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

[kibaxx7]

Ralph Patel from Argentina?

[Kenny]

You're giving the Spurs a run for their money as far as importing talent is concerned.

I've always loved the Spurs franchise blueprint so I'll take that as a compliment

Seems like the Denver Docks have been busy these past ten years.

If you can play ball, you can get a green card

When a rookie is from Estonia, which I have yet to see in a Live game (even though it is in the game), be sure to draft him. For me.

I'll keep my eye out, but usually signing/drafting internationals is a bit of a fluke, unless it says their school is the country they're from. But yes, that'll be a goal now you've mentioned it

I'm pretty sure I saw an Estonian in Live 2003 recently, but I'll have to go back and check.

There we go Martti, some hope for your request yet

Just out of curiosity, how's Ty's brother doing?

He is to Ty what Taylor is to Blake. He pretty much disappeared within a year or so.

Ralph Patel from Argentina?

I know and here I thought I didn't have a single player from Argentina during the 11 seasons. Hopefully I can get a more prominant one for you

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

After the ordinary effort against New Jersey in the previous round, the Denver Nuggets made amends in this one by going on a 5 game win streak. A comfortable win over Toronto started things off, while the Nuggets were able to outlast their the Wizards in a tough NBA Finals rematch. Dallas was within seconds of ending the win streak at two in the first game (more about it in the feature), but lost by 8 in the second of the Dallas Double. Then the Nuggets took care of business in Memphis. Now for the feature game and it is a cracker:

Perko Steals One Off Dallas



Denver won against Dallas by 95-94 thanks to an outstanding game by Borislav Perko. The Kazahkstan Kid registered another career triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, but the talking point would be how he won the game. Down by 1 point, this was the play that took the game away from the Mavs:

phpBB [video]

Basketball can be a cruel game, as Sergio Soto (the guy who got the rebound) was the one who put Dallas ahead by 1 in the closing stages. Soto ended up with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds, but he will always remember the game for the wrong reasons. He led a field of 6 Mavericks in double digits. Brady O'Leary registered a double-double (14 points, 14 assists), while Garrick Casey (15 points, 9 rebounds) came close as well. Edmund Feehan, Corin Robertson and Casey Whelan all scored 11 points each.

For the Nuggets, J.R. Smith's team-high 22 was naturally overshadowed by Perko's triple-double and gamewinner. Kevin Durant had a slightly below par performance, but still contributed 17, while Rudy Fernandez injected life off the bench once again with 15 points.

Out of all the game winners in TNL, Perko's one has to rate as one of, if not the most dramatic one of the lot. Despite missing the layup, he kept with the play; an admirable quality to say the least.

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DEN@DAL

DEN: 95 (Smith 22, Perko 20, Durant 17)
DAL: 94 (Soto 25, Casey 15, O'Leary 14)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 20 points 11 rebounds 10 assists 1 steal 2 blocks

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 11
DAL: Soto 10

Assists

DEN: Perko 10
DAL: O'Leary 14

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Last 5 Games

TOR: 80-64 W
WAS: 105-95 W
@DAL: 95-94 W
@DAL: 94-86 W
@MEM: 83-74 W

Denver have a record of 29-6 at this point.

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Opening Old Wounds

In the much awaited Finals rematch, J.R. Smith proved why he was the Finals MVP of last season, scoring 44 points against the Washington Wizards. In this picture he shows no love for former Denver player Sam Conners.

If Only He Was Playing For Denver IRL

Kevin Durant scored 28 against the Toronto Raptors, continuing on his rise back to the limelight. J.R. and K.D. have been at the forefront of this 5-0 run and are looking ominous.

Taking Over A Role?

At the start of the season, Rudy Fernandez caused a little controversy by getting minutes ahead of cult favourite Taylor MacKenzie. Now, he could be muscling in on Ed Reed's role at 6-man. And with a 25 point performance against Dallas, why wouldn't he get my endorsement for it? Long live Rudy!

Pushing For A Start?

Token Aussie Pat Mills doesn't get much playing time, but he tends to make the most of it. He managed to register a stat-line against the Grizzlies with 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 (that's right TWO) blocked shots. Brandon Jennings better watch out, because Patty is making a statement.

