This is not a knee jerk reaction first of all. I think this team has really been flying under the radar the last three weeks of the season. When they aquired Billups, I thought it would help but not this much. Mainly because of his age and the style Karl likes to run. But George finally has a point guard like he had in Seattle. Metally tough, big, defensive minded. Secondly I think the doubts about Denver has always been their front court. I'm not a big Martin fan, but the guy does have Finals experience. Nene seems to really be coming into his own. And lets not forget that however we feel about Melo, he is a bonafied scorer. He can play well off the ball. This team has two legit all-stars in Billups and Anthony, and now even JR Smith is playing under control. And he has a perfect role for himself coming off the bench and being the leader scorer with the second unit, kind of like Von Wafer. Not having to face a big post threat outside of West really helps them. I think they won't have a problem with NO, even though Paul still may be the best player in the series, Billups is still the toughest player out there. (I hate Billups but have to give him his credit). And let's not forget, Anthony does have a college ring carrying a team, and he has always been one of the best Olympic players. He can play team ball when it matters.
If Chauncey doesn't run out of gas, Nene keeps playing "big" (literally), J.R. Smith has more good moments than bad, Melo plays like he's capable of, K-Mart defends well and the team as a whole plays with an edge without losing their composure... The Nuggets will show everyone why they are the #2 seed. They will make the WCFs and lose to the Lakers. One thing I would caution is that playing the sorry Honey Bees makes Denver look better than they are. IMO, yesterday's game was more about how bad the Hornets are than how good the Nuggets are. This is why I didn't put any stock in the Rockets blowout of C.P. & Company last Monday. Why 1/3 of people here thought New Orleans would win this series escapes me completely. Off topic: Why do you hate Billups? I hate the Pistons and he was the only guy I liked much when he was there. When he hit his 7th 3-pointer and raised his arms to his hometown crowd, that gave me chills. I think it's a great story.
just never liked him, probably shouldn't use the word hate but I do respect him from where he has come. remember he is the guy who boston had to draft after missing out on duncan.
I think if they can get all 15 guys to shout in unison, they could make a lot of noise. And, if you gave them all instruments or amps or something, it's over.
...but the Rockets will most likely be taken out by the Lakers in the 2nd round. The Nuggets have an easy path to the WCF...a limited Hornets team in the 1rst round, and either an underwhelming Mavs team or a depleted Spurs team in the 2nd round. Then they will be shown reality by the Lakers.
It's one game. Too many "if's" for this team. As with every Western Conference team not named the Lakers. Seriously, anyone who thinks they know what's going to happen is full of it. I could see any of the 2-7 seeds losing in the first round, and I could see any of them making it to the WCF. The West is unreal.
Billups is the consummate professional you want on your team every day of the week and twice in the playoffs. George Karl will never win an NBA title though, he will buffoon it up somehow.
They are not cohesive enough, although they will probably get by on sheer talent alone. Billups certainly helps out in the 'cohesiveness' department, but I am not sure how much he has left in the tank. I do agree, however, that they are the favorites to play the Lakers in the WCF. They have a reasonable easy road to get there. And had the Rockets manned up and showed some metal/sense of the moment and not blown their chances of reaching the WCF by falling to the 4/5 seed, they would have easily been the favorites to get there as well, certainly above Denver. Instead, the Rockets continue to live up to their (unofficial) moto of the past 4 seasons -- or more: "The Houston Rockets: We Never Miss and Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity"
That is exactly why the Rockets losing to the Mavs hurt so much.......heck losing to any of the scrubs this year...as well. DD
Yea right, why does it hurt so much since the Rox are eventually gonna have to play vs the Lakers anyway, why cus its the 2nd round not the 3rd round. If anything the Rockets will be more beaten up (Yao) by the 3rd round than Kobe would be. Kobe isn't exactly an old man or a 7 foot giant that plays in the paint in every play. Kobe breezed through the western conference last year without breaking a sweat. I say its great that they play the Lakers in the 2nd round , get that over with and then play the Nuggets cus I think Denver will beat NO, Dallas, & Spurs. Its so great cus the Rox might lose to Dallas and Spurs and now they don't have to play them cus Denver will knock them out.
I came away from that game less impressed with the nuggets than i had previously been for a few reasons. 1. Billups won't play that well all series or all playoffs 2. Chris Paul and (assuming they get to the next round) other superstars won't be held in check as easily. 3. Melo will continue to play poorly if he keeps catching the ball out on the 3 point line. I don't why but it seems this season the nuggets have forgotten where he is effective. He's not the type of player that beats you to the hoop with fancy dribbling and raw speed. He should be almost always catching it in the high post where he can use his strength to power to the rim.
In my opinion, this series is going to show absolutely nothing of the Nuggets' ability. New Orleans is the worst playoff team out of the 8 (ok, maybe even with the Jazz, but still.....really, really bad). It almost seems like the Hornets just don't want to be there, given the way they've played the last month. There is no cohesiveness, they have no mettle on the road (and they don't even put up a fight.....the only game they got close in was against the Spurs....and even that, they managed to blow a 5 pt lead with like 30 seconds left), and outside of Chris Paul, they have nobody that can do anything on their own, not to mention possibly the worst bench I have ever seen on a playoff team. Denver is going to cake-walk through this series, and then face an up-and-coming Dallas team that will be fresh off a victory against the Spurs. That will be the real test.
Eh, I disagree. Look what he did with a World B Free led Cavs team, and the outmatched Sonics team (GP was great, but Kemp was so so overrated, and there was no bench there.) But there's no way this squad challenges the lakers or even the cavs if the lakers all got the flu somehow. By the way, moes, when can I remove this sig, now that the regular season is over?
The Nuggets got the 2nd seed because they beat the crap teams and lost to the good ones. Conversely, the Rockets lost to too many crap teams. However when focused, the Rockets are a LOT better than they are...a LOT better. DD
Loosing to the scrubs did hurt, but loosing that last game to the Mavs actually helped the Rockets IMO. Because had the Rockets won, they probably would have gotten the second seed since Denver lost to Portland, but a Mavs loss would have locked them at the 7th. We do not match up well with the Mavs. Terry is a Rockets killer. And Scola couldnt hold Nowitzki. But yeah if we had one of those games we lost to the scrub teams, we would be in Denver's place facing the Hornets. Oh well...
The Rockets can beat Denver with or without homecourt in any round of the playoffs IMO. They can go as far as the WCF before losing to either the Rockets/Lakers.
