Denver Nuggets - The Next Level [Game 3 + 4]

[Andrew]

Seems you really flourish as an underdog. Hope the good form continues!

Second the suggestion to pick up Blake, if you can.

[Kenny]

Pick up Blake!

Second the suggestion to pick up Blake, if you can.

Geez, I think you guys may have twisted my arm

Seems you really flourish as an underdog. Hope the good form continues!

I guess I'm kind of determined to beat a few teams after the sim engine was less than kind to me. I'm on a path of vengence

[Kenny]

December 2023 Review

Denver made a massive jump in the Western Conference, thanks to a 13-1 record in the month of December. They have done this on the back of an incredible month from their number 1 pick. Stan Griffiths has been putting up fringe MVP numbers and he's been recognised as the West Rookie of the Month. He's not the only centre that's performing for the Nuggets though, as Timothy Ullrich has now become the backup centre of the team. Despite his lack of size, Ullrich does an excellent job on defense and is a surprisingly good rebounder.

The Nuggets are rolling on a 10 game winning streak. Along with Stan, there have been solid performances all round, including an amazing 50 point game from DeMar DeRozan.

Of course, amongst all the Good, there are of course negatives as well. Both Nicklas (Good) and Cody Campbell are becoming increasingly frustrated by their lack of playing time, and there's a big rumour around the club that Campbell is in fact on his way out.

However it all turns out, January looks like it's going to be an interesting month.

Monthly Awards

EAST Player: [NJN] Nicholas Schneider (24.5ppg 3.2rpg 4.4apg)
WEST Player: [NOH] Hobbes MacDonald (23ppg 7.9rpg 3.3apg)
EAST Rookie: [MIL] Don Ripley (13.9ppg 5.8apg 0.9apg)
WEST Rookie: [DEN] Stan Griffiths (23.8ppg 7.6rpg 2.3bpg)

MVP Race

[NOH] Hobbes MacDonald (24.3ppg 8.2rpg 3.1apg)
[NJN] Nicholas Schneider (22.7ppg 3.1rpg 4.4apg)
[SAC] Tom Coles (21.6ppg 2.7rpg 1.6spg)
[LAL] Theo Hadson (21.9ppg 4.8rpg 1.4spg)
[NJN] Caleb Jackman (15.8ppg 6.9apg 1.3spg)

Standings

EAST

Detroit 21-6
New Jersey 21-12
Charlotte 17-12
Indiana 15-15
New York 15-15
Boston 14-14
Chicago 15-16
Toronto 14-17
---
Washington 14-17
Atlanta 12-17
Miami 12-18
Philadelphia 12-19
Orlando 11-19
Milwaukee 10-21
Cleveland 10-21


WEST

Sacramento 22-10
Golden State 17-9
Denver 19-11
Utah 18-11
Phoenix 18-13
Oklahoma City 16-12
LA Lakers 17-13
Portland 17-14
---
New Orleans 16-15
LA Clippers 16-15
Minnesota 15-15
San Antonio 14-14
Dallas 14-15
Houston 10-21
Memphis 8-22

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This dynasty now heads into the year 2024. What will the new year bring?

[Andrew]

I say watch out Sacramento.

[Mavs4Life]

Agree, get Blake as a backup to InSTANity.

[Lamrock]

Good to see Denver return to contender status once again. How's inStanity affecting Perko?

[Houndy]

inSTANity is taking over the NBA

[Kenny]

I say watch out Sacramento.

Absolutely... particularly since the Nuggets aren't the only hot team in the West. The Warriors are doing great things as well.

Agree, get Blake as a backup to InSTANity.

It would be nice to create my own lop city with him and Steven Hunt.

Good to see Denver return to contender status once again. How's inStanity affecting Perko?

Stan and Perko complement each other quite well. Perko is a great passer and when he gets double teamed, he can pass to Stan for open dunks. Stan isn't the greatest rebounder (at the moment anyway), but Perko makes up for that.

inSTANity is taking over the NBA

I try my best to keep up on the big current events. Needed my own version of Linsanity

[Kenny]

Trade News

Cody Sent To Chicago: Nuggets Get Anderson, First Rounder

Nuggets forward Cody Campbell was involved in a trade that sent him to Chicago for Dennis Anderson and the Bulls' 2024 First Round pick. After a slightly off start to the season, Cody Campbell was relegated to the bench. With the Nuggets struggling at 5-15, Campbell allegedly requested a trade and since then his minutes declined even further, to a point where he was starting to get DNP-CD's.

Dennis Anderson is in his 6th year out of Temple, after being drafted by Utah with the 41st overall pick. He's currently averaging 13 points per game.

Free Agency Signing

Quake To Rock Mile High City

Free agent Blake Griffin agreed to a two year deal with the Denver Nuggets. He has an opt out clause in his second year if he chooses to do so.

[Andrew]

Nice.

[Houndy]

Blake!!!

