Game 8: Denver Nuggets 122 – Cleveland Cavaliers 100

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

Tonight you will hear no griping from me.  The Nuggets finally did what they have been talking about all season.  They played tough defense when the game started.  They played tough defense as the first quarter went on.  They played tough defense when the second five came in.  They played tough defense to close out the first half.  In the second half, the Nuggets played even more tough defense.  I think you get the point. 

Cleveland was able to reduce a 27 point lead to 16 at one point in the fourth quarter, but it was not the fault of the Nuggets’ defense.  The offense became stagnant and the Nuggets settled for several poor shots.  However, J.R. Smith scuttled any hopes of a Cleveland comeback with back to back threes. 

The only big picture issue that mattered for the Nuggets tonight was that they played 48 minutes of aggressive defense for the first time that I can remember.  The Cavs were ripe for a letdown game as they were closing out a six game road trip and had a nice comeback win last night in LA against the Clippers.  Then Larry Hughes was ejected for apparently complaining to the refs that he is a horrible shooter with a habit for having poor shot selection.  This was a team that the Nuggets should beat easily and they did. 

On the flipside, the Nuggets also had the foundation for a mental letdown as well.  They came out strong and got up on Cleveland early.  It would have been easy to let up a bit on the defensive intensity, but they did not allow that to happen.  Having watched these guys for years, that was an important step. 

Other Observations From Game 8: 

 - Early on in the game I thought Iverson was looking for his shot at the expense of being the distributor the Nuggets need him to be.  When he took a rest near the end of the first quarter he was 3-7 with no assists.  He then made 11 of his next 12 shots and ended up with 37 points and eight assists. 

 - Melo can get caught up in the mano a mano battle with Lebron at times when the Nuggets play the Cavaliers.  He did a great job of staying out of that mindset.  He did a great job on the glass in the first half and really only took a couple of bad shots.  He continued to challenge himself on defense as well.   

 - Camby, Martin and Najera completely took Zydrunas Ilgauskas (i kan spel that nam withowt luking, im so smahrt, thats y i hav a blogg and u doughnt) out of the game.  They were physical with him and made sure to tip rebounds away from him when they could not grab the ball.  Poor Big Z only played 20 minutes and shot 1-6 and those three get the credit for that.

 - It looks like Champ Bailey’s son won Joakim Noah’s hair in a raffle.  I doubt they sold a great deal of tickets if that was the grand prize. 

 - J.R. Smith finally broke out with a great game, complete with seven threes, four assists, four rebounds and zero turnovers.  He has really been trying to change the way he plays to make Karl happy.  When he plays the point as he has lately with the injuries to Atkins, Carter and Wilks, he has a completely different mentality.  He attacks the basket relentlessly and does not just settle for threes.    

He was responsible for a hoard of turnovers in the Indiana game, but bounced back strong tonight and not only took care of the ball, but he shot tremendously well too.  He has the ability to be a great all around player.  Just like everyone has pointed out with the Nuggets’ defensive effort, he must play this way consistently in order to be successful. 

 - The referees called a bunch of ticky tack fouls in the fourth quarter, mostly against Denver.  Maybe they were scheduled to ref in Detroit or New Jersey tomorrow night and really did not want to leave Denver. 

 - The Nuggets again made a distinct effort to run the floor and again, they looked rusty.  They were plagued by a gaggle of first quarter turnovers due to bad outlet passes and forced drives.  In the second half they were able to settle into a grove and ended up with 21 fast break points.  If they can cut down on those turnovers and make smart plays, that number will start to approach 30. 

 - It was another good night from the land of Steve Kerr for the Nuggets.  AI was 2-4, Diawara, Kleiza and Jones were all 1-2 and J.R. Smith went 7-8.  On the down side Melo and Von Wafer was 0-2.   

 - Diawara, Jones and even Melo played great defense on LeBron James.  James still shot a good percentage and had 27 points, but nothing came easy for him. 

