Life With Carmelo

It’s been nice, hasn’t it?

Denver has been a regular visitor to the postseason, even making a spirited run at the Lakers in the 2009 Western Conference Finals.  All thanks to the kid from Baltimore and his silky-smooth game.

Now Nuggets fans get to watch tensely as their team prepares for Life After Melo.

But before we all jump on the “Melo to Jersey” bandwagon, remember that Anthony’s exit from the team was a done deal in July, August & September in turn.  According to most sports news outlets, Carmelo has been most definitely, without a doubt, on his way out of Denver no less than a half dozen times this offseason.  Meanwhile, Melo has stood firm in his position that he wants to play the 2010-2011 with the Nuggets.

For certain, Anthony will test the free agent market after this season if he has not already been signed to an extension by Denver or traded and signed long-term by another club.  Yet Melo’s unflinching priority (according to his every action and statement since May) is this upcoming season and giving the Nuggets one more chance to make a run at an NBA Title.

As uneasy as Carmelo’s position makes fans and the Denver front office, rest assured that he is in it to win it in powder blue right here, right now.

Digging Deeper Into the New Nuggets

For many, the Denver Nuggets’ 2010-2011 Season is all about where Carmelo Anthony will play the next 4-5 years of his basketball career.  But for the Nuggets the turmoil goes much deeper than Melo’s Decision.

Denver spent the biggest Summer Free Agent Smorgasbord in NBA history fretting about turnover in the front office as Mark Warkentein & Co. was ushered out.

Warkentein’s crew was never popular with new Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke, who hastily took over as head of team operations so that father Stan Kroenke could pursue full ownership of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.  Granted, Warkentein’s time as Denver’s General Manager seemed short halfway through last season when the Nuggets failed to extend him an extension on his expiring contract.  But the impending ownership change (finalized this summer) was the nail in the coffin.

Young Josh Kroenke taking over, coupled with Warkentein’s departure, left potential free agents unwilling to take a chance on a club in transition.  Without Carmelo’s signature on a fresh contract, Denver looked to be in decline.

Without firm management the organization sat out another loaded NBA Draft, and the early spree of Western Conference free agent signings passed by as the Nuggets looked on.

Enter Masai Ujiri, the new front office boss in Denver.

After watching Chris Bosh exit Toronto this summer as the Raptor’s Assistant GM, Majiri will get another chance to keep his new team’s prize player as the Nuggets’ General Manager.

Ujiri is familiar with Carmelo Anthony from his four years with the Nuggets as an international scout, and there is no doubt that little fact played into his hiring.  However, Masai also represents a bold movement towards internationalizing the Nuggets’ prospects.  He specializes in his continent of origin, Africa, which is now widely considered to be the new focal point of NBA international recruiting.

The Kroenke family and the rest of the Denver front office are no doubt heavily invested in keeping Carmelo in town.  But if Anthony ditches Denver for a bigger market, Ujiri represents a contingency plan to keep the Nuggets on the cutting edge of NBA team-building into the new decade.

Read more about new Nuggets General Manager Masai Ujiri

Not to be overlooked in the sea of changes surrounding the Nuggets is the return of head coach George Karl.  His exit from the team midway through last season spelled Denver’s demise, even as he repeatedly pushed his chemo-weakened body back to the Nuggets bench.  Eventually, Karl submitted to the effects of rigorous cancer treatment and watched from home as stand-in assistant coach Adrian Dantley move the Nuggets towards an opening round playoff elimination.

Player Developments

The biggest move of the offseason for Denver was the addition of free agent power forward Al Harrington.  He is a veteran player coming off a resurgent season in New York, and will start right away as Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen continue to struggle with the after-effects of summer knee surgeries.

Read more about free agent acquisition Al Harrington

In case you missed it, Chauncey Billups led the USA National Basketball Team to the top of the World.  The Denver native provided veteran leadership on an absurdly young US squad, and worked with head coach Mike Krzyzewski to mold a highly functional American collegiate style basketball team.  Chauncey & the Kids won World Championship Gold in Turkey behind an absolute revelation of a performance by Oklahoma Thunder forward Kevin Durant.

Read more about Nuggets on the USA National Team

Finally, the Nuggets added depth at center with the acquisition of monstrous seven-footer Didier “DJ” Ilunga-Mbenga, who spent his last two years in Los Angeles.  The Nuggets also loaded the bench with the other backup center from the 2010 NBA Championship series in former Boston big man Shelden Williams.

Read more about the Nuggets’ new Centers
Read a Preview of the Denver Nuggets 2010-2011 Schedule

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With the late August hiring of General Manager Masai Ujiri, the Denver Nuggets gained an experienced emissary to the International Basketball community.

Ujiri is a native of Zaria, Nigeria and has long been a bridge between the NBA and the basketball talent pool outside of the United States.  He served as the director for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in Africa, and continues to be active in the development of basketball culture in his home country.

Masai served as the Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Raptors for three years, largely as a result of that team’s desire to expand their international recruiting reach.  Now Denver has placed him in a position to build the Nuggets in his own image.  In his time with Toronto, Ujiri added Andrea Bargnani, Carlos Delfino & Jose Calderon to the Raptors roster.

No doubt, the Nuggets’ bench will take on more of a world flavor in coming seasons.

