Hoops with Altitude

Denver is looking strong…and deep!

supersteve — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:56:12 +0000

Wow…at 5-0 the Denver Nuggets are looking like a team on a mission. So far they have started right where they left off last season. They seem to be clicking on all cylinders, at least when they want to. Denver is a team that has the ability to “flip the switch” when they need to and put teams away with defensive intensity and an attacking offense.

Last night against New Jersey, they were able to keep the game close in the first half despite Chauncey Billups going scoreless on 0-6 shooting and Carmelo Anthony going 1-11 with just 6 points. But, with Kenyon Martin’s 13 first half points and 7 rebounds they were only down by one at halftime.

Then in the third quarter, they decided to turn on the afterburners. They put up 44 third quarter points based on pressure defense, rebounding and attacking the rim on offense.

Denver’s bench outscored New Jersey’s 48-32 for the game. Led by Ty Lawson’s impressive 23 point performance, including 3-3 from beyond the arc, the Nuggets are showing that they are as deep as any team in the league. Just think about how good they will be after the return of J.R. Smith.

Overall, I think that the offensive ball movement has been sporadic. But, when it’s good, it’s really good. Their defensive rotations are looking much better since the Portland game, although they need to address their struggles in allowing offensive rebounds (17 by a week New Jersey team). They have shown that they can score almost at will, when they need to, even when Chauncey and Carmelo aren’t on their games.

The acquisition of Aaron Afflalo is looking better every game as his defense looks to rival that of Dahntay Jones from last year, only with better offensive talent to go with it. Those who doubted the shooting ability of Ty Lawson have been silenced with his 9-10 shooting performance last night.

It’s looking to me that the sky is the limit for this team. If they can keep their heads on straight and keep playing together with a common goal, they will be very hard to beat!

Nuggets game recap(s): Denver at Indiana and New Jersey

Mike — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:31:27 +0000

In the first 2 games of a pretty grueling 6 game stretch on the road, the Nuggets are off to a quick start by dispatching the Pacers and Nets in consecutive nights to improve to 5-0 on the season. This trip will consist of 2 more back to back situations for the Nuggets before they are through.

On Tuesday, Denver faced the Indiana Pacers and former team mater Dahntay Jones to begin their 6 game stretch away form the Pepsi Center. Jones was matched up against Carmelo Anthony which seemed to be a great match up as Jones is a terrific defender and we all know what Carmelo is capable of offensively.

The Nuggets started off the game quickly by outscoring the Pacers 30-13 in the first quarter. While the Pacers tightened their game up quite a bit in the second and third quarters, Denver solidified their lead in the final period to win by a final score of 111-93. The Nuggets had a complete effort by rebounding (56-44 advantage to Denver), making their free throws (80.5% to Indiana’s 75%), 3-point shooting (53.3% to 13.6%) and overall better play.

Here are my 3 stars for the game:

1. Chauncey Billups – 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 5 of 7 from behind the arc led the team to a win. Carmelo had another outstanding night but Chauncey hit some big shots when it mattered and was the floor general.

2. Carmelo Anthony – Melo finished with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. When a player has an “off night” and still drops 25 on a great defender, it is pretty damn impressive. Carmelo continues to put up great numbers and play an overall improved and more complete game.

3. Nene – 16 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists. Nene could easily be a 16 and 10 guy every night minimum and he is really coming through for the team this year. When he is on, the Nuggets are a very hard team to beat and he has been on more often than not so far in 2009.

And now onto the second game. Denver traveled to New Jersey this evening to face a winless Nets team desperate for something good to happen. Last year, Denver faced the Nets in a similar road trip and were blown out by 40 points. This time, it was a much different story.

Denver and New Jersey had a solid first half with the Nets taking a 1 point 51-50 lead into halftime. The second half however, was all Nuggets. Denver came out firing and dropped an embarrassing 44 on New Jersey in the third quarter alone. To add insult to injury, Denver outscored the Nets 28-17 in the final quarter to finish with a 122-94 victory. Revenge is sweet.

This was a total team effort and while Chauncey and Carmelo were a bit off in the first half, the team certainly came together and rallied in the second half to control the game. Every single Denver Nugget saw the floor and everyone scored, that is great to see and gives the starters some rest which they will need badly during this trip.

Here are my 3 stars for the game:

1. Ty Lawson – 23 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. He was also 3 of 3 from behind the arc, pretty good for a rookie. His 23 points led the team and this was a fantastic game for him to step up with Melo and Chauncey not playing as well as they normally do. I am so excited that this young man is a Denver Nugget, he was clearly the best player on the floor tonight.

2. Kenyon Martin – 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. Kenyon was also perfect from three point land going 2 for 2. Just like Lawson, Kenyon stepped up when he had to and helped the Nuggets destroy his former team. I am a huge Martin fan and when he is on, he is almost impossible to stop with his versatility and newly improved outside range.

3. Nene – 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Nene was also a gaudy +28 in the game which led anyone from either team. It is scary when he and Kenyon are on like they were tonight and it proved to be a nightmare for the Nets. Nene is proving night in and night out that he is out to help Denver prove that last year was no flash in the pan.