 - A great deal was made about LeBron keeping his body balanced while shooting jumpers.  He did not look nearly as consistent tonight as he did in Las Vegas over the summer.  He was definitely leaning back as he has done in the past. 

The Nuggets are at a crossroads.  They still have a favorable schedule for the remainder of the month.  If they dedicate themselves to playing on the defensive end like they did tonight every game, they can absolutely challenge the elite teams of the West during both the regular and post seasons. 

Unfortunately, this team has yet to put forth that effort on a nightly basis in years past.  They know that they are built to win now.  Let’s see if they can play like it. 

Next Game:  Wednesday against Portland in Denver.  Another must win game for the Nuggets to reach their goals.  Hopefully they can run their stretch of playing good defense up by another 48 minutes. 

The Circle is Now Complete

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

Remember back at the 2003 NBA Lottery when the number one pick in the draft had come down to the Grizzlies and Cavilers for the chance to draft LeBron James.  The other subplot was if Memphis did not land the top pick, then Detroit received the pick as part of a trade for Otis Thorpe that had been agreed to several years prior to the events that were unfolding that night. 

We all remember the look on Jerry West’s face when he saw that not only did he miss out on LeBron James, but he was going to have to ship the number two pick in the draft to Detroit.  Equally as memorable was Detroit deciding to select Darko Milicic with that pick they received from Memphis instead of Melo. 

Why am I recounting all of this?  Reports are circulating that Darko has agreed to sign with Memphis.  It may not be much consolation for missing out on LeBron, but they just got theit old number two pick back and all it will cost them is a little bit of cash.

Hopefully now Jerry West can sleep a little better at night.

Thumbs Up for the 2007 NBA Draft

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

 Lots of spare thoughts about the draft…

- How could the Blazers have traded Randolph to the Knicks without forcing them to take on Darius Miles as part of the deal?

My concerns about Randolph playing alongside of Oden will are still valid with Randolph playing alongside of Eddy Curry.  What I said in a previous post was Nate McMillen hounded Randolph to play inside instead of setting for 18 footers.  With Oden on the block would Zach be happy to settle for jumpers?  Now with him playing alongside of Curry, will he be happy to settle for jumpers in New York? 

I have more thoughts about the Steve Francis aspect of this deal, but I doubt many people are interested so I have moved it to the end of the blog.

- The Sports Guy stole my thunder in his draft diary, but the trade of Jason Richardson to Charlotte for Brandan Wright seems like the first step in acquiring Yi Jianlian from the Bucks.  Rumors had it that they were shopping Richardson to get a pick high enough to land Yi.  Since Milwaukee drafted Yi, they did the trade anyway hoping that he will refuse to play for the Bucks.  If the Bucks are right and they are able to get Yi to play for them, this was a horrible trade for Golden State.  They should have waited to pull the trigger until they knew Yi was available. 

However, even if they do acquire Yi, they just traded their second best player away for a project the year after making the playoffs for the first time in 12 or 13 years.  I love Monta Ellis and he can more than replace Richardson’s scoring, but he will not provide the all around game and presence that Richardson gave them.  Say hello to the lottery again next season Warrior fans. 

- The other big trade of the night was Ray Allen to Boston for the fifth pick, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West.  There are a number of issues here so lets take a look at them. 

First, Boston was obviously really shopping that pick hard.  Ainge knew that the fans were tired of the youth movement and his career termination warning light was flashing.  He had to get a veteran for that pick and he did. 

Second, is Allen the right veteran?  Ray Allen will make any team better.  He is a great shooter and a smart player.  With Rajon Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Al Jefferson and Perkins, they have a very solid playoff quality starting five, but before they start printing playoff tickets in Boston, there is an age and injury question though.  Over the previous four seasons Allen has missed 26 games in 03-04 and 27 games last season.  He will turn 32 in July.  Pierce has been healthy over the previous seven seasons, but missed 35 games last season and will turn 30 before next season starts.  With both of these guys playing on the perimeter, there is a chance that one or both will break down soon.  However, Boston did land a quality veteran without giving up any of their young talent such as Rondo, Gerald Green, Sebastien Telfair or Al Jefferson.  Add in Glen Davis who they acquired in the trade, Ryan Gomes, and a healthy Tony Allen and this team is at least ten deep.

