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.

Round Deux, Game 5 Recap

Wow, what a night to be in the Pepsi Center.

Getting past the first round was fun, but there was an unbelievable amount of energy flowing through the Can all through the 4th quarter and well past the final buzzer.

With a record attendance that nearly topped the 20,000 mark, every shot attempt, every defensive stop by Melo or KMart on Dirk, every time somebody entered or left the game, the crowd was ready to erupt and every time it seemed like it couldn't get any better, with it all culminating on Junior Smith's alley-oop pass to KMart for a dunk that gives new meaning to the word "emphatic."

It was an epic journey.

When I say that, I'm not speaking about the game, series or playoff run. I'm not talking about the evolution of the Carmelo-era Nuggets. I'm talking about how I got to the game.

Having purchased the tickets on ticketmaster, I selected the "pick-up at a retail location" option since will-call didn't seem to be an option anymore. Before braving the 2.5 hour drive to Denver, I made sure to look up a few Ticketmaster retail outlets around Denver to give me some options. With traffic the way it was, I managed to get into my usualy parking lot next to Old Chicago at 14th and Market. From there I figured it was a short jaunt over to 16th and California where I thought I'd be able to snag my ticket before heading back to the Can. Much to my surprise, the Denver Visitor's Bureau was all locked up for the evening. This was disappointing as I believed the next closest outlet was at a record store up around Colfax and Ogden. I make the walk up that direction and come to the realization that the record store I walked to was in fact not the record store that was a Ticketmaster outlet. After checking out some street signs, I realize I have a good 15 blocks yet to go. I finally reach Twist & Shout up next to the Tattered Cover bookstore, make my way back to the back cashier and he tells me that since the game has started, my ticket will be at Will Call.

Oh.

I was lucky enough to catch a cab back with a cabby that was a fan, so I got to listen to the first half of the second quarter on the radio anyway and made it into my seat for the last 5 minutes of the half.

Anyway, now that I've rehashed the highs and lows of my evening, I'll try to throw together some thoughts on the series' past and future:

• Denver has now taken two teams that played strong in the powerful Western Conference and made them look like fringe playoff teams.


• At some point, maybe it's time to give some credit to the Nuggets instead of bashing the other team.


• I like the idea of Mark Cuban crashing into a Maverick's halftime huddle giving Will Farrell's "We've got to keep our composure!" speech from Old School.


• Speaking of Cuban, it's very convenient that he had a previously scheduled event to attend this evening. I wonder where he'd have been if this game had been played in Dallas.


• Regardless of who the Nuggets play next, I would love to see them keep working on consistent defensive intensity. There have been times this series where Dallas has had absolutely no options on offense and times where the Nuggets seem fine with allowing open jumpers. Maybe facing Kobe will be enough to motivate the team throughout the next round.

I'm going to leave it at this for now as it's late and I'll be getting up early to make the 2.5 hour drive back tomorrow, but I'll also leave you with a picture I got from my seat shortly after the final seconds ticked away on the Maverick's 2009 season:

Quick Game 4 Recap

Busy day for me today, so I'll keep it simple: Read all of the Game 3 Recaps and switch the teams around.

Denver was in control of this one the whole time until the final minutes just as Dallas was in control of Game 3. Frustrating loss, but I don't see it affecting the Nugget's dominant ply at home and believe this series will be over by tomorrow evening.

The X factor was clearly the Birdman's absence. I don't think JJ Barea would have been quite so heroic had the Bird been around to swat his drives to the hoop. It could be a reason for Dirk's sudden 4th quarter prowess as well with Linas Kleiza drawing the big German on many 4th quarter possessions.

Here's a question: Wouldn't Balkman be a good option when the team is looking for someone to check Dirk the Jerk and soak up a few fouls?

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.