For now, Issue #1 is keeping star forward Carmelo Anthony in Denver.

Melo has been looking at moving on to the bright lights of a bigger city all summer.

While Anthony has been careful to maintain team obligations at every turn, he is also clearly more than a little interested in exploring the open market at the end of his contract following the 2010-2011 Season.  Denver watched Lebron spurn the winter snow fields of Cleveland for the sandy expanses of South Beach, and the Nuggets will do anything they can to keep Carmelo in town.

Masai Ujiri is undoubtedly the Nuggets’ Ace in that quest, and he is reported to have a positive prior relationship with Anthony.  More than that, though, Masai represents a positive movement by the Nuggets to advance the franchise beyond its present recruiting limitations.  Denver hopes that Carmelo values that club commitment to growth.

At 39 years old, Masai is a relatively fresh face in the dusty lineup of NBA GM’s.

And yet his experience in World Basketball is expansive.

In six years of professional European basketball Ujiri played in Belgium, Germany, England, Greece and Finland.  He started out as an unpaid international scout for the Orlando Magic, an assignment that lasted only a year.  Masai was quickly recruited by the Nuggets to spearhead their international scouting initiatives, working with the team from 2003-2007 before moving on to Toronto.

Now Ujiri is back in Denver to kick-start the Josh Kroenke Era… and potentially the Post-Carmelo Era as well.  If that is the case, at least Masai will be building a team designed to compete in the increasingly internationalized NBA.

Ujiri’s take on the global growth of basketball scouting?

“You cannot miss it. There’s no running away from it. You have to cover everywhere. Basketball globally has gotten better, the skill level has gotten better. What some of the international kids are doing in the NBA is amazing.”

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Carmelo Anthony has been spoken for at length in recent months.  To quote numerous media sources, Melo has been “on the brink” of being sent East on the trade winds since early August. But none among those purportedly in-the-know have anything better than unnamed sources to back up their claims.

Well, Carmelo finally had his say on Wednesday…

To be sure, the Summer of 2010 took a turn for the worse in Nuggetsland after Lebron James announced his defection from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Melo was keeping his contract extension in the back of a drawer, the Lebron/Bosh/Stoudemire Sweepstakes had wound down, and baseball had turned to a pitcher-dominated steroid-free snoozer.  With the Carmelo-LaLa wedding rising on the horizon, the craven sports media gravitated zombie-like towards the Next Big Story.

For his part, Carmelo Anthony played it all in character; cool as ice.

Even when anxious guests pressed the issue at the Melo-LaLa wedding reception, Anthony just laughed it off.  He assured interviewers that he was a Denver Nugget, that he was looking forward to training camp, that he didn’t want to be traded.

So, as the Great Media Monster pressed on with speculation, NBA fans were left to wonder what was true and what was so much blown smoke.

Carmelo Himself shed some light on the situation in his first direct response to the trade rumors.  In his comments we can see Anthony in a clear light, especially by comparison to the murky details rendered from imagined sources “close to the situation”.

“If they come to me and say they want to trade me to a team we’ll discuss it at that time. Right now they haven’t come to me and said that.”  Anthony went on, “What they’re doing in the front office is letting me go through training camp and not worry about that type of stuff.”

I know, sounds like Melo has one foot out the door right?

“I’m going to work hard regardless, whether there’s a deal on the table or the deal’s not on the table… I’m here, man. This ain’t offseason. The season has started. I’m not a free agent yet. If it comes down to it at the end of the season and I haven’t signed the extension, then we’ll sit down.”

After months of anonymous sources cooked up a half-dozen “just a matter of time” exit plans for Carmelo Anthony, we see a different tone in the man’s own words.

We see a player who very much wants to take his Nuggets into the 2010-2011 NBA Season.  We see a guy who is torn between starting from scratch on one of basketball’s biggest stages, and hunkering down in a market that thrives almost exclusively on his name.  We see everything that ESPN’s guesswork didn’t care to.

In short, we see a man carefully making a decision.

And THAT may be the mainstream media’s biggest miss in its assessment of Carmelo Anthony’s basketball future.  It is so much easier to write about a player who has made up his mind, as Lebron James likely did weeks or months before he took his (overrated) talents to South Beach.  But Melo has played it cool.  And where Lebron took his cues from “Worldwide Wes” and a host of other confidants, Carmelo has taken the decision entirely upon himself.

“My wife is rolling with me… She’s leaving the decision up to me. I’m the one out here shooting jump shots, running up and down the court. She understands what’s going on. Of course there’s pressure for her because she don’t really know what’s going on right now, a lot of speculation and rumors.

“She’s the star, she’s in Hollywood, she’s acting, she’s got her own show, that’s what she does. She’s been doing that before she even met me. She’s with me.”

So with the support of his long-time love and recent wife behind him, Carmelo has deftly navigated the Summer Seas and still come out with a decision to make.

No pressure.  Just a choice.

And how cool is Melo?  Really?

So cool that he is willing to wait to see what kind of team the 2010-2011 Nuggets are with a healthy George Karl at the helm and Big Al Harrington manning the opposite post. Carmelo is willing to risk losing out on the big payday provided by the current (and expiring) Collective Bargaining Agreement just to better inform his decision.

