Game Preview: Portland Trail Blazers 2/27/13

     The Nuggets (36-22) travel to Portland tonight to take on the Trail Blazers (26-30) at 8:30 pm MST. While the Trail Blazers have a loosing record, they are a good home team (18-9). This should be a good test for the Nuggets to see if they can start gaining some confidence in away games. Here are the keys to the game.

#1. Chase off the 3 point line: The Trail Blazers score 25% of their points from the 3 point line, something the Nuggets have been bad at guarding this year.

#2. Stop LaMarcus: The Nuggets don't really have a player that matches up well with LaMarcus Aldridge, so he will score some points. What the Nuggets do need to do is make it hard on him, giving him no easy points, and force him to have a bad shooting %.

#3. Play Like You're At Home: Wouldn't it be great if the Nuggets did this all year? This is a great game to start the trend of playing great defense away from home.

Key Match up: Lawson VS Lillard
I'm excited to see how Lawson plays against the rookie, he should be able to get by Lillard on the offensive end as Lillard isn't known for his defense.

The playoffs are almost here and the Nuggets really need to start winning these types of games to get the playoff seed they want.

Game Review: Los Angeles Lakers 2/25/13

Result:
Den: 119
LAL: 108

Now let's look at the keys to the game.

#1. Manimal And Minimal Passed: Even though Lawson didn't start out well, (started 1 for 7 from the field) the Nuggets didn't need either of their tone setters to get them up for this game, as the whole team played great from start to finish.

#2. Hit The Boards Passed: The Nuggets beat the Lakers in the battle for the boards 44-36 and offensive boards 8-13

#3. Energy: Passed Wow, did the Nuggets pass this! I don't think I've seen the Nuggets play this close to a complete game (all but the beginning of the fourth) the whole season. The Nuggets did all the little things with a fast pace that led to scoring 33 fast break points while only giving up 3, WOW.

Key Match up: Iggy VS The Black Mamba Passed: 
Iggy, with the help of the other Nuggets wings (and Andre Miller) did a pretty good job on Kobe. Even though Kobe did score 29, Kobe's going to get his, but he seemed pretty frustrated the whole night. Maybe because Javale owned him in the paint?

The Positives: 
#1. Everything: There are way too many positives to just pick out three. The pace was great, every player who played did well, I mean the Nuggets did everything great!

The Negatives:
#1. Inconsistency: It took me forever to think of a negative, and I only could think of one: (other then the terrible reffing) Inconsistency. The Nuggets would be sitting in 4th or 3rd right now if they would play the way they did yesterday every night. The Nuggets have shown how well they can play, now we expect it every time they hit the court.

Summery: This was an awesome win and hopefully a game that can build some momentum going into Portland tomorrow.

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Game Preview: Los Angeles Lakers 2/25/13

     The hot Lakers (28-29, 7-3 in their last 10 games) will pay a visit to Denver (35-22) to try to even up the season series at 2-2, while our Nuggets will try to make it 3-1. This is a different Lakers team than the first 3 games the Nuggets have played them. Dwight Howard is finally starting to get his legs, and the whole team is starting to gel. Here are the keys for the Nuggets to win this game and the season series against the Lakers!

#1. Manimal And Minimal: The Nuggets two tone setters both need to have a great night. Ty needs to set the tone offensively, driving to the basket with the intent to score, and if nothings there, pass it out. Kenneth needs to do what he does best and work hard on the offencive boards and frustrate an easily irritable Howard.

#2. Hit The Boards: In the two wins the Nuggets have against the Lakers so far, they were able to do well getting second chance opportunities. There's nothing more frustrating then getting a stop on defence, only to let the other team get the offensive board and a new 24.

#3. Energy: Playing with energy not only means flying out on the fastbreak, it means playing with defencive intensity every possession, boxing out, setting a good-hard screen, diving on the floor for the loose ball and many other small things. If the Nuggets do these small things, they should be able to wear out a much older Lakers team by the fourth quarter.

Key Match up: Iggy VS The Black Mamba
I'm not looking for Andre Iguodala to score as much as Kobe, or even to stop Kobe from scoring, I'm just asking for Iggy to make it hard on Kobe. Andre knows Kobe well from their Olympic gold metal run this off season, maybe Andre knows a couple of tricks to get in Kobe's mind, we will see!

The game is less then two hours away! Wouldn't it be great to have the bragging rights on these guys \/ this year? Let's hope that in four and a half hours we have this right!

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5 Reasons That It's Great To Be A Nuggets Fan

    In a season that started with very high expectations, and has been filled with ups and downs, it's easy to get down on our Nuggets. Whether you're frustrated with Karl's coaching, tired of a player, or annoyed that it seems the same teams are always the only ones competing for a championship in the league, here are 5 reasons to keep you watching the Nuggets.

