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.