After a summer of being compared to the egocentric circus that was once Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony has proven himself less than a mirror.  Instead, Melo waiting out the storm and then stood above it all to tell the world that he hadn’t made up his mind yet, that he loves where he plays basketball, and that the decision is his alone.

Said Anthony, “I think everybody has a little bit of an opinion of what happened in Miami, some good, some bad… I think it definitely had a little bit of an impact… It had a little bit of an impact on how people think.”

Props to Melo for being his own man even under the reflected lights of Lebrongate.

And as unlikely as it still is, here’s hoping that Denver is Carmelo’s basketball home for many more years to come.  What did Melo have to say about that?

“My options will be open.”

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Mark Warkentien is on his way out of Denver after the Nuggets announced they are not interested in renewing the contract of their VP of Basketball Operations.  With him will go Rex Chapman, the Nuggets’ VP of Player Personnel, whose contract has also expired.

Mark & Rex took their positions at the head of the Nuggets’ front office before the 2005-2006 season, and have shown a proclivity for finding diamonds in the rough since.

However, the duo was never able to land a mega-acquisition to partner with Carmelo Anthony, and Denver may lose Melo as a result.  Despite the addition of Chauncey Billups in 2009 (a move fueled more by Chauncey’s desire to return to Denver than Mark’s negotiating chops), the Warkentien Era in Denver will go down as only slightly better than a failure.

The Nuggets did pick up JR Smith and Aaron Afflalo on Warkentein’s watch, and Denver reacquired fan favorite Chris “Birdman” Andersen as well.  But even as Afflalo quickly became a starter, all of these guys were role players on a team that needed a second star.  Even Billups, at this late stage in his career, was rarely able to hoist the Nuggets on his back over the last two seasons.

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Denver Nuggets sit out another loaded NBA Draft

West competition gets bigger while Nuggets stand pat

That left Melo on an island, and Anthony’s initial refusal to sign a lucrative contract extension this offseason speaks volumes about the lack of faith he has in this organization’s ability to get him some help.

After all, through the most loaded free agent class in the modern history of the NBA, the best the Nuggets could do was grab… Al Harrington.  And Harrington almost ended up in Dallas before Denver came through with more money.

The top two executives in the Denver front office likely won’t be finished clearing out their desks by the time the next tremor hits in this huge shakeup.

The Nuggets have not announced any replacements, but a thorough reconstitution of the front office is clearly in the works.  Paul Andrews, President of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, announced in a press release earlier today that:

“We are in the process of evaluating and restructuring the Nuggets front office and have begun a search for possible replacements as we prepare for the upcoming season.”

The rumblings started mid-season when it was reported that Warkentien had been courted by the Portland Trailblazers.  Mark showed interest in the job, despite winning the NBA’s award for Executive of the Year in 2009 with Denver.

Now, with Stan Kroenke moving to transfer ownership to son Josh, the shakeup is in full effect.  There was always a feeling that Warkentien was Stan’s boy and that Josh, the Nuggets’ VP of Team Development, would find a replacement as soon as he could.  That may explain Mark’s early interest in the Portland job, although his interactions with the Blazers mid-season (and especially before the all-important 2010 free agency period) still border on unforgivable. The front office insecurity became a detractor for potential free agents as a result.

The only shame in the deal is that Rex Chapman, whose eye for talent is largely responsible for the Nuggets going after Afflalo & Smith, will be leaving with him.  Chapman, unlike Warkentien, knows the value of executives in the player-driven NBA:

“I feel like this league has always been about the players, coaches and owners, and the rest of us are highly replaceable.”

Read Josh Kroenke’s team bio

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The Denver Nuggets have had no choice but to wallow in the unhappy ending to their 2009-20010 season over the last two months.  Will they be able to right the ship by cashing in on the richest free agent market in NBA history?

With a suddenly glaring weakness at power forward, the Denver Nuggets need to make a move to compete in the loaded Western Conference next season.

Denver is in a heck of a bind after their playoff flop versus Utah.

An unfortunate combination of injuries, circumstance, and poor decision-making by the Nuggets’ front office have Denver on the edge of irrelevance as the rest of the West grows inexorably bigger and stronger across the board.

Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen both had offseason knee surgeries, with K-Mart likely to miss training and preseason work with the team.  The Nuggets’ formerly formidable power forward corps look suddenly paper thin.

Carmelo Anthony is unwilling to sign a contract extension without guaranteed help from free agency that may never come.  Melo’s current deal is up in 2011, and the Nuggets have expressed a willingness to trade him instead of losing him to free agency next year.

It is most likely, however, that Denver and Carmelo will find a way to work out a deal for an extension under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that will pay Anthony much more over the next four or five years than he could make here or anywhere else after the current CBA expires at the end of next season.

George Karl’s coaching future is still up in the air despite assertions from his family that his road to recovery is firmly on track.  Without Karl’s practiced hand steadying these Nuggets, they are simply not a reasonable contender for the Conference Finals or better.

And the Nuggets gained nothing from a loaded 2010 NBA Draft class that featured a cadre of qualified big men.  Even a lesser pick from the 2^nd Round could have helped to shoulder the crushing low post burden.  Kenyon has been unable to play a full season since coming to Denver, and there is little chance that next season will be any different.

The good news is yet to come. (It has to.)