Denver gets tomorrow off before they travel to Miami to face a very tough Heat team that is sitting at 4-1 on the season.

Carmelo Anthony named Western Conference Player of the Week

Mike — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:51:04 +0000

All Carmelo did was average 37.7 points, 7 boards and 4.3 assist per game this week to start the Denver Nugget’s 2009 season off at 3-0. That includes back to back 40+ point efforts against Portland (41) and Memphis (42).

With this outstanding scoring tear to begin the season, Carmelo is now in good company with Alex English as the only players in team history to score 30+ in the first 3 games of the season. This is Melo’s 9th player of the week honor.

Congratulations Carmelo, it is a pleasure to watch you play!

Nuggets game recap: Memphis at Denver

Mike — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:37:11 +0000

The Nuggets hosted the Memphis Grizzlies last night and started off pretty sluggishly. Denver was blown out of the first quarter and allowed 40 points which is inexcusable in any game they expect to win. They did win the game by a final score of 133-123 to improve to 3-0 on the season, but it was closer that the final score reflects.

Denver managed to put up 35 points in the first quarter, so the gaudy 40 points they gave up wasn’t as bad as it appears. Denver took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back although things did get interesting in the final period.

OJ Mayo dropped 40 on the Nuggets (a career high for him) and Marc Gasol added 20, but they really had no answer for Carmelo who finished with a season-high 42 points.

Denver definitely did not play their best game and I think that they took the Grizzlies pretty lightly, even by their own admission after the first quarter. Memphis out rebounded Denver 39-31 but nullified that advantage by committing 20 turnovers to Denver’s 12 and shooting 65.5% (19-29) from the free throw line compared to Denver’s 81.1% (31-37). Rebounds and free throws, they basically determine every game I have watched.

Here are my 3 stars for the game:

1. Carmelo Anthony – 42 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover. Carmelo is on fire this season so far and showing the league he is possibly the purest scorer they have.

2. Chauncey Billups – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal and 2 turnovers. He was also 3-7 from behind the arc and 7-7 from the charity stripe.

3. Nene – 18 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal with 1 turnover. Nene can make such a huge impact on this team when he is on. The only issue is that he often finds himself in foul trouble. He was solid last night against Memphis.

Denver travels to Indiana on Tuesday for a pretty brutal 6 game road trip that includes 3 back-to-back game situations.

2 down, 80 to go!

supersteve — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:10:45 +0000

So far we’re 2 games in and it looks like a mixed bag for the Nuggets. Against Utah the were sluggish for 3 quarters, then turned it on and put the Jazz away. Against Portland, they had no defensive intensity but were able to keep it close and pull it out at the end. It sure was nice to see Carmelo take over in the fourth quarter, though, putting up 19 points . A true MVP performance. That’s what they need from their leader game in and game out.

After seeing the potential of this team during its great run last year, it’s a bit frustrating to see some of the same issues that plagued them during the Lakers playoff series. Lack of rebounding, ball movement and defensive rotation are all things that need to be addressed quickly.

The Nuggets are at their best when they push the ball and attack the rim. They are settling for way too many jump shots. That being said, I am pleasantly surprised by the way Chauncey Billups and Ty Lawson play together. I was concerned about how Chauncey would play as a 2 guard, but his three point shooting has been strong so far.

Defensively, they are allowing way too many easy shots due to lack of help defense. Once again, I think that Ty Lawson’s lack of size is going to limit his playing time in the future, as he had a very hard time guarding the bigger Portland guards. Denver’s bigs need to put much more focus on defensive rebounding as opposed to starting out on the fast break. They don’t have the size to assume they will get rebounds.

Fortunately, these are all things that can be fairly easily fixed. A stronger focus on overall intensity and aggressiveness will surely take them to where they need to be. The return of J.R. Smith won’t hurt much either. My guess it that we’re going progress made as soon as this Sunday against a subpar Memphis team. Bottom line for now…2-0!

Nuggets game recap: Utah at Denver

Mike — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:18:27 +0000

The Pepsi Center was rocking as the Denver Nuggets opened up the 2009 season at home last night by hosting the Utah Jazz. Props to the fans for showing up on a very ugly night since it has been snowing for over 24 hours now. The Jazz are a playoff caliber team, not to mention a division rival, and pose a real challenge for the Nuggets. Despite some sloppy play, Denver took control in the second half when it counts and defeated Utah by a final of 114 – 105.

The game started off quickly, and Utah seemed to be hitting everything from behind the arc. Denver was being outplayed and was often out of position down low and Utah made them pay. They have to work on that for sure, it improved a little during the course of the game but their defensive rotations in the post were miserable. A good pick and roll team will eat that up. Utah led after the first quarter by a score of 30 – 23. The second quarter was stronger for the Nuggets and they had the better quarter overall to cut the lead to 55 – 54 at the break.

Speaking of halftime, who the hell knew Naughty by Nature was still alive? Apparently I didn’t. Also for those keeping score, I guess “Hip Hop Hooray” is still their go-to move. But I digress, it was a decent show…I just had to check the calendar to make sure I hadn’t warped into the 90’s.

