Any word on Birdman’s knee? He looked like he was in pain before he came out.

I said it in the game thread, but have to say it again, I was thrilled with this win. Terrific defense and some great great ball movement. Seemed like the Nugs were getting beat on the boards, that might be my only complaint.

Great game all around.

As you said Andrew, the thing I am most excited about with this team, as opposed to any other Nuggets team, like EVER, is that our 2 best players can have slow nights and still dominate an opponent. When we play like that, we are capable of anything in this league.

-Birdman looked great, I hope his knee is good after he took that knock.

-Afflalo is getting better and better every game, he was the PERFECT pickup to fill the role that we needed. He shuts down the other teams best scorer damn near every game. Awesome. His offense is also significantly better and more consistent than Dahntay’s was, regardless of the numbers he is putting up on that bad Pacer’s team.

-Nene tends to catch a lot of flak from us fans for his lack of a perceived killer instinct. While I agree sometimes, and more so in the past, I think he is really rounding into a more solid and dependable player on both ends of the court. His defense (when our team decides to play it, together) is much improved from the last couple of years.

-Lawson. Because I haven’t been able to see all the games this season due to my living in south Texas, I haven’t been able to catch Ty throwing up the teardrop shot, ala Tony Parker. When you have a lightning quick guard who is capable of hitting that shot with regularity, it puts tremendous pressure on the other teams entire defense. Not only the opposing point guard who is charged with stopping someone to no avail, but the big men behind him who get frustrated at their incapability of swatting that ball as it floats over their fingertips and into the basket. Needless to say, I am elated that Lawson already has this weapon in his arsenal.

-I am still worried about Billups. I assume his struggles this season are only temporary and that his shot is just off at the moment. He is still tearing up point guards on the way to the hoop and drawing fouls, which is great. So I don’t think what we are seeing is a result of age, and that we still have considerable time left with him as our leader. I hope this is true, and he finds a way to get his stroke going again consistently, we’ll need him to get a good seed in the playoffs and obviously, during said playoffs.

-Best moment of the night: Kmart holding/hugging GK after he got his tech. It is clear that George has great rapport with the guys right now, and there is practically no drama within the team. A welcome departure from the stormy days with Melo and JR. I, for one, vote to quell all discussion about needing/wanting a new coach for the Nuggets. We have one of the best already, we should be thankful for that.

-This brings me to….. defense! We put on a defensive clinic out there tonight, with the exception of a couple lazy stretches early in the game. Again, when we play dogged defense, and play on offense the right way, without forcing shots and sharing the ball copiously, we are almost impossible to stop. I think if we can get more consistent with these kind of efforts especially on the road, we will end up the #1 or #2 seed in the West and in very good position to make a second consecutive trip to the Conference Finals. And frankly, with the talent we have on this team, we should expect no less.

I still can’t decide if my new favorite Nugget is Lawson or Afflalo.

was to see who was doing the recap and if the trend continued.

It didn’t:

So while blowout wins for our Nuggets tend to come on Nate’s watch, let’s hope my recent spate of jinxes has begun to reverse itself!

Good job Nuggets. Watch out for the Spurs. They just lost at home and are going to be hungry to get better. The next game could be one of the best of the season. Spurs 98 to 97.

I hope I’m wrong.

“So while blowout wins for our Nuggets tend to come on Nate’s watch, let’s hope my recent spate of jinxes has begun to reverse itself!”

I can’t shake the feeling that you just jinxed it again! :P

But I did make a point to come back and check for the recap after tonights game, just to see who did it. Haha.

with 8 players denver was using a 3 guard offense to give melo a rest. this maybe a reason billups struggles at times with his outside shooting. nothing wrong with a 3 guard or a 2 point guard offense. nuggets were doing it too much. last time denver played miami smith was out and kmart got hurt. no matter if it is an 8 or 9 player rotation this is the difference when smith and kmart are a part of it.

I was watching the Spurs lose before the game started and couldn’t stop thinking about how great our team would be if things had worked out differently and we’d chosen Blair. He AND Lawson together would have been electric! Great write up by the way, I almost think that protecting the Wade domination streak is more important that being the first team in a LONG time to lose to the Timberwolves. The Heat were in it early and The BirdMan just SHuT TheM DoWN!

GO NUGGETS!

…and I wouldnt admit that the Nugs should have drafted him. But now I must admit that he’s kinda nice.

Question:
When the Nuggets are up big in the 4th quarter (like last night) why doesn’t GK bring in the bench players (specifically Allen and Petro) sooner and rest his 3 big men? Appeared Bird logged way too many minutes (28) and now re-aggravated his knee tendinitis.
This has been Karl’s way of doing business for a long time. I bring back the brawl against the Knicks when Isiah got pissed because Karl still had the starters in the game and were up by 19 points with under 2 minutes left.
Why doesn’t he take the starters out sooner, keep them fresher down the stretch and to avoid injury?

Didn’t the Nuggets actually draft Leon Powe?

Besides Gasol and Duncan, Nene has got to be one of the best passing big men around. And you had to love the steal to coast-to-coast layup. He’s impressive.

I’m lamenting not picking up Blair too. He has insanely quick ups. The Nuggets could use his rebounding bad…

Loving Nene’s game, very concerned with Chauncey’s.

As much as Nene and Carmelo have stepped up, Chauncey has stepped down. Both Nene and Carmelo are becoming incredibly good at finding their cutting teammates, shutting down offense in the paint, and generally being good finishers around the rim even when it seems like there’s no shot.

Chauncey, on the other hand…

He’s just looked…off. Sure, he still manages to get himself 12-16 ppg, but his shot selection and passing game is just atrocious. Jacking up a contested 30ft 3 with 12 seconds on the shot clock, really, Chauncey? That’s JR Smith level shooting there.

I’m not seeing the same dagger shots, the same heady passing the same control of the game that he once had, and it’s worrying. Still, I’m confident that he will be able to fix whatever’s broken as the season progresses and in time for the playoffs.

It sure is comforting that we have one of the best young guards in the LEAGUE as his backup, though. Thanks for helping ease a lot of the concern, Ty. :)

Couldn’t watch the game but the box score would indicate JR had a great night with 6 assists and average shooting. I see he only attempted six tres, but want to know: was he just on and hucking them up from several feet behind the arc? I want to know if his shot selection is getting any more, um, wise.

…has definitely been a little lacking. But let’s try to remember that this guy is a veteran, an old pro who has played LONG seasons (conf. finals) for what? 6 straight years? I think partially he is sort of saving himself/slowly playing himself into shape for the second half of the season and the playoffs. Our team is so talented he knows that he can try to take some dagger 3’s and try to run the score up so he can get some rest, because if he misses we can overcome with all of our weapons. Maybe he’s trying to shoot himself out of this slump.

That said, his shot selection is pretty bad right now, I hope he gets back to being our ‘floor general’ soon. It’s good to be able to say that our biggest (offensive) problem right now is our smartest veteran’s shot selection, and we all know he can do better.

I don’t like a lot of those shots either, but taking shots is the way to find your shot.
I’m guessing he and GK have discussed this matter…

good balance… birdman was great…. but too many Ts this season between melo, kmart and karl…. lets get that under control…. besides that, keep it up nuggz

why would we trade one of our bigs for another? what we really needs is a fourth legit big.

isnt the only thing that bothers me. he doesnt play D. is he excluded from playing D?