Ndrew, I don’t think you’re giving the Suns enough credit as a legitimate team out west. They may be old and not have much of a bench, but they have a great starting 5 with a lot of veterans, many of whom have been playing together for years by now. I also don’t think this was more of an escape than a confidence-building victory. ANY comeback victory like the Nuggets had against ANY team is a confidence-builder. The Nuggets players aren’t thinking “well we were at home, the Suns are old and on the second of a back-to-back, so it’s not that impressive that we dug ourselves out a 17 point hole.” They’re thinking “Hell yeah, we can overcome anything over the course of 48 minutes!” It doesn’t mean the first half of this game should go unnoticed, but I certainly think this will be a game that sticks around in Nuggets memory for some time as a confidence-building comeback victory where the home fans really helped the players get back into it.

He almost gave the game away. He had 3 straight possesions where his man made the shot, horrible horrible. Had he not luckily gotten that tip out to end the game we would be calling for his head.

AC, How are you in the NBA?

I’ve never posted her but appreciate the site. I’ve been a season ticket holder for 14 years and have seats on the floor, baseline, extremely close to the Nuggets bench. I’ve always been a fan of JR Smith because of his undeniable talent. He opens up the floor for the Nuggets and allows them to do so many things that otherwise aren’t doable without him. He is a big time talent and would be on any team. I’ve always criticized Karl for his inability to consistently use this guy as a threat but last night, I jumped off the JR bandwagon. He was pulled early in the third quarter and was obviously upset about being pulled out. That being said, as the Nuggets mounted a comeback, he sat on the end of the bench, pouting, uninterested and never moved the rest of the game, despite the comeback. Assistant coaches walked over to him on numerous occasions trying to help him, console him or a few giving him a little tough love to get his head straight (Jamahl Moseley) but to no avail. It was disgusting to watch absolutely disgusting. Remember before you criticize this post, that I’ve been a huge JR supporter through thick and thin but after what I saw last night we need to trade him right now at his peak value before something happens and we lose the opportunity to better our team from a trade. George Karl is in a tough spot but he needs to be suspended for his behavior last night. Meanwhile I watch Anthony Carter every game typically not play and yet set an example for what a team is about. I still don’t think he should be on the court but he is definitely a team first player at least. TRADE JR.

 The last play was an obvious foul and that come from someone that is maniacal about the Nuggets. That being said, Bill Kennedy was awful the whole game and killed us the second half. Bill Kennedy is horrible and he made the noncall but it was a no brainer foul. I was right in front of the play.

He killed us in the first half, not the second.

that Bill Kennedy was horrible last night. But in the end, as it turned out, consistently horrible. I couldn’t help but think of Donaghy on a few of those calls. I don’t think the Suns fans were complaining when Ty lawson was whistled while Amare stuck his thigh out on the high pick.

I agree with Thursty, it was great to see team box outs last night. That was encouraging.
And holding the Suns under 100 points was also a great sign.

That said, what troubles me is that we have now become a team that is not only inconsistent game to game, but also quarter to quarter. And I don’t know how that gets fixed, but it needs to happen over the next 10 games.

BTW, our March schedule is a nightmare. We need to have a good Division lead by the end of February if we expect to be at home in the first round of the playoffs.

Is it just me or do the Nuggets whine an excessive amount about calls/non-calls?! For being a supposed MVP candidate, ’Melo remains the worst at that.

For the full team’s benefit, turn to your rookie, Lawson, on this issue, Nuggets. He plays hard, well and continuously (except for last night for some odd reason.) If he gets calls, great. If he doesn’t, he keeps playing.

Grow up, Nuggets, and stop focusing on what the refs are or aren’t doing. If you don’t catch on to how to handle this issue quickly, your exit from the playoffs will be far quicker than you expect it to be.