Word is that Denver did fish for a trade partner to bust into last week’s draft, but nothing materialized that was worth the asking price.  (Denver’s unfortunate recent draft history left them without a 2010 pick.)

That leaves the Nuggets’ front office with continued draft-related failure since nabbing Nene and Carmelo Anthony in consecutive drafts from 2002-2003.  (The book is still out on Ty Lawson.)  Denver has instead opted to do its fishing in the free agent pool, and this season the big fish are biting.

While the Nuggets have not been mentioned by rumor mills like ESPN as suitors for any of the big names in the 2010 Free Agent Class, Stan Kroenke & Co. have been notorious for playing their cards close to the vest.

Do not be surprised to see one of the available power forwards come to Denver, paired with the exit of Kenyon Martin’s expiring contract.

The Big Bosh surprise?

The plum of this free agent class is obviously Lebron, but James and Melo have always been a better foil as opponents than teammates.  Lebron is certainly not willing to shift to power forward to accommodate Melo, or vice versa.

The slightly more likely solution would be a sign & trade with Toronto for Chris Bosh.

Although Denver is not on the Chris Bosh Wishlist, the Raptors’ ability to give Bosh a max deal and get an expiring contract in return makes the Nuggets an ideal trade partner.  Toronto would end up with Kenyon Martin drawing fans to their seats for a year, and the Nuggets would get the youthful big man that they need to partner with Nene in the paint.

As much as Chris may want to end up in the bright lights of New York, Chicago or Miami, he may be more motivated by the riches afforded a sign & trade through his current team.  Bosh would be a great fit in the Nuggets’ speed & isolation oriented offense, and his shot-blocking ability would partially make up for the loss of K-Mart’s unmatched post defense.

Then again, if Bosh and Lebron can find a way to fit into the budget together at Chicago, this all becomes a moot point and another Bulls Dynasty is born.

Amare For the Win

Amare Stoudemire is a long-shot to come to Denver because the Nuggets would have to unload K-Mart by other means in order to afford him.  The Suns will certainly not be interested in a bulky, defense-oriented, injury-prone power forward to replace the explosive Stoudemire.

That means the Nuggets would have to dump Kenyon on another team in exchange for a less expensive talent, then woo Stoudemire to Denver with promises of speedy transition play and a shooting forward (Melo) that can mirror his powerful interior skills out on the perimeter.  This is an unlikely solution and, as with any other potential deal this July, Amare’s path depends on where other power forwards end up around the league.

If Amare wants to win, he will not waste the next few years of his basketball life losing in Madison Square Garden or the NBA Purgatory known as Clipperland.  Better options for such a great offensive talent to win now and in the future lie in Phoenix or Denver.

The Most Unlikely Signing That Ever Was

We’ve gone from sort of likely to outright unlikely, and now we go to the Twilight Zone for the deal that would be fantastic for the Nuggets but would never, ever, not in a million years happen.

Carlos Boozer is an underestimated power forward talent in this free agent class.  He is a force comparable to Kenyon on defense, and his ability to rebound on the offensive glass extends possessions and wears down opponents.

Boozer is the workhorse that Denver needs to anchor its starting five… the anchor that Kenyon has been when healthy.  His skill set is so similar to K-Mart’s that you would hardly notice a difference, except that Carlos would be a force in the late season and playoffs where Kenyon becomes less effective and misses time as the year wears on.

The only problem is that Boozer has spent six dedicated seasons in Utah.  He could have left the Jazz for greener pastures in the past and hasn’t.  The very idea that he would betray the Utah faithful by coming to Denver must be highly offensive to Jazz fans.

However, the Jazz are never going to break through the laundry list of talented teams in the Western Conference to reach the NBA Finals under Jerry “Dinosaur” Sloan.

Make no mistake, Sloan runs a tight ship and puts together tough, competitive teams each season.  But Utah is merely a weigh station; a worthy obstacle to be overcome in the playoffs.  Their back-to-back playoff exits at the hands of the Lakers have shown how woefully untalented this team is on the offensive side of the court.

Carlos would be better off in powder blue.

Mr. Boozer could do great things in Denver, most importantly bringing in the kind of toughness and tenacity that the Nuggets have been missing without a 100% Kenyon over the last six years.

Don’t waste your breath, Dirk’s goin’ nowhere.

The last power forward on the Big List (see below) is Dirk Nowitzki.  The big German sensation could make the Nuggets a Title Contender immediately with his rare combination of strength, speed, rebounding ability and shooting touch.

However, despite Dirk’s announcement yesterday that he would opt out of the final year of his current contract, Nowitzki is staying in Dallas.  Doubtless, Dirk decided to opt out that he might garner a more favorable contract under the current CBA than if he had waited until next season.  Like Carmelo, Nowitzki wants to stay where he is… he just wants to be rewarded handsomely for his loyalty.

Best Wishes to Melo & Lala

Carmelo Anthony and longtime girlfriend Lala Vazquez will finally tie the knot next Saturday, July 10^th.

While the rest of the NBA world goes gaga over the big free agent frenzy, Melo & Lala will be saying their vows in New York City.  The wedding is accompanied by a VH1 Reality TV Show that premieres in September and focuses on the months leading up to the wedding.  The finale will be a 90-minute detail of the wedding itself.

So congrats to Melo & Lala.  May their marriage and Carmelo’s career in Denver both last well into a bright ‘n shiny future.

