By Sam Handler | Thursday November 01st 2007, 12:33 pm
With all of the recent uh, unpleasantness, in the Denver sports world, the Nuggets’ season-opening victory over the Sonics was cathartic. I wasn’t fully attentive to the game (on account of Halloween festivities/booze), but it still felt good to have a solid outing from a Denver team. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like.
In his NBA debut, Kevin Durant looked solid, though his shot was cold. (Hey fellas! What’s cooler than bein’ cool!? Kevin Durant!). For the Nuggets, Melo was his old self, notching 32 points, while AI had 25. Camby was in single digits points-wise but dominated the boards with 15 rebounds. The Vanilla Gorilla came off the bench for 18, stroking it from 3 and helping the Nugs pull away late in the game.
Linus Kleiza looking pixelatedly ferocious:
p.s. I know that comment about Durant is going to come back to haunt me. The Nuggets won’t be able to hold him to 18 for long…
By Gabe Stein | Wednesday February 07th 2007, 10:54 pm
Heartbreaking loss for the Nuggets tonight against the Hornets. 114-112 in overtime. The Nuggets tied it late in OT, but after failing to grab a defensive rebound, the Hornets put in the winning basket as the buzzer sounded. That was basically the story of the night. The Nuggets just are not playing defense right now, and they’re losing games they should win because of it.
I don’t have time to do a full write up, but in case you’re looking for something to do tonight to take your mind off of the loss, we just found Carmelo’s MySpace page. It’s worth a look - word on the street is that Melo actually checks it pretty regularly, and he’s being pretty groundbreaking by being one of the first superstar athletes to start a page. The best part is probably the picture gallery of all his tattoos.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to start a Facebook profile to communicate with some friends, but it’s taking them hours to send my freaking confirmation e-mail. Me and social networking just do not mix.
It’s been a while since we’ve posted on the Denver Nuggets, and for that, I apologize. We’ve all gone back to school and been quite busy busting out material for the AOL NFL Fanhouse over at AOL, where Sam, Gabe and I have been contracted to write material which you can find here.
Back to the point: The Nuggets, and specifically, Carmelo Anthony. More specifically, the impact playing in the FIBA World Championships has had on Melo and what it means for the upcoming Nuggets season.
If you haven’t been paying attention, Melo has been playing extremely well on the world stage, averaging 19.7 points per game in the tournament. In the game against Italy, Melo scored 35 points, a record for U.S. teams in international play. This tournament is showing the world something many die-hard Denver Nuggets fans already knew: Melo can be a top-rate superstar if he has a supporting cast that can actually shoot the ball.
In last year’s playoff series against the Clippers, it was basically Melo alone who was trying to carry the team into the second round. We all saw how that went for us. But in the tournament there are other superstars — LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, etc. — that can a) pick up the slack when Melo is having an off night, and b) actually lead the way, allowing Melo to supplement an awesome attack.
I know Team USA’s loss to Greece is upsetting to the fans of the team and the team members themselves, but I look at this summer’s tournament as a success in that Melo has emerged as a bona fide threat. A lot of people already knew that around the NBA, but now there’s no denying it and George Karl has the formula for getting the Nuggets over that first-round hump and further into the NBA playoffs.
It looks like we’ll have to put up with K-Mart for at least another year, and there’s a chance the Nuggets could add Bonzi Wells. Maybe.
George Karl told the Rocky Tuesday that the temperamental — my word, not his — Kenyon Martin will be back in Denver this coming season, despite the fact that his name was floated in several trade rumors over the course of the summer so far.
On Tuesday, Karl left little room for doubt. Asked if his comments were an indication Martin wouldn’t be traded, Karl said, “I never have (thought Martin would be traded).”
Karl acts as if the team hasn’t tried to move K-Mart for almost the entire off-season. But the story in the Rocky sums it up very well in a nutshell:
NBA insiders have said the Nuggets have actively looked to move Martin. But, with a bad left knee and five years and $72 million left on his contract, they have found little interest.
Not to mention the bad back that kept K-Mart out of the line up for more than a few games when we could have used him. I really liked it when we brought the big man to town from New Jersey — despite the fact that we could have landed Gilbert Arenas — and figured we would get the same explosive K-Mart that was so exciting to watch for all those years running the floor with Jason Kidd, even making it to the finals one year. But all Denver has gotten out of the deal is an on-again off-again player who likes to send his goon-squad into the stands to confront hecklers and get into fights with the coach and other players at a critical point in last year’s playoff series with the Clippers (I still think we could have and should have won that series). Let’s just hope that the old K-Mart comes back next season because a healthy, motivated K-Mart could help us get to where we need to be.
Another report has former Sacramento King Bonzi Wells landing in Denver after not getting the deal from the Kings that he wanted. This deal will probably not go through, but the Nuggets are looking for shooters where ever they can find them, and Wells would be a great addition to the team. Wells averaged 13.6 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game and almost three assists per game last season, but he may be asking for too much money.
