number of wins

I think if Denver is going win 60 and Martin and Afflalo are named to the all defensive team then the defense needs to pick up. It’s been good in spot and Denver has a good record so far.

The defense was real good tonight against Miami. And if we play like this the rest of the year, taking the occasional quarter or game off, I can deal with that.

I know the mantra is “anything other than a win is unacceptable” but I am pragmatic. Like coach Karl who thinks going .500 on the road is OK. I think for an elite team you have to go .667 on the road and .800 at home.

Let me do the math: [ 41 × .667 = 27 – 14; 41 × .800 = 33 – 8 ] = 60 – 22

Wow. How about that. There was some rounding involved. And I think Denver can do better than .800 at home, which gives them room to drop the occasional second game of a back-to-back on the road.

PS: I am a writer, not a mathematician. Please forgive my sloppy notation.

PPS: Nene’s defense has looked pretty good too, lately. Especially his shot blocking.

but if we do that will be sweet.

will be the major factor. last season melo and kmart played 66 games each. the bench will need to develop, improve and make a major contribution. having 4 new players on the roster the team will get better as time goes on.

I cannot remember a Nuggets squad that has EVER strung together 4 consecutive quarters of great basketball. In truth, I have never seen ANY team do it. I think that it is the nature of the sport/game and it’s always been something that I loved because every game is like watching 4 smaller “matches” or vice versa. I don’t know the stats, but I bet that winning 3 out of 4 quarters in any NBA game is a near certain predictor of wins.

Nuggets (barring injuries or dipshit trades) will win 60 games but be the 2 seed again in the playoffs.

I sat down and looked at the Nuggets schedule (like I do before each season) and started tallying up wins and losses. I counted up my W’s and L’s and came up with 54-28. That surprised me because … well, that the same record as last season.

After watching the season unfold so far I think my expectations have changed a bit because:

1.) Nene is playing at a higher rate. (Although I hoped he’d be playing around the level he’s at right now.)
2.) Ty Lawson has taken over already as the primary backup point guard.
3.) Melo is shouldering the load and being the professional on the court that I’ve wanted to see for a few years.

Like many of you I’m a bit concerned that an injury to one of the bigs could really derail the season as I don’t think Johan Petro is any kind of answer for this team right now.

Could this team win 60 games or more? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least, but they’ll have to show more consistent efforts … more games like they played against the Lakers, Warriors (taking care of sub .500 teams) and Heat to get to 60.

-Nate

I see them winning between 55 and 65 – somewhere around 58-62 is probably where they’ll end up.

I think 60 wins would be a good goal to shoot for, and should be considered a success (for the regular season at least).