My personal opinion is that they will hit a wall soon, very soon. But who knew they be in the upper half of the teams in the Midwest? OK, so they are in the middle, but they are 19-13 in the toughest division in the league! Carmelo Anthony is certainly for real. He has such a natural, smooth, well-rounded game, and he is perfect size to be an effective combo player. I don't see him play much with his back to the basket, but facing up - he is deadly. He can take you off the dribble and has reliable range all the way to the 3 point stripe. Earl Boykins has been a huge (albeit tiny) spark for Denver. Camby - well he is a slight ankle sprain away from on the IL again. Always a threat though.....a threat to be in a suit come tipoff. Chris Anderson can LEAP! Not much of an offensive player, but he's like a Caucasian Bo Outlaw on speed. He's up there in the league in blocks per game, and is a good offensive rebounder too. Nene has disappointed me, but he does have a nice power game, and has his flashes of brilliance. Andre Miller - a key addition, can run the offense and score. Better 3 point shooter than he is given credit for. Not flashy, just effective. Then what else do they have? Jon Barry WOULD be a big help, but h'e spent a lot of time in IL. Lenard gives them a pure shooter too. I cannot imagine this team making the playoffs, but who knows. I love to watch them, especially Anthony!!!
I remember how much clowning we used to do on this team in this forum. Seems like just yesterday we were saying how Vandeweghe was the tankin-est, crappiest GM in the league...well damn, that wasn't too long before yesterday to be honest. Just last year the Nugz were a laughingstock...now they actually have a decent/semi-deep roster. I gotta give propers to Kiki.
Well, * Anthony is already a star * Miller has brought a lot of stability to the team * Their big men are doing a decent job of knowing their roles, i.e. rebounding, blocking shots, doing the dirty work, etc. * They play hard and they play together I don't think they'll make the playoffs for a couple of seasons at least, but at least they're finally headed in the right direction.
theres alot of teams that make a splash early (ehm.. Rox *cough*) but end up missing the Playoffs. I think the West will be too tough for Denver.. In my opinion they have been lucky and the beneficiaries of an easy schedule so far. Once people start to respect them and actually play hard against them you will see that reflected in their standings. I think this is the Rox year! they make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs! J maybe wishful thinking on my part but I think everyone will be suprised.
Nuggets are legit. They got good talent, smart contracts that are expendable and can be traded to improve the team. They have Anthony who's body isn't quite NBA ready but is already producing well. The man could definitely add a good 10-15 lbs. of muscle and when he does, he'll be scarier. He already knows how to use his body well, but when he's adds even more muscle to it, he'll be even more of a beast. Probably their best thing to look forward to is they still have a ton of capspace to sign another big name free agent or atleast upgrade their current position players some more. I think they David Aldridge said the Nuggets have something like 20 million dollars in capspace this upcoming offseason. That's more than enough to attract a big name superstar to their ranks. Nene is a big body with freakishly long arms that's only going to get better. They are like the Kings and Mavericks in the sense that they're a run and gun team that likes to put points on the board. The fact that they'll probably score over 100 points a game alone will keep them in contention for the playoffs throughout the whole season, since so few teams struggle to even average 90 points a game (Rockets included .) In other words, they're a well managed team with young superstars that are already impacts for the team, have enough capspace to possibly attract a guy like Kobe Bryant in the offseason, or attract a superstar big man to compliment Nene as well. They score a ton of points that will get them so many wins doing that alone. Unlike the Rockets they didn't sign anyone on their roster to contracts so enormous that it doesn't equate to their talent (i.e MoT, Cato. They're value would be higher if they're contracts weren't so expensive.) Probably their biggest benefit for making a run into the playoffs is unlike other teams that are still trying to get used to their coaches system (i.e Rockets), Nuggets have already bought into their coaches system and it shows with their record.
Well the Nuggets did beat the Rockets...but the Rockets are so unpredictable and inconsistent! The Nuggets are young..but Andre Miller and those other free agent acquisitions help a bit..they lost to the Raptors and Clippers..but they have won some games too. We shall see. Boykins is da man!
They kinda remind me of the Kings when they first started improving. Pretty much coming out of nowhere, playing with tremendous chemistry and they have an awesome crowd. I hope they're not, though.
Yes. But playoffs aren't real likely. Melo is hitting the first rookie wall of the year. The bench is struggling a little. Losing Jon Barry for about 8 weeks really hurts. I think they're gonna be in the race until late March/early April, and then they'll just be a little overmatched. However, this off-season, we have anywhere from $12 to $20 million to work with (depending on Camby) to bring in a BIG 5 and a 2-guard.
Actually, we have the Nuggets number for some reason. We spanked them by 20 and were beating them badly before they made that big comeback. We probably would have won that game in Denver had Mobley not fouled Leonard. The Nuggets' defense is terrible. 20th in points allowed and 18th in FG% defense. For some weird reason, they lead the league in blocked shots...Plus, they're only 7-7 against the East. That's good for now, but unaccaptable if they want to compete...
That's not unusual when: (1) You let the opposing team take a million shots, and (2) You play matador exterior defense.
We're getting better. This is coming from someone that didn't think ball movement was possible with the core of the Rockets.
True the Rox are getting better, but it doesn't seem to be in the natural flow of the players game (exception Yao). It looks a litle stilted & forced. ... Watching the Nug's it seems very natural & has great flow to it, like a Sacramento Lite.
