Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Three out could mean three and out
Without Kenyon Martin, Tywon Lawson and George Karl the Nuggets will end their legitimacy run at three years.
To be clear, most know that I think George Karl is a mediocre coach - at best. So, his illness / absence in itself doesn't hurt us, but the fact that Adrian Dantley could have to captain the ship is terrifying. He might be the most ill equipped first assistant in the league.
Kenyon being on the shelf is a killer. He needs to play for at least the last two weeks of the regular season, in order to be an asset for the playoffs. And that doesn't look likely. This absence is sad because Kenyon is the team's MIP and backbone. Without him, the team is out in the second round.
The fact that Nuggets couldn't land a big man at the deadline is now a major problem. Imagine if Warkentien had been able to bring in Tyrus Thomas? We'd still be in the catbird seat.
Now, we're looking at the 4th seed in the west and a mediocre season. No one would have predicted that three weeks ago.
To be clear, most know that I think George Karl is a mediocre coach - at best. So, his illness / absence in itself doesn't hurt us, but the fact that Adrian Dantley could have to captain the ship is terrifying. He might be the most ill equipped first assistant in the league.
Kenyon being on the shelf is a killer. He needs to play for at least the last two weeks of the regular season, in order to be an asset for the playoffs. And that doesn't look likely. This absence is sad because Kenyon is the team's MIP and backbone. Without him, the team is out in the second round.
The fact that Nuggets couldn't land a big man at the deadline is now a major problem. Imagine if Warkentien had been able to bring in Tyrus Thomas? We'd still be in the catbird seat.
Now, we're looking at the 4th seed in the west and a mediocre season. No one would have predicted that three weeks ago.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Dallas Could Win Out
It's extremely hard to see how the Nuggets could edge Dallas for the 2nd spot in the West given their creampuff end of season schedule. As hot as they are it's hard to imagine them losing more than 1 or 2 of these games. At this point a healthy roster and home court in the first round would appear to be best case scenario for our Nuggets.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Nice Work Renaldo
Not that it matters, but is jacking four 3's in your first 6 minutes of playing time in the last century a good way to build confidence in the coaching staff? Nice work.
All in all however, a nice win built on the back of aggressive if not gambling defense, disruptive flow, and completely shutting down Durant. Although there were certainly some very irresponsible possessions.
Either it was a great win, or it was yet another team trying to win in Denver on the business end of a back-to-back that started on the West coast.
Not a new opinion here but: the NBA really needs to do something about the back-to-back issue, even if it's just leveling the playing field a bit during scheduling. The coach that can figure out how to win back-to-backs will have a big advantage.
All in all however, a nice win built on the back of aggressive if not gambling defense, disruptive flow, and completely shutting down Durant. Although there were certainly some very irresponsible possessions.
Either it was a great win, or it was yet another team trying to win in Denver on the business end of a back-to-back that started on the West coast.
Not a new opinion here but: the NBA really needs to do something about the back-to-back issue, even if it's just leveling the playing field a bit during scheduling. The coach that can figure out how to win back-to-backs will have a big advantage.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Billups Career High is 40
Despite what "reputable news sources" like the Denver Post and AP keep repeatedly reporting, Billups career high is 40 points and was with Detroit, not Denver.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Nuggets 2010 Campaign: Thoughts at the Break
I think this team is slightly better, a bit more consistent than last year's team. Particularly, Billups and KMart are having two of the better seasons of their careers, if not the best. Melo has improved offensively (hard to believe that is possible) and continues to become more well rounded. He still however has lapses on defense from time to time.
The acquisition of Afflalo for D. Jones stands out as probably the biggest source of improvement in this year's team in my opinion. Afflalo plays cleaner and equally intense defense relative to Jones, while adding a deadly outside shooting threat.