There are also interesting issues from Seattle’s standpoint.  Trading Ray Allen kicks off a youth movement that should create a quick return to respectability.  The first question that comes up is was Jeff Green the best pick at #5?  It certainly was not a bad pick, but there were players with more potential there.  They have a sure thing in Durant, the chance to gamble a little with the fifth pick was there.  A player with big time potential such as Yi or Brandan Wright may have given the Sonics a better shot at having a great team in three years instead of a very good one.  On the other hand, Green has a wide range of skills and will be a very good wingman for Durant.  Their skills do complement each other very well.  Ultimately, I do not have a problem with Jeff Green, but at some point in the future they may be kicking themselves for not nabbing either Yi or Wright.

The other big question surrounding Seattle is what does the drafting of two small forward/power forward combo players mean for the future of Rashard Lewis?  Reports were the Sonics want to try to retain him.  I do not think he will want to stay with the current makeup of the team.  I still believe that a sign and trade for him is the best course of action for Seattle. 

- Sacramento will rue the day they drafted Spencer Hawes.  He may be able to toss in some jump hooks around the basket and hit 18 footers, but he cannot rebound or defend and that seems unlikely to ever change.  I am not saying he is Rafael Araujo, but they passed on players with some serious star potential for an average center at best.

- The talent level that available towards the end of the first round and early in the second was very impressive.  We knew this going in, but it is amazing how many late first round picks will not only be on rosters, but contributing next season.  The depth of the draft is why picks such as Aaron Brooks to Houston and Alando Tucker to Phoenix were so bad.  Brooks is too small and Houston now has a glut of point guards, but none of them are very tradeable.  Who wants Alston?  (Silence…crickets chirping…)  Tucker was a strange pick because he cannot shoot.  He is a good player though and with the tempo in Phoenix, he will be a contributor.  The Tucker pick is not nearly as bad as the Brooks selection, but I still thought it was strange.

- Once again Phoenix has just given away a pick thinking that they are saving money.  Someone needs to tell Robert Sarver that another way to save money is to draft good players and then replace your more expensive players with the cheaper player you have drafted.  Would they have had to pay Diaw if they had Deng on the roster?  Would they have had to give Marcus Banks that ridiculous contract if they had drafted Rajon Rondo?

The Suns are going to hit a wall in a couple of years where they fall off the map for two reasons.  Age will eventually catch up with Nash and they have no young players in the pipeline because of their insistence on selling off their draft picks.

- All in all, last night’s draft was about as good of draft as I could remember.  Between the interesting picks, exciting trades and depth of talent the only thing it was lacking was decent commentary.  Can we please give the draft back to TNT?  Give me Hubie, Charles, Kenny and EJ any day of the week over the jokers from ESPN.

- Now the aforementioned Steve Francis commentary…

The reports are the Portland will buy Steve Francis out of his contract and he will never play a game for them.  That raises the question, where will he end up?  I think there are a couple of good options for him if he can play the point unselfishly.

Cleveland needs a guard who can take the pressure off of LeBron, but Francis dominates the ball too much to be a good fit there. Miami is in the market for a point guard too and Francis could help take the pressure off of Wade.  Washington just added Nick Young last night to play the two, but Francis is from the Maryland side of DC, he was drafted in the MCI Center (or whatever it is called now) and hit a big game winner there last late in the season for the Knicks.  Francis could help ease the transition for Young, but are he and Arenas too similar?  I think so. 

