Denver Broncos Draft Preview: Defense is the Key

It’s that time of year again, and with the second overall pick, the Broncos are in some uncharted territory.  The key to this draft for the Broncos is simple: defense, defense, and defense.  The Broncos D was so lacking last year, they were obligated to change the name of the city to Enver (sorry, bad joke, but I couldn’t resist).  And with a scheme change to the 4-3 under new coach John Fox, there are quite a few holes on the defensive side of the ball, with the D-line being the main area of concern.

I don’t really see many offensive needs on this team.  The interior of offensive line had it’s ups and downs last year, but that was more due to inexperience than lack of talent, and we should expect improved play in that area this season.  The whole debate on whether the Broncos should take a quarterback has an easy solution.  The Broncos should absolutely not use a valuable pick on a QB.  Already under contract is Kyle Orton, who his entire career has put his teams in position to win and has been solid at the position.  Orton could start on many teams.  He’s the classic game manager QB, he won’t win the game by himself, but he will do enough to keep the Broncos in the game, not to mention he helped me win a fantasy football championship two years ago, so he’ll always have a soft spot in my heart.  And then there’s Tim Tebow, one of the Broncos first round picks from last year.  I understand that Tebow was McDaniels guy, he has questionable mechanics and not many are high on him, but you can’t argue with the results on the field.  He was impressive in his three starts at the end of last season, and single handedly beat Houston.  Did he have his problems?  Of course, he was a rookie and that’s to be expected, but there were so many positives from those games I don’t see how you can’t give the guy a chance.  And did I mention that he was a first round pick?  You can’t give up on that high of a pick this quickly.  Give him a chance, and if he doesn’t produce, then Andrew Luck will be there for you next year.

The spotlight of this years draft for the Broncos will undoubtedly be the second overall selection.  The are a couple of names floating around mock drafts and ESPN, and with this high of a pick Denver is nearly assured of getting a future star.  Here’s a couple of the guys at the top of the radar for the Broncos.

Von Miller, 6’ 2”/240, OLB, Texas A&M

This is widely believed to be who the Broncos are taking with that second pick.  Miller is a beast when it comes to rushing the passer.  He possesses incredible speed in general, let alone for the position he plays.  The game seems to come naturally to Miller, who has great football instincts.  He’s got the potential to become a team leader and has the work ethic of one.  However, he is not the right pick for the Broncos.  Not saying that he won’t be a good player, but he’s a guy for a 3-4 scheme, not the 4-3 that the Broncos are transitioning to.  He’s relatively small for his position, but in a 3-4 he’s perfect, much like Elvis Dumervil was two seasons ago.  If the Broncos drafted him, they would likely look to convert him to a D-End, meaning he’s be learning a new position and limit his impact on the team. Should a team who runs the 3-4 draft him, they have a superstar, but if the Broncos take him, with their defense, he’s destined to only be a good player.

Marcell Dareus, 6’ 3”/319, DT, Alabama

Now this is who the Broncos need to take.  He’s big, strong and quick, perfect for a 4-3 D-Tackle.  He’s got a great first step and moves very well laterally and would be a huge help on this defensive front.  With his size, he commands more attention from the other teams O-line and frees up space for other players to get to the QB, and area the Broncos were dismal in last year.  There aren’t too many questions about Dareus’ ability to perform at the NFL level.  The only question mark would be if he can hold up being a feature player and be out on the field the majority of the time.  This guy can be a superstar, and the Broncos would be wise to take him.  Dareus is a potential franchise cornerstone and could anchor a Broncos defense for years to come.

Patrick Peterson, 6’/219, CB, LSU

Peterson is on the Broncos radar simple because he may be the best player in the draft.  Corner isn’t a need for the Broncos, so this is really a long shot to happen.  He’s a shutdown corner who’s big and physical.  He has elite speed and great ball skills that also allow him to excel in the return game, which makes him a very attractive pick.  He was able to excel in the tough SEC, and that should help prepare him for the pros.  He’s a really smart player, but sometimes he will look to make a play and it’ll backfire on him and he gets burned.  He’s not a particularly strong zone defender either.  However, this guy has elite corner written all over him.  The Broncos will probably pass, but he will definitely be on their draft board.

Nick Fairley, 6’ 3”/297, DT, Auburn

Another potential pick at D-Tackle for the Broncos, Fairley dominated at Auburn last year.  He’s big and quick and has long arms to fight off the blockers.  He’s an angry dude who knows how to make plays in the backfield.  He is going to attack the ball carrier and look to hurt them.  There are a lot of questions with Fairley, though, and has fallen in many mock drafts.  Scouts question his work ethic and he’s been accused of taking plays off.  And despite his stellar year, it’s really the only body of work he has to base his performance off.  He had the one productive year at Auburn and many teams worry that he’s a “one hit wonder”.  This would be a real stretch if the Broncos took Fairley at number two with the more highly regarded Dareus, but if the Broncos look to move back and Fairley is on the board and Dareus is gone, he is a very possible option.

