WHO KNEW?!!...

by Andrew Feinstein on Feb 27, 2009 7:00 PM MST

Nuggets/Lakers Recap...

Only this Nuggets team - they of the consistently inconsistent - could pull off such a splendid, defensive-led victory over the NBA's best team...just five days removed from being humiliated at home by the NBA's second best team.

Prior to tonight's victory, the Nuggets had held only one other team under 80 points all season long at that was the Orlando Magic...in Orlando. What does this all mean? That the Nuggets can beat anyone defensively as long as they believe they can.

And what made this game even better was that it was all about Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith, each of whom played fearlessly against the Lakers from the moment they walked onto the floor. I'm just kicking myself for forgetting to start the Birdman in place of Nene on my fantasy team this week, because Bird's had the best week of his NBA career.

In fact, J.R. played so well defensively, that head coach George Karl (who deserves credit for giving J.R. ample PT tonight) actually complemented him by saying: "I thought in the fourth quarter, that's by far the best defensive game I've ever seen him play."

Karl complements J.R. Smith and the Nuggets beat the Lakers? WHO KNEW?!!

Nuggets/Lakers Preview...

Sorry for the tardy and short Nuggets/Lakers preview. What should have been the big story of the week has been supplanted by the sad real life story of the Rocky Mountain News closing down and all of their employees joining the ever-increasing ranks of the unemployed.

But if sports provides one positive thing for us, its a distraction (albeit brief) from real life events. And for tonight, at least, we get the ultimate distraction: watching the Nuggets attempt to defeat the Lakers for the first time in nearly two years. In case you're curious, the Nuggets haven't beaten the Lakers since April 9, 2007, back when - believe it or not - this incarnation of the Nuggets actually played pretty well against the Lakers.

But these are not the 2006-07 Lakers that folded like deck chairs against the Suns in the playoffs leading to a turbulent off-season in which Kobe Bryant demanded a trade. These Lakers are likely repeating as Western Conference champions. So if our Nuggets are to somehow knock them off their newfound mantle, they - at a minimum - need to learn how to beat them when playing at Pepsi Center.

Go Nuggets!!

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finally we beat LA

by nuggetsfan on Feb 27, 2009 9:36 PM MST reply actions

NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN! NUGGETS WIN!

by Geerten on Feb 27, 2009 9:38 PM MST reply actions

BIRD BIRD BIRD BIRD IS THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Anonymous on Feb 27, 2009 9:51 PM MST reply actions

With 2 or so minutes to go in the third, the Nuggets did something we usually don't see. They took command while possibly losing the lead for good against a marquis team. Way to go Bird. A geat win and a fun thread during the game. Better than any other Nuggets thread I've been on.
We need a solid fan base thread like many of the other NBA teams.

by markp on Feb 27, 2009 10:03 PM MST reply actions

Karl just gave JR kudos on guarding Kolbe. I must be drunk.

by markp on Feb 27, 2009 10:05 PM MST reply actions

Karl with the Metro State jersey while fielding questions. I can't help it. But that is cool to see.

He is a relaxed and happy coach tonight. Can't stop gushing about JR.

Give Karl his win tonight.

by markp on Feb 27, 2009 10:09 PM MST reply actions

Bird and JR just OWNED the +/- with +27 and +25

YEAH!

by Geerten on Feb 27, 2009 10:13 PM MST reply actions

I am so proud of this team tonight.

I'll give Karl the kudos for keeping Carter and giving more minutes to Chris and JR. Good roster management tonight. They played great. Melo struggled with his shot shot contributed beautifully. Everyone play nicely. Good job best game of the season to date.

by Anonymous on Feb 27, 2009 10:22 PM MST reply actions

One thing that does bother me is that we won this game because of whistles. I'm not saying any of them were cheap, but when the playoffs roll around a lot of those fouls won't be called. I wonder if we'd have won this game if it wasn't regular season.