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Next 5 Games

OKC
@CHI
@DET
@NYK
@MIA

Interesting note: 3 of the last 5 teams have been beaten by the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.

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Next up should be another 5 game summary. It'll be interesting to see how Denver will go against the East teams, with Chicago (1st), Detroit (2nd) and Miami (4th) all high up in the standings at the moment.

[Axel The Great]

Oh man, that sequence will scar Soto for life. Great to see Perko drop another triple-double, and of course, Smith and Durant still playing well.

[Houndy]

Soto is going to commit suicide.

[kibaxx7]

Tough luck for Sergio

[Andrew]

Bit of a different gamewinner there, great hands by Perko and a great play to win it. Hats off to your stick skills on that one.

[Kenny]

Oh man, that sequence will scar Soto for life. Great to see Perko drop another triple-double, and of course, Smith and Durant still playing well.

I'm hoping to get the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs now after that; it'd make for an excellent rivalry

Loving my big three at the moment

Tough luck for Sergio

Soto is going to commit suicide.

I'm hoping it'll lead him to be a better player and one who is committed to taking down my dynasty

Bit of a different gamewinner there, great hands by Perko and a great play to win it. Hats off to your stick skills on that one.

It's funny because so often I would contest for the ball after a rebound but get the reach-in called. I guess in that sequence it was a bit of luck and timing. It was such a reflex thing that when I was doing the replay, I thought it was going to overtime, but then I realised that they were ahead by one.

[Kenny]

A Little History Lesson

Since the PSN is down and I wanted to post something before I take a 5 day hiatus in Melbourne, I decided to let you guys know a little more about me and my history with NBA Live and basketball games in general. I got to thinking about this when I went back to my Mum's place for Easter. I went through some old CDs and PC games and managed to find NBA Live 98. It was a game I played for about 5 years (I'm talking real years, not dynasty years) and as I was installing it on my computer, all the memories came flooding back; the three-point comp, Christian Laettner holding up the game menu and the cheerleaders that would appear on the screen every time you tried to quit... the amount of times they kept me playing the game!


The first prompt that came up when I tried to install it


The second screen

Ultimately, I couldn't get the game working. Looking at the CD, it does look a doomed but it was worth a try.


All 4 NBA Live Games I've Played

Thinking back, my NBA gaming experience started with NBA Jam TE and NBA Hangtime and even to this day I see both of those games influencing my up-tempo style offense (and let's face it, sometimes lack of defense). Having a love for basketball since the Jordan era, I played games such as Jordan Vs Bird: One On One and Barkley Shut Up and Jam. Strangely enough, I have the rather odd distinction of finishing Shaq-Fu in it's story mode as well.

My first introduction into the world of basketball simulation was Bull Vs Blazers and the NBA Playoffs on Megadrive. Initially the game frustrated me with how slow it was and how I was getting picked up for this stupid "reach-in" foul. Much like the run-and-gun offense of NBA Jam, this foul trouble has stuck with me to this very day as well. It somewhat encouraged me to learn the rules and now I find it increasingly hard to enjoy casual NBA games (which is why I probably didn't rate the latest NBA Jam).

So between the 8 years I spent before buying my next NBA Live game, what did I play? Well, the year 2000 I tried two different games; one being the PC game NBA Inside Drive 2000, which I still think had the most amusing commentary I've ever heard. I also picked up a title on the original Playstation called NBA Basketball 2000. Despite the ridiculously redundant title (National Basketball Association Basketball), it was a fun game with a few technical glitches, like how you'd get fouled EVERY time you dunk on someone. I also tried NBA Street, which I found to be one of the more enjoyable "zany basketball" games since you could go around on a circuit and recruit players.

Out of the 4 NBA Live games, 98 is the one with the most memories, but 06 was the best I played. It was my first introduction to the dynasty mode. When I picked up 08, I felt like it was lacking in many ways. It felt like a big step back from how 06 was and even though I created a dynasty in it, I just didn't get into it as much. After 08 was so lackluster, I actually waited 2 years to create a dynasty story, since I always believed in buying Live in 2 year cycles. I guess that's one of the reasons why this dynasty has enjoyed the longevity it has had. And even though there are obvious gameplay flaws, I still enjoy playing Live 10 more than both 2k10 and 2k11 strangely enough.

