Nuggets/Lakers Game 4 Twitter Diary

You may have noticed the Quick Hitters we started posting on the left side of the page. I basically started a Twitter account so I could post small stuff that I couldn't turn into a real post. Well, I've found that it's a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I decided to post a running diary (to steal a phrase from Bill Simmons) of sorts with the Twitter Updates I threw out during Game 4.

• It's good to know Melo is still getting no calls. I should have a significant amount of rage built up by halftime.
• Poor shooting by both teams so far. The only jumpshot Denver has made was Kenyon's bank.
• Nene is eating up the boards. Another non-call on Melo. 0-7. WHOA! DJones with a windmill. While mid-air, I had visions of him bricking it.
• Chris Anderson flying ALL OVER THE PLACE. Hitting the floor, blocking shots, trying to wash Gasol's hair...
• I defy you to name one thing that Sasha Vuja-chick is good at, besides being a greasy Euro and getting under people's skin.
• J.R. Smith must have been watching old Magic Johnson videos. He's made 3 highlight reel passes already.
• That's not to say all "Euros" are greasy. In fact, Argentina may have more grease-balls per capita... allegedly.
• J.R. tries to snack tray Kobe and commits the foul. Van Gundy glosses him "Smitty", I'm sure J.R. is down with that name.
• Melo is clearly hurt. They've played well without him but they can't expect to win a series with him out.
• What a sight. Birdman sauntering to the scoreboard, casually chewing gum. He definitely has a little Captain in him.
• Balkman has seen the court and the Nuggets aren't down or up by +20. This is what happens when Melo is out.
• Nuggets up 7 at half without Melo. They aren't shooting well but are winning this game with their legs. Less jumpshots, more drives.
• 3 straight missed 3s by the Nugs has the Lakers within 3 right out of the gates. Melo is back but doesn't look right.
• J.R. Smith is currently being triaged courtside. Meanwhile, Odom tries to throw an oop to Gasol. Forgot about Gasol's 2-inch vertical.
• Tough going out there. The court is flooded with Kobe's tears. Nuggets up 70-59.
• Melo slips on the tears and flying burritos Ariza. It's getting testy with players flying all over the floor. Kobe bout to get T'd up.
• Martin is playing out of his head. 13 pts, 13 boards. Birdman follows up a Martin miss with a dunk!
• Karl can expect to pencil somebody else in the lineup for Dahntay in Game 5. He will be suspended for that Kobe trip.
• Denver up 11 after 3. They need to play well in the 4th after the Game 3 debacle.
• Billups... AND 1 baby! Andrew Bynum strikes again. Twisted his ankle when he came down. Not good.
• Billups is unconscious at the moment. He drains an arching 3 in Ariza's face after a good J.R. steal.
• SMITH CLIMBS THE LADDER! Nene hits him with a nice feed and he throws one down.
• Luke Walton draws a tech. Daddy's gonna take the keys to the your Lexus for that one.
• Now Mark Jackson is calling him "Smitty."
• J.R. picked up one of the weakest technicals I've seen. We'll call it even after the D Jones trip.
• Flagrant on Bynum. He goes with the 2 handed chop technique on Anderson. It's either that, or bag and balls to the face.
• The chick in the Biz Markie Heineken comm clearly only knows the words to that part of the song.
• Classic case of softly mumbling until the part she knows comes on, then she starts bringing the heat.
• Luke Walton must be wearing the "heavy socks" tonight.
• The line on Walton: 0 pts, 6 fouls, 2 ill-advised tattoos, 1 kickin' jheri curl.
• I smell a riot cooking. Game 3 all over again with the technicals.
• Melo about to foul out again. The Lakers are running a press, fouling, and otherwise using all of Kobe's Cordillera moves. Too soon?
• The officials are blowing whistles like they're trying to fill a quota. It is almost the end of the month.
• 105-93 Nuggets with 2:51 remaining. I am optimistic that the Nuggets might win this one.
• J.R. with 2 straight 3s. Let's get thirty, Smitty!J.R. with 2 straight 3s. Let's get thirty, Smitty!
• Garbage time, benching starters. Nuggets get a steal, miss 2 layups, get 2 offensive boards, and D Jones gets fouled on another layup miss.
• 120-99. D Jones throws one down over some stiff. Petro with the steal, then he runs the court like Tyus Edney only to airball a finger roll.
• Nuggets win big. Shades of the Rockets series except the Nuggets haven't been blown out yet and they could have swept with some breaks.

