Didn't we just play these guys on a Friday night? (Nuggets/Bullets Preview 7pm MST)...

by Andrew Feinstein on Mar 20, 2009 1:01 AM MDT

Maybe the Nuggets season will have some good symmetry to it and we're finally on the other side of their mid-season, six-week recession.

It seems like yesterday when the Nuggets were facing off against the Bullets...ok, Wizards...in Washington on their way to four straight wins and solidifying their status as a top-three team in the Western Conference. The game was played on yet another Friday night, February 6th to be exact, and the Nuggets clobbered the Wizards (as they've been doing routinely since Carmelo Anthony became a Nugget) 124-103 that night.

Then the wheels came off the Nuggets season.

The following night was the disastrous loss to the New Jersey Nets and the well documented fallout which saw the Nuggets lose nine of 17 games, until the Nuggets avenged that defeat against the Nets by beating them soundly on Monday in Denver. Unfortunately, for those of us who were glued to their TVs watching the Nuggets ferocious comeback in Memphis on Wednesday night, we still don't know if the pre-Nets game Nuggets are back or if we're still stuck with shaky, inconsistent, post-Nets game Nuggets. Another solid win over the Wizards might help us answer that question while matching the Nuggets season best win streak at five.

On a side note, Denver Stiffs reader Goldennugget will be taking over game recap duties again tonight and I'm looking forward to his perspective on the game.

On a double side note, be sure to click on the image above and check out former Nuggets trainer Chopper Travaglini's outfit. It's amazing!

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man why don't we wear those sexy skyline tops man. the yellow cavs ones are pretty darn smooth looking too.

by andrew fisher on Mar 20, 2009 2:56 AM MDT reply actions

Looking at that picture, I remember once that my dad took my brother and I to a Nuggets practice/shoot around before a game against the Sacramento Kings. My brother and I being about 12 and 8 years old got kind of bored. So we set off to see if we could sit in all the seats in our section. Once that was accomplished we wanted to do the whole lower deck. Well needless to say about an hour later all 17,171 seats at Big Mac had our butts in them. The Nuggets beat Danny Ainge and the Kings that night. I still have the program in a box somewhere.

by emptytwo629 on Mar 20, 2009 8:57 AM MDT reply actions

What's amazing is those old Nuggets socks! ...and the fact that guys junk didn't accidentally get exposed 7-10 times a game with those daisy dukes they used to wear.

by Eric K on Mar 20, 2009 9:26 AM MDT reply actions

Old school Nuggets jerseys are by far the coolest uniforms in the history of the NBA. I can't believe they voted not to wear throwbacks this year! What a joke. It just goes to show how cool Melo and the crew think they are.

by Goldennugget on Mar 20, 2009 4:35 PM MDT reply actions

Goldennugget,
I agree with you completely on the jersey thing, and am surprised KSE didnt force them to wear the throwbacks at least once. It created sales through altitude authentics. However the NBA is forcing all teams (supposedly) to wear a "GREEN" jersey once this year. The nuggets will do this April 8th and 9th from what Ive heard.

by 1NUGS1 on Mar 20, 2009 5:23 PM MDT reply actions

Birdman is worth the price of admission. Between the dunks, blocks and theatrics, the veteran minumum is the biggest steal in the NBA. This guy is going to get a big extension.

Still a fairly sloppy game. We are not a great rebounding team (let the big Brazilian raise his hand), and need some more rebounds from our starting bigs.

Final question, is JR a better offensive player than Melo?

by NugzD on Mar 20, 2009 9:40 PM MDT reply actions

Good solid win. Again, we started off slow but eventually picked it up and pulled away. The story of the game though was the trio of Birdman, JR and Balkman. All three of these guys had great games and 2 of the 3 you could probably say had their 2nd best (or very best) games of their careers depending on how you look at it. Birdman though has got to get the spotlight. Look at the journey he has gone through the last 3 years to go from getting kicked out of the league for 2 years due to drugs, then coming back, nobody taking a look at him except for us and here he is 2nd in the NBA in blocks with only half the time the leader gets, and by far the best backup center in the league. Then you look at Balkman, a guy who has never really been given the chance to prove himself and we steal him away from NY where he is already a fan favorite and, in my opinion, the best rebounder on the team. Funny thing is, both come off the bench and both are getting paid only a fraction of what Carmelo Anthony is, yet both are hustling, diving for lose balls, getting jump balls called by being aggressive, getting hard fought rebounds, getting steals, sparking much needed energy when the game has gone stagnant, getting the crowed involved, and the list goes on and on. I just think we have to really take a look at what these guys mean to this team and how they have proved themselves night in and night out this season and it is important we consider making them Nuggets for years to come as these are 2 very special bench players that happened to fall into our hands during cost cutting mode this summer. As for the other aspects of the game, I tip my hat to JR, he played as a real professional tonight, no crying to the refs, no ill-advised shots, and most importantly no one-on-ones. He made it his mission tonight to spread the floor and look for the open man and look at what it not only did for his numbers but the rest of the team's as well. I only hope JR can continue to play this way in the future as him and Melo will be a deadly one-two punch come playoff time.