Anyway, apart from all the aforementioned, I also played NBA Street Homecourt, which was fun for a little while. The most amusing thing that happened in that game was that Antoine Walker complained about Josh Childress getting the ball too much and threatened to quit my team if he didn't get my shots. I finished the Space Jam video game on Playstation and I played the basketball component of Acme Allstars quite a lot (I know that's a stretch).

So that's my history with NBA gaming in a summary. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next 10 years as far as gameplay enhancements are concerned because 2k11 has really set the bar. Hopefully Live (or Elite) can catch up and produce something of equal quality or atleast create a game for the casual gamers who want to make a more friendly leap to the simulated environment.

Wow, I feel really old now

[Andrew]

Thanks for sharing. I actually loaded up NBA Live 98 myself recently, when I was testing out some cheat codes while updating the Wiki resources. I couldn't get it to run on my current PC either but I've got a couple of old PCs running Windows 98, so I set up one in my workshop so I could fire up 98 (as well as 97). That certainly brought back some fond memories and of course I'm still playing 06, which is one of my favourite PC releases. I too hope that when the series returns next year, it can recapture some of that old magic.

[Axel The Great]

Cool story bro.

I kind of have that same philosophy of up tempo style of offense, but when you have a big guy like Yao, it makes it hard to play like that. However, unlike you, I have a strong emphasis on defense. I prefer to contest shots rather than gamble for steals, which is pretty much why I was so inept at forcing turnovers in Live 10. I'm glad to see that you're still enjoying Live 10; that's something that I couldn't do because of the cheating AI, as I've said over and over again.

I would also like to see what kind of gameplay and graphic enhancements b-ball video games will make in the next 10 years. And yes, I agree that 2K has really set the bar with their game; pressure's definitely on them to develop something out of this world for 2K12. The biggest and only grudge I hold against 2K is their inability to make a game that runs smoothly and doesn't crash. I live in fear when playing 2K knowing that it could crash at any moment.

But yeah, I didn't start playing video games until the Nintendo 64 (it still works by the way. I still fire it up and play Super Smash Bros. or Conker's Bad Fur Day every once in a while), so I'm not very familiar with the old b-ball games. The first b-ball game I played (in other words, owned) was on PSP, NBA 2005. Bought if for five bucks from a friend about three years ago. That game has Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Antoine Walker, the cool '04 championship Pistons (w/ Darko!), and other memorable players that were in their primes in 2004-05. That game really helped me in understanding the positions, rules, and the basics of basketball. Live 10 was the first next-gen game I played, and it was a pretty fun experience sans the cheating CPU. One of these days, I may think of pulling out Live 10 again and giving it another go, once I've grown tired and frustrated of 2K's glitch-infested, crash-at-any moment game.

Pretty much wrote an entire essay (lol), but those are my long two cents. Thanks for sharing your b-ball gaming history, though!

[Houndy]

Nice article! I got a PS1 as a present, and I think half the games I got were NBA games (99, 00, 01, 02, 03) and then I purchased a game cube and NBA Live 06. I became interested in the NBA again 4 years later, and purchased Live 10. But 2k has made it almost unplayable because of its greatness.

[kibaxx7]

Now that I've got a PS3, wanna play NBA Street Homecourt

[The X]

Considering you played Bulls vs Blazers on the Mega Drive, it's a shame you didn't give NBA Live '95 a go. I picked it up for Mega Drive & it was terrific. The game tempo made it great, especially after the slow, unresponsiveness play of previous EA Sports titles.

I played that game non-stop for 3 years. I remember playing a full 82 game season highest difficulty season with Lakers (traded George Lynch for Cedric Ceballos in roster screen of course, Divac, Campbell, Peeler & Van Exel were also starters. I had rookie Eddie Jones on bench, along with Sam Bowie, James Harvey or whatever his name was, Sedale Threatt, James Worthy, Doug Christie, yes Doug Christie & some other guy, yep I know now, Sean Rooks. Maybe Bowie wasn't on team, my memory must be slipping). It was gold. I played over 400 games (all 5 minute quarter, All-Star difficulty, custom teams - how could Live '95 on Mega Drive have it but current gen Live could not ) against my brother. According to the user log record keeping in game, I won like 82% of them & my bro was good. I should've gone in a competition for it, I could've won I think.