Four options, one pick.  The Broncos have to predict which of these players will be the best fit for their team and hope that they pick right, because you don’t want to blow the second overall pick.  This’ll be John Elway’s first draft as Broncos Executive Vice President of Football Operations, and we’ll get to see where his head is at and what he has in store for this team.  This pick can provide a foundation for years to come in Denver, and I for one hope to not see the Broncos pick this high for a very long time. 


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And The Nuggets Season is Over...

That didn’t really go as expected.

The Nuggets drop the series in four games to the Thunder.  Four of the games were close, coming down to the final seconds.  Game two was a blow out.  The entire series was filled with mistakes on the Nuggets part and really swung the game OKC’s way.  Honestly, this was a completely miserable series.

Where to start with the Nuggets mistakes?  There were so many it’s hard to choose.  First of all, the Nuggets gave up waaaaay too many second chance points the entire series.  I mean, have these guys heard of blocking out?  The Thunder have way too many bigs who can rebound and you can’t simply out-jump them.  Every game the Thunder crashed the offensive boards and Denver didn’t give much effort to grab the rebound.  You can’t give Kevin Durant a second chance to hit a shot, because chances are he’s going to knock it down.

Denver’s free throw shooting was awful.  Game one alone was essentially lost on missed free throws.  You have to take advantage of points from the line against a team like the Thunder.  OKC’s going to score, and you’ve got to go blow for blow with them, and hitting your free throws is key.  And guys who should be knocking them down were missing.  Danilo Gallinari couldn’t hit, Raymond Felton couldn’t hit.  It’s one thing for Nene to miss, who isn’t necessarily strong from the line, but Danilo Gallinari, who shot around 90% during the season?  That’s inexcusable.

Offensively, the Nuggets weren’t really looking to take it to the hole.  Nene would dump the ball off when he could throw it down, Kenyon wasn’t being real aggressive, and the guards were settling for jump shots instead of driving inside.  Obviously, the highest percentage shot is at the rim, so why not find a way to take that shot?  The Nuggets lived and died by the jump shot, and shot pretty poorly for the series.

 So the season is over, but there’s a lot to look forward to next year.  The Nuggets have a solid young nucleus of players.  The Nuggets have seven guys who will be 25 or younger on the roster to begin next season.  Ty Lawson continues to blossom, and the young players the Nuggets got form the Melo trade have upside galore.  Kosta Koufos and Timofey Mozgov look to be solid big men for the Nuggets in the coming years, and Gallo can be a great scorer for this team.

The key free agents this year are Kenyon Martin, JR Smith, Aaron Afflalo (restricted), and Wilson Chandler (restricted).  The Nuggets have to bring back Afflalo.  He’s the best outside shooter and perimeter defender on the team.  I would like to see the other three come back as well, but only for the right price.  K-Mart is the quaterback on defense. Chandler is a good shooter and JR has the ability to take over a game by himself, but I’m not sure it makes sense to resign three guys who play the same positions essentially, so I would say at most two of the three 2-gaurds will be back.  My guess would be Afflalo and Chandler, given JR’s recent comments about not returning to Denver.

The future for the Nuggets is bright.  They are a young team who has tremendous upside, they’re athletic and can run a team out of the gym.  That youth showed this series, and that ultimately cost them the series.  So until late October, provided there is no lockout, there will be no basketball in the Mile High City, but there sure is reason for optimism


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Denver Nuggets Playoff Preview - Bring on the Thunder!

The playoffs get underway this Sunday with the Nuggets in Oklahoma City to begin their first round series with the Thunder.  The two teams split the regular season series, however the Nuggets won both games with Carmelo Anthony playing for the blue and yellow.  Since moving to OKC, the Thunder have struggled to win against Denver.  The Thunder, led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, came on strong at the end of the season, and are out to prove that, despite their lack of experience, they are a true title contender.  The Nuggets also finished the season strong, playing their best ball after the Melo-Drama finally resided.  They play at much quicker pace these days and have found out what defense is.  These are two of the hottest teams headed into the postseason and should produce a great matchup.


The Thunder mainly get their scoring from Durant, who once again won the leagues scoring title.  Durant is an excellent scorer and can burn teams in a variety of ways.  He slashes to the bucket, pulls up in the lane, he can spot up to hit threes, he can do it all.  However, his jump shot is not very consistent.  Durant is at his best when driving to the hoop, and when teams make him settle for jump shots, they've done their job defensively.  Kevin Durant is going to score, that's just the way it is.  If the Nuggets want to keep Durant in check, they can't give him a consistent lane to the bucket.  Gallinari's size and strength should be able to effectively guard Durant, and I expect Kenyon Martin to match up on Durant as well.  It's hard to stop Durant with the combination of size, speed and strength he brings to the table, but if the Nuggets can make him a jump shooter, they've put themselves into position to win.


