Gallo Out Will Test The Nuggets True Depth

As you likely have already heard, Danilo Gallinari will likely miss up to four weeks with a sprained ankle. On the bright side, the injury could have been a lot worse, as a bone chip was found upon examination.  Luckily for Gallo, it stemmed from an old injury and should cause a longer recovery time.

The Nuggets will be without their top scorer for the next month, which will present the team with a brutal stretch of games.  Fortunately, Arron Afflalo should be back Wednesday and Nene is a game time decision, so that will provide a bit more depth for Denver.  For the Nuggets to be successful without Gallo, those are two key guys who need to step up.

Afflalo has been pretty bad from an offensive standpoint this year.  He shooting percentage is merely 41%, down from his career average of 46%.  Defensively, Afflalo has been solid per usual.  With the absence of Gallinari, however, the Nuggets need more form Afflalo.  They need the guy they sorely missed in the playoffs last year, the player who was so reliable from deep.  Afflalo has been battling injury for much of the season, so hopefully he can put that behind him and regain the momentum he had last season.

Nene this season has shown flashes of the dominant big man he can be, but he needs to be more aggressive and go strong to the basket more often.  I see no reason he shouldn't be able to average anywhere from 15 to 18 points a game.  50% shooting from Nene is too low.  He has been taking more mid-range jumpers this season than in years past and it's showing up in the form of his low shooting percentage.  I know Nene has it in him to thunder the ball down in the paint.  Nene needs to get mean in the paint and show no mercy to his defenders.

The prime candidate to replace Gallo in my opinion should be Corey Brewer.  Brewer has been active and plays with a ton of energy every time he steps on the court.  I think because of that, though, George Karl will prefer to have him come off the bench and start Afflalo at the 3 and go with Ty Lawson and either Andre Miller or start Julyan Stone as he did against the Rockets.  Again, I think what Andre provides off the bench benefits the Nuggets greatly, but Karl has that history of not playing rookies.  It will be interesting to see how the rotation going forward shakes out.  Having multiple candidates to replace a starter is a problem I bet a number of teams wouldn't mind having, and is a testament to the depth that the Nuggets have on this roster.

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Nene the Baby

For those of you who don't know, the name Nene means baby in Portuguese.  That name seemingly fits him perfectly.  Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post recently sat down with Nene to learn that he may opt out of his contract this offseason.  In the article, Nene goes on about how he feels unappreciated by the organization and wants the salary he thinks he deserves.  He talks about how much he has sacrificed for this team.  If you ask me, he's being a big baby.

First of all, this would be a horrible time for Nene to opt out.  With the CBA set to expire and the uncertainty of how much players can make, he would be leaving a lot on the table.  If it's money that Nene is interested in, it would be wise of him to stay under contract for the final year.

Nene complains about not being respected, and I'm not so sure his play demands full respect.  Every year, Nene is supposed to break out and have a huge season, finally live up to the potential that he has.  And every year, he plays mediocre.  With his size and athleticism, he should dominate inside.  Instead, he remains soft and unwilling to bruise inside the paint.  The most rebounds he has ever averaged in a season is 7.8 a game.  Are you kidding me?  That number should be much higher, but he's not aggressive enough.  This past year he averaged 14.5 points a game.  Nene is a guy who could easily average 20 and 10 a game and absolutely should if he expects to get paid as the top centers do in the league.

Sure, you can make the argument that he's out of position, playing center when he's really a power forward, but with the frame Nene has, he is suited perfectly to be a center.  He complains that he likes playing power forward better, but honestly, his numbers weren't any better when he did play there consistently, so I don't buy that argument.

When he says that he has sacrificed a lot for this team, that I am ok with.  This is a man who has overcome two major injuries and cancer.  He is a tough guy when it comes to that aspect of thing.  He has fought his way back on the court, and while on the court he needs to exhibit that same fighting spirt and bully people down low.

For Nene to get the respect he thinks he deserves, he's got to step up his game this coming season.  He turns 29 later this year, so the time to reach his potential is dwindling fast.  There aren't many guys his age who have finally broken through with big years after underachieving their entire careers, so Nene has to get work done, and fast.  If he choses to return to the Nuggets, he'll have some tough competition in Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos at center.  That could also up the door for him to return to power forward, given that Kenyon Martin either doesn't return or comes off the bench next season.  Either way, Nene has something to prove next season, and I really hope he does.  Just look at game one versus the Thunder in this years playoffs.  He had a dominant game, and while they didn't win, he kept them in from start to finish.  That's the Nene I one day dream to see game in and game out.

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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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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