EDIT: I remembered his name - Antonio Harvey

[Kenny]

Andrew: I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't get it working, but the prehistoric computer I used to play it on is still in tact I think, so there might be hope yet. I also forgot to mention that 98 was the Tim Duncan rookie class, which was a big thing for me since he's probably my favourite player.

Axel.: I play defense (kind of) but I do have a tendency to gamble. Often times the cpu has an open dunk or layup because of this. I also try to take charges a lot but I find Live 10 is often unresponsive when it comes to those kind of collisions.

I don't particularly have the crash issues with NBA 2k11, but I find the gameplay itself is relatively unforgiving. Often times I go back to NBA Live 10 because it feels like I don't have to think as much about it. I still think NBA Live (or Elite) could cater to a market of people who want to jump from casual to simulation basketball. For me the games gave me a good idea of what it's all about, while maintaining the uncomplicated enjoyment of a casual game.

Houndy: NBA Basketball 2000 was the only game I played on PS1 since I was pretty much exclusively a PC NBA gamer by then. I never used to buy games year-by-year because I didn't have enough money, but now I do, I could see it being a tradition now. I love seeing the upgrades (and let's face it, downgrades) from year-to-year. I guess I somewhat have an unconditional love for Live 10, but I can see why it'd be hard to go back to. The depth of the 2k games is very impressive.

Thierry •: If you can get it for cheap, then I'd recommend picking it up. I think I ended up buying it for about 20 AUD. When it comes to casual gaming, the street circuit is definitely my favourite and I guess that's why I didn't particularly dig the new NBA Jam all that much.

The X: I think around about then I was more into the big dunks of NBA Jam rather than the simulation environment. I remember 98 having custom teams as well and I was really surprised they discontinued it when I picked up 06. It'd be cool if Elite 12 picked up some kind of an expansion mode where you can create your own team. It definitely sounds like you have the same nostalgic attachment to 95 that I have to 98.

[Kenny]

Status Update

As a lot of you probably know, the PSN is STILL down and in combination to me being away, it's the reason why I haven't updated this in a few weeks. As soon as the network comes back online, I have another 5 game summary to report on. In the meantime, I have been updating my My Player story here and there to avoid withdrawals.

Also it's nice to see both sections merged together. Hopefully this can encourage more dynasties and in turn get them an equal opportunity to get readers.

[The X]

The X: I think around about then I was more into the big dunks of NBA Jam rather than the simulation environment. I remember 98 having custom teams as well and I was really surprised they discontinued it when I picked up 06. It'd be cool if Elite 12 picked up some kind of an expansion mode where you can create your own team. It definitely sounds like you have the same nostalgic attachment to 95 that I have to 98.

I love Live '98 also, probably my 2nd or 3rd favourite game in the series. It was the first game I owned on PC and that's when I first found the old NLSC for roster patches

[Lamrock]

Will follow this a lot more due to the merger.

[The X]

Will follow this a lot more due to the merger.

That's what I was hoping. I should really go back & read this from the start

[Kenny]

I love Live '98 also, probably my 2nd or 3rd favourite game in the series. It was the first game I owned on PC and that's when I first found the old NLSC for roster patches

It's actually how I originally found NLSC too. But as soon as they stopped making patches for it, I kind of lost interest. Then I came back because of NBA Live 06.

Will follow this a lot more due to the merger.

That's what I was hoping. I should really go back & read this from the start

Great to hear I always enjoy reading your input Lamrock.

If I could make a recommendation to you X, that'd be to probably read it from the second season. The first is very rough as I was still mucking around with settings and my layout and what not.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

This summary started out positively, as Borislav Perko registered another triple double to lead Denver to a win over OKC. But after a win streak of 6 games, Denver went down to top East contender Chicago in the feature game. Following that loss, the Nuggets picked up the last 3 games to go 4-1 over this 5 game stretch. Now here is the feature game. I don't usually report on losses, but this one I feel is an exception:

Nuggets Pipped by Bulls in Double OT



It was the game dubbed as the potential NBA Finals matchup for 2020, and it lived up to all expectations as it required a second overtime period, where the Bulls came out as the eventual winners by 104-103. Igor Martin was the catalyst for Chicago with an MVP performance of 37 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Bulls mainstay Derrick Rose also had an outstanding game with 20 points and 13 assists, while prodigal son Joakim Noah contributed his own double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. For Denver both Kevin Durant (30) and J.R. Smith (29) both poured on the points, while Borislav Perko (18 points, 9 rebounds) had another solid contribution himself. Rudy Fernandez was the last of the Denver double-digit scorers with 12.

