Breaking down the first half of the season...

i break it down to 3 areas- starters, bench and coaches. starters- nene is NOT a forward and he proves it time and again during the second half of most games. he needs to finish games like he starts them. melo- he could always score and very glad he has dicovered the free throw line. he needs to quit bitching and start rebounding. kmart- he is the only starter that deserves an A for effort alone. the only complaint is his 18 foot jump shot. chauncey- his transition 3 point shot must stop. there is a time and a place for everything but not every game with that shot. he becomes too trigger happy, too soon in the offense too early in the game. afflalo- he has done so well as a starter he needs to come off the bench. more on this subject later. the bench- andersen needs to be in a 2 player rotation at center with nene. they both play too many minutes at one time. a shorter duration will help both their games. joey graham- needs to sub for melo at the end of the 1st quarter. this will help melo in the 4th quarter of close games. ac-doing exactly what he supposed to do. he has started, come off the bench and gone for stretches without playing any games. urkel smith- he would be better off starting and have afflalo come off the bench. aa and lawson are a great guard tandem whether starting or coming off the bench. smith AND the team would benefit with him in the starting line up. afflalo can eliminate his early foul trouble and play 30 minutes with billups and lawson. place smith in the dahntey jones role of playing 9 minutes in each of the 1st and 3 rd quarters. once his game becomes more consistent the minutes can increase. lawson- has come a long way in a very short time. start, come of the bench, 2 point guard or 3 guard offense he has adapted well. denver would not have the won-loss record they have without him. to top it off he can still improve. balkman- he had his chance when kmart got hurt in the first miami game and got to start in the first atlanta game. did not work hard enough during the off season or in practice this season. malik allen- doing what he was brought in to do by playing a limited role off the bench. petro- never expected him to be here this long. coaching- rotation needs to be extended to a minimum of 9 players every game. starters have too many minutes already. this will be critical in the second half of the season with the better teams and the back to backs. the bench must be played to keep the starters in the best possible condition for the playoffs. the injuries, a player suspension to start the season and 4 new players on the roster the coaching staff deserves major credit for pulling the pieces together. team overall has done well but can still improve.

A rollercoaster of peaks and valleys, but we’ve landed on solid ground. Right in the mix for a 2 seed.

Biggest surpises

• Ty Lawson – Already a game changer and making good decisions with the ball. He will be something special improving on free throw shooting and turnovers Lawson would be in the mix for top 5 rookies with starters minutes. I’ve seen the future brother and it is fly money.
• Kenyon Martin – We’d have a lottery caliber defense without him. But he’s doing a lot more than defending and lets just admit it no one saw this coming. Beast
  Honorable mention – Melo (I know I know but it’s scoring and the other shit’s optional)

Biggest dissapointments

• JR Smith – Not a starter, on the brink of imploding at any moment and can’t hold it together when the chips are down. It’s his own stupidity holding him back not George Karl or anyone else.
• Nuggets defense – middle of the pack in defensive efficiency. No excuses, it’s garbage the way they turn it on and off due to having an elite offense. Discipline and effort are the difference, not needing another big. They have everything they need to be tough defenders we saw it last year. So bummed and we won’t be legit till they figure this out.
  Honorable mention – George Karl – excuses and nothing else. Last year I sensed passion and swagger even though he doesn’t overtly show it. Gone now. Lied to AC when re-signing him. AA and Ty had proven themselves and waited too long for GK’s trust.

Grade a B minus

Prediction The time for a big trade has already come and gone. The schedule is going to get nasty. This is our team provided they are Healthy, the Nugs will finish a sub .500 road record but get 52 wins and a 4 seed behind the Texans. We’ll make it to the second round and fight like crazy against the Lakers but lose. GK will get his 3 year extension in the offseason. I really just got a sick feeling all over just typing that I hope like crazy I am wrong. This team is special but they don’t seem to believe it God I really hope I am retarded and wrong about all of this.

I just can’t get over all the losses to the sub .500 teams and the lack of effort on a nightly basis. I think the injuries definitely have not helped, but every team in the NBA has to fight through them, it’s just part of the deal.

As for the next half of the season, I actually believe it could be a blessing in disguise. It’s clear that we play up to our level of competition, and usually win, so that should mean that we will be winning a lot since we are playing a lot of good teams…right? Either way, the second half of the season is our pre-playoff exam. If we can hang with these teams, play hard defense and finish around the 53-56 wins mark, I say bring on the Fakers. But, if we continue to let our effort fluctuate and play poorly on the road, finish around the 50 wins mark, I say screw giving Karl an extension and let’s get a coach in here who we know can get us over the hump.

… just seems like his injuries bother him more than he let’s on.

K-Mart is as important as Billups IMO this year.

JR is going to be traded.

Just wanted to say, you look very not happy that LBJ is right there in front of you.

And yeah, when I look over the rest of the schedule, I figure the Nuggets will win maybe 9 more road games this year. That’ll make them 17-24 on the road, just like they were 2 years ago. 35 or 36 home wins for the season is very possible, though.

The Mavs really look to me like a solid bet for the 2 seed, barring injuries.

I think our 2 biggest problems have been injuries (duh) and that we just haven’t been able to get motivated like we need to. On the bright side, as the season gets closer to the playoffs, and we play more good teams, I think the effort part of the problem should pretty much go away. And if we can stay healthy (knock on wood), I think we make a push in the second half of the season, end with 55 wins (maybe more). All this is especially true if we make a trade for a solid big man. Every day I warm up more and more to the idea of trading jr smith (Haywood straight up?)

What exactly is it about the Mavs that people are so enamored with? Is it because of Marion? I don’t understand the Dallas love.

Remember, the Mavs beat the Nuggets when Chauncey was out…it was a sloppy game and Dallas was motivated to prove that the Nuggets can’t beat them every game. Throw that game out.

I know everyone puts that stat 17-4 when the whole Nuggets lineup is in, but I think the number should be 17-2 because I remember the Miami game Kenyon left before the 2nd half with an injury and same with Chauncey in the 2nd half of the Portland game.
The only games we lost with everybody playing was against Milwaukee (2nd night of back to back when J.R. came in and B. Jennings was good) and Minnesota (Everyone thought it was a given, but the Nuggets learned you can’t take any NBA team tooo lightly. Not saying they played seriously against sub 500 after that game, but they didnt take those teams tooo lightly).
Given that stat, I still think the jury is out on this team. As long as everyone stays healthy, we play as a different team than when one of the rotation players is injured. Not saying that injuries are a legitimate excuse, but we do play as a different team when everybody is on board. Again I am just saying.

seriously. 26-14…we’ve beaten a slew of top teams, some more handily than others, despite injuries to our main starters.

I still hate the half assed losses to the 76ers and the Twolves at HOME!!!! The injuries sucked, but we’re getting healthy at the right time and should start making a push pretty soon. We’re also in a prime position for the #2 seed and I’m actually less afraid of seeing the Lakers in the playoffs

Solid B. Coulda been better, but we haven’t fallen apart 2008-09 Jazz/Hornets/Suns style so far..