George Karl didn't exactly give J.R. a ringing endorsement, he basically called Smith a pain in the ass. Let's hope J.R. doesn't get upset about this because he really did have a good game. Yeah, he made a couple of bonehead plays but he hustles on every play and easily creates more opportunities than he kills. His shot selection was good tonight and he took it to the rack early and often, creating opportunities for teammates, and causing the L.A. bigs to commit fouls.

Kenyon, Nene, and Birdman killed L.A. on the boards all night. It's amazing what they can do when not in foul trouble.

Game 5 on Wednesday. Big one for the Nuggets as it would be nice to avoid a Game 7 in L.A.

-PSon

All Ears: Thoughts on Game 1 of Lakers/Nuggets

• Carmelo looks like he's ready for the big time. He came out in Game 1 and made a statement. He looks like somebody who wants to earn a championship.
  
• Dahntay Jones is the new Reggie Evans, except he has some semblance of ball skills. Reggie Evans needed to be fined every time he put the ball on the court. Jones can actually handle the ball somewhat; in his mind, this gives him free reign to drive the ball to the hole out of control and turn it over. Play hard defense and make plays when they present themselves.
• J.R. Smith damn near gave me a heart attack when he limped off the court after the last play. Straight from his Twitter account: The knee feels good thanx peeps
• L.A. decided they would rather have take their chances with Ariza on Melo than putting Kobe on him. Kobe had the task of guarding Chauncey and did a pretty good job on him. Chauncey still got his assists and put a couple of clutch 3s down in the 4th quarter. Will L.A. allow Melo to torch them again? Ariza proved to be adept at fouling Melo but that's about it.
• Nene did a great job against Gasol. Pau likes human contact about as much as he likes putting water on his hair.
  
• L.A. killed Denver on the offensive boards. If Denver wants to win in L.A., they'll need to be more aggressive on the glass.
• MAKE YOUR FREE EFFING THROWS! Chauncey Billups, Denver's best free throw shooter missed 3 early in the game. That alone was greater than the margin of defeat.
• For the love of god, why was Andre Carter passing the ball in on the biggest possession of the game? Of course L.A. is going to have their longest guy mark him, especially after Denver trots out their shortest player. It also didn't help that AC waited too long to make the pass and let Ariza catch up to Billups and steal the ball from out in front of him.
• The officials let a lot of stuff go. Their was a ton of physical play in this game by both teams, especially when Melo and Kobe were posting up on each other.
• Andrew Bynum is a stiff.
• How far has Adam Morrison fallen? A couple of years ago, he almost won college player of the year and now he's warming the bench for Shannon Brown and D.J. Mbenga.
  
• The Nuggets had a number of people guarding Kobe last night. Melo and AC probably fared the best. I still like Dahntay starting because he can concentrate on playing his defensive game without having to do anything on offense. If somebody is going to pick up early fouls on Kobe, it should be him.
• It does hurt to lose that game when Denver easily could have won it but the silver lining is that they did not play their best game and still almost beat the Lakers in their house (I know the Lakers didn't play their best either). L.A. had to win, Denver didn't. Denver has been all but unbeatable at home and after witnessing the Lakers in Houston, I am confident that Denver only needs to win 1 game of the final 3 in L.A. to take this series.

Predictions: J.R. will go for 30+ in 1 game this series, if Denver loses the next game they will win games 3 through 6, Lamar Odom will get ejected from at least 1 game this series, Kobe will go for 50+ in 1 game this series, and Denver will win 2 games by more than 10 points in this series.