by Goldennugget on Mar 20, 2009 10:26 PM MDT reply actions

The other thing I got to mention is how bad Karl still is with his lineups. Sure, the other night he made some good moves, but tonight was a games where Petro, Jones, Balkman, Birman and Carter should have seen a lot of time, instead, he saves Petro and Jones for the last 2 minutes of the game and doesn't play Balkman, Carter or Birman near as much as he should have. But the thing that really got under my skin is when JR was only 4 points away from setting a career high in points and Birdman only 1 block away from tying his career high in blocks with almost 3 minutes left and Karls pulls both of them! I am not one to be too emamored over individual performances but when a guy who has been in the league for 5 years and has a career average of 11 ppg is only a few points away from setting his career high you should go ahead and give him the chance to do so!

by Goldennugget on Mar 20, 2009 10:48 PM MDT reply actions

Great win, but it was against a puff 5 teams. This week is going to be a big test to see if we have jelled together better and our lineups are better. i hope we can go 2 for 3.
As far as the career high goes, i don't think it should be on anyone's mind. JR had 40 that's good enough.

GO NUGGS

by AN from Dubai on Mar 20, 2009 10:57 PM MDT reply actions

So I wake up this morning to read about the Nugs and what do I hear Karl say? "I think if we go 3-2 or 2-3" (on the road) that it will be fine. I just don't get why he says crap like that. Way to set the bar low George.

by grantarchy on Mar 21, 2009 9:10 AM MDT reply actions

NugzD,

I was thinking during the game last night that J.R. is probably the most physically talented player on the team. He is definitely more athletic and has longer range than Melo. Not nearly as strong. He is not as consistent or mentally tough as Melo. He scored what, 40, last night? He probably will score 4 in the next game. Until he went out of the game earlier in the year with an injury, Anthony had the longest streak of consecutive games over 10 points in the league.

Physically, Smith is probably equal to Kobe Bryant at the same age. Mentally, he's not even close.

by KarlSucks on Mar 21, 2009 9:21 AM MDT reply actions

It's more fun to watch a team with a good bench. I'm beginning to think that the Nuggets bench can outplay just about any in the league. Of course that depends on if JR is a bench player or not, but still. It would be nice if Kleiza could get out of his funk. He rushes his shots or he doesn't square up. Any good coach should be able to see what Kleiza is doing wrong/different with his shot and fix it.

Last night on TV they had a poll as to the best dunker JR or David Thompson. I don't know what the results were. I do know that there is a little bit of unfair comparison there. Remember when Darryl Dawkins started smashing backboards? They changed the design of the goal to break away instead of being hard fixed to the glass. In addtion the rim gives a little bit now before the rim breaks away. That changes everything when comparing dunking. You try doing hard dunks on those old fashioned rims (as I've done many a time) and you'll find out how close you can come to breaink a bone. Then try it on the newfangled rims and see how much more flamboyant you can be.

The poll I've been wondering about is: Maya Starks or Julie Browman?

Personally I can do without either of them. It's a tough choice but I think I'm going to have to go with Julie Browman.

by Anonymous on Mar 21, 2009 11:29 AM MDT reply actions

You kidding me? Maya Starks is better looking and a much better commentator.
-C

by Anonymous on Mar 21, 2009 1:32 PM MDT reply actions

Current playoff match-up is Denver (4) vs. New Orleans (5). I know this is subject to change with 12 games left, but a win in NO this week would be huge. If they end up with the same record and the Nuggets win this week that would split the season series. Would the home court tie breaker be each team's division record?

by emptytwo629 on Mar 21, 2009 11:39 PM MDT reply actions

tie breakers for teams not in the same division is their conference record

by Zachm219 on Mar 22, 2009 2:42 AM MDT reply actions

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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.