#1. Youth: The Nuggets are the fourth youngest team with the average age of 24.7 (only behind the Cavaliers, Hornets, and Rockets). Being the 4th youngest team would suggest that they should only improve from here, which is exciting considering the Nuggets are currently 5th place in the West.

#2. Masai Ujiri: I'm becoming more and more of a Masai fan by the day. While in hindsight, you might not be the biggest fan of the Iggy trade at this point, let's look at the biggest decision Masai has made with the Nuggets; the Carmelo trade. Let's look at all we received and what we gave up in that trade now.
Gave up: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman. None of these players have made much of any impact at all other then Anthony up to this point. 
Received: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Andre Miller, Jordan Hamilon (from Felton trade) Quincy Miller, 2 2013 second-round picks, and a 2014 first-round draft pick.
Looking back, all I can say is, wow we really made the best of that trade.

#3. Budding Young Stars: The Nuggets have two of the league's best young players; Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari. It should be fun to continue to watch these two players develop and get better year in and year out.

#4. Flexability: One of the Nuggets biggest problems is a great one to have, they simply have too much talent to play it all. The Nuggets have so many young, skilled players that draw a lot of trade value. If there is a "superstar" available this off season, and the Nuggets want to go in that direction, they could potentially put a strong trade offer together. 

#5. Athleticism: In my opinion, this Nuggets team is in the top 3 funnest teams to watch in the league. With finishers like Corey Brewer, Wilson Chandler, Kennith Faried, Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee and a lob passer like Andre Miller, this year's Nuggets have become a fan favorite team to watch around the NBA world. 

All in all, this is one of the greatest times to be a Nuggets fan in the team's history. We are truly lucky to be Nuggets fans in 2013! I can't wait to see what the future holds for this young team.


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Game Review: Charlotte Bobcats 2/23/13

Result:
DEN-113
CHA-99

 Now let's take a look at the keys to the game.

#1. Intensity Passed: The first half intensity wasn't great, but the Nuggets really picked it up in the second half.

#2. Rejuvenate The Slumpers Passed: Iguodala went 5-7 from the field and dished 10 assists. He looked really comfortable on the court today.

#3. Take Care Of Business Passed: The Nuggets lead at the end of every one of the four quarters and won by double digits. 

Key Match up: Ty VS Kemba Failed: Kemba had a better game stats wise scoring 24, and dishing 5 assists, while Ty was right behind with 20 points and 5 assists.

The Positives:
Taking Care Of Business: While I think the Nuggets could, and maybe, should have played a better game, they did what was needed to get the W.

JaVale McGee: With just 17 short minutes, JaVale scored 17 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. JaVale was the best player on the court tonight.

Andre Miller: Andre scored 8 points and had 5 assists. Andre really played well tonight, while staying in his role and not trying to do too much.

The Negatives:
Javale's Lack Of Playing Time: Like I said earlier, JaVale was not only the Nuggets best big man tonight, he was their best player. So this begs the question, why is Karl not riding the hot hand and only giving him 17 minutes? I guess there is a reason Karl is couching a team and I'm sitting on my couch watching, but I just don't get this.

Danilo Gallinari: Danilo is still feeling the effects of a tweak he had yesterday, giving him limited minutes in which he only scored 6 points. With Gallo's injury history, let's hope this isn't anything that could get worse.

Ty Not Getting Calls: Can you imagine how many points Ty would get if he got the Russell Westbrook treatment from the refs when he drives to the basket?

Summery: This win was nothing to get too excited about, just the Nuggets doing what they should on the road against a bad team.

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Game Preview: At Charlotte Bobcats 2/23/13

Is there any better way for a team that's really struggling on the road (5 strait home losses) to regain confidence then to make a stop in Charlotte? That's exactly what the Nuggets (34-22, 11-19 on the road) will do tonight, as they take on the lowly Bobcats (13-42, 7-21 at home, man, it's good to be a Nuggets fan isn't it haha) at 5pm MST. The Bobcats are the worst team in the league, to today's keys will be based around that fact.
   
Keys To The Game
#1. Intensity: Lets face it, the Nuggets have played pretty soft ball on the road this year, especially last night. They gave up 119 to the worst scoring team in the league, that's terrible. Couple this with the fact that the Bobcats are a team the Nuggets could easily look over, this could be a trap game. If the Nuggets play hard for 4 quarters you can book this as a win.

#2. Rejuvenate The Slumpers: This is a perfect game for Andre Iguodala to get out of his slump, hopefully, this won't be a close game, giving Andre the opportunity to take more shots without having too much affect on the game.

#3. Take Care Of Business: The Bobcats, though they have some good young talent, are a bad team. This key is to not give them any confidence; Lead at the end of every one of the four quarters and win by double digits.