What about the Lakers?  If they keep Kobe, which they certainly want to, Francis could be of assistance in upgrading the talent there, but he is more of an iso player than a player who would fit in the triangle.  Would Phoenix want him to help backup Nash?  Francis can definitely excel in that open style, but he would not be a starter and probably would not want to sign there if he could start somewhere else. 

Perhaps a return to Houston is in the cards.  The Rockets have Mike James, Rafer Alston and the recently drafted Aaron Brooks at the point, but they may be interested in Francis at shooting guard.  Would the Nuggets want Francis?  Kiki tried to trade for him a few years ago.  Are there still people in the organization that would like to have him?  If Minnesota fails to trade KG, Francis and Foye would make a dynamic back court combo.  Add in Ricky Davis and Corey Brewer and the Wolves have a more talented team, but would they make the playoffs?  My guess is no.

Several teams are kicking off youth movements such as Philly, Seattle, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans, to a lesser extent Toronto is in a youth movement and Indiana and Sacramento appear prepared to embark on a youth movement. 

I do not see any team that really makes sense for Steve Francis.  I realize that no one probably really cares about where Francis ends up, but I took a flyer in him at the end of the season in my fantasy basketball keeper league with the hope that he would be moved before next season.  So far, so good.

Losing LeBron?

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

I was amazed at what LeBron James did last night in Detroit against a very solid defensive basketball team.  Detroit forced him to take several very difficult shots, but he kept making them.  After Detroit was able to force a second overtime, I told my wife that I did not think LeBron could keep hitting those off balance 23 footers with a hand in his face.  Well, he kept hitting them, and when all was said and done, LeBron had wrapped up his first special playoff performance. 

As exciting as it was to watch and as much as I would like to see if LeBron can dish the same punishment out on the Spurs, I wonder if it is good for LeBron’s long term future as a player to go to the finals, and perhaps even win a championship, this early in his career.  He is only 22 and he has already started drifting through regular season games and even some playoff games.  If he can just cruise through the regular season at this age and win a title, won’t his focus wane even more as he gets older? 

If he believes he can turn it on whenever he wants and win any game he has to, will he ever be driven enough to actually reach his potential and to play hard enough throughout his career to win as many championships as possible. 

I fear that if LeBron wins this year at this young age, it may be bad for his development.  Over the course of the last 25 to 30 years in the NBA, great players have had to work relentlessly for their championship moments.  Players have had to know failure in order to realize how hard they had to work for greatness.  The Celtics and 76ers sharpened each other in the playoffs in the early 1980s.  The Celtics and the Lakers pushed each other to amazing heights in the 1980s.    The Celtics forced the Pistons to get better and better until they finally reached the top.  The Pistons then in turn were an obstacle to the Bulls on their way to winning their six championships. 

Look at the great players that had to learn to get over the hump.  Magic won a championship in his rookie season, but every other player on those dominant teams had to work and work to get to the Finals and then win.  Go down the list, Bird, Dr. J, Isaiah Thomas, Jordan, they all had a burning desire that was forged over several years of playoff disappointment. 

LeBron is in his fourth year, but is still insanely young.  What obstacle will forge him into the player that he can be?  He is already a great player, but I do not think even he knows how great he can be.  In order to truly reach his potential, he must have that desire that burns every minute and that fire has traditionally been stoked by the process of running into a dominant obstacle year after year. 

The bad news is the current state of basketball in the Eastern Conference is not helping us out.  The Pistons are the “dominant” team of recent years, but at this point, they are not anywhere near being a great team.  Miami is a team that could cause the Cavs some tough challenges, but only if Shaq is somewhere near his dominant self.  Right now that conference is so weak that LeBron can drift through significant portions of the season and playoffs and still get his team to the finals. 

Of course, I may be jumping the gun as Cleveland has yet to advance to the finals.  If they do, they will have to defeat a more talented and much better coached Spurs team.  However, if LeBron can pull it off, we may have lost the most talented player ever before he even scrapes the surface of his amazing abilities.