-PSon

Good job… now on to the constructive criticism.

Here is installment number 3 in (we hope) a 5 part series chronicling Popes' (guest poster and Nuggets Fan) journey to the NBA Finals.

Wednesday night the Nuggets beat the Mavs to advance to the Western Conference Finals. I think a round of hearty back-slaps, high-fives, and hugs are in order, so get to it.

My impressions from the series are as follows…

-I like Dirk Nowitzki. He has gone through some trying times in this series and through it all, he has conducted himself professionally. He hasn’t complained about the officiating, he hasn’t complained about the Nuggets and their aggressive D. He has commented on both issues frankly and honestly. His play in the series (horrible footwork notwithstanding) has been incredible.

- I am indifferent about the rest of the Mavs. Jason Terry was mediocre. Dampier isn’t worth discussing. J Kidd played well but he's showing his age. Bass was good but still, eh. The rest of them, meh.

-The Nuggets need to play more consistently to beat the Lakers. I know Denver beat the Mavs by double digits in 3 games this series, but I can’t shake the feeling that too many of the points we scored were streaky. I want to see less of JR banking in 3’s and more of JR taking it to the hole and tossing up an easy alley-oop to K-Mart. I want to see less of Melo draining a 3 with 2 seconds left on the shot clock and more ball movement from him out the inevitable double team so that the Nugs aren’t stuck in that situation. I’m not complaining about the Nugs performance, I’m just sayin’.

-George Karl needs to manage his players and their playing time, he just might need to get creative. Against the Lakers, George needs to pay attention to line-ups and respond accordingly. Please George, take some cues from Houston. I’m not fully briefed on the Lakers just yet but I do know we have some mis-matches and those need to be exploited. I know Derek Fisher can’t match up with Chauncey, JR, or Dahntay Jones. I think the Lakers are going to have a tough time matching up with Melo. On our side, we need to keep a good defender on Kobe at all times. We need to combat their lanky athleticism with some of our own.

-I repeat that advice if Houston wins out, amended to include the Rockets strengths.

-Melo is growing up. I think a lot of his growth happened this past summer at the Olympics but Chauncey has also had a lot to do with it. Last night after the game, Melo acknowledged that Chauncey was a leader, almost going so far as to imply C-Bill was leading the Nuggets. I think that is growth right there. Melo is aware of his own leadership limitations and he is mature enough to let Chauncey do his thing. That might seem simple but I think that a big step for Melo, a guy who has been the leader of the Nuggets since he came on board.

-JR Smith might be growing up. He looked off an open 3 last night and passed the ball.

Good job so far Nuggets, there is still work to be done.

Popes

6 Reasons Why Mavs Fans Should Stop Crying

This has already been tackled in depth through every media form and outlet imaginable but I have a few points to make (none of which are probably new to you):

1. Antoine Wright did a piss-poor job of fouling. Generally if you want to intentionally foul someone, you should wrap them up and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER THROW YOUR HANDS UP LIKE YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE NOT TRYING TO FOUL.
2. Nobody started bitching until the shot went down. If you watch the replay, the entire Dallas bench watches the ball go in, then they started arguing that there should have been a foul.
3. Melo doesn't get calls like most super stars do. Why start now?
4. Wright slapped the ball out of Carmelo's hands. If Carmelo loses the ball out of bounds, it's the Nuggets who are upset there was no foul call.
5. Yeah the Mavs had a foul to give. It was still the Nuggets' ball with around 5 seconds left. Sure, they could have messed up the inbound, missed the shot, only made a 2, etc... Nobody knows what would have happened but Mavs Fan likes to think the game was over if that foul is called.
   
6. Melo still had to make the shot.
   

If you get the chance, check out this Outside The Lines piece on Chauncey Billups. Chauncey made it big in Detroit, winning a championship and cultivating a reputation as "Mr. Big Shot". The Prodigal Son returned to lead a spastic Denver team to the 2nd Round (and beyond?) for the first time in 15 years. You couldn't ask for a better story, unless... nah, better not.