Denver came out of the break firing and after Utah took a 70 – 62 lead in the third quarter, the Nuggets responded with a tremendous run and didn’t look back. They had some interesting looks on the court that I really liked with Chauncey Billups and Ty Lawson in at the same time. They are both natural point guards and worked well together. Denver controlled the boards and hit some big shots down the stretch to squash any hopes for the Jazz. Billups in particular showed why his nickname is “Mr. Big Shot” by dropping in 14 of his 25 points in the third quarter including 3 three pointers and some clutch free-throws. Carmelo was, well…Carmelo. He is just an all-world scorer and was awesome against Utah and was there when he had to be.

Ty Lawson was awesome, plain and simple. He definitely showed some rookie moments, and being matched up with Deron Williams…who wouldn’t, but he also brought a spark and fire into the game that I was excited and surprised to see. The game was already in hand when Carmelo Anthony, who was just huge and determined the entire game, put an exclamation point on the win with a steal followed by this…

Here are my 3 stars for the game:

1. Carmelo Anthony – 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block with only 2 turnovers. Carmelo is the Denver Nuggets, and he now has a complete team surrounding him. He is so exciting to watch and is borderline impossible to stop in terms of scoring. He was clutch when Denver needed him.

2. Chauncey Billups – 25 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assist, 1 block and only one turnover. Chauncey was enormous in the third quarter and led the team to a strong second half for the win. I absolutely love Chauncey, what a great trade last season. His veteran presence and ability to hit the big shots when they are needed helps the team every night.

3. Ty Lawson – I know, he is a rookie and some other guys may be deserving of this but if you saw the game you would know why I am saying this. Denver fans, this kid is the real deal. He finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and only one turnover. He is so fast on the court it almost seems unfair and he was huge in the second half. The spark he brought in was not unlike that which Birdman brings in when he is playing. With a mentor like Billups, watch out league.

Truth be told, it was hard to pick 3 players because this was a total team effort. Kenyon Martin and Nene were huge, each scoring 17 points each and combining for 17 boards and 3 blocked shots.

Denver travels to Portland tonight to face a much-improved Trailblazers squad.

Is this the year for the Nuggets?

supersteve — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:18:55 +0000

Well, it’s that time again. The first day of the NBA season. The Nuggets start tonight against Utah and I have to admit, I’m a bit worried about this season. They showed a lot of good things during the preseason, but I think they really need a defensive stopper, both in the middle and on the perimeter.

I love the way Ty Lawson looks, he makes others seem like they are in slow motion. But how is his size, or lack there of, going to affect his minutes? Nene hasn’t shown very much improvement so far in preseason, they need him to be a man down low this year. It could be a rough start to the season this year with 7 of their first 9 games on the road, as well as missing JR Smith for the first six games.

I do think that they will start off a bit slow this year, but pick things up by the all-star break as they start to play as a cohesive group again. I just don’t know if they can make the kind of mark they did last year, with the improvements to the Lakers, Spurs and even Trailblazers. My pick, second in the division and out in the second round. let’s hope I’m wrong!!

The 2009 Denver Nuggets, can they do it again?

Mike — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:35:01 +0000

I am pretty excited for the NBA season to kick off. Truth be told, basketball is my favorite sport to play although I would have to say I am an NFL guy for the most part. That said, NBA is a very close second. I have been a Nuggets fan since moving to Colorado in 1985 and have really enjoyed watching them play since. Yes, there were a few pretty rough and borderline unwatchable years but that all changed when Kiki took over and they drafted Carmelo Anthony.

Last season may have been the most complete team I have seen here and certainly one of the most exciting if not THE most exciting. I had maintained ever since they traded for him that Allen Iverson wouldn’t mesh well with Carmelo. Iverson is a great player and it was awesome to have him in Denver but it wasn’t conducive to a team that would go deep into the playoffs. Enter Chauncey Billups, the former Nugget who Denver decided to bring back. That trade last season set the tone for what was to come and it was fantastic! Denver made it to the Western Conference Finals where they faced the Los Angeles Lakers yet again. For the first time since I can remember, I believed they would shock the Lakers and the basketball world and advance to the NBA Finals. Denver ended up losing the series but battled like I haven’t seen them battle in years past and I was very proud to have this team in Denver.

The real question is, can they do it again this year?

I believe that they can. The team is returning their stars and in my opinion got an absolute steal in the draft this year by acquiring point guard Ty Lawson out of North Carolina. Yes we have Billups but Lawson brings in that bench point guard that Denver sorely needed and the likely heir apparent as the starter when Chauncey decides to hang them up or move on. Denver has the starters and the deep bench that a team needs to compete every night. Players like Chris “Birdman” Andersen and the electric J.R. Smith keep the opposition on their toes. Add in the powerful play of Nene in the paint and the scoring that Carmelo and Chauncey bring into the mix and I have to believe that Denver is a top 3 team in the West right now. Injuries are always the “X factor” for any team in any sport and that is no different here.

Coach Karl will have this team ready to make another run into the playoffs this season and do away with the shock factor from last year. Don’t be shocked Denver, your Nuggets are for real.