Random Dribble

Nuggets in Bejing

2009-10-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

Roundball Mining Company has a very nice round up of the Nuggets final game in China.

Orton vs Rivers

2009-10-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Bolt from the Blue blog has an interesting post comparing Kyle Orton and Philip Rivers. Did you know they have very similar stats? If Orton keeps playing well, he will get the respect he deserves.

Scott and Al Show No More

2009-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

The best sports talk duo in Denver is no more. Scott and Al (Scott Hastings and Alfred Williams), on from 1 until 3 on 104.3 the Fan in Denver are being split up. Scott will be on from 1 until 4 with Mike Evans and Al with be on with DMac from 4 until 7.

This is truely a sad day. They are by far the best sports talk show in Denver. I wish them the best with their new pairings. But one has to wonder, who is running that station? A pair this good you don't break up, you move to drive time and give them another hour.

Oh well.

Orton and Broncos Offense Not That Bad

2009-08-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Well the Broncos first preseason game was last night. Starting quarterback Kyle Orton threw 3 interceptions in the first half. From what I can see, that is all the media is writing about.

What they fail to mention is the Broncos offense seemed to be able to move the ball pretty well. Both in the first half and second half (when Chris Simms was the QB), they offense had a number of very effective drives. The passing game looked good and well as the running game.

In addition, the defense played fairly well. If not for Orton's third interception on the Broncos own 20, the Niner's would have scored only 1 TD in the whole game.

In regards to Orton's first half. If he continues to throw that many interceptions, he won't be the starter. Heck, he won't make the team if that continues. lol. Expect a better performance next week. Either Orton or Simms will emerge as the starter. In this offense, either player can be just as successful as Jay Cutler would have been.

A Steal of a Deal

2009-06-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

The Denver Nuggets got the steal of the draft by getting North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson with the 18th pick. Described as "blazing fast" and a "one man fast break", the Nuggets filled a big need at backup point guard (no offense intended to Anthony Carter who has played great since coming to Denver). Think Tim Hardaway with good knees.

Stories on the Nuggets pick:

A quick comment on Kisla's column. The Spurs will be better with Richard Jefferson, no doubt. But they aren't any better than they were with Michael Finley a few years ago. The Nuggets can beat the Spurs if they keep the core of their current team together. In my opinion, the Nuggets are right there in the mix at 2 or 3. The Celtics are a year older. The Cavs may make a run, if Shaq can stay healthy. Heck the only difference between the Lakers and the Nuggets is offensive execution in the 4th quarter. If the Nuggets can improve in that area, they can compete with any of the teams at the top of the NBA.

Good job Nuggets!!!

Nuggets Steal Game 3

2009-05-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a game last night. The Mavs kept trying to put the Nuggets away but couldn't do it. Too many missed free throws and missed shots.

With 31 seconds left in the game, Jason Terry hit a corner 3 to put the Mavs up 4. But on the next posession, the Mavs gave Melo a clear path to the basket for a quick easy dunk. Mavs only up 2. The Mavs came down on the next possession and Dirk took a tough 17 foot fade away and missed. This gave the Nuggets 6.6 seconds for Melo's heroics.

Melo got the ball on the left side of the court and dribbled to the right side near the 3 pt line. With about 3 seconds to go, the Mavs defender slapped Melo hard across the wrist. No foul call was made. Melo continued with the play and nailed the 3 with 1 second remaining on the clock. Dirk took a desperation shot at the end and missed. Game Nuggets.

As to the controversial no call, that is how the game had been called all night. The Nuggets repeatedly received no calls after getting knocked down or hit. For example, on every Jason Kidd post up of the 4th quarter, he hooked Chauncy with his left hand to get around him. A clear offensive foul. No call. The only reason the Mavs were in the game were the repeated ghost calls the Mavs had received throughout the game. Nene, Melo and JR all got called for fouls when there was little or no contact.

But given those facts, at the end of the game, the Mavs should have been up 10. The missed a number of free throws and three point play opportunities down the stretch. They should have been up at least 4 on that last shot.

Anyway, just 1 more win for the Nuggets and they can start preparing for the Lakers.

iPhone Apps for Sports News (Part I)

2009-04-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yesteday I was at my niece's soccer game I tried checking the score of the Nuggets game. Well doing that on a web site, or even most of the mobile optimized websites, can be a bit clunky. So this morning, I thought I should check and see if there were any iPhone apps for showing scores. Boy was I suprised! There are several choices and evern a few apps by the sports leagues themselves

NBA Game Time

This official app from the NBA shows the scores for today's games. In addition, it provides live scores and stats for games in progress. Nice little box scores by team. It also includes the current schedule and standings. Really nice.

mlb.com lite

Similar to the NBA app, but it provides less stats. It still shows the live scores and schedules, who's hitting, pitching, and who is on base. However, it does not provide a box score.

