tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71694682024-03-08T14:08:20.785-08:00Random DribbleNBA, Nuggets, and Soccer in a Completely Random MannerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-65113071825760525592014-02-19T12:15:00.001-08:002014-02-19T12:15:31.588-08:00Plus/Minus Indicative of Faried Trade?Have you seen the plus/minus from last night's Nugget game (Denver v Phoenix)? <a href="http://www.nba.com/games/20140218/PHXDEN/gameinfo.html?ls=slt">Box Score</a>.<br />
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Starters = -101<br />
Subs = + 75<br />
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Which begs the question, why are Faried and Hickson starting when Mozgov and Arthur are clearly better?<br />
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My guess is the Nuggets are trying to trade Faried so they are showcasing him as a starter. His lack of defensive acumen has been bugging me for a month now. Pretty much every person he checks has a career night.<br />
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Part of that is not his fault. Kenneth is clearly not a power forward. He is a small forward who can rebound. But I am beginning to think he clearly prefers playing on the offensive end to doing anything on defense. So from a cost benefit point of view, he is generally going to be a liability. No better time than now to trade him while there is still a lot of buzz about him in the NBA.<br />
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Will he be traded? Will he stay and get moved the bench? Or will things stay status quo? It will be interesting to see what happens.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-5877244824680306632011-12-14T10:15:00.000-08:002011-12-14T10:15:53.851-08:00Nuggets get Nene back, Fernandez and BrewerThe Nuggets have resigned Nene to 5 year $13 million contract. In addition, they made a trade yesterday getting Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer from Dallas.<br />
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/nuggets-ready-for-season-with-a-cast-that-includes-no-superstars/2011/12/14/gIQAdylUtO_story.html">The Washington Post has the only analysis of the team so far</a><br />
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The Nene signing is great. I think all around, he is a very underrated player. He is a good defender, he blocks out, and he really does have some offense. Expect him to get more minutes and better stats with KMart gone.<br />
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Given the brutal NBA schedule this season, depth will be paramount. And the Nuggets are already super deep. Sure they are gonna need some players to step up their scoring. But if that happens, I expect the Nuggets to be a very good team this year. <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-92092094318499787432009-10-13T11:21:00.001-07:002009-10-13T11:21:50.544-07:00Nuggets in Bejing<a href="http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2009/10/12/denver-nuggets-wake-up-in-beijing/">Roundball Mining Company has a very nice round up of the Nuggets final game in China</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-71902852501489052002009-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:002009-10-01T12:39:52.938-07:00Scott and Al Show No MoreThe 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Oh well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-79283791730262572532009-06-26T09:16:00.000-07:002009-06-26T09:33:35.393-07:00A Steal of a DealThe 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.<br /><br />Stories on the Nuggets pick:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12693143">Denver Post</a></li><li><a href="http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12693935">Denver Post -Kisla</a></li><li><a href="http://www.rototimes.com/article/2009/6/NBA-Draft-Recap-3">RotoTimes</a></li></ul>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.<br /><br />Good job Nuggets!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-25353563159348661332009-05-10T06:13:00.000-07:002009-05-10T06:33:01.712-07:00Nuggets Steal Game 3Wow! 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Anyway, just 1 more win for the Nuggets and they can start preparing for the Lakers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-56897094142417165722008-11-03T09:27:00.000-08:002009-02-06T14:14:38.241-08:00AI for Chancey Billups and Antonio McDyess<p>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.</p><br /><b>The Numbers</b><br />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.</p><br /><p>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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />It works for me.<br /><b>Update</b><br />Sounds like its a done deal. Also, Stephen A Smith is reporting that the Nuggets plan to waive McDyess after the deal is complete.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-78096362857954683112008-11-02T20:11:00.000-08:002008-11-02T20:12:01.078-08:00Weekend Update 11/02/2008<p>Well two games in the books this weekend against LA teams. One game shows how good the Nuggets can be, the other how bad.</p><br /><p>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.</p><br /><p>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.<br /></p><br /><p>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.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-87943286676501127182008-10-24T10:47:00.000-07:002008-10-24T11:12:07.195-07:00A New Season and the Trade<p>Well the new season quickly approaches and I have not posted in a long time.</p><br /><h4>The Camby Trade</h4><br /><p>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.</p><br /><p>The only potential problem is Nene and KMart have not had the best health records in the league.</p><br /><h4>Why didn't the Nuggets get anything in Return?</h4><br /><p>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.</p><br /><p>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.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169468.post-40044319088107087682008-04-20T22:40:00.000-07:002008-04-20T22:49:31.577-07:00Nuggets Lost at LakersWell 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.<br /><br />But the Nuggets don't seem to understand they need to play better defense.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05957169859719697388noreply@blogger.com0