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

Shaq is still a beast! Also hope Kirilenko starts fitting in and playing to his potential.

love that you got Shaq but not AK-47; he's versatile as Andrew mentioned but can get whiny when put in a reserve roll; if you regret one of these trades later, it'll probably be the latter

Loving Shaq in your team. But I'm with Clutch, not liking the AK-47 one.

ncie addition in Smush,great dynasty by the way !

Its kinda funny that Taylor's Nickname is T-Mac. Im suspecting an upcoming injury maybe...

love that you got Shaq but not AK-47; he's versatile as Andrew mentioned but can get whiny when put in a reserve roll; if you regret one of these trades later, it'll probably be the latter

I don't think it's a move that one could regret too much since he was aquired for players who were either out of the rotation or in Gortat's case, seen a decrease in minutes.

fair enough Andrew; would probably come down to his contract then which i suspect is somewhere between 'pushing reasonable' and 'hideous'; haven't looked into it though so maybe he's in good shape in the dept too

EDIT: just re-read about the trade: 11M expiring contract for AK47. that's a win-win situation right there

Last edited by Clutch on Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

So how exactly are you distributing the minutes between Carmelo, Kirilenko, and Hill? It seems like it would involve some pretty difficult decision making, considering the fact that they're all capable of starting.

The Gun

AK47 had a clumsy debut against the Warriors. He had 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. Since then he has been more solid in his play.

Did anyone else notice where his left hand is?

nice that you add a Birdman watch, maybe you should make him a 8 PPG or even 10 PPG and a 2+ BPG, sure lock as an allstar, nice debut by Shaq too

I'd like for him to average more points per game, but right now it's so hard to distribute him more points when I have Carmelo Anthony, Ty Maximilian, Taylor MacKenzie and Shannon Brown all scoring high numbers in different games. It's easy to overlook the Birdman on offense.

Great screenshot of Shaq, nice numbers in his debut.

Shaq is still a beast! Also hope Kirilenko starts fitting in and playing to his potential.

As soon as I got an emphatic dunk with the Big Diesel, I had to get a photo of it... for nostalgia's sake

I really rate Kirilenko... in real life, I think he has a bit of a consistency problem, but there's no doubt in my mind that the guy's got game.

love that you got Shaq but not AK-47; he's versatile as Andrew mentioned but can get whiny when put in a reserve roll; if you regret one of these trades later, it'll probably be the latter

Loving Shaq in your team. But I'm with Clutch, not liking the AK-47 one.

I kind of thought the AK-47 trade would have a little bit of criticism towards it. But the way I see it is, the guy has skill and a major contract coming off the books in the following off-season, so if things don't work out, I can let him go easily.

ncie addition in Smush,great dynasty by the way !

Thanks mate I have to admit, seeing Smush Parker on the free agency tempted me well before this season even began

What can I say? I like a good comeback story (ala: Robert Swift)

Its kinda funny that Taylor's Nickname is T-Mac. Im suspecting an upcoming injury maybe...

Well, with McGrady inactive in the league right now, there's really only one T-Mac these days

love that you got Shaq but not AK-47; he's versatile as Andrew mentioned but can get whiny when put in a reserve roll; if you regret one of these trades later, it'll probably be the latter

I don't think it's a move that one could regret too much since he was aquired for players who were either out of the rotation or in Gortat's case, seen a decrease in minutes.

fair enough Andrew; would probably come down to his contract then which i suspect is somewhere between 'pushing reasonable' and 'hideous'; haven't looked into it though so maybe he's in good shape in the dept too

EDIT: just re-read about the trade: 11M expiring contract for AK47. that's a win-win situation right there

My whole reasoning for the trade is that I figured I had to plan for life without Chauncey Billups. He can't be playing for a whole lot longer and with a potential 11 million off the cap next year, I can make a run at a rising star point guard or a solid backup for Super Nintendo Chalmers. With Shaq almost certainly retiring next season as well, I could invest in a centre that could replace the Birdman when he eventually leaves the game too. So basically the Kirilenko trade has several scenarios that could be played out after the fact. As much as my team is still a contender, I don't think it will be long until I have to completely rebuild because of my aging core.