However, they do provide a paid version of the application that provides a lot more detailed information. Stuff like live pitch locations, pitch by pitch commentary, etc... It looks really cool.

Ginobli Out for the year

2009-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

The Spurs have lost Manu Ginobli for the year due to a stress fracture in his ankle. You can take the Spurs off your list of title contenders this year. If they are missing any of the big three, they aren't the same team.

Big Phil Fired by Chelsea

2009-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Wow. What can one say about this. You can win the world cup. Come very close to winning the European Cup. But, in England if you aren't in first place after 6 months you can't coach.

Chelsea does not seem to be setting itself up for long team success. They have no players coming through their youth system. No purchases of promising young players. When the owner runs out of money, they are gonna be in trouble.

ARod Steroids

2009-02-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

ARod tested positive for a forbidden substance in 2003. I'm shocked, shocked to learn a baseball player may have taken 'roids! He took an anonymous test and at the time broke no rules. For all we know, he could have tested positive for ephedrine or something silly like that.

Anyway, the media hype over this has been ridiculous. To listen to sports talk radio, no player from the '90s will even be considered for the Hall of Fame. They are all tainted. I think we need to start drug testing sports writers. If they have taken any illegal substances, they can't be hall of fame voters. :)

AI for Chancey Billups and Antonio McDyess

2008-11-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

The Rocky Mountain News is reporting the Nuggets are looking to trade Allen Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. Initial reaction. This would be a great trade for the Nuggets. They get a real point guard and a solid backup at the 4 for KMart which is needed given his history of injuries.

The Numbers
AI is making $20M in the last year of his contract. McDyess will make $6.9M this year and $7.5M next year. Billups will make $12M for this year and the next two years. Salary cap wise, the Nuggets would still be a little tight the next 2 years if the deal goes through.

I still think AI is great. But I don't think you can win in the NBA with a 6 foot tall 2 guard unless you have a large point guard to match him with. The Pistons have such a person. Rodney Stucky is a 6'5" point guard. The Nuggets have no such player.

The Nuggets really, really need someone who can run the team. The last 5 minutes vs the Lakers made that painfully obvious. In addition, this would allow the Nuggets to move Balkman or Dantay Jones into the starting lineup to guard the 2 or 3 from the opposing team. JR and Klieza would score off the bench and have a little help from McDyess.

It works for me.
Update
Sounds like its a done deal. Also, Stephen A Smith is reporting that the Nuggets plan to waive McDyess after the deal is complete.

Weekend Update 11/02/2008

2008-11-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

Well two games in the books this weekend against LA teams. One game shows how good the Nuggets can be, the other how bad.

The good was against the Clippers. The Nuggets played a swarming defense, shared the ball and pretty much owned the second half as they came back from a big halftime deficit to win. It was a real team effort with special kudos to Dantay Jones who had a great game. If they play this kind of team ball all year, they are gonna win a lot of games.

The bad, the final minutes vs the LA Lakers. I tuned into the game in the late 3rd quarter and the Nuggets were keeping a steady lead. As it got to crunch time the Lakers went to Kobe Bryant. He played good but the Nuggets did get a few good stops along the way.

However, the problem was not their defense, it was their offense. The same old 1 on 5 isolation crap from last year. Throw Mello the ball, run to the opposite side of the court and stand there. Mello takes on 2 or 3 guys, then the ball is passed around the perimeter and a desparation 3 goes up late in the shot clock. When are they gonna learn? As the game wore on, Kobe settled for fewer and fewer jumpers and took the ball to the hole. Did the Nuggets go inside to Mello? To Nene? Nope. Just long difficult outside jumpers. Totally different than the Clipper game.

A New Season and the Trade

2008-10-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well the new season quickly approaches and I have not posted in a long time.

The Camby Trade

From a team happiness perspective, I think this will help a lot. Not that Camby is a bad guy or anything like that. No, things should be better because of clearly defined roles. Nene is the starting center and KMart is the starting PF. No more time sharing, no more discussions about which of the three should be the starter. Both will get all the minutes they want. The team should also be much better defensively. Camby is a great weakside defender, but always seemed to struggle when he had to guard good big men like Tim Duncan or Amare Stoudemire.

The only potential problem is Nene and KMart have not had the best health records in the league.

Why didn't the Nuggets get anything in Return?