[Mavs4Life]

BG in the Mile High City!

[kibaxx7]

You couldn't get Melo to return, but you did bring Quake to Denver. Huge

[Kenny]

Nice.

Blake!!!

BG in the Mile High City!

You couldn't get Melo to return, but you did bring Quake to Denver. Huge

It's something that could have been done sooner, but I never saw room in the roster with Perko playing so well. Since I'm starting both my power forwards at the moment and he's on the way out, it seemed like a more plausible pickup at this time.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

The Nuggets started off with close wins against Toronto, Minnesota and Oklahoma City. But their streak ended at 13, thanks to the Golden State Warriors, who extended their own winning streak to 13. Then the Clippers faced the wrath of Denver...

The feature game is against OKC. The Minnesota game was closer, but this one had some crazy numbers:

Molony's Big Night Not Enough; Nuggets' Newbies Star



The Nuggets held onto a 101-96 win despite a 45 point effort from OKC's Rudolph Molony. Denver's depth in scoring ended up being the key factor, with 5 players in double figures, and 3 with over 20 points. Blake Griffin (7 rebounds) and Stan Griffiths (11 rebounds) co-led the scoring efforts with 23 each. The other Nuggets debutant, Dennis Anderson also had a strong game, netting 21 points. Taylor MacKenzie scored 15, while Borislav Perko was the Performer of the Game, with only 1 rebound away from another triple-double (13 points, 9 rebounds, 13 assists).

Along with Rudolph Molony, Kurt Dale had a great outing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. In fact, OKC had three double-doubles on the night, with Rufus Baylor (13 points, 11 assists) and Borislav Silva (10 points, 13 rebounds) both achieving the milestone.

It was a night of eye-popping numbers. Along with Molony's 45 and three Nuggets above 20, there were 5 double-doubles (including Perko's almost triple-double). Add to this the fact that Steven Hunt led the game in assists (16) and Blake Griffin had 23 and 7 off the bench, it was a night the statisticians were kept busy.

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OKC@DEN

DEN: 101 (Griffin 23, Griffiths 23, Anderson 21)
OKC: 96 (Molony 45, Dale 18, Baylor 13)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 13 points 9 rebounds 13 assists

Rebounds

DEN: Griffiths 11
OKC: Silva 13

Assists

DEN: Hunt 16
Baylor 11

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Last 5 Games

TOR: 93-83 W
MIN: 95-93 W
OKC: 101-96 W
GSW: 90-85 L
LAC: 100-77 W

Denver is currently 23-12

-----------------

The Contest Is Over!

Despite going under 20 for the first time since the streak began previously against the Warriors, Stan got back to it against the Clippers. He was dominant once again with 26 points and 11 rebounds. His case for ROY is becoming insurmountable at this point.

Unsung Hero

Steven Hunt doesn't get a lot of mentions, but he's doing incredible things on the court. If you discount his 6 assists against Toronto, he has had at least 12 assists in every game since then. 12 was how many he had against the Warriors. Here are the tallies from the other games:

Minnesota: 13 assists
Oklahoma City: 16 assists
LA Clippers 17 assists

He's currently leading the league with 8.8 per game.

Still Key

Despite his role decreasing a little with Stan around, the 32 year old Taylor MacKenzie is still having a great season. He scored 25 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Outstanding Depth

So far this season, the Nuggets are proving to be 2 deep in almost every position. DeMar DeRozan is a great example of that, scoring 19 points against the Raptors... and he's seen as their 3rd string shooting guard.

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Next 5 Games

PHX
ATL
CLE
NJN
@POR

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Next up will be another 5 game summary. Then after that, there's a 5 game stretch where I have all road games. I've decided that the Nuggets are going to wear the green jersey for that summary, since it's my favourite colour. I can't believe I actually never thought of it before.

[Andrew]

Strong round, looks like Griffin still has something left in the tank and is fitting in fine.

[Mavs4Life]

Your vets always play amazing!

[Warlock95]

Nuggets forward Cody Campbell was involved in a trade that sent him to Chicago for Dennis Anderson and the Bulls' 2024 First Round pick.

Code Blue just turned into Code Red!

Free agent Blake Griffin agreed to a two year deal with the Denver Nuggets. He has an opt out clause in his second year if he chooses to do so.

Nice, but don't you think you have a lot of big men?

[Phil89]

You could play him at PG like you did with LeBron. He is a triple-double machine for me so he can definitely pass the ball.

[Kenny]

Strong round, looks like Griffin still has something left in the tank and is fitting in fine.

It's an interesting situation with Blake. I find he's a bit too similar to Stan and he tends to clash with him when they're both on the court. Right now my power forward and centre rotation is between Stan Griffiths, Borislav Perko, Blake Griffin and Timothy Ullrich. Trying to give each of them the right amount of minutes has proved challenging.

Your vets always play amazing!