Towards the end of regulation, the Bulls were ahead 69-67 in a relatively low-scoring affair; but Denver had the last possession. Here's how it unfolded:

phpBB [video]

With that shot, the unlikely hero in Brandon Jennings sent it to OT. From there, Denver looked like they had the better of Chicago in the extra period, but the Bulls rallied through Kelly Scott (15) and Derek Gerard (14). Scott went on to hit the game-tying three, once again giving Denver the final possession. With a missed 3 point shot from Kevin Durant, this game headed for a second overtime.

In more of a see-saw style period, the Bulls had the last laugh as Kelly Scott hit the mid-range shot to put the Bulls ahead by one. In the following possession, Derrick Rose stole the ball from Brandon Jennings, and while he took over possession he was intentionally fouled and sent to the line, where he missed both free throws. While rebounding the ball, DeAndre Jordan had a brain explosion, sending a long pass to J.R. Smith instead of calling a timeout. Smith got off a long range shot but was unsuccessful with the attempt.

It was a frustrating, yet almost fitting end to a spectacular game filled with drama. NBA fans have a lot to look forward to if this is the preview to the NBA Finals.

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DEN@CHI

(2OT)

CHI: 104 (Martin 37, Rose 20, Scott 15)
DEN: 103 (Durant 30, Smith 29, Perko 18)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Igor Martin 37 points 13 rebounds 1 assist 4 blocks

Rebounds

CHI: Martin 13
DEN: Jordan 11

Assists

CHI: Rose 13
DEN: Jennings 7

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Last 5 Games

OKC: 84-76 W
@CHI: 104-103 L (2OT)
@DET: 100-92 W
@NYK: 96-88 W
@MIA: 86-81 W

The Nuggets are now 33-7

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An Earl-Esque Streak

Kevin Durant's scoring is continuing to pick up, as he scored a season high 39 against the Pistons. He is currently on a 5 game streak of 30+ point games. Here are his scoring numbers the last 5 games:

OKC: 30 points
CHI: 30 points
DET: 39 points
NYK: 34 points
MIA: 30 points

Speaking of Earl...

J.R. Smith hasn't been lagging too far behind KD. To add to his 29 against Chicago and his 30 against Detroit, he scored another 30 points against the Miami Heat and he's still holding second place for the league's scoring title.

A Walking Triple-Double

Seems like every summary I'm reporting on a Borislav Perko triple-double... well here's another! 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Oklahoma City. Make this guy an all-star please!

Jack of All Trades

Adrian Young hasn't been setting the NBA world on fire, but he has picked up a valuable role in the Nuggets rotation. With the ability to play 3 positions (possibly 4 if you want a 6'10 shooting guard), Young has the ability to be a the Nuggets most versatile utility player.

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Next 5 Games

GSW
LAC
LAL
PHX
@CHA

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It's good to be back with this dynasty! The PSN downtime has been so frustrating for me, particularly since all I use it for is to upload files for TNL. But now hopefully everything is fixed and the season can get some momentum again. Next up will be another 5 game summary, then the monthly.

EDIT: Anyone else having trouble viewing some of the images? On my PC, three of them just have the word "image"

[Houndy]

It's back! Nice wins, but tough 2OT loss.

I can see the pics fine

[kibaxx7]

Nice to see Durant & company back.

I can see the pics with no problems.

[Martti.]

Pics are fine, Jennings is CLUTCH! Should have given him the ball at the end of the first OT

[Axel The Great]

Great buzzer-beater by Jennings, but as Martti. said, you should've gone to him in the first OT as well. Very bone-headed play by DJ; you'd think he'd be a smarter player at this point in TNL. Great to see Smith and KD still coexisting in the scoring department.