The Big List: Top Ten 2010 NBA Free Agents

Lebron James (SF)

Dwyane Wade (SG)

Chris Bosh (PF)

Joe Johnson (SG)

Dirk Nowitzki (PF)

Paul Pierce (SF)

Amare Stoudemire (PF)

Carlos Boozer (PF)

David Lee (C)

Rudy Gay (SF)

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logo rendering by Ian Cerveny

A year ago the Denver Nuggets were dominant.

Five-game shamings of the New Orleans Hornets & Dallas Mavericks in the first two rounds of the 2009 Playoffs had Denver looking like a Finals contender.  An uneven showing against the Lakers proved the Nuggets lack of discipline.

See, the Denver Nuggets are as bipolar as NBA basketball teams come.

When they move the ball well, stretch defenses with a solid percentage from range, and make clean, responsible rotations on defense, the Nuggets are capable of beating any team in the league over seven games.  When they get bogged down in isolations, take contested threes, and fall asleep in the defensive paint… well… they lose in six games to the undermanned Utah Jazz.

Denver is Dr. Jumper & Mr. Drive – a constant contrast between raw individual abilities and the need for refined team play.

That’s why the Jazz were such a problem for the Nuggets in these 2010 Playoffs.

Jerry Sloan has put regimented, team-oriented squads on the floor for the better part of three decades.  His Jazz will never (repeat, never) win an NBA Championship because they lack exactly the explosive characteristics that make clubs like the Nuggets so dangerous.  Utah is too metered for ultimate success in the modern NBA (or even the 1990’s NBA, a shame for all those great Mailman-centric teams.)  Their ultra-consistent play will always find itself eventually lacking versus a big-play, big-potential team like Denver or Los Angeles.

And yet, the Jazz were the perfect Yin to the Nuggets’ Yang in 2010.  Where Denver was fundamentally deficient, Utah was fundamentally sound.

Bear in mind, of course, that this would not have happened in 2009.  The ot-nine Nuggets would have simply overwhelmed the Jazz with the same barrage of offensive firepower that defeated New Orleans & Dallas.  But without the commanding influence of one George Matthew Karl manually balancing Denver’s speeding keel, they routinely fell out of rhythm on both ends of the court.

Karl was the glue that forcibly held this band of powerful rebels together.

Adrian Dantley filled in as best he could.  But without decades of experiencing playing postseason chess with on-court matchups, Dantley fell prey to Sloan’s superior in-game coaching.

The Nuggets were still capable of forcing the issue, of course, their talent level being so far superior across the breadth of the team from starters to bench.  However, the misuse of available players by Dantley and the lack of a personality manager at the helm combined to doom the Nuggets to a series best quickly forgotten.

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All hands on deck!  After a poor game that the Jazz won by three, the Nuggets put up one their worst performances of year and the postseason is in jeopardy.  This is now a must win game on the road.  If the Nuggets can’t find it tonight, they probably won’t find it.  And Energy Solutions Arena is a tough place for any team save the Jazz to play.

I won’t lie; it’s tough to root for the Nuggets after the lackluster performance on Friday night.  The team played just about the laziest game I’ve ever seen a contender play and it makes me wonder if they ever were truly a contender.  The only cure is a high-energy, high-effort win on the road.

1^st Quarter

5:46 Nuggets get the early lead on the shooting of Carmelo Anthony, but so far the game has looked much like the previous three strategically.  The Jazz are running their dribble drives and pick and rolls.  The Nuggets are working the isolations and looking for mistakes in the Jazz defense under the hoop.

2:28 The Jazz have clawed back in by dominating down low for a solid 3 minutes.  Paul Millsap has come into the game and Nene can’t deal with him.  Nene has got to step up both defensively and offensively against Millsap, because if things continue as they are the Nuggets are looking at a long game and short season.

End Quarter Jazz 31-25

The Nuggets’ offense left the building for a few minutes and the Jazz pulled away.  It happens.   A missed layup by Nene here and missed wide open 3 Pointer by Chauncey Billups there and you only score 4 points in the final 4 minutes of a quarter.

The Jazz are simply getting too close to the basket.  They’re shooting 60% and it’s because the vast majority of shots they’re taking are from within the restricted area.  The Nuggets have got to find a way to keep the ball on the perimeter.

2^nd Quarter

7:57 Millsap has left the floor and the Nuggets are chipping away at the lead (was at its highest at 8, now down to 5).   Looking at the stats, the Nuggets’ shooting is a little low (42%).  That needs to come up.

5:04 The Nuggets are battling.  At times today, they’ve looked like they have no idea what to do and at others are showing the toughness that got them here.  J.R. Smith has been the best defender so far with a pair of steals and 2 rebounds.

3:21 The Nuggets have abandoned the paint and their post players are taking stupid jump shots.  The Nuggets’ shooting is down to 39%.  Worse, look at the shooting from the Nuggets bigs:

Kenyon Martin 1-7

Nene 1-2

Chris Anderson 1-3

Martin has been exceptionally bad.  He can’t make layups or jump shots.

2:16 Martin just got his third foul and will have to sit on the bench.  Considering the way he’s played, good riddance.