-PSon

This all makes me feel like a newcomer.

Here's the second installment in a series of Popes' guest posts, chronicling his journey through Nugget fandom, the NBA playoffs, and life.


Nuggets finished their dismantling of the Hornets Wednesday night. I watched the game, banquet beer in hand, with a smile on my face. The Nuggets never lost their composure during the shoddy officiating early on, Melo consistently took it to the hole and passed out of double teams, Dahntay Jones played his way into a blossoming man-crush, and Chauncey smiled and the whole world smiled back.

I don’t even know what to say, I haven’t been a fan for nearly long enough to really appreciate this win. I loved every second of the win.

I stayed high on the play of the Nugs for quite some time after Game 2. I was convinced the Nuggets were invincible when they played to their potential. I was ready to have my team take on the world.

Not much changed over the next 3 games, the Nuggets had a misstep in Game 3 and then doled out the beat down of the half-century in Game 4. Game 5 was a foregone conclusion, I knew they were going to win. They had the mental edge, they had the physical edge, they could draw on the reservoir of belief that they had almost doubled up the Hornets. An NBA franchise getting doubled up, yikes.

And they won, just as I knew they would and in much the same fashion as previous games. So I celebrated for a while, let the feelings of my team’s success sink in. And then faster than I thought, I returned to practicality, to an almost regular season like approach to the next series.

I’m educating myself on the Mav’s so I know all the names to yell at the screen/court when I’m watching. I’m figuring out who the best match-ups will be so I can criticize Karl when he doesn’t play it the way I want. I’m heading into this series knowing that we’ve got to win and I want to know how we can do it.

Perhaps it is because I’ve only been following this team for a couple years that I am refocusing on their next series so quickly. Or maybe it’s because I think the Nuggets can make some real noise in this year Playoff’s and the first round isn’t nearly enough of a ruckus. Whatever the reason, the next game is Sunday and I can’t wait.

-Popes

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: NBA Edition

These guys do. While neither of them are especially skilled, they are both extremely important role players and part of the reason the Nuggets have advanced to the second round for the first time in the Carmelo Anthony era. Chris Anderson rejoined the Nuggets (after spending some time with the Hornets) following a NBA mandated suspension for substance abuse while Dahntay Jones has bounced around the league since coming out of Duke. The Nuggets signed both to minimum contracts and both are showing their mettle in the playoffs; Anderson with his brand of energetic, high flying basketball and Jones with lockdown D and Rodman-esque psychological warfare.

In a league full of overpaid athletes (contract year wonders), it's refreshing to watch these two relish their roles and step up on the big stage. Jones in particular saw sporadic playing time throughout the year but was always the first guy off the bench to congratulate his teammates after a big play.

Here's what Denver's payroll looks like:

Denver still has 2 players on their payroll that weren't on their roster this season, Juwan Howard and Antonio McDyess (McDyess was part of the Chauncey Billups deal). Both Anderson and Jones earned less than McDyess, Steven Hunter (the guy in a suit on the bench and the 6th highest paid guy on the team), and bench-riders Renaldo Balkman and Johan Petro.

There are only 2 players on Denver's roster that make less than Dahntay and Chris (Jason Hart and rookie Sonny Weems). Along with Anthony Carter and Jason Hart, Anderson and Jones' contracts are up after this season (the terms of J.R. Smith's 3 year deal are not listed). Thankfully for the Nuggets, there are many franchises with empty wallets so there won't be many willing to throw ridiculous jack at guys with limited skill sets. Here's to hoping the Nuggets show a little love to Anderson and Jones; a little loyalty from both would be nice as well, considering the Nuggets gave them a chance this season.