Key Match up: Ty VS Kemba
Both Ty and Kemba are both coming off a 27 point game and have been hot in the last couple of games. It should be interesting to see which player scores more and what impact it has on the game.

The Nuggets should win this easy, but look out, this game could be a trap if the Nuggets don't play hard. Look for a post game review following the game to review my keys!

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Game Review: Washington Wizards 2/22/13

Result: 
DEN-113
WAS-119

Now let's take a look at the keys to the game.

1st Quarter Defense- Failed: Once again, the Nuggets went on the road, and allowed a team that isn't as good as them to gain confidence, letting the Wizards score 33 in the first. The Nuggets seemed to cruise through the first 3 quarters, and hoped to make a push for the win in the fourth (as seems to be a theme this year on the road). This allows teams like the Wizards to gain confidence that comes into play in the fourth.

#2. Hit your free throws!!! Passed: This is something that the Nuggets actually did well tonight. Unfortunately it didn't play too much of a role in the game.

#3. Run, Run, And Run: Failed: The Nuggets had 17 fastbreak points, 2 under their season average.

Key Match up: Kenneth VS Nene Failed: Although neither played that big of a role in the game, Nene had the better game statistically, scoring 14 and grabbing 4 rebounds, while Kenneth scored a lowly 6 points and grabbed 4 boards.

The Positives 
1. Ty Lawson: Ty continues to play great, he scored  27 points while dishing out 12 assists.
2. The Slumpers improving: The 2 Nuggets players who have been bad shooting slumps (Chandler and Iguodala) shot 11-20. Let's hope they can gain some confidence and continue an upward swing.
3. Fight: Once again, the Nuggets fought back in the fourth. When they were down by 18 in the 3rd, they could have easily laid down and given up. It is encouraging to see a young team like the nuggets never give up.

The Negatives: 
Ty In the Clutch: Ugh, when is Ty going to hit that game winner we all want him to? Ty had two chances to tie or take the lead in the game and missed them both. One was blocked by Nene and the other was a missed 3 pointer.
Lack Of Effort On The Road: Where is the effort on the road that we see at home games? I understand there is a difference playing in front of your own fans and playing against other team's fans, but the difference really shouldn't be this drastic.
Danilo Gallinari: Danilo dinged his hip and didn't play well the rest of the night, lets hope it isn't anything that will keep him out of any games.

Summery: Another bad loss on the road from a bad road team. If the Nuggets want to get the 4th seed, they have to clean up their road performances. Lets forget about this game and move on to the Bobcats tomorrow.

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Game Preview: At Washington Wizards

     The Nuggets (34-21, 11-18 on the road) will play the first of two back to back road games at Washington (15-37, 11-15 at home) tonight at 5:00 PM Mountain Time. While many people may think this is a gimme game for the Nuggets, I would disagree. The first and most obvious reason being that the Wizards are one of the only 3 teams to beat the Nuggets at home. The second being that the Nuggets road record is 11-18, which is worse than the Wizards home record, 11-15. Let's face it, the Nuggets have been a pretty bad road team so far, if they can improve on road games and keep up the pace at home, they should be able to lock up that 4th seed and home court for the playoffs. This is a perfect game to start gaining confidence on the road. Here are my 3 keys to winning tonight's game.

#1. 1st Quarter Defense: My first key is essential to beating any selfish (9th fewest assists in the league) jump shot happy team like the Wizards. While The Wizards offensive style won't win many games, it can be extremely dangerous if they hit their early shots and gain confidence. If the Nuggets play with the defensive intensity from the opening tip, the Wizards don't have a chance, and this could be a blowout.

#2. Hit your free throws!!!: One thing the Wizards do pretty well is keeping their opponents off the free throw line (16th fewest FTs allowed), while the Nuggets shoot a league low from the line at 68%.

#3. Run, Run, And Run: Once again keeping with the theme of playing against a jump shooting team, with lots of long jumpshots, comes lots of long rebounds that enable plenty of fast break opportunities.

Key Match up: Kenneth VS Nene
You have to love this, a player going up against the player who made him expendable. The first match up wasn't that great, Kenneth had the slight edge on a nervous looking Nene who seemed to be trying to do too much in front of his old fans. This should be interesting to watch.

While the Nuggets should be able to pull out a win tonight, the Wizards have the ability to make this a close game in the fourth. Look for a post game review following the game to review my keys!