Admittedly I sometimes favour the vets in some games, because of sentimental reasons, but I definitely have lucked out with vets in this dynasty

Nuggets forward Cody Campbell was involved in a trade that sent him to Chicago for Dennis Anderson and the Bulls' 2024 First Round pick.

Code Blue just turned into Code Red!

Free agent Blake Griffin agreed to a two year deal with the Denver Nuggets. He has an opt out clause in his second year if he chooses to do so.

Nice, but don't you think you have a lot of big men?

Cody Campbell has made the Bulls a lot better I think. I see them being a real darkhorse for the East now.

I do have a lot of bigs... to break it down a little:

C: Stan Griffiths/Timothy Ullrich/Nicklas Good/Liam Leopold
PF: Borislav Perko/Blake Griffin/Axel Donnelly

My general preference would say that I have 1 too many bigs in that rotation. Having only two point guards, expect one of those guys to be traded.

You could play him at PG like you did with LeBron. He is a triple-double machine for me so he can definitely pass the ball.

As funny as that'd be, Blake was pretty much signed for his dunks. At this point of the game, his ball handling abilities have declined quite a bit. He's probably still a good passer though.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

It was another star studded 5 game summary for the Denver Nuggets. They went 5-0 in this one, making it 19 wins from the last 20. Some big all round performances saw three massive blowout wins to start with. New Jersey and Portland were able to provide a little more resistance, but in the end, the Nuggets did it pretty comfortably this round.

The feature game is in the city of roses:

Anderson Stars Again In Win



The Nuggets depth proved too much for the Blazers, as they won by 94-85 in Portland. Recently acquired swingman Dennis Anderson continued on his impressive start with Denver, scoring a game high 23 and picking up the Performer of the Game with a full stat sheet. Stan Griffiths played the unfamiliar role of Robin, but still managed to score his season average of 18. Taylor MacKenzie (14) and Steven Hunt (13) both provided handy contributions, while Simon Sampson had a cameo off the bench with 10 points.

The Blazers managed to equal Denver's number of double-digit scorers, as 5 of scored 11 or more. Liam Koch led the way for Portland with 22. Garth Kearley and Wyatt Walsh both scored 13, while Fred Gibson (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Dilbert Roy (11) were the last of the major contributors for Portland.

After their 13 game win streak was broken by the Warriors, Denver have now extended their new one to 6 games.

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DEN@POR

DEN: 94 (Anderson 23, Griffiths 18, MacKenzie 14)
POR: 85 (Koch 22, Kearley 13, Walsh 13)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Dennis Anderson 23 points 5 rebounds 2 assists 3 blocks 2 steals

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 9
POR: Gibson, Hofmann 9

Assists

DEN: Hunt, Perko 5
POR: Walsh 7

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Last 5 Games

PHX: 104-74 W
ATL: 92-76 W
CLE: 94-77 W
NJN: 78-67 W
@POR: 94-85 W

The Nuggets currently have a record of 28-12

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2 in 1

While Perko registered yet another triple-double, Taylor MacKenzie reached the first of his 12 season career against the Suns. T-Mac dominated with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Taylor had career highs in both rebounds and assists, while Borislav Perko had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

20-20 Vision

Steven Hunt was everywhere against the Nets, with 20 points and 20 assists. After a scoring drought, his 20 points couldn't have come at a better time.

And6

Dennis Anderson is impressing a lot of people in the Mile High City. As well as his star performance in the feature game, he scored 36 against the Atlanta Hawks. His lean frame and afro hairstyle reminded Atlanta of a former player of theirs.

Still Stantastic

His help has outshined him this summary, but Stan is still going strong. Griffiths scored 33 points and 9 rebounds against the Cavs.

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Next 5 Games

@UTA
@CHA
@NJN
@CLE
@CHI

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Some trade news is coming, as I look to acquire a third point guard. The report for the month of January will also be up soon and the green summary will closely follow that.

[Kenny]

Trade News

Good To Boston For MacMahon, Pick

Seldom used Nuggets 7 footer Nicklas Good has been traded to the Boston Celtics for point guard Vince MacMahon and their 2024 second round pick.

After being the starting centre at the beginning of the season, Good saw his minutes drop considerably after the emergence of Stan Griffiths and Timothy Ullrich. He will now be apart of one of the biggest front lines in the game, partnering Igor Martin (7'1).

It is rumoured that the Nuggets were particularly interested in their second round pick, with many mock drafts predicting Stan Griffiths' brother to be taken at this spot.

[Mavs4Life]

Suprised it's only T-Mac's 1st. Reminds me of how dominating he was "back in the day". Haha, can't believe I said that.

[Andrew]

Awesome, the game generated a Vince MacMahon?

Looks like you're on a roll at the moment.

[Axel The Great]

I've missed quite a few updates recently, but I guess as long as I'm away you keep piling up the wins so maybe I should do that more often. Good to see Griffiths has not disappointed so far.