I watched the entire game last night and paid specific attention to birdman & earl smith. simply put they are just not that good. birdman only know how to block, he isn’t able to play defense beyond trying to swat the ball. bigmen defenders need to use their bodies as a presence around the basket. but birdman allows people to drive around him, hoping to swat the ball at the last second. blocks are all good, but they can’t be your entire defensive strategy. as for earl smith, what a disappointing game. on offense, he either drives to the basket out of control, usually losing the ball and acting surprised he doesn’t get the foul call or he dribbles the ball back and forth on the 3 point line while defended waiting until he has just a tad bit of space and then launches a 3pt shot. rarely are his 3’s wide open. but on defense, earl smith is pathetic. when he covers his man, it’s almost like he is setting himself up to be blown by. he stands to the side, away from the basket and is EASILY dribbled around, forcing a big to help and then everyone gets out of position. when has earl ever successfuly defended someone? why not take a charge once in a while?!? oh, and he was 0-8 from the field. 0-8 !?!?!!!

Mr. Feinstein, after officially doing everything possible to jinx the team. You are officially nominated to the stiff list for unwarranted cockiness.

The next time you get a three day weekend getaway with Mr. Karl, please talk to him about pick and roll defense. I think I’m going to vomit if I have to see one more with our center on their point guard and our point guard on their center.

Actually, I thought Gentry’s T’s were timed well. Nash got a technical first, and as soon as Gentry saw that, he knew Melo would make at least 2 out of 3 and went ahead and let loose his frustration. His timing was a little different than Andrew depicted. I personally think Nash initiated the contact with his arm and it was a good non-call, but either way I don’t think Gentry would have went off if Nash hadn’t gotten T’d up first. He showed his players that he was willing to freak out when they get screwed (in his opinion), so I guess you have to like that.

Hey RPN, I don’t know anything about you so I won’t respond to your idiot post but I will say if you knew anything about me and my background with the Nuggets, you wouldn’t be talking. So pipe down and show respect for everyone and their opinions. That’s all they are is opinions. Andrew, I will be at the game tomorrow night and I will look for you in Section 122. I believe that a commitment to the team and the plan can propel these Nuggets to the next level. Other than that, they will lose in the playoffs and might not make the conference finals again. JR needs to grow up fast or I would rather use his value for a few key contributors, you always trade when his value is at a peak and that’s where it is right now. I laugh at some of the trade scenarios put up on the site. To get value we are going to have to give up something. We’ve seen what happens when Kenyon doesn’t play and with a long road to go, we desperately need more ammunition up front. JR made me sick last night and for those that truly had a view of his behavior and watched him (he was 5 feet from me) they would agree. For RPN who was probably sitting in the third deck or watching on TV and who isn’t concerned about the team concept but more about stats, he might not agree. Again, we all have opinions. I think there’s someone in the front office that agrees with mine.

Good non-call. I didn’t get to watch the game as it happened so all I could do was watch the highlights on ESPN and NBA.com. I replayed that drive probably 25 times and I wouldn’t have called it going either way. I can’t speak to the officiating of the rest of the game but there was no foul that needed to be called there.

I do think its a sad comment on the state of NBA officiating though that so many people feel there should have been a call. Nash wasn’t overly aggressive but you shouldn’t be able to just dive into the lane and expect to get a call…especially just because you’re smaller than the guy guarding you and double as much if you initiate contact. Too many people crash the lane and practically dive into the defenders chest (read Manu and Tony) and expect to get a trip to the line as a reward.

This gem from a The Brighter Side of the Sun poster “Nash was TRYING to get a foul and the shot. He leaned into Nene on purpose to get the call. The refs know this.” The guy is arguing for a foul call there and lists PRECISELY why there shouldn’t have been a call. Nash caused it and everyone knows it…why would he be rewarded with the foul call? He wasn’t trying to get to the rim and score, he was only trying to act his was to the free throw line.

Never mind their next assertion that officiating errors that may have gone the way of the Suns earlier in the game were by far more acceptable because they didn’t happen in crunch time. If this is true why don’t we just play 2 minute games that start out 98-98. It may not have been “crunch time” or a two point game had the earlier calls not went the way they did. Just because something is less noticeable in the grand scheme doesn’t make it any less relevant…