-PSon

Nug Love

The following is a guest post by avid VoML reader and resident Denver Nuggets expert, Popes. Popes came to Denver at a nice time, the team was young and exciting and they had a franchise player to build around in Carmelo Anthony. As with most teams who experience success after years of ineptitude, the Nuggets have their fair share of bandwagon fans. I can attest that Popes is not one of them.

I’ve been following the Nuggets ever since I moved to Denver in late 2004. Over that period I’ve slowly built up my attachment and knowledge of the team. I’ve watched Melo meet a new supporting cast at the beginning of each season. I stood transfixed at Iverson’s first game in the Pepsi Center, convinced that his personality and style of play would get the Nuggets further in the playoffs. I grew depressed this off-season as the Nugs dealt away a couple of my favorite players, Najera and Camby, for unknown returns. And finally, I watched from the upper reaches of the Pepsi Center with rapt (re: drunk) attention as the Nuggets put together a great season in 2009.

I didn’t know what to expect going into the Playoffs. The Nugs had a soft schedule for their last 10 games and they rolled through them, ending up with the 2^nd seed in the Western Conference and winning the Northwest Division. But I was still unsure about them, they seemed to still have that fragile feeling about them, much like years past when the Playoffs arrived, all strategy, teamwork, and discipline were thrown out and replaced with one-on-one contests of athleticism . So on Sunday night, I sat rather uncomfortably on my friend’s couch (he was at the game, I was borrowing his cable, squatting if you will), wondering what was going to happen.

And now, 4 days later, I sit at my desk at work, still slightly buzzed from the first 2 games of the 2009 playoffs in which the Nuggets beat down the New Orleans Hornets. I couldn’t be happier with my team.

What happened on Sunday and last night prompted much reflection on how good this team can be and the risks of believing in what they could do. Saying someone or something has potential is easy, it rolls off the tongue as a pleasant platitude. Believing and hoping that that thing or person comes through on what you dream for them is another animal entirely.

I’ve just begun to wonder what the Nuggets can do.

George Karl has for once been playing the right players at the right time, actually managing the game. Anthony Carter is an undersized guard with questionable abilities, he shouldn’t be playing in this series because there’s no good match-up. I’ve had the pleasure of watching his minutes decline these last 2 games. Linas Kleiza, for all his improvement last year, has largely been a disappointment this season. He isn’t bringing anything unique to the line-up and his strengths aren’t nearly as strong as they should be to warrant more PT (re: 3 point shooting). His minutes have also declined.

But it isn’t about who George ‘Tony Soprano’ Karl is sitting, it’s also been about who he’s playing.

Karl has told Dahntay Jones to harass Chris Paul which is great because it’s the only thing that DJ is capable of doing well. I don’t want DJ shooting the ball, I don’t want him dribbling, I want him hacking the shit out of Chris Paul. Foul out, get T’d up, I don’t care, just make sure that CP3PO knows who was guarding him.

Chris Anderson is playing out of his head. I don’t know much of his career prior to his mystery drug suspension (was it is the Chinaman’s nightcap, the Yam-yam? We may never know) but I do know that whatever he was doing before, he wasn’t doing it nearly as well as he is now. He’s getting solid minutes, hovering somewhere in the mid 20’s is my guess. And he’s producing, blocks, rebounds, energy, hustle, and the occasional basket. Opposing players are changing their shots because of him and when they don’t, he smother chickens them (see what Birdman did to Rudy Fernandez a couple weeks back). Last night, I witnessed him light up the Pepsi Center with a put-back dunk, a play that I'm convinced broke the Hornets.

I could go on about all the players… Melo playing solid, not getting huge points but making up for it with D and hustle and the occasional primal scream, K-Mart making David West a non-factor, Nene scaring Tyson Chandler, Chauncey… nothing needs to be said, JR Smith’s puppy like enthusiasm and unbelievably short memory, but I’ll save it for later. The series isn’t over, there’s still basketball to play, and even though it’s only the first round, I’m not ashamed about how fired up I am. The Nuggets are playing up to their potential, the way I’ve hoped they would.