So how exactly are you distributing the minutes between Carmelo, Kirilenko, and Hill? It seems like it would involve some pretty difficult decision making, considering the fact that they're all capable of starting.

Melo sees quite a lot of game time, as you could imagine, while AK-47 spends most of his time at power forward, which means JJ Hickson is getting scarce playing time and Matt Bonner is on IR. Grant Hill doesn't play every game, but he tends to get time in the 3rd quarter to give Melo a rest. It's really hard because I have 3 very skillful players at the small forward position, so distributing time is always an interesting challenge in each game. With Grant Hill at age 40 though, I'm more content to giving him a DNP over Melo and Kirilenko.

Did anyone else notice where his left hand is?

Haha oh dear, that was purely by accident... unlike the picture I have of Yao Ming kicking Malik Allen in the balls

5 Game Summary

This 5 game stretch was a tough one. It was the first time this season Denver has gone under .500 as they had a 2-3 record. The Nuggets started off on the back foot with away losses to Boston and Toronto. They managed to gain some momentum with wins against Cleveland and Minnesota, but lost their last game against the top team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, which is the feature game:

Denver lose thriller at home



Despite an explosive 4th quarter by Shannon Brown, the Denver Nuggets fell just short against the Thunder, losing 89-87. Brown scored 33 points to lead all scorers on the night. Kirilenko had 22 of his own, while Maximilian (13) and Anthony (12) also provided solid support. Parker and Stanley Alston led the Thunder, with 29 and 20 respectively, but it was a perimeter shot by Rudy Gay that proved to be the difference in the game. He had 16 points. Tony Parker has 11 assists as well to complete his double-double, while Kevin Love had 13 points and 10 rebounds to complete his.

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OKC@DEN

OKC: 89 (Parker 29, Alston 20, Gay 16, Love 13)
DEN: 87 (Brown 33, Kirilenko 22, Maximilian 13, Anthony 12)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Andrei Kirilenko 22 points 6 rebounds 4 assists 2 blocks

Rebounds

OKC: J Anthony 13
DEN: Andersen 11

Assists

OKC: Parker 12
DEN: Billups 5

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Last 5 Games

@BOS: 91-84 L
@TOR: 82-79 L
@CLE: 107-89 W
MIN: 83-79 W
OKC: 89-87 L

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A former

Michael Beasley is blocking Kirilenko's shot. At the end of the day, AK-47 is essentially the player Denver got for Beasley.

Still dangerous

In their narrow loss against Toronto, Denver can take comfort in the fact that Melo scored 44 points.

Living up to the hype

Kirilenko had two big games this round. Against Cleveland he had 34 points, as well as his 22 points and 6 rebound effort against Oklahoma City. He won the Sprite Performer of the Game on both occassions.

Not to be overlooked

With all the attention surrounding Taylor MacKenzie, it's been easy to overlook Shannon Brown... not this 5 game summary though. He scored 30 against Cleveland and 33 against Oklahoma City. With Shannon in this kind of form, Taylor will have to get out of the shooting slump he's currently in.

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Next 5 Games

DAL
NOH
NOH
SAN
POR

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Although I've had a bit of a rough period, I still really like the acquisitions I made. Hopefully Denver can get it together and consolidate their spot amongst the competition's elite.

Looked like you had a tough 5 games.

Agreed, a bit of a tough stretch but these things happen during the course of a season. Good luck bouncing back over your next five games.

Yeah, some really tough games coming up. Nice to see Shannon Brown on fire too.

ouch.. your team is struggling, hope they'll get back in the right track.

Shannon Brown was pouring in those points.

You have different X-factors every week. Most be a luxury to have so many weapons.

Looked like you had a tough 5 games.

Agreed, a bit of a tough stretch but these things happen during the course of a season. Good luck bouncing back over your next five games.

ouch.. your team is struggling, hope they'll get back in the right track.

