Birdman's Knees, and Petro in the rotation?
by Missing Lynx on Dec 4, 2009 10:39 AM MST
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First off, I don't know why Karl didn't take Birdman out of the game last night after he aggravated his knee.
He was walking quite gingerly, and it was obviously the same knee he had been having problems with, as it had a neoprene brace on it. I play basketball and have had tendinitis on/off for the past 5-6 years - if I've learned one thing, its that if I feel a twinge or sharp pain, STOP PLAYING.
Patella tendinitis is common in basketball, and can be re-aggravated very easily. If I stopped when it started to hurt and iced it, I'd be good to go 100% in 2-3 days, or even the next day if I was lucky. But when I played through the pain, I'd usually be looking at at least 1-3 weeks of mild inflammation and pain.
...
On to Petro, I think the guy is starting to show a little more polish. I still think he is mediocre at best, but he is starting gain some confidence and looks more and more like he belongs in the NBA, especially at home.
At this point, I think that he should get minutes over Malik Allen as an occasional rotational big. Lets face it, Allen hasn't done much of anything this season, and despite what was promised of his jump shooting this season, the only thing he does better than Petro at this point is set screens. The way he passed and moved the ball looked much improved, and he was showing decent positioning under the basket and the ability to hit the midrange j. Obviously he isn't the sole answer to our frontcourt problems, but I think he's now worth a look.
At only 23, I think Petro has room to improve. I don't believe he will ever be more than a role player, but even that would be a huge step. I'd like to see what he can do with 5-8 min on the court during something other than garbage time, especially if Birdman's knees start bothering him again.
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Birdman
He seems so fragile to me for some reason. I hope nothing happens to him.
I think its less about him being injured easily than the way he plays
You see a lot of skinnier players who play with that kind of reckless abandon above the rim or tend to go for a lot of blocks getting injured at least every now and then (Marcus Camby, KG, Andrei Kerilenko, etc.)
I think it kind of comes with the billing. I just hope they can manage injuries well – tendinitis can be a real bitch to get over. It is so easy to re-aggravate.
by Missing Lynx on Dec 4, 2009 12:45 PM MST up reply actions
People forget about Johan last year
When Kenyon went down for a prolonged stretch last year, it was Naldo and Petro who saw regular action in those games. The Nugs were winning and Petro was a capable fill-in, I would argue that he is not great but helped more than he hurt. Petro plays too far away from the basket and doesn’t bring a physical enough game for his size which is why he won’t play much now. The guy needs to just get meaner and realize his job is to do bad things to people in the paint and bring energy in defense and rebounding. When guys like Naldo cant get in the rotation I don’t think he should be playing except for injury and foul trouble situations. Centers take a much longer time to develop and he is only 23, there’s nothing wrong with having Petro on the roster and he belongs there.
Yeah, I am getting really curious now what is going on with renaldo
Maybe Karl is frustrated with him because he won’t kick the ganj.
I think Petro will fill in ok if there does happen to be a big need for him at some point this year. I could see him developing into a pretty solid 4th big down the road, perhaps kind of like Francisco Elson was some years back.
I remember how they called him “Geico” because he was like insurance – he put up some double-doubles and decent numbers as a spot starter with injuries to the squad. I also remember how much he hated that nickname… haha.
by Missing Lynx on Dec 4, 2009 12:51 PM MST up reply actions
Maybe Andrew could use his influence
and find out Balkman’s status
I'm pretty sure the Nugs worst run of last season was the time period without Kmart
Could be wrong but I remember readings some stuff related to this.
Elson has terrible hands
I haven’t seen Petro catch a lot of passes down low, but he has to be better than Elson.
Speaking of Bird, a lot has been made of his knee troubles and his slow start, but a lot of what’s annoyed me with Andersen early on is his bad hands.
But, that’s not been much a problem the last few games.
petro's 2 problems
defense- he cannot stop anybody- even on purpose. if he had to foul intentionally to send a player to the free throw line they would score anyway. he is a 3 point play waiting to happen. on offense he cannot get his shot off. he compounds the problem by still looking for his shot. it is what the coaching staff calls being a ball stopper. as soon as he gets the ball on offense he needs to get rid of it and work for position. a great place for him to start would be chris andersen. hustle and high energy with his size would take him a long way. he is too slow, deliberate and predictable. NEVER FORGET KMART AND BILLUPS NICKNAMED HIM FRENCHIE. what can you really expect from a player in the nba that is named after one of the female characters from the musical grease?
pick up a calf every day pretty soon you will be picking up a cow
Petro problems
can be rectified by being coached properly.
With some added weight and eye and hand coordination drills he could be a roll player
To bad the Nuggets haven’t had a great Center that could be called in to teach.
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