-Popes

Changing of the Guard

When Allen Iverson first came to the Nuggets I was ecstatic. The Nuggets were consistently making the playoffs for years but had yet to break into the elite of the Western Conference (and thus, the NBA). They couldn’t even win a first round series. A.I. gave Nuggets fans hope. It actually looked like management was in the business of trying to make this team a winner, doing whatever it takes to provide George Karl with the talent he needs to win. The Nuggets then had the two top scorers in the league (statistically, at the time), what else could they possibly need?

A.I. and Carmelo coexisted well for awhile. They were saying all the right things, Iverson even looked like he was fine with deferring to Melo and being content with setting his teammates up with good opportunities to score. Of course that all fell to the wayside eventually and showed why games aren’t played on paper. The Nuggets scored a ton of points, they just forgot to play defense. In their haste to get up the court on offense, they gave up plays going the other way and just looked like they were willing to push on offense and survive on D.

I think part of the problem stemmed from the fact that Carmelo was still a very young guy and he was trying to mature without a positive role model and with the knowledge that he was the best player on an NBA team full of athletes but not necessarily role players. The team had an identity but that identity was that of a team with a bunch of shoot first players (J.R., AC, Melo, A.I., K-Mart, etc…) and one guy willing to play real defense all the time (Camby). The team’s most popular players, J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza, were the only two guys (with the exception of a healthy Nene) who were willing to put everything they had on both sides of the floor. The problem was that the Nuggets had to go with a guard tandem of A.I. and Anthony Carter because A.I. couldn’t be trusted to run the offense and AC was the Nuggets’ best option at the point. Nothing against AC who is a pretty solid defender but he has his own problems with shot selection. Where was J.R.’s playing opportunities? A.I. needs 40 minutes a night to be happy and the thought of J.R. or A.I. running the point side by side is somewhat frightening.

Basically A.I. is a great scorer but needs the right mix of players to succeed. He has an abundance of talent and even had some success in Philly, leading them to the NBA Finals twice. He was the unquestioned alpha dog on those teams but those teams were systematically taken apart in the finals because they knew he was the team’s only real option. Stop him, stop the 76ers. A.I. is a perfect nickname for Iverson because he is like a computer game in a lot of ways. He hoists up 40 shots a game, never uses the entire clock, and is always looking for the exciting play. On defense, he goes for aggressive steals which puts him out of position at times and makes him a liability as he ages.

The Nuggets pulled off a brilliant trade earlier in the year to ship A.I. off to Detroit for Chauncey Billups (other players were involved but this was essentially a point guard swap). The prodigal son returned and I couldn’t have been more excited. Chauncey grew up in Colorado, attending the University of Colorado, and played for the Nuggest early in his career. Since that time, he cemented himself as one of the premier points in the league, a guy who was content with setting teammates up but was also deadly from the arc and could score when he needed to. At one point in his career he was known as “Mr. Big Shot” because of his ability to make a bucket when his team needed it the most.

The Nugs now have the 4th best record in the West (28-15) despite being without Carmelo (one of the top 10 players in the league) for 10 games. Chauncey has played like a champion with or without Carmelo and has elevated the play of everyone around him, offensively and defensively. This team should get a home playoff series this year and they have a legitimate shot of earning the 2 seed in the West. Meanwhile the Pistons are currently in 5^th place in a strong Eastern conference at 23-17. Trouble is already brewing though as the current starting lineup is not championship caliber and the coaching staff wants to make a change. Allen Iverson will not accept a 6^th man role so it has been announced that Rip Hamilton will be coming off the bench. We have seen from the Manu Ginobili experiment that a 6th man of that caliber can be a valuable ingredient to a championship team. It provides for a change of pace without a drop in talent. A.I.’s ego won’t allow for it so Rip will have to start games on the bench. Rip was a key ingredient on a gritty Pistons team that has a title belt. How he responds and how the fans will ultimately respond to the chemistry change should be watched closely.

-PSon