Agreed on Evans. As for Hunter, I don't think you understand how low my expectations of him are. Can he play 10 minutes and basically not make a complete jackass of himself? I'm happy if he can. If he can't, well, we didn't really give up much. It was more of a salary dump than anything else. Sigh, I know. It would have been like a more talented version of the Eric Snow & AI backcourt from Philly. The biggest problem with Nene is that every year, he goes home to Brazil for the off-season. In that time, he just gets really fat and doesn't do anything but stare at women (I secretly think he's working on his own "Who wants to sex Mutombo" line). Then he's out of shape, sucks ass until March when he puts it together and makes you realize he could be an all-pro. We just need to take his passport away from him. I'm willing to have him sit out the game at Toronto every year if it means he can't go to Brazil. Trust me, I know which posters here are legit and which aren't. On a different note, I am in SERIOUS basketball withdrawl. Reading Kelly Dwyer's DVD recaps on True Hoop makes me sad because I can't find ANY of my old tapes. The only game I have is Game 3 against the Wolves in 2004 (which was the loudest I've ever heard a sporting event in my life). KD, if you're still reading here bro, throw me a Nugs bone. I don't care which team. Hell, even put the '97 team up there that only won 11 games. I'm dying here man. One more month...
Just FYI: <a href="http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/48353/20071004/nuggets_sign_augmon/">Nugs Sign Stacey Augmon</a>. Probably just a training camp body, but he might make the team as a 10th man to provide defense. Most likely a warm body.
Wow, this is HUGE news. On a serious note, any bits and pieces from Nuggets camp? Anyone show up in better or worse shape than expected? How far are Nene and K-Mart from being 100%? How much of a contributor will K-Mart be? I understand Karl had a serious conversation with J.R. Smith. Does J.R. have his stuff together or is he slipping away (from being responsible and reliable)? What is the projected starting lineup? If Karl gets fired along the way, which assistant would take over? Are they looking for a trade before the season begins or is the roster pretty much set? Is Camby really happy there or is he just talking?
Denver is not built for the playoffs. They don't have any great shooters, their D is weak, they have a small aging backcourt, and Camby is always hurt. That being said, they can win about 50 games this year but they're not going anywhere in the postseason. They'll be like the 5th or 6th seed in the west.
As always, this is from the "insider" and not the local papers. Read into it whatever you want. Camby's really happy to be there. I have to get that one out of the way. His daughter is doing TONS better now and they're out of the woods it appears, so he's really settling in. From what we're hearing, K-Mart looks incredible. He's down to 4% body fat and has been the most athletic player on the team all camp. They're planning on limiting his minutes pretty heavily until February though. They really want to make sure he's fresh for the playoffs. Reportedly, he REALLY wants to be a starter so he's pushing Nene hard. JR has actually come in with his head on straight from the sounds of it. His athleticism is still off-the-charts (he and Kenyon are head and shoulders above everyone else), and his game appears to be solid. He's still going to have some boneheaded moments probably, but they're saying it appears he's really turned the corner. Nene is hit and miss. He's not where the team wants him to be, but he's still showing flashes. Once again, expect him to start slow and pick it up later on in the season. I'm really getting tired of this act, so hopefully he'll finally put it all together soon. Sounds like our starting lineup is going to be: * Atkins * AI * Melo * Nene * Camby K-Mart is going to get quality minutes up front (Nene can play both 4 & 5). Our backcourt defense is going to be interesting. I'd love for us to get a PG that can run an offense, defend and hit an occasional 3, but I'm not sure if any are available. I think the Nugs are hoping that AI can run the point (you know he'll be handling the ball anyway) so they can put JR in the starting lineup. I just want to get out of the first round. Everything else is gravy.
Nugs, sounds like positive insider info all around, which means it likely isn't true. Still, I'm actually more optimistic than you about the Nuggets. You look at their roster and have to think the only reason they shouldn't be really good this year is boneheadeness. Yes, the DPOY award is meaningless these days. Marcus Camby is like 10% the defensive player Hakeem was in his prime. Still, he's a good to great defender in this league, and that's important. Yes, Dre would be a great PG to have on this team. But I think Blake was overrated. yeah, he played good at the end of the season. But Chucky has been a consistently better player throughout his career...and of course, was cheaper. At the end of the day, A.I. and Melo should be unstoppable. Chucky should be a decent distributer, J.R. Smith should be great off the bench, and Nene, Camby, K-Mart, if healthy and with their heads on right, is really a pretty solid 3 man frontcourt. And, I have great respect for Sloan's system and Utah has a lot of talent, but that team also started the season 12-1 last year. Which means they finished 39-30. Utah could still be really good, but I can see Denver pushing them for the division. And Karl can be crazy for sure, but the guy has proven he can be a good coach in this league. Not great, quite yet, but he's almost gotten there a bunch of times.