Still, great win. Birdman was huge. I like the Nene/Birdman pairing. I wish we did it a little more often.

by Demnverson on Feb 27, 2009 10:31 PM MST reply actions

did they say on TV why kmart didnt play for the last 20 minutes? in the arena they didnt say nothing. BTW I thought for sure GK would f this up by leaving AC for too long but from what I've been told by my source is that someone on their staff is monitoring this web site all the time. With that they saw the AC bashing. Now that it was backed up statistically Karl had no choice, but to stay with JR. JR defended Kobe about as good as anyone could. And GOLDENNUGGET here's a good stat for you to find out.... When KObe takes more then 21 FG attempts what is the lakers record? Hint: In this game he took 32....let me know what you come up with cause I know the answer and It will BLOW everyones mind!!!!! Last thank the basketball gods they got that monkey off their back.
GO NUGGETS!!!!!!

by 1NUGS1 on Feb 27, 2009 10:45 PM MST reply actions

The Nuggets were great! Birdman was spectacular! Chauncy was diagraming plays,communicating and getting the Nuggets on the same page. Petro "a roll player" got into early foul trouble but still did well. Jr came to play. Melo had a double double. The D was awesome. The bench outscored the Lakers bench by 40 points and AC didn't have a single point as usual. Has anyone notice the less minutes the weakest link plays the better we do? Bring on the new prospect so we can have a better chance at winning during the final push of the season. As if he's going to play. It wasn't reported why Kmart didn't return. Must have been because Birdman was having a hell of a game and GK didn't want to disrupt the mo. Which is unusual.

by samiam on Feb 27, 2009 11:42 PM MST reply actions

Oh man! What a win! That was the best we have played all year by far! That was the first time this year it seemed like we actually had confidence while playing the Lakers and look what it did. Now, before we get ahead of ourselves lets realize that this was long past due and the Lakers had won 11 straight so they were bound to lose sometime soon. With that said, it was still an excellent performance by everyone, even Melo. Yes, even Melo had a great game though it might not show. He was rebounding like Charles Barkley out there! And he played great defensively which is, in my opinion, the master key to open our success all up. I think the best defensive play I have ever seen Melo have was tonight when he anticipated the pass by Ariza to Gasol. Sure, it wasn't much but it showed anticipation, which is the best defensive skill you can possess. Birdman was just an absolute beast tonight and I am petitioning that we get some sort of Birdman t-shirts or stickers or even a gaint head on a stick like N.O. does with Peja because he is a savior to this team in many ways like Chaucy is. I don't really have more to say except I was hardly impressed by the showing of Kobe Bryant. We shut down the reigning MVP fast, and efficiently the whole night, which is great news heading towards the playoffs. Oh, and the foul Kleiza committed on Gasol where he jumped over like a wild animal to Gasol's proximity then just gingerly touched his arm to commit the foul was just a joke, and one of the funniest fouls I have ever seen. Hopefully he comes out of his slump soon so we can get all of our players on the same page for the next 15 games or so heading into the playoffs. Great win and go NUGGIES!

by Goldennugget on Feb 27, 2009 11:55 PM MST reply actions

Phil Jackson said this was a "garbage game." No mention of our D. No gracious comment at all. Here, let him tell it:

"I'm supposed to tell you what happened and you watched that garbage for 48 minutes?" he said. "That was a garbage game, no doubt about it. I wish we could repay the fans some money for that game. Neither team played very well, but they played better than us."

SO HEY PHIL! In other words, we didn't beat the Lakers, they lost to us. Bird didn't block. Chauncy didn't orchestrate. And J.R. certainly didn't guard Kobe. It was all a fantasy. Like a mass hallucination. It didn't really happen. We weren't good, they were just bad. Write it off like the drubbing Boston gave us, huh Phil? Just one of those horrible out-of-control nights where the world just spun and spun and spun...

But, it wasn't that, now was it, huh Phil? You know how I know that was a bunch of BS. The Lakers don't rattle. And they didn't rattle last night, now did they? They didn't didn't rattle, but the damn sure lost.

The next time we meet LA (in LA), take it to them again, Nuggs. That interview pissed me off something certain. I have NEVER liked the Lakers. Now I have moved to the level of 'loathing and detesting' the Lakers. Especially you, Phil. Take those rings and stick 'em.

Another "garbage game" would be just fine with me.

by Anonymous on Feb 28, 2009 8:32 AM MST reply actions

Are the Nuggets learning?

