I saw Nene go down at the end of the Bucks game. He was in some pretty serious pain and grabbing his knee. A few people had to help him off the court. Any word on how bad it is? I'm assuming there will MRI's tomorrow. If he's out for serious time, Denver is going to plummet in the standings. They can kiss that #2 seed goodbye and probably home court in the first round as well.
The Nuggets must have both Nene & K-Mart healthy & playing well or their season is finished. I don't like Nene much but I hope he is OK.
I saw the injury, too. I would never wish injury on any player, but I hope the Nuggets plummet in the standings. I used to live in Denver...crazy fans and the worst NBA commentators around.
I hope for you guys he is ok. In the mean time, who picks up the slack? He was uber-efficient like Scola as someone pointed out. Melo could easily pick up a couple extra points. I can see Anderson trying to replace the defense and rebounds. Martin is coming back and I see him replacing some of that production. Kleiza might also look to take advantage and chip in a few more points and rebounds. I think you guys are ok...for now. You need Nene in the playoffs, HCA or not.
With or without Nene, what the Nuggets really need is to avoid the Lakers or Spurs in the 1st round. They can beat anyone else. If they end up 7th or 8th seed, this entire season was almost pointless, which would be very disappointing with how Chauncey Billups has turned this team around. Before the AI trade, I had left the Nuggets (and George Karl) for dead. If they stay in the top 4, it's very likely they will make the 2nd round. Their season may be on the line with Nene's knee. Seeding means everything for them and the other 5 teams that finish below the Lakers and Spurs.
Word. Before this weekend, I had hope we could get the second seed. Blowing the Chicago and Milwaukee games killed that dream. Now I'm hoping Utah ends up as the 8 seed, so at least we can avoid them and they can rough the Lakers up in the unbelievably unlikely situation that we could win the first two rounds of the playoffs (in other words, if LA is roughed up, we might lose 4-1 instead of 4-0). Now I'm just hoping we dodge Utah in the first round. Nene's only got a bruise. He's out tonight, but that should be it.
I don't think they're the absolute worst, but those commentators are pretty bad (meaning blatantly biased to the point of ridiculousness). They're down there with the Boston guys. The Nuggets are probably going to be the 3rd or 4th seed. Their schedule is really light the rest of the way. They have a tough stretch ahead of Celtics, Hawks, Lakers, @Pacers, @Pistons, Blazers, @Jazz, but if they can go 3-4 or better in those games, then they'll be pretty secure. After that they have a super easy last 19 game schedule where unless they're playing terrible, they should do no worse than 13-6. So I see them winning 50 games at least...barring collapse. They'll likely be between the 54-57 win margin.
Keep in mind your guys have to win in spite of Karl's coaching instead of with the help of it! Seriously, though, i know he's had success at a bunch of different places, but I've just never liked him as a coach and always felt his teams either underperformed or just performed up to their talent level. If I had a talented team on the brink, I wouldn't hire him to put it over the top. Would the Nuggets be better off, for example, with an Avery Johnson as coach?? That said, I can see the Nuggets becoming a popular pick by some analysts, as they really are kind of flying under the radar...at least relative to past years, where Carmelo was getting so much hype. So if they continue to hold on to a 2 or 3 seed, they may get some bandwagon fans tired of the Spurs and Lakers. I don't watch of ton of Nuggets games, but they seem to have a similar problem as the Rockets...this year. A lot of talk about offensive execution but at the end of the day whether they win or not comes down to how much defensive effort and hustle the team gives...which can be hit or miss. True?
Ask the Suns and it is the Celtics not like they suck. And I think the Celtics are 14-2 without Garnett since acquiring him last year.
That sound you heard was the Nuggets season coming to a crash landing. All that's left is to pray we hold on to the division lead and don't get swept in the first round of the playoffs.
Don't give up hope yet. Nene's coming back soon, right? This game by Chauncey was just a fluke hopefully.
The team's attitude changed. They don't appear hungry anymore. They aren't hustling. I'm really not feeling confident about the team.
no way they win 54-57 games this year. ive been waiting for this to happen all year. i dont mean wishing it would happen just saying ive assumed at some point this team would fall back down to earth.