JayZ750, everything you say is true but the big question about the Nuggets is chemistry, not talent. Plus, the biggest chemistry issue is Karl, who indeed knows his stuff but he grates on players and wears out his welcome. If Karl doesn't have any more flare-ups with Melo or K-Mart, if J.R. Smith is of sound mind, if Camby stays happy, if soft and downy sissy Nene rounds into form, maybe the Nuggets exceed expectations. Plus you also have to remember this is the Nuggets, who are one of the teams that define hard luck. We all know something bad is going to happen this year to mess up their season and make their fans want to harm themselves. Then again, the self-preservation instinct seems to have kicked in and some of their fans, like Nuggets4, lowered their hopes so the disappointment doesn't hurt as much. Heh heh heh.
As soon as I submitted it, I thought "this sounds really optimistic". Trust me though, this guy has talked about how players have sucked as well. Probably a touch on the optimistic side, but not as much as you would think. The biggest problem I have with Camby is his blocks. He's obsessed with them. That's great, but he gives up at least 1-2 layups a game from leaving his guy to block someone else's shot. Plus, he has to do the testosterone block where he knocks it 7 rows into the stands. Tip it to yourself and start the fastbreak dammit. Agreed 100%. I liked Blake, but not at the $6-7 mil a year that he got. Is Atkins good? Not really, but he's not a huge drop off from Blake, plus he's a better shooter. We need a guard, either point or shooting, that can hit the outside shot and play D. I'm in the minority, but I love Trenton Hassel and would have loved him to be a Nug. Bingo. Karl is the thing that scares me the most this season. If he's on top of his game, we're a mid 50 win team. If he's not, we're a low 40 win team. Good God, you hit the nail on the head there. You're talking about a franchise that has not only never won the draft lottery (even with our 10,000,000 tries at it), but has never even moved UP in the lottery. Unreal. If not for Joe Dumars being possessed by pod people, we'd be stuck with Darko right now. The sad thing is, right now I'm optimistic (high 40's to low 50s in wins, potentially making the second round), but come game 5 of the season, I'll be convinced K-Mart is comeback player of the year and the Nugs are championship bound. True story -- last year I was dating a girl who had never been an NBA fan, but got hooked on the Nugs after going to a game. I took her to game 3 of the playoffs in which the Nugs lost in brutal fashion and basically guaranteed a 4-1 series. After teh game, she sat in her seat, staring blankly ahead. Finally, she turned to me and said, "I don't like being a Nugs fan anymore". Always pissed me off when I'd hear Red Sox fans whine about the curse. Hell, at least you guys came close. I feel for Tampa Bay Devil Ray fans.
I know you're a somewhat disgruntled fan, so you are trying to be pessimistic. But I don't understand this fascination with Steve Blake. Okay, I get it, when given solid minutes with good teammates, he can be an average assist to turnover guy. Wow. Why is Atkins a drop off at all from Blake? They're pretty much the same player, imo.
Blake's bigger and a little bit better defender. Plus, he seemed to be a good locker room guy and drove Kelly Dwyer crazy.
Looks like it was true at the time, but times have changed. JR got a DNP-CD on Friday and apparently really got into a screaming match with Karl at practice. The good news is that Wafer has played well so far in the preseason. Sounds like he's going to get serious minutes in the preseason so we know what we have when the real season starts.
as long as carmelo anthony and iverson are playing on the same team, the nuggets are not going far in the playoffs.
Huh? The problem is the coach and supporting cast, not those two guys. You give those two a supporting cast that compliments them and great things could happen. You support Yao and Tracy with a combination of drama queens, sissies and emotional wrecks and the Rockets wouldn't have any hope either. Throw in Mr. Gasoline irritant himself, George Karl, as coach of that poorly constructed bunch and watch that chemistry experiment blow up. The problem isn't AI and Melo.
They are both rhythm and streaky shooters. I am not a 82games.com stat guy. I just know that both players each take about 25 shots per game. 50 shots between 2 players is way too much, especially for a guy like Iverson who has a career fg % of .425. Iverson doesn't get the calls from the refs like he used to, so free throw attempts don't make up for his low fg %. Let's see, I believe the Nuggets will still finish as the #6 rank team out of the West, possibly playing the Rockets in the 1st round. This time I see the Rockets getting out of the 1st round.
Except for the fact that AI only attempted 20 shots a game last season, and that's counting the games he played in Philly, shooting 44%. And Melo had 22 shots a game at 47%. I'm curious how you decided they're shooting too much when you don't follow stats. Is it divine intervention? Karl's the biggest problem in my opinion. He scares the living hell out of me this year. There is NO doubt that if the cards are played correctly this year, the Nugs could win 55 games. With George running the ship though, I'm prepared for anything from 40-55 wins.
your moniker suggest that i could throw any number out there and it won't matter, you still think the nuggets will beat everybody. am i right?
From this thread alone... But hey, it's ok. Every year, someone who's been a member for over a month or so calls me out, and every year they look stupid.