Begining of the 3rd. Missed jumper afgter missed jumper... and then, and THEN A LAY-UP!

When will they learn?

by Anonymous on Feb 28, 2009 8:38 AM MST reply actions

Anonymous,

About Phil Jackson. I saw that too. What a pompous Ass. Here's Big Kudo's to your rant. Now get a name. Rants like yours need a signature.

by markp on Feb 28, 2009 9:07 AM MST reply actions

Great win! An absolute must win and the Nuggets showed up accordingly.

JR made some very sound decisions and has really matured his game. His passing has been outstanding this year and he has picked up his defensive intensity and focus. Birdzilla came out tonight in full force. He would not be denied. And Melo played great overall game, especially in the paint. I think KMart is still hurting. He looked uncomfortable just running the floor. And Chauncey was the glue who held us in it when we looked ready to collapse. Awesome job fighting the whole game Chauncey!! Prior teams would have caved in during that 3rd quarter stretch. Chauncey would not let it happen.

And .... I think George coached a good game last night (except for the 3 guard line up).

I also really liked that Petro came out aggresively and was not intimidated by the Lakers. At all.
He's not going to get the whistles his way against these guys. But I think he's shown a lot of potential. Who can we get for Steven Hunter this summer?

Things to improve: I am concerned about the Defensive Glass however. We gave up 22 rebounds on the defensive end. No team will beat the Larkers 4 out of 7 when doing that. So why wasn't Balkman in at some point to help out? Size?

Carter looked beyond tentative and has clearly lost his confidence level. I'm not a big Jason Hart fan, but if he comes in and plays with confidence, he could help us.

Looks like we'll get that 40 before 20 after all Andrew!!!!

by imnogm on Feb 28, 2009 9:25 AM MST reply actions

Correction -----> 40 AND 20!

by imnogm on Feb 28, 2009 9:29 AM MST reply actions

Well, I know it really is just the Nugget's current injury situation, but I'll be damned if some of Karl's coaching moves, at least in terms of assigning PT, didn't actually make some sense for once.

Stop wearing out your starters (and inflating their egos) and trust the bench. Yes, Petro is not a premier player, but the guy can put in some valuable minutes.

One thing for sure, Portland and Utah are pissed this morning!

by JTR on Feb 28, 2009 9:37 AM MST reply actions

To Anonymous,

Great rant about Phil Jackson and his typical condescending arrogance. I'm adding him to the Stiff List right now!

Thanks for reading the blog.

All best,

Andrew

by Andrew on Feb 28, 2009 9:44 AM MST reply actions

Two funny moments:

Gasol got a shot the face, and Marlowe was getting excited about the developing fast break as he started talking.

"Gasol got popped in the face, he's down, and that's good" or something to that effect. I couldn't believe he said it. Too funny.

Then, with just over 2 minutes left, they were talking about how exciting things were, and they pan over to the bench, and there's Balkman, yawning. Classic.

The two big man plan is what did it, I'm convinced. One to block, one to rebound. Good strategy. We need another effective big man!

Nice game, Nuggets! Great bench production, lots of heart. I wish I could have been in the crowd.

Some quick final observations:

Chauncey's four-step spinner won drive of the game.
There were too many whistles blown.
Phil Jackson is an ass.

Go Nuggets.

by Do We Have Any Plays? on Feb 28, 2009 9:45 AM MST reply actions

Nothing would be better than a follow-up victory next time we play them. You see Boston got beat so they came and crushed us. The Lakers are going to want to do the same thing. It was an awesome win, I hope we can get 60 wins on the season.

At least 2nd to the Lakers in standing and then beat them in the Western Conference finals to play Boston....They can do it. They just need to heal and play their bench more so they have more confidence and depth...There could be no greater insult to Phil.

by Anonymous on Feb 28, 2009 11:54 AM MST reply actions

Anon - 60 wins would be a 21-2 finish. Hold your breath.

Great win, very enjoyable to watch.

Wish I knew what was going on with K-Mart. Is he hurt, or did Karl bench him for being ineffective?

Some weird rotations again last night, but they seemed to work. At one point it was Bird, Kleiza, Smith, Carter, and Billups.