Russell Westbrook, OKC's point guard, has come on strong this season and earned his first all-star appearance.  In my opinion, he will end up being the best point guard of this generation.  However, he's not there yet.  In many games Westbrook tries to do too much in the way of scoring.  He'll take questionable shots and put the Thunder at a disadvantage.  But when he defers the majority of scoring to his teammates, that's when he's at his most effective.  He can score, no doubt about it, and when he's really on he puts up point in bunches.  He is also great passer and knows how to put his teammates into position to score.  And he's extremely fast.  Definitely one of the fastest players in the league. The key to this series will be the Nuggets ability to contain Westbrook.  With the assumption that Durant is going to score, the Nuggets cant let Westbrook be a scorer as well.  they have to make him a non-factor in the series.  The combo of Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton at point for the Nuggets should be quick enough to keep Westbrook in front of them for the most part and keep him from taking the ball to the hole.


The other players that the Nuggets should be aware of form an offensive standpoint are James Harden and Serge Ibaka.  Harden, who is the Thunder's sixth man, can really shoot the ball from deep.  When he gets going, he's a dangerous player.  However, he's struggled to find consistency to his shot and is a very streaky shooter.  The Nuggets need to keep an eye on him at all times and not let him get an open shot to put him in a rhythm.  Ibaka is a good post player who has great quickness and athleticism for a big man.  He's really their only scoring threat down low, however.  Ibaka seems to be bothered by the length of the Birdman, and if he can take Ibaka out of the game, the Thunder don't have much of a low post presence.


This Thunder team is loaded with really good defensive players.  Thabo Sefolosha is a lock down perimeter defender and can stay with just about anyone beyond the arc.  Kendrick Perkins, acquired at the deadline from Boston, has a huge presences in the middle for OKC.  And Ibaka blocks over two shots a game and can dictate the game on defense.


The Nuggets need to control the pace of this game.  Denver is at their best when they run teams off the court.  If they let the Thunder get into a slow, half-court game, the Nuggets will lose the series.  That is simply not the style of play the Nuggets are built for.  They have athleticism at every position on the floor and should take advantage of that fact.  Also, the each Nuggets has to play consistent.  With the depth of this team, no one player has to be a star, they need to know their role and execute it.  That means Gallinari needs to get to the bucket consistently, Wilson Chandler needs to hit open threes, JR Smith needs to play the smart basketball that he has been of late.


I am hoping to see a big series from Nene.  If you watch the Nuggets regularly on Altitude, you'll notice Scott Hastings says that Nene needs to look to score more often.  The Nuggets have to establish a low post presence late in ball games, and Nene has to be at the heart of that.  With his size and skill set, Nene should be one of the top scoring big men in the NBA.  Nene too often defers his shot to other teammates when he needs to be aggressive and try to bust down the hoop.  He needs to clear the Thunder defenders out of the way and flex his muscle inside.


These two teams are young and both have very bright futures ahead of them.  If OKC keeps this core team together, they will win a championship, no doubt about it. This series will be close and a great one between two teams who should be battling for titles for year to come.  This year, however, I think the athleticism of the of the Nuggets get's the best of the Thunder.  The Nuggets beat the Thunder in seven games to move on to the second round.


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Rockies On Fire

Twelve games into the Major League Baseball season, and the Colorado Rockies have the best record in all of baseball.  Hey, I could get used to hearing that!


The Rockies haven't dropped a game in 9 innings yet, and are a few pitches and swings away from being undefeated.  Does it help that they've played the hapless D-Back, Pirates and Mets?  Sure, maybe a little, but a win is a win, and the fashion in which they are doing so is very impressive.  The Rockies are doing what they need to to secure the W.  If the if the pitching is struggling, the bats are picking up the slack.  The bullpen for the most part has been spectacular, and the defense has been expectedly superb.  Oh, and they've just wrapped up a 7-1 road trip, determined to put the road demons of last season to rest.


The top performers have been the expected (Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton), and the unexpected (Seth Smith, Jonathan Herrea, Dexter Fowler to some extent).  The rest of the lineup has struggle somewhat, but they seem to come up big when needed, whether it's Ty Wigginton driving in the go ahead run or Jose Lopez putting one in the seats.  This team has worked so cohesively.  This is how team baseball is meant to be played.