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Evan Fournier Halfway Point Review

I can still remember Thursday, June 28th 2012, NBA draft day. I was excited because the guy I wanted looked like he could possibly drop to pick 20. You see, the two drafts prior to this one, the Nuggets got my guys (Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried), and they turned out to be great picks. Well, the draft started with Anthony Davis being picked first over all. Fast forward 18 picks, the Magic are on the clock, and they need a big man, and they pick Andrew Nicholson! I'm now ecstatic, my guy, Jered Sullinger was still available! Four minutes pass, and David Stern walks the podium, I'm about to be 3 for 3 in my Nuggets draft predictions! With the 20th over all pick, the Denver Nuggets select Avon (yeah, that's how he pronounced it, psh) Fournier. At this point I'm thinking "I've never heard of this guy, but before you throw your remote at the TV, at least see what this guy looks like and watch his highlights". The camera switches to Evan, and he's a 19 year old baby faced Frenchmen, to make matters worse, his "highlights" were him hitting a couple wimpy looking layups. At this point I'm so sick I turn the TV off and don't watch any more of the draft. Fast forward to the summer league, where Evan really didn't seem to be special, while guys like Sullinger were dominating. I tell you this whole story to tell you this, Evan has really grown on me watching him during the season, in fact, I've come full circle on him, and now think he has a great future for the Nuggets. Here are 5 things that have persuaded me to be a Fournier fan.

#1. Age: Evan is only 20 years old, born October 29, 1992. This simply means he has plenty of time to improve and learn from NBA coaches.

#2. Height: At 6-6, Evan is extremely tall for a point guard, and even tall for a shooting guard. Evan's skill set at 6-6 is extremely rare.

#3. Speed: Now don't get me wrong, in a 40 yard dash, he wouldn't do great, but he has what I like to call deceptive speed. On defense, the player he's guarding often times gets the step on him driving to the basket, but with Evan's length, he's often able to surprise his man and cut him off. He also has a very quick first step that allows him to get by his man and be a play maker.

#4. Shooting: Evan has demonstrated that he has the potential to be a really good three point shooter. He is 13-29 from behind the three point line this year with his limited minutes. If there's one thing that will keep you in the NBA, it's 3 point shooting.

#5. Cool: Seriously, if this guy has any nerves, he doesn't show it. For a rookie that gets few minutes, when he is in he seems to be cool, calm, and collected. He doesn't try to do too much, he doesn't try to do too little. For a 20 year old, that's impressive.

Conclusion: While it will take time to tell if Fournier was a better pick then Sullinger, (who was having a solid rookie season before he injured his back) I have a good feeling about it.

Trade Deadline

    Well, here we are, one day away from another trade deadline. As a Nuggets fan you can't help but get a little anxious around this time, as the blockbuster Carmelo Anthony deal was only two short years ago. In all actuality a Nuggets trade this year is doubtful, as statements from the front office would suggest, but that has never stopped trade talk among fans before has it? Here is a list of players who in my opinion are, or should be, expendable for a potential trade.

The Expendables:

#1. Wilson Chandler: As I look back at Wilson's time with the Nuggets, I can't seem to remember a time that he wasn't in a slump. In fact, the only good game I remember him having was in the Nuggets beat down of the Bulls on February 7th, when he scored 24 points shooting 8-9 and 5-5 from the 3 point line. Wilson also seems to be a solid rebounder and defender. While these facts show Wilson's potential, you have to ask the question, is this potential worth 37 million over 5 years? In my opinion, no way!

#2. Timofey Mozgov: To be honest, I really doubt that after Timofey's play so far this year that anyone would be willing to give up too much for him. He seems to have lost a lot of confidence in his game which has shown is his lack of ability to catch the ball and put it in the basket. The reason I think there is a possibility that Timofey is traded is the simple fact that he's 7-1 and many teams seem to be dying for big men (Just look at the Heat who just signed Chris Andersen).

#3. Andre Miller: Over the past year, Andre is really starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Before the season began, he seemed to not want to sign with the Nuggets, wanting to join a team that had a better chance to win a championship. Well, he signed with the Nuggets for two years, problem solved, right? Wrong. Early February Andre came out with comments that he wasn't happy with his playing time, and that he didn't know how much longer the Nuggets wanted him here. Since this point, Andre really has me wanting him to either shape up, or be traded. Andre's body language on the court has been terrible, he seems to always be angry even when the team is playing well. He's taken many ill advised shots and turned the ball over way too much in crunch time. To me, he seems to be wanting to be the Nuggets go to guy in the fourth, when Ty and Danilo seem to be much more fit for that role. This trade will most likely not happen, the only way it could is if the Nuggets received a respectable point guard in return, as Karl isn't yet ready to turn the second team reins over to Evan Fournier just yet.

Players The Nuggets Should Target:
What specific player should the Nuggets target? I really don't have a clue. What I do know is that the Nuggets are in need of something they do not have on this team: a consistent 3 point shooter. This would aid the Nuggets offense sooooo much. The defensive strategy against the Nuggets this year has been to pack the paint, and dare the Nuggets to shoot threes. A knock down 3 point shooter would really spread the floor, giving Ty and other Nuggets open lanes to the basket, something they don't have now.

My Dream Trade:
Orlando gets Wison Chandler
Nuggets get  J.J. Redick