NBA.com released its idea of the power rankings for next season, and the Nuggets are 13th, after being ranked 12th just last week. This is another example of the Nuggets and the Rodney Dangerfield paradigm: “I don’t get no respect.”
How can three teams with worse season records last year be ranked above the Nuggets? New Orleans/Oklahoma City (38-44), Washington (42-40) and Chicago (41-41) were all ranked higher than the Nuggets.
I’ll break these down one at a time:
New Orleans/Oklahoma City — You’ve got to be kidding me. Honestly. NBA.com says that no team has improved more than the Hornets this off-season. We’ll see. Mark my words: The Nuggets will finish with a better season record and get further into the playoffs than the Hornets. No doubt in my mind.
Washington — You do have Gilbert Arenas, an emerging super star, but you finished with less wins than Denver and you play in the east. It is widely acknowledged that the east is easier than the west, so what gives? Washington did have an impressive playoff run last year (the series against the Cavs was amazing with Arenas and James going shot for shot), and that may play into this. But I’d put the Nuggets against the Wizards any day.
Chicago — Besides the acquisition of Ben Wallace, what gives NBA.com the idea that the Nuggets are not as good as the Bulls? Again, the Bulls play in the east and finished with less wins than the Nuggets. NBA.com even acknowledges in its listing that they’re not sure who’s going to do the scoring. Talk about giving too much credit to Ben Wallace: Let’s not forget he was one of a handful of players on the Pistons that were so dominant the last few years. Without Wallace, the Bulls would’ve been somewhere in the high teens, no doubt.
What is it going to take for the Nuggets to finally make it over the first round hump? Denver’s Coach K has some ideas.
A major part of the plan is New Orleans cast-away J.R. Smith who, during his first meeting with the Denver media, compared himself to NBA All Star Vince Carter, may be the outside scoring threat the Nuggets desperately needed last year (the team finished the season with a league-worst 32.5 scoring percentage from beyond the arch). Smith’s average from three-point range fared slightly better at 37.1 percent. Anybody who can hit three pointers will be a plus for the Nuggets. Smith spent the last two seasons with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, coming in as a highly-touted high school star, but ended his tenure in the Big Easy as a big headache for coach Byron Scott who kept him on the bench. I’m not getting my hopes up just to have them dashed by a 20-year-old bench warmer who is already comparing himself to Vince Carter. Plus, his defense is going to have to be pretty damn good to replace Greg Buckner’s who, despite his inconsistency as a shooter, was always a reliable top-level defender.
A second part of the plan is Yakhouba Diawara, who will either play shooting guard or small forward this season. Diawara played two seasons at Pepperdine, where he averaged 15.5 points and snagged six boards per game a year ago. He spent last season playing in two different European leagues: He played 20 games for JDA Dijon Bourgogne (French League), averaging 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He spent another 25 games battling with Climamio Bologna of the Italian League, where he averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 boards per game, according to the Denver Post. I haven’t seen this guy play, so I’m not sure yet how I feel about him. But I do know that he reportedly turned down a larger offer from the Dallas Mavericks, who were a few bad calls away from a championship, to play for George Karl. He said he feels “comfortable” playing in the Denver system, and he had a verbal agreement to play for Karl. I want to be optimistic, but the last time this city got excited over a European prospect, we got burned. Let’s all say it together: Tskitishvili.
The Nuggets have also apparently signed free agent center Jamal Sampson. Sampson has played for four teams in four seasons, averaging 2.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. On the surface this seems like a pseudo-replacement for Francisco Elson, who bolted when the Nuggets wouldn’t match a $6 million offer from the Spurs. We’ll have to see how that one works out, but again, I’m not going to hold my breath on a guy who has averaged a bucket and a half per game over the course of his entire career.
Those are the definite additions, but there is one more deal out there that could add a proven veteran to the team. Keith Van Horn is looking for a team to play for, and he may just end up in Denver. Karl told the Rocky Mountain News Thursday that Van Horn, who lives in Evergreen, is on his radar as a shooting threat to relieve the pressure on Carmelo Anthony.
“I don’t think there’s any question I want a shooting big (man) next year,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We need somebody to get people off (Carmelo Anthony). I would lean more toward a veteran. (Van Horn) has got to be one or two on that list.”
The Nuggets will have to wait a while to find out, though. Van Horn is on an extended fishing trip in Alaska and his agent said he will not meet with him until mid-August to determine his future.
I was really looking forward to Allen Iverson coming to Denver. The Nuggets were one of the few teams around the league that could offer the 76ers a viable trade for the superstar. I say I was looking forward to it because apparently Iverson is staying in Philly. There may be hope yet: ESPN is reporting that an Iverson deal is still on the table, if the right deal came along. Sixers management had to tell the touchy superstar they wanted him on the team after spending the whole off-season dangling him on the trading block, but truly they want to move him.
Let’s just see what happens when the Nuggets take the floor this season. If everything comes together, and everyone stays healthy (I’m looking at you, Nene) the Nuggets have no excuse for not getting past the first round of the playoffs. Seriously.
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