End Half Jazz 54-45

The shot selection for the Nuggets is the culprit tonight (37% FG, 1-7 3 Pt).  Even Anthony’s numbers have slumped (7-15 FG, although he has picked up 3 of his own rebounds).  Only Aaron Afflalo is making more than 50% of his shots (3-5 FG).  Adrian Dantley needs to be yelling at his low percentage shooter (Kenyon & Anderson specifically) and telling them they’re not allowed to take any low percentage shots.

On the other end, the Jazz shooters are having an off night, but they are still shooting 56% because the bigs are finding easy paths to the basket.

3^rd Quarter

7:41 Even when the Jazz try to help the Nuggets out, Denver gives the ball right back.  On a bad pass by Afflalo, Wesley Matthews takes the ball the other way and misses a dunk.  I’m feeling like this could be the Nuggets’ time, and Melo steps out of bounds on the drive.  The Nuggets look dead in the water down by 15.

3:10  Denver has taken a game they were in only down by 9, and with lazy play (especially on the defensive side) have turned it into an asskicking.  There is only one way to describe the Nuggets’ second half performance; shameful.  This team has gone from being a contender to win a championship and in one month turned into a team that may need to be blown up.

End Quarter Jazz 86-68

The Nuggets have given themselves a tall order to keep their season going.  They pretty much have to play perfect basketball in order to win this game and I don’t need to remind you that this game is the playoffs.  I think Basketball season may be over.

4^th Quarter

9:40  Well the good news is the Jazz have started launching stupid shots.  If this continues and the Nuggets have someone get hot the game might not be over.  I’m not holding my breath.

6:04 The Nuggets closed the lead to 11 from 20 in half the quarter.  A few more minutes like this and I might be wrong about the Nuggets season.

2:36 The Jazz make their clutch shots and the Nuggets need 2 and a half minutes of absolutely perfect basketball to win.

0:54 After closing it to 7, Melo misses a 14 footer and the Jazz are into foul shots.

End Game

The Nuggets could have won this game (and this series) with consistent effort.  When they played hard at both ends they were clearly the beater team.  But Utah simply out worked them.   Melo was the only one who played hard all the way through (et to Billups?) and he missed time with foul trouble again.

And now the Nuggets must win 3 in a row with the middle one on the road.   That’s probably out of the question for this team.  Next time I’m scheduled to write for the Nuggets will be game 7…  so I don’t expect to write about them again this season.

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Game Preview & Playoff Race Update

Well one week in Milwaukee and everything seems to have settled in the NBA… but not quite settled.

Realistically the Nuggets probably lost their shot at the number two seed with the home loss against San Antonio since the Mavericks just need one win or one Nuggets loss to clench.  Also, since Phoenix visits Utah on Wednesday, one of them is out if the Nuggets win tonight.  Now the game on Tuesday in Phoenix will be huge one way or another, but the importance can be lessened with a win tonight.

Now let me make this perfectly clear, if the Nuggets are to do anything in the playoffs they must beat Utah.  That is imperative.  Utah is a team that will crush the Nuggets in the first round if game one is in Utah, and Phoenix stands a good chance of beating the Nuggets at home or on the road.  If Phoenix beats the Nuggets for the third spot, but the Nuggets host Utah, Denver probably rolls through the first round.

Granted, they’d have to play LA in the second round, but there are benefits to playing the Lakers earlier.  (see: Chauncey Billups – legs)   If the Nuggets head to Phoenix in the Conference Final, they will deal with that then.  I just don’t see them anywhere near the Final if they visit Utah or have to play Phoenix and LA in succession.

1^st Quarter

8:58 Gotta hand it to Memphis… I always like their game plans.  Drive the lane, drive the lane, drive the lane.

Sure, such a strategy would never work against San Antonio (who they’ll have to beat at some future point to win their division), but it sure generates points and fouls against defense that like to spread out.   The Nuggets are doing the same on offense, but more because Memphis looks disorganized and apathetic.  Thus, Chauncey Billups is seeing a lot of open lanes.

6:40 So Kenyon Martin makes a nice block and sends the ball into the Memphis bench area.  As the fan behind the Grizzlies bench passes the ball back to Kenyon, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins stands up and bats the ball away.  Billups complains and is dealt a technical.  Tell me how that makes any kind of sense.

2:57 The Grizzlies have taken the lead by a point.  They are taking absolutely ridiculous shots and getting them to fall.  The Nuggets are slacking on the boards.

End Quarter Nuggets 32-31

The Grizzlies are getting a considerable amount of bad shots to fall along with shots after Nugget fouls.

Take away those, and the Nuggets seem to have a stranglehold on this game.  Nene and Carmelo Anthony are dominating against some pretty good bigs in Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay.   Also, as I look down the box score I notice 3 Grizzlies starters with 2 Personal Fouls and their backup center Hamed Haddadi with 3.

2^nd Quarter

8:07 Johan Petro hit the floor hard driving for a loose ball in the offensive end, and stays down.  After the commercial he’s seen sitting on the bench in less pain.  Good news.  Losing Petro at this point in the season would leave the Nuggets a little thin in the front court.

4:47 The Nuggets are doing what they should do, forcing the issue offensively and taking their game to the line.  Most importantly, they’re making their foul shots (15-19 FT).  If this keeps up (combined 9 PF among 4 starters), the Grizzlies are going to be forced to play with their bench in the fourth quarter.

