his pectorals.  The commentators seemed convinced that Hollins was holding him up, but I'm pretty sure KMart would have been just fine without the Purple Nurple perpetrated on him by Hollins.

• The Nuggets seemed to lose defensive focus in the second quarter and for much of the third.  It's amazing that they manage to hold on to these leads when they give Dallas so many easy buckets in the middle of the game.

• Other than a couple bursts of 3 pointers, the Nuggets continue to be cold from the outside.  It's a testament to their aggressive offensive play that they're able to stay-in, and even dominate these games at certain points with very little production coming from 15 or more feet out.

• The Mavs' bench should be happy with how they played tonight.  They were badly outplayed in Game 1 and were one of the reasons it was such a dominating performance by the Nuggets, but tonight, the Mavs' bench had the energy level and production that should be expected out of them.

• If I weren't emotionally tied to either team, I would consider tonight's 3rd quarter the best ball of the series.  Both teams were going to their bread and butter and were successful.  The Nugs were attacking and pounding the ball into the paint and the Mavs were moving the ball around the perimeter and hitting open shots.

• There were times tonight when the Nuggets seemed content with not challenging Dallas' shooters and it seemed like every time that happened, the Dallas player nailed the shot.

• Every time these two teams have moved into a fast-paced transition-style game, the Nuggets seem to pull away.  I don't know if it's the athleticism or what, but I think the Mavs only hope is to slow the game down.  I realize that's not how they like to play, but I just don't see them having any chance to match Denver in the transition game.

• Every single one of the Denver Nuggets should be proud of how they played in the 4th quarter.  It seemed like on every possession, somebody new was stepping up to make a great play, from AC, to JR, to Melo, Birdman and everyone else.

• AC is quietly having a great postseason.  He's doing everything we could hope for from a backup point guard.

• Gutty performance by Melo in every sense of the word.  Clearly in pain, Melo was not afraid to do the dirty work tonight.  Whether he got it or not, Melo was in the paint fighting for rebounds and fighting through defenders on his way to the rim.

• Least believable comment of the night: "It's Really Funny."  This is what PJ Carlissimo said in response to the promo for Meet the Browns.  Maybe he really is a big fan, but I just don't believe it.

• When the Nuggets went on their 16-2 run to start the 4th quarter, they only took one shot from more than 15 feet out.  It was a miss from just outside the foul line by Carmelo.  Maybe Denver should just give up on jump shots until Dallas proves they can defend the paint.

• Somebody should tell Ryan Hollins that his team was losing a playoff game by 17 points when he celebrated his emphatic dunk.

• If the game had ended with 4 minutes remaining, my final score prediction would have been very good.  Turns out, my final score prediction was not very good tonight.

• As impressive as they've been playing and as much respect as the TNT crew is showing this team, I don't think I'll be content until the national broadcasters learn how to pronounce Linas Kleiza's name.
  

Final Nugget:

Another impressive 4th quarter performance by the Nuggets and another impressive playoff victory.  Normally a team can expect to shoot the ball a little worse when they head out on the road, but I don't think that's possible for this Nuggets team.  I expect that they'll actually be a little looser on offense as they head into Dallas as they wont be pressing to impress the hometown fans.  The main thing I'll be watching for is if the defensive intensity is there when the crowd isn't there to back them up.  They did it in New Orleans, so there's no reason to think they wont be just as focused as they head into their first road games of the second round, but I'm still not totally sold.  I don't think Dallas will fade in the 4th like they have in Denver once they get back to their home court, so it'll be important for the Nuggets to jump out to a big lead if possible to take the crowd and confidence out the arena.

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.

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...

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.