Nene has had a great season, particularly from a participation standpoint. His normal rash of suspicious injuries has not materialized this year and he has played in every single game. However, there remain aspects of his game that nag at the diehard fans. Inconsistency in finishing strong. Disappearing for entire halves. Questionable defense and rebounding at times. At times, when you measure his physical presence against his influence on the game, it seems he should dominate more. His shot selection remains one of his biggest strengths, he rarely takes a bad shot.
Chemistry wise, the team seems to be doing well and most players know and fit in to their role. Since the suspension-threat-incident, JR seems to be listening to Karl a bit more, with fewer absurd shots although he continues to struggle to find any semblance of consistency from the perimeter.
How will this season wind up? Catching the Lakers for the first spot seems impossible at this point. There are several teams in the West that could get hot and contend for the #2 spot, namely Dallas or Utah. But looking at these squads, it seems unlikely that either will outshine Denver in the run up to the playoffs. Both teams have some serious weaknesses that will become even more problematic as the season progresses.
The most obvious question at this point seems to be: can Denver beat LA in a 7 game series on the road. It's hard at this point to make a case that such a series would have any different outcome than last season. The good news is the Nuggets have been good this season at getting up for big games, and if they entered a series with the Lakers both healthy and hot, it could go either way.
The acquisition of Afflalo for D. Jones stands out as probably the biggest source of improvement in this year's team in my opinion. Afflalo plays cleaner and equally intense defense relative to Jones, while adding a deadly outside shooting threat.
Nene has had a great season, particularly from a participation standpoint. His normal rash of suspicious injuries has not materialized this year and he has played in every single game. However, there remain aspects of his game that nag at the diehard fans. Inconsistency in finishing strong. Disappearing for entire halves. Questionable defense and rebounding at times. At times, when you measure his physical presence against his influence on the game, it seems he should dominate more. His shot selection remains one of his biggest strengths, he rarely takes a bad shot.
Chemistry wise, the team seems to be doing well and most players know and fit in to their role. Since the suspension-threat-incident, JR seems to be listening to Karl a bit more, with fewer absurd shots although he continues to struggle to find any semblance of consistency from the perimeter.
How will this season wind up? Catching the Lakers for the first spot seems impossible at this point. There are several teams in the West that could get hot and contend for the #2 spot, namely Dallas or Utah. But looking at these squads, it seems unlikely that either will outshine Denver in the run up to the playoffs. Both teams have some serious weaknesses that will become even more problematic as the season progresses.
The most obvious question at this point seems to be: can Denver beat LA in a 7 game series on the road. It's hard at this point to make a case that such a series would have any different outcome than last season. The good news is the Nuggets have been good this season at getting up for big games, and if they entered a series with the Lakers both healthy and hot, it could go either way.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
They Don't Break'em Like That Anymore
Do you remember when future Nugget Jerome Lane destroyed the backboard in a college game? I do. The best part about this is Jerome's ability to "act like you've been there before" even though of course he hadn't. Let this be a lesson to all of us: when you aggressively rip the iron clean out of the glass, go ahead and walk away, don't look back, and act like it's not that big of a deal.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My favorite Nugget, Abdul Rauf, Speaks
As my friend said so perfectly: Rauf does something religious-conscience-based and basically loses his very good career over it; Tebow does something religious-conscience-based and gets a Super Bowl ad.
Read here.
Read here.
Birdman 2009/10 notes
> Highly inconsistent effort/energy on both ends, from night to night and play to play
> Last guy down the court on most plays, running "gingerly" - lingering health issues? Need him for the playoffs
> Overall defensive liability most nights
> Will purchase any pump fake, any time, from any one
> Jumper and free throws seem to have improved
> Jury is still out on whether his contract was a huge mistake
> Last guy down the court on most plays, running "gingerly" - lingering health issues? Need him for the playoffs
> Overall defensive liability most nights
> Will purchase any pump fake, any time, from any one
> Jumper and free throws seem to have improved
> Jury is still out on whether his contract was a huge mistake
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