Am I the only one who is beginning to think that Tulo and Cargo are robots programed to excel at baseball?  Homeruns shouldn't be that easy to hit, and diving catches and throws deep in the hole shouldn't be that routine.  These guys are determined to put to rest the argument that their contract extensions were premature, and so far they are blowing it out of the water.


The starting pitching for the Rockies has been up and down.  Obviously, the struggles Ubaldo Jimenez on opening day are justified by a trip to the DL that, fortunately, is set to end Monday against the Giants.  There were some spectacular starts from Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin and Esmil Rogers, and then they followed them up with merely mediocre starts.  Greg Reynolds filled in admirably for Ubaldo, and Jason Hammel has just been ok.  Thankfully the bullpen has been spectacular to nail down the later innings for the Rockies.  Huston Street has come on to save 6 games, and aside from his shaky out today in game one against the Mets, is on pace to have a career year.


Now I know it's only April, barely two weeks into the season, and there's still more than 5 months left, but the Rockies look real good.  They find ways to win and everyone is getting in on the action.  This is such a great change of pace from years past, with the Rockies jumping out to a quick start and getting the job done on the road.  With all early indications, the Rockies look to be one of the elite teams in the NL and all of baseball.


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Nuggets Make Huge Statement With Win Over Lakers

The Nuggets beat the Lakers 95-90 and earned perhaps their best win of the post-Melo era here in Denver. Denver got a good effort from every guy they sent to the floor.  Danilo Gallinari carried the team in the first half by scoring 18 points,and while he was quiet in the second half, Raymond Felton came alive, scoring all 16 of his point, including 3 for 4 on three point attempts.  But the big hero of the game was Kenyon Martin, who grabbed 8 boards and scored 18 points, none more crucial than his put-back of a missed Nene free throw down the stretch to basically seal the Nuggets victory.


What was most impressive of this victory was the defensive effort the Nuggets displayed.  This Lakers team scores an average of 101 points a game, and they held them to 90 on 42% shooting.  They gave up 28 points to Kobe, but he had to put up 27 shots to do so.  There is very little you can do to stop Kobe, but if you're holding him to 37% shooting, you're playing good defense.


The Nuggets offensively only shot 43% from the field, but they hit 7-17 threes for 41%.  I can't remember a Nuggets team that could shoot the three this well.  We've seen the Nuggets three-point shooting bail them out numerous times in the post-Melo era.  The Nuggets have six guys who shoot over 35% from deep (7 if you count seldom used Gary Forbes).  Not many teams can say they have six 3 point shooters, if any at all.


And let's not forget Timofey Mozgov!  With the Birdman sidelined, Mozgov came in and played a very active game.  He played physically and showed his size down low.  A little more work with this guy and the Nuggets may have themselves a very good true center.


With the victory, the Nuggets locked up a playoff berth.  They sit 3 games behind Oklahoma City, with two games against them remaining.  Aaron Afflalo should be back soon, and I fully expect the Nuggets to make a strong push for that 4th seed in the West.  If anything, these new Nuggets have proved that they can hang with anyone in the NBA.

New Look Nuggets Are Actually a Team

We're 10 games into the post-Melo era in Denver, with the 11th underway in Atlanta, and I think it's safe to say that this team is better without the superstar on their squad.  This team plays as a team.  On any given night, someone will step up and be the difference maker.  The Nuggets are playing with much more energy now.  Oh, and did I mention they are doing this without one of the centerpieces of the Melo deal in Danilo Gallinari?


With Melo in the blue and yellow, any hope for a team concept was lost.  They would run isolation for Melo, and he would score and that was fine and dandy, but to score all those points, his shooting percentage would suffer because he would chuck up so many shots.Now, the Nuggets are making the extra pass and getting very high percentage shots.


This new look team is dynamic and well-rounded.  I really like when the two point guards are on the floor together.  Lawson and Felton are both really quick and are good passers, but the can also get to the hole and finish which is really beneficial.  Kenyon Martin has been playing rejuvenated and playing a good, all-around game.  Afflalo and JR are stepping up in Melo's absence with scoring, and Wilson Chandler is also putting up points.  Nene is flexing his muscles under the basket, and Birdman is benefitting from the lobs that Felton used to throw to Amar'e Stoudemire.  And lets not forget Koufous and Mozgov, who flash their potential in garbage time.


Is this team better now without the great Carmelo Anthony?  Right now, it looks like they are a better "team", no question, but will it be enough to make a playoff  run?  Maybe not a deep one just yet, but I think they can beat Oklahoma City in a series and give the Mavs or the Lakers a run for their money.  The future looks very bright for this team though.  If they can add a solid 4-man in the draft or via free agency this off-season, they become a much better team.  But for right now, I'm just enjoying the refreshing new-look Nugs and the wonderful concept of team-basketball.


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