It is a misconception that the Nuggets didn't get anything for Camby. They did not get a player back in the trade, they got a $10M salary cap exception. What does that mean you may ask? It means that if the Nuggets were to trade say .... Allen Iversion who is making $20M this season, they would only take $10M in salary coming back to the Nuggets. The net result is, if the Nuggets trade Iverson in addition to Camby, they will drop $20m from their salary cap for the season. This should give them cap room to sign Klieza and JR Smith next year.

Iverson's departure would seem inevitable to me. That is sad because the guy plays his heart out every night. And there is a lot to like about the guy. But if you are building the team around Mello, a 6' scoring point guard does not fit. They need a good play making point with an outside shot.

Spurs v Suns

2008-04-22T18:41:00.001-07:00

As the Spurs and Sun are about to play their second game, I wanted to say something about the first game. That was one of the best played basketball games I have seen in a log time. Back and forth with the Champs making the Suns take the title from them.
It was just a joy to watch the game offensively and defensively.

In my opinion, the winner of this series will me the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. I'll take the Spurs or Suns to make it to the finals if there aren't any major injuries.

Nuggets Lost at Lakers

2008-04-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Well the media gets the Nuggets need to play better defense. The bloggers get the Nuggets need to play better defense. The coaches get the Nuggets need to play better defense.

But the Nuggets don't seem to understand they need to play better defense.

Playing much of the game in a zone, the Laker simply reversed the ball and made that extra pass which often resulted in Gasol dunks. The rotations by Camby and Anthony were terrible.

The offense was not much better. Throw the ball to Melo or AI. Let me pound the ball for 20 seconds and throw up a shot. The 2nd team looked great in the second quarter. They played defense, moved on office, and attacked the rim. But Melo has forgotten how to play on the block and how to attack the rim. It's all tough jumpers.

In the end, we can not play for them. The team needs to figure it out. Does Melo want to talk about winning? Or does he want to win? Its up to him.

Wrong About Newcastle's Players

2008-04-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

I gotta say I was wrong about Newcastle to a degree. The initial group Keegan was playing was just not very good. Given the results of the last few weeks, he just had to find the best 11 for his team and he did.

A good coach, adjusts his system for the players he has. Putting Michael Owen in midfield so you have your best 11 on the field was a great move. At club level, Keegan is a very good manager.

With a new owner, it will be interesting to see if the club can build a team that will last. The ManU's, Arsenal's, and Liverpool's, all tend to buy great players when they are young and keep them through their prime. Newcastle has tended to buy older players usually past their prime. Can they change? We will see.

Nuggets Weekend

2008-04-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. Looks like the Nuggets have played themselves right out of the playoffs. This team just can't seem to give a consistent effort on the defensive end.

There is no way you can continue to pay the luxury tax for a team that at best will make the 8th spot or more likely won't even make the playoffs. I don't think they need to blow up the team, but I expect some changes are coming.

Newcastle is just not very good

2008-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

After watching ManU just spank Newcastle, one has to say that Newcastle United is just not a very good team. They have difficulty holding onto the ball. They don't defend well, and rarely do they look like they have any chance to score from the run of play.

All professional leagues are about the players. I think the teams moves in regard to their academy and the development of young talent is a good idea and will be the key to the success of the club in the long team. A good manager can help a team marginally, but in the end, great players will make up for any coaching deficiencies. Today's game is a shining example of that. On every part of the field, one team was clearly superior talentwise.

Newcastle fans wanted Big Sam gone because they didn't like his style of play. Well I don't think any change in style is going to help this team. Keegan needs to bring in some more talent in any way he can. Or, Newcastle will drop right into the relegation battle.

No Trade = Best Deal Possible

2008-02-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

I'm glad the Nuggets decided to stand pat, except for the minor trade for Taurean Green. Adding big money at the SF position with Artest makes no sense to me. How are you going to find playing time? Is he gonna play the SG and have Iverson at point? Plus it would have just complicated the salary cap issues.

They have a bunch of good young players. When they get Nene and Atkins back, they will be a very competitive team. Ready to challenge for the title? I don't know. But if the keep the same core together, they should be in a good position to do just that in 2 or 3 years.

I think both Phoenix and Dallas really mortgaged their future with the deals they made. Both of those teams have a 2 year window to challenge for the finals. Age is going to catch up with them.

Laker Trade and Trade Talk

2008-02-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted for a while. But the Laker's trade and the proposed Phoenix - Miami trade has perked my interest.