On the other end, some recklessness with the basketball leads to 2 Carmelo Anthony fast breaks.  The Nuggets are showing signs of pulling away.

End Quarter Nuggets 63-57

The following is a list of the Grizzlies who project to be in foul trouble that affects their playing time:

Rudy Gay-3 PF

Zach Randolph-3 PF

Hasheem Thabeet-3 PF

Hamed Haddadi-3 PF

And here’s a list of the Nuggets:

Aaron Afflalo-3 PF

I wouldn’t even say the Nuggets are getting away with being on the good side of bad officiating.  Memphis is simply slashing at the basketball recklessly while the Nuggets drive to the basket.  The Nuggets are probably a little bit too much for Memphis anyway, but asking bench players to come in and produce against starters is a tall order.

I will say this about the Grizzlies: Mike Conley is a good basketball player.  He’s the only player on Memphis who’s been consistently effective.  I think if Memphis ever gets him a full team, or if he goes to a team just a little better than Memphis is right now, he could be a top-five point guard in the league.

3^rd Quarter

8:13 Very quickly in the quarter, Thabeet commits his fourth foul.  out goes Hasheem, in comes Haddadi.  Then Haddadi commits his fourth, out goes Haddadi, in comes Darrell Arthur.  The wheels are about to come off for Memphis.

4:21 The Nuggets are now systematically removing every viable threat from the game.

Gay has committed his fourth foul and will take a seat on the bench.  Melo drew the foul on an isolation drive from the top of the arch.  Melo missed a FT but the Nuggets are still pouring on the points at the line (25-30 FT).

1:28 I hate to talk about nothing except the foul situation, but this is what the game has come down to.   Haddadi just committed his fifth foul and now the Grizzlies are running out of options in the post.

1:13 Randolph apparently knows what I know and it makes him angry.  He’s whistled for his fourth foul hauling in a rebound and curses out the referee.  Zach Randolph Ejected

End Period Nuggets 93-74

The Nuggets are taking apart the Grizzlies like an expert chess player takes out an inferior player.

Every move presents a new complication that the later isn’t equipped to deal with.  Inevitably, mistakes are made which lead to more and greater mistakes.   The Nuggets look to set themselves up with an easy end game.

4^th Quarter

12:00 Petro is back in the game.  Thank God.

7:44 J.R. Smith and Aarron Afflalo are on fire from the 3 point line and Johan Petro is blocking shots and dominating the boards.  This game looks to be over.

0:00 The game ends without incident.

End Game Nuggets 132-101

In fairness, Memphis probably did more to themselves than Denver did, but to the Nuggets’ credit they played patiently and got out of the way while Memphis imploded.

Make no mistake about it; Denver won this game at the foul line (32-39).

Melo and Nene dominated the post, Afflalo recorded his first double-double (22 Points, 13 boards), and J.R. Smith dropped the hammer (6-14 3PT) with regularity.  But this game came down to crushing your opponents at the charity stripe.  You cannot win when you give your opponent 39 FT’s and the make 32.

This was just what the doctor ordered for the Nuggets’ hopes to win the Northwest Division.  Three starters played less than 29:00 minutes (Nene, Billups, Martin), so everyone should have plenty of energy to run with the Suns tomorrow.   A win Tuesday night in Phoenix clenches the 3 seed.

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This date with the Blazers proved to be a shot of adrenaline for the Nuggets’ stars, who have failed to rise to the late-season occasion as the playoffs draw near.  All you Denver fans owe Portland a big, sweaty thank you.  Here’s why…

Sometimes all it takes is a favorable matchup within the friendly confines of a home arena to cure what ails.  For the Denver Nuggets, that was especially true on Thursday night.  A 109-92 overpowering of the Portland Trailblazers was just what the doctor ordered.

This game is the story of how the Nuggets’ Big Three got their groove back one by one.

The Denver starters match up in a peculiar way against the defensive-minded Blazers’ top five, creating an interplay of equal but opposite forces in the early going of games.

This is an interesting note, because each team’s starting lineup is markedly different in both skill sets & physical attributes.  These teams roughly fill each other’s defensive gaps.  That favored Portland initially as the Nuggets again struggled to find an offensive rhythm.  The Blazers are all about their method, and it was all Denver could do in the 1^st Quarter to keep pace.

A fun fact: Portland sports three ex-Nuggets starters, all formerly high-priced acquisitions for Denver.  The Blazers start Marcus Camby at Center & Andre Miller at Point Guard, plus Juwan Howard at Power Forward.  By the end of the game, it was apparent that the Nuggets have upgraded at each of those positions.

Nene Hilario in particular exploited his counterpart’s softness.

Nene exploded for 22 points against Camby (and often a second defender) to break out of his offensive slump.  Each of the Nuggets guards and forwards, especially Carmelo Anthony, made sure to force the ball into Nene in the post early and often.

Nene responded by being the first Denver standout to rediscover his happy place.  Turns out it lies somewhere between a spinning, driving dunk and a 10-foot jumper.  Who knew?

As great as it was to see Nene return to form, the real advantage for Denver in the first half was its reinvigorated bench.

The Nuggets’ second team matches up very well against the slow, workmanlike Portland backups.  Remember, the Blazers have lost half their lineup to injury at different stages of the season, and are still battling to find continuity throughout as a result.