Lakers previous low for a half this season 42 points. Nuggets held them to 40 and 39! Playing them on the second night of a back to back helps, but Marlowe said they were something like 11-3 in that situation this season.

I got real nervous in the third when the nuggets went from a 6 point lead to a 5 point deficit without calling timeout. I actually think Karl called fewer timeouts than the zenmeister.

I thought Anthony played good defense on Bryant, but as soon as they put him on Bryant, he hit every tough shot.

by KarlSucks on Feb 28, 2009 12:56 PM MST reply actions

Anonymous - Indeed a great rant and Mark said it man, rants like those need a name.

Andrew - Great idea to put Phil on the Stiff List. What an arrogant ass. We straight up outplayed them in every aspect of the game. We showed heart, resilience, everything, yet he couldn't give us once bit of credit. What happens when we lose to the Lakers? You got it, George Karl is on his knees praising Phil Jackson and his team. The funny thing is now all Laker fans are saying the exact same thing Phil says. So feel free to put the entire Laker nation up on the Stiff List if you want.

Do We Have Any Plays? - Yeah Marlowe reminds me of a little kid fan sometimes. He is much more of a fan than announcer when games get tight. Oh well, I don't mind it that much, it's kind of funny. I'm glad we have some announcers with some personality. People always rag on our announcers and say they love to watch games on ESPN or TNT because the announcers there are good but the thing that makes them good is that they have personality, they aren't just a bump on a log play by play guys, and the same goes with our guys too. I'm not saying I'm fans of Hastings and Marlowe but I really don't get what everyone is always up in arms about with these guys.

by Goldennugget on Feb 28, 2009 1:14 PM MST reply actions

I think some of the weird rotations were due to Nene and K-marts health, and Petro going for the most fouls in the fewest minutes ever. I thought Petro really hurt us tonight, I mean all the guy did was come in and hack a few people and then leave. Also can Kleiza hit an open 3 anymore? Otherwise we played great but lets not get too excited, the lakers did play absolutely terrible tonight, even kobe with his 29 still managed to toss up a few airballs. Good win, here's hoping we can keep it together against Indiana

by Zachm219 on Feb 28, 2009 1:16 PM MST reply actions

I really don't understand the Hastings/Marlowe hate here. I like them both.

by Anonymous on Feb 28, 2009 1:40 PM MST reply actions

Anonymous is SpokenWar!

Thanks Andrew.

Anyone who is more arrogant than I am should get it with both barrels. I mean, The Lakers need two jets. One for the team and one for Phil's ego.

SpokenWar

by SpokenWar on Feb 28, 2009 6:58 PM MST reply actions

It was a good win, but it's clear that the Lakers are in a funk. I'm afraid that we didn't win, LA lost. It's a fine distinction, but one worth making, particularly after the drubbing they took from a Nashless Phoenix team.

Sorry to sound like a spoilsport, but I'll believe this talk about defensive intensity when I see it in a 7-game series.

by keeperdesign on Mar 2, 2009 10:48 AM MST reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

STIFF LIST (as of 4/26 by Andrew Feinstein)

1. METTA WORLD PEACE

Metta resorted back to Ron Ron last Sunday by clubbing James Hardenwith an "inadvertent celebratory elbow", landing him a 7-game suspension. Apparently, changing his name didn't prevent NBA commissioner David Stern from overlooking Metta's past behavior problems.

2. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

The 'Cats are on the verge of securing the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Given that the guy who runs the team - Michael Jordan - had previously drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, should this really be a shock?

3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The team that was supposedly built to overcome the lockout-shortened season managed to lose 7 of its last 14 games, ceding the Western Conference's 1-seed to the Spurs in the process. Their reward might be a first round matchup with defending champion Dallas.

4. BILLY HUNTER AND DEREK FISHER

With report after report coming out about NBPA union head Hunter's shady, nepotistic dealings and questions arising about Fisher's own role in dealing with NBA owners behind Hunter's back during the lockout, this off-the-court scandal could prove to be more exciting than the playoffs themselves!

5. STEVE NASH AND THE PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are on this list for squandering the last few great seasons from Nash. Nash is on this list for his stupidly stubborn loyalty to a franchise as awful as the Suns.