First, the Laker's getting Pau Gasol for nothing was a huge steal! An all star caliber big without giving up any key players. Give Mitch Kupchak a raise. This definitely will put the Lakers in the top 3 teams in the west and probably keep them there for the next 5 years. Kobe and gang are relatively young. Methinks I will be watching more Laker games again. :)

Now the proposed Phoenix trade is this. Marcus Banks and Shawn Marion for Shaq. This smacks a bit of desparation. Basically Phoenix is saying, Steve Nash only has a couple of good years left in him. We will challenge for title for 2 years and then blow things up? Pretty risky if you ask me. Especially given Shaq's health the last couple of years. He is such a big guy, all that running around has to be very hard on his joints. I just don't think there are many miles left in the diesel .

This brings me back to the Nuggets. I sure hope they don't make a trade just because they feel like they have too. Talk is they want to trade Klieza and Najera for Ron Artest. I'm not opposed to that. Artest would be a big help defensively. But I don't see how that puts them over the top or puts them in the top 3 like the Lakers. It certainly doesn't solve their salary cap issues.

Personally, I think they need to hold on to LK. If he continues to improve, he will be a solid NBA starter next year. They need to find a ball handling 2 guard, a big point guard, or better yet a point guard who can push the pace.

Look to the trades made by the Jazz and the Lakers. Adding Korver to the Jazz has really helped them out. He is a nice fit for that team and will make it hard to double team Boozer and give Williams an easy target after drives. The Lakers get a PF/C who can shoot from the outside. Allowing them to post Kobe and Lamar Odom. Both trades added a missing piece to those teams.

Sometimes it is better to be patient and wait for that missing piece.

Nuggets - Mavericks

2007-12-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well I finally had a little time to watch a game. The Nuggets played well, while the Mavs were pretty bad, especially on defense.

I like how KMart played. Cutting to the basket, running the floor, playing defense.

But for the Nuggets to be successful, Melo must be a force on the inside and he and Iverson have to take better shots. Melo's first 1 for 8 or 1 for 9 start is a great example of that. He must use his inside game to open up the outside. Not the other way around.

Transistion D is still inconsistent. And defensive rebounding could be better.

Nuggets - Pacers

2007-11-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note on the Nuggets - Pacers game on Saturday night. My Dish Network DVR has been flaky of late recording so when I went to check if it was working (it wasnt') it was right at the end of the first half. I looked at the score and thought, "74-56 there is no chance." But I recorded the rest of the game anyway.

I tuned in midway through the 4th quarter to see the Nuggets finish their comeback, take the lead, and then extend the lead. Wow! Now in that quarter they were playing some defense. They were blocking out. And the Nuggets were pretty much unstoppable. If they can just learn to play this way for 4 quarters, the sky is the limit.

I thought KMart looked especially good defensively and on the boards.

Way to go Nuggets.

Nuggets - Knicks

2007-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

Will the Nuggets ever learn to block out? Box out? Play transistion defense? One begins to wonder. Defensive rebounding was terrible last night.

I know all their point guards are injured except AI. But, that is not the position you want to lead in defensive rebounds. I don't question their effort. I question their commitment to do the little things that separate good teams from great teams.

We are only 4 games in. Hoping for improvement.

Durant

2007-11-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

I don't know why the media always wants to compare every talented rookie to Michael Jordan. Kevin Durant made his debut last night in Denver and he is no MJ. As Paul Westhead commented, he is a lot closer to a young Tracy McGrady. He has a very good outside shot and drives well to the hoop. But I didn't witness any MJ thunder dunks in traffic.

My guess is he will put up some very big numbers over the next few years. Definitely a good player to have on your fantasy team.

Nuggets 120 - Seattle 103

2007-11-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

Nice win for the Nuggets. But, the game was close right up to the fourth quarter when the Nuggets pulled away. Iverson and Melo looked great. Looks like Klieza has been working on his outside shot as he nailed a bunch of 3's.

Same concerns for me from last year. Transition defense looks shaky. Perimiter defense also looks shaky and no one boxes out. Unless those things improve, the Nuggets won't be challenging the Spurs or the Mavs this year.

Fantasy Notes

KMart will be limited to 20 minutes a night for some time. Doctor's orders.
Nene's coming back from an injury. Look for his stats to be a bit low to start off. Probably a good 2nd or 3rd center pickup off of waivers.
When the 3 bigs are all healthy, each person's stats are gonna suffer. So I would not plan to have any of the three as your starter at PF or C.
Who is gonna end up at the 2 guard is a mystery, both Adkins and JR Smith are injured. Karl didn't exactly give Smith a huge vote of confidence on his radio show yesterday. If he starts to play defense, expect his minutes to go up and him to be a big contributor. If he doesn't, I would expect the opposite and that he would be traded by the trade deadline.