Meanwhile, Denver just got the speedy PG Ty Lawson back from a shoulder strain.  Lawson’s aggressive play and improving defense make him a big problem for any team, especially a long, tall team like Portland.  Ty is simply too quick and his ball movement too far away from the Blazers’ defensive comfort zone.

The result is not always points for Lawson, but he is a constant disruption to any balanced D.  Welcome back Tywon!

The first half closed out as you would expect in a game between division rivals: neck & neck.  As has been the case for several seasons between these teams, the Nuggets came brought outstanding talent to the contest, and the Blazers matched it with sure-handed, even effort across its lineup.

Halftime score: Nuggets 56-55

Denver typically comes out soft defensively in the second half, and it’s a good thing too.

The Blazers exploited the sleepy Denver D for a quick lead change out of the gates.  At 9:45 of the 3rd Quarter Portland took a 4-point lead on an uncontested LaMarcus Aldridge jumper from 7 feet.

Carmelo & Crew decided that was enough.

The Nuggets, as if waking from an unpleasant dream, snapped into ball-movement mode on their next possession.  The result was a Nene dish to Aaron Afflalo along the baseline.  Double A drained a 3 to cut the deficit to one.

That would be the last time the Blazers led.

Nene stole a bad pass by Portland’s Nicolas Batum, flipped the ball to Chauncey Billups, and ran to the basket on the break.  Billups’ pass met him there for a big-time Nene dunk.

Right here Portland could have taken control back with a strong offensive play.  Unfortunately for the Blazers, these Nuggets were doing what they had failed to do in over a week: siphon energy from their opponent with pestering defense and unstoppable, demoralizing offense.

Nene swatted a block for a turnover, Carmelo in isolation on the right side, driving layup for two.  The Pepsi Center erupts, Portland Timeout.

When the Nuggets play like this they are the sleeping giant awakened, and it is a fine site to behold.

Carmelo is the next Nugget to find his mojo, and it starts with that driving layup.

To be fair, Carmelo has been the one bright spot through an awful 5-game stretch that dropped the Nuggets from 2^nd to 5^th in the West.  He has been consistent, aggressive, and solid on defense.  You can’t ask for any more from your team’s best player.

And yet Anthony was having a quiet game (for him) until an interesting exchange between Carmelo and a testy official sparked the final phase of the blowout.

Anthony is called for a bogus offensive foul, and comes back on a defensive turnover for a breakaway layup.  Melo flips the ball to the official at the far end of the baseline after his score instead of handing it to a waiting Portland player under the basket.  The official gets puffy and red briefly before calling Anthony for a Technical Foul: delay of game.

(Melo sits for the rest of the 3^rd Quarter, presumably thinking all the while about how he’s going to throw some daggers in the final frame.)

A miss by Brandon Roy on the freebie leaves the Nuggets perturbed and in the mood to crush skulls.  Denver breaks out for a 7-point lead.

Portland takes a stand here, and it’s a good thing too.

The combination of stubborn Blazers and egomaniacal officials wakes Chauncey Billups from a week-long basketball coma.

Suddenly Chauncey is reaching deep into his bag o’ tricks and pulling out amazing driving layups.  Rudy Fernandez repeatedly falls victim to Billups’ veteran wiles.  This is alternately entertaining and relieving, and Denver closes out the 3^rd with an 11-point lead.

Anthony opens the 4^th Quarter with matching 17-foot jumpers from 40 & 45 degrees on the right side on consecutive possessions.  This is Melo’s Shot, and he was practicing it during second half warmups.  Always a pleasure to watch him fade slightly and drop 2 points from that range… especially when the net doesn’t even move.  Anthony has the prettiest shot in the league from that distance, and his second make comes with a foul shot bonus.

Melo’s make on the free throw puts Denver up by 14 with just over 9 minutes left and the Nuggets never look back.

Still, Portland doesn’t start playing defeated, deflated basketball until near the 4-minute mark.  That was when the Blazers cut the Denver lead to 10 points.

Denver’s Big Three responds with back-to-back-to-back unanswered scores by Chauncey, Carmelo & Nene in that order.

Nene draws a foul on his score and, after a desperate Portland Timeout, comes back in to finish driving the nail home: 105-88 Nuggets.  Each play in this 3-part series is an athletic, slashing drive to the basket, culminating in Nene’s finishing body blow to silence Portland for good.

The 17-point Nuggets advantage holds for a 109-92 final score.

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The Nuggets will be offering a contract to free agent power forward Brian Cook, according to Travis Heath at Hoopsworld. Cook started his career in LA, being drafted by the Lakers with the 24th pick in the 2003 draft. He backed up Shaq in LA before eventually moving on to Orlando in the trade that brought Trevor Ariza to Los Angeles. He was most recently on the roster in Houston, but was waived in February of this year.

Cook is a power forward who will be expected to platoon with Johan Petro filling the enormous void left by the absence of Kenyon Martin. The Nuggets are looking for someone with size who isn’t a complete disaster shooting the ball, and while Cook isn’t known as a defensive specialist, the hope is that he can team with Petro to cover the loss of Kenyon Martin’s defensive skill.

Kenyon Martin is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a knee injury (tendonitis). It is unclear exactly when or if Martin will return this season.

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