It was tough, but hopefully the tough stretch is something I can snap... keeps things interesting atleast though.

Yeah, some really tough games coming up. Nice to see Shannon Brown on fire too.

I think I usually have the most troubles with San Antonio and Portland... particularly Portland's front court. Two 7 footers

Shannon Brown was pouring in those points.

He has shown the uncanny knack to do that when I least expect it. He was a good buy.

You have different X-factors every week. Most be a luxury to have so many weapons.

It's a good and bad thing. While I have an incredibly deep team talent wise, it also means that I don't know where my points are going to come from each game, which is hard to plan for. Some games Melo will be hot, other times he'll be cold and Shannon Brown or *insert any other player here* will run hot... and then sometimes multiple players run cold and that's when I tend to lose.

5 Game Summary

Well the upside of this summary is that I got back to my winning ways with 3 emphatic victories and a slightly closer win against San Antonio. However, the feature game against Portland was a different story:

Portland surge past Denver



Denver blew a 10 point lead to lose to the Portland Trail Blazers 84-76. It was an incredible 4th quarter by Rudy Fernandez, who proved to be super clutch. He ended up being the game's top scorer with 23 points, as he was supported by Travis Outlaw who scored 21. However it was a night for the big men, who absolutely dominated in the paint. LaMarcus Aldridge had a Sprite Performer of the Game effort with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while Greg Oden wasn't far behind with 12 points and 14 rebounds. In the starting lineup for the injured Brandon Roy, Donald Cunningham handled the point excellently with 10 points and 9 assists.

For Denver, Melo was the top scorer with 19, while Ty Maximilian (16), Andrei Kirilenko (11) and Taylor MacKenzie (10) were the other players to have a meaningful scoring effort on the night. However, in the end, the Denver front court was overrun by the Blazers' 7 footers.

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POR@DEN

POR: 84 (Fernandez 23, Outlaw 21, Aldridge 16)
DEN: 76 (Anthony 19, Maximilian 16, Kirilenko 11)

Sprite Performer of the Game: LaMarcus Aldridge 16 points 18 rebounds

Rebounds

POR: Aldridge 18
DEN: Andersen 12

Assists

POR: Cunningham 9
DEN: Billups 7

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Last 5 Games

DAL: 90-79 W
NOH: 104-78 W
NOH: 107-93 W
SAN: 93-86 W
POR: 84-76 L

Denver are now 27-13

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Career game

Shannon Brown was unstoppable against the New Orleans Hornets in the second game. He scored a career high 57 points... 37 of which came in the first half! But if you want a more complete stat line, he also picked up 5 steals and 3 blocks to go with it.

Super-subs

Shaq and AK-47 have been superb off the bench. Both players seem to be rejuvenated with their new roles. Kirilenko was impressive in the first game against New Orleans, with a stat line of 25 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Not wasting time

Smush Parker made the most of the extended garbage time he got by scoring 14 points and dishing off a few nice dimes as well.

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Next 5 Games

@PHX
@LAC
@SAC
@SAC
@ATL

Feature game will be against Phoenix... I don't think I've covered them for a while.

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Well I managed to pick up a bit of momentum from that last 5 game round. Hopefully I can do just as well on the long road trip ahead. Next up will be the January Monthly Summary. Right now, Shannon Brown is looking like a pretty good chance at picking up the West Player of the Month... but we'll see what happens.

Good five games and what a performance from Brown against the Hornets.

It amazes me how in only a couple of seasons the rosters are so different to in the beginning. NBA players move around a lot. On this game at least.

Interesting road trip coming up. You should probably win the middle 3 games, although I don't know what players those teams have

Holy crap, 57 points.. How many of those came from dunks?

Holy crap, 57 points.. How many of those came from dunks?

60

Going 4-1, AK showing he isnt an old white guy and Brown BALLIN OUT OF CONTROL. I'd say this was a pretty good week

A much better stretch there, amazing performance from Shannon Brown. Nice to see AK-47 fitting in a little better.