They are 14-5. I take a look at their roster and their roster is akin to the Rockets. I can't see how they are playing as one of the elite teams right now. Is George Karl that amazing of a coach? What keeps getting them wins?
- they basically got a starting roster in the melo trade - i can see this record with wilson chandler, jr and kenyon on board but this is amazing - i think it has to do with the shortnened season and how they have a deep roster for fresh legs - they also did this well afer the melo trade but withthe 3 guys mentioned above - like D3 from nba tv said though.. their ceiling is a 1st round or scond round exit... great shortneded season team though
they're deep. they have scorers everywhere and still play decent defense (12th best defensive rating) fastest pace in the league while having the 2nd best offensive rating in the league. 1st in points per game 6 players averaging double digits.
George Karl is definitely a good coach, and they won that trade with the Knicks. Most commentators at the time said so, as I recall. I think Hollinger predicted before the season that Denver would be the best team in the West. I don't think they'll overtake OKC, but I can see them as a 2nd seed.
Their schedule has been pretty easy. I'll give them credit for the Heat win though. Lakers is solid too but LA started off the season terribly..also losing against the Kings after. Sun 01 vs LA Lakers W 99-90 Mon 02 vs Milwaukee W 91-86 Wed 04 vs Sacramento W 110-83 Fri 06 @ New Orleans W 96-88 Sat 07 @ San Antonio L 117-121 Mon 09 vs New Orleans L 81-94 Wed 11 vs New Jersey W 123-115 Fri 13 vs Miami W 117-104 Sun 15 vs Utah L 96-106 Tue 17 @ Milwaukee W 105-95 Wed 18 @ Philadelphia W 108-104 Fri 20 @ Washington W 108-104 Sat 21 @ New York W 119-114 Wed 25 @ Sacramento W 122-93 Fri 27 vs Toronto W 96-81
The Nuggets have very good players, depth and a great head coach. They robbed the Knicks in the Melo trade. Losing JR Smith was a good thing. I've never thought much of Wilson Chandler. Kenyon Martin would probably make them better but losing him may have helped team chemistry. With Melo, JR Smith and K-Mart gone, there is nobody left on their roster who will defy George Karl's instructions. Predicting them to be #1 in the West before the season was quite a reach by Hollinger (if he did), IMO, but their success doesn't surprise me at all.
You have to take strength of schedule into account also. Here is the teams that have played so far. Dallas Jazz 2x Portland Lakers 2x Bucks 2x Kings 2x Hornets 2x Spurs Nets Heat 76ers Wizards Knicks Raptors But they are playing well so I am not sure how much we should take their strength of schedule into account.
They played really great team ball at the end of last season as well, except they got smacked around by OKC at the end of the year as well as in the playoffs. (They are above 500 on the road, but think of the home advantage they have in the altitude during this hectic season, especially considering the pace they play at.)
I was wrong. He predicted they'd be 2nd best (and OKC #1). http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/prev...st/nba-western-conference-projected-standings [rquoter] 2. Denver Nuggets (43-23) I know, I know, you think I'm insane. But before you have me committed, hear me out. If I had to bet on a long-shot team to win the title, Denver would absolutely, positively be the one. Not only are the Nuggets better than people realize, they have more potential for in-season improvement than any other team because of all their trade assets. More importantly, the regular-season format favors them more than any other team in the league. Remember Portland in 1999, a team with no stars that won big in the lockout season because they threw waves of depth at their weary opponents? This team is the second coming of that squad, minus the technical fouls and incarcerations. The Nuggets go 12 deep, and George Karl, more than perhaps any other coach in basketball, will absolutely use all 12. I'm convinced it's his dream to become the first coach in history to have 12 players average exactly 20.0 minutes and 8.8 points a game, and he may come close to that goal this season. Think about this: Andre Miller, Rudy Fernandez, Corey Brewer, Al Harrington and Chris Andersen are Denver's second five. (The starters are projected to be Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Nene.) Behind them are two rookie first-round draft picks, Jordan Hamilton and Kenneth Faried, both of whom should contribute immediately. Somewhere in there, beginning around midseason or sooner, is Wilson Chandler too. Throw in two other factors and I really like Denver this season. First, they're good: They went gangbusters after the Melo trade last season, going 19-6 with a scoring margin greater than 10 points a game before playing the JV in the finale against Utah. They struggled in the playoffs when they had to depend more on starters-versus-starters matchups and suffered injuries in the backcourt. They'll likely struggle in the postseason again this season unless they procure another quality big. But in the regular season? Forget it. The second reason to expect Denver to excel is that the combination of altitude and pace is going to wreak havoc on opponents. With Lawson and Miller pushing the tempo, waves of fresh players checking in -- nearly all of whom can run -- and exhausted teams sucking wind in the Mile High altitude, I expect the Nuggets to have a ridiculous home record on the order of 28-5 or so. If they achieve that, they need to be only a 15-18 road team to fulfill my prediction. (My projection, by the way, includes a small dose of Wilson Chandler at season's end, but no Kenyon Martin or J.R. Smith.) That prediction is based on the roster staying as is. But remember, too, the upshot of Denver's stealth robbery of the Knicks in the Carmelo Anthony trade. The Nuggets have as many trade assets as any other team in the league. They have a $12 million trade exception from the Anthony deal, lots of young, talented players that other teams want, and a $7.8 million expiring contract belonging to Miller. If the Nuggets can swing that into another quality big man, their playoff ceiling goes much higher. Barring that, they'll have a great regular season and another early playoff exit. But in the big picture, everybody is sleeping on this team. With overwhelming depth, two potential breakout players in Lawson and Gallinari, and tons of trade assets, the Nuggets are in fantastic shape. [/rquoter]
I don't look at the schedule as much as I would have last year because they are still winning as a carry-over from the trade last year. Something like winning 3 out of every 4 games they have played since losing Melo. So why? +1 to George Karl definitely. Only two I'd add is Youth: Player buying in to contributing without filling up the traditional stat sheet & the owner's willingness to take on any player that can possibly be productive.... it is like Morey ball with a better coach. Touche Denver, you are for real. The Utah Jazz are definitely not in other news.
Gallinari has really blossomed. Ty Lawson started off the season on fire but he's slowed down a little bit.
If we had Denver's bench, we'd be one of the best teams in the West, easily. Moreover, Denver's roster is not scattered with projects, they've got really good vets all the way down to the 10th spot, while they could also get Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler back next month.
Eh...I wouldn't put too much stock in the record of deep teams without superstars like the nuggets and the sixers. I'm happy for them but I guess it's just hard for me to get worked up about a team that has no shot at winning a title.
