training camp & media day thread

[The Rebel]

Interesting analysis by Hochman on each of the Nuggets players heading into camp next week.

Ty Lawson, PG, 24 years old, 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, North Carolina: Lawson ascended against the Lakers with games of 24, 25, 25 and 32 points. Coach George Karl wants Lawson to be more aggressive — as a player and as a leader.

Andre Iguodala, SG, 28, 6-6, 207, Arizona: This acquisition made Denver a legitimate contender to finish in the top four in the West. He can dart down the floor in transition and effectively guard any opponent but the center.

Danilo Gallinari, SF, 24, 6-10, 225, Italy: After an injury-plagued 2011-12 season, Gallo has high hopes of being a factor and leader this season. He can bulldoze to the basket from the perimeter, drawing fouls and getting tough lay-ins.

Read more: An analysis of the Denver Nuggets' roster for the 2012-13 season - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_21 ... z27y0Y0QtB
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

[The Rebel]

Q & A between Hochman and karl heading into the season.

Q: You'll likely start Ty Lawson at point guard, Iguodala at shooting guard, Gallinari at small forward and Kenneth Faried at power forward. What about center?

A: Training camp is going to tell me who plays. My idea right now is Mozgov would start with Faried and JaVale would stay with (reserve point guard) Andre Miller. But again, I don't (care) about starting lineups, and you guys are already stirring the pot. It's all about how many minutes you play, who you play with, how well you play and how we play (when you're on the court). Kosta Koufos is in the mix, too. Let's make sure you understand that. In the last 15-20 games of the season, when Timo got hurt, Kosta not only played well but good enough to get us to the playoffs.

Q: Can you explain to the fans why a full training camp is so beneficial to the Nuggets?

A: There's a big bucket of talent there. How I figure out how it fits, that's one reason why I'm excited about having a full training camp. If we had a shorter camp (like last season after the lockout), I think you'd gravitate to your first successes. As where we can tinker in the exhibition season, see who plays well with whom and give it a two- to three-game experiment. Also, the same with philosophies of defense, how aggressive we can be. I think our offense right now is third fiddle, behind defense and figuring out rotations.

Q: Why is Iguodala such a good fit for your system?

A: I don't think there's any question that defense is what we need to get better at. I don't think we're a bad defensive team, but I don't think we're a top-notch defensive team. We gave away Kenyon Martin and some of the "A" defenders that we used to have, and last year we weren't good enough defensively. We get a guy who fits how we play — he's an athlete, loves to run, he's a play-maker, but also a top-10 defender in the game. So how we build our defense with a great defender who can (defend) point guard, shooting guard, small forward and probably power forward.

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_21 ... um=twitter

[Ice32]

Great interview, I read this yesterday and got really excited about the potential rotations George Karl will experiment with in Pre-Season. The Training Camp battles are gonna be intense, I believe that there are 2 starting spots still up for grabs:

SF - Gallo, Chandler
C - McGee, Mozzy, Koufos

I don't think we will see McGee starting immediately this season, I believe that he is better suited with the 2nd Unit as Andre Miller knows exactly where to give the ball to McGee. Energy wise, our 2nd unit will kill most teams in the NBA. Consider this as a 2nd Unit:

PG - Andre
SG - Hamilton
SF - Brewer
PF - Chandler/AR
C - McGee/Koufos

You have size, speed, defense and lots of dunks.

[The Rebel]

Lawson believes in this team

Or figurative: Hey, Ty, knowing there is the Thunder and Lakers, how do the Nuggets stack up in the Western Conference?

"I think we're the best team in the West."

Wait, really?

"We're so deep, so talented, so versatile," the point guard said at Monday's media day. "You can't just game-plan for one person on this team. I think we'll be No. 1 in the West."

If you're a Nuggets fan, you got to love this, right? Talent-wise, yeah, it's hard to say that Denver is better than L.A. or OKC. But when (arguably) your best player has that confidence, that swag, it permeates throughout the team.

http://www.denverpost.com/lunchspecial/ ... z2855q0G2y

[RRFB]

Lots of good things coming out from media day. I love Ty's confidence and the things I've read about McGee and Fournier. But there is some bad news as well:

Benjamin Hochman ‏@nuggetsnews
Nuggets training camp invitees: Ben Uzoh, Anthony Carter

What's everyone's thoughts on the new alternate uni's? I'm still undecided on whether I like them or not.

[The Rebel]

Lots of good things coming out from media day. I love Ty's confidence and the things I've read about McGee and Fournier. But there is some bad news as well:

Benjamin Hochman ‏@nuggetsnews
Nuggets training camp invitees: Ben Uzoh, Anthony Carter

What's everyone's thoughts on the new alternate uni's? I'm still undecided on whether I like them or not.

I think they are better then the dark blue alternates, but I don't love them

[The Rebel]

Quick hits from Denver Stiffs

Nuggets Team Chemistry: I'm not sure that a Nuggets team has ever been as close as this team appears to be; and the 15-man roster has yet to play a single NBA game together! We've been seeing pictures like this one, click here, all summer long. Guys hanging out together in Denver (click here), Las Vegas at Summer League, and at other events - like the Nuggets charity drive in honor of Jessica Redfield (click here). You want your team to be full of players that you want to root for and you can root for these players!

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2012/9/25/3 ... er-nuggets

Sounds like Karl has it out for the Lakers this year.

“I can’t deny that I just despise the Lakers,” Karl said Monday. “There’s a bigger (description) for it (that I can’t use in public). I’ve been beaten by them too many times. I didn’t expect them to be bad this season, but when they got Steve Nash, I can’t deny I was really upset.”

http://blogs.denverpost.com/nuggets/201 ... um=twitter

Karls still feeling good

He’s 60, he’s battled cancer twice, he’s in a extremely stressful job – and George Karl is feeling great. Today he even called himself “mellow;” getting rid of Melo can make a man mellow, it seems.

His cancer fight was well-documented – I still get emotional when I read this piece I wrote in 2010 – and I know a lot of fans still care about his health. So I asked George today, and he said he’s feeling good.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/nuggets/201 ... um=twitter

Ujiri talks Fournier

“My experience with European players is, skill-wise, they’re good. They learn those skills at an early age, but part of where they struggle here is their strength and conditioning and ability of NBA players. We felt if we sent Fournier back to Europe, we’d be putting him a year behind. He needs to adapt to the speed of the game and get stronger. We have players, so that gave us room to have him on our roster. Whether he and (second-round pick) Quincy Miller spend time in the D-League or (stay with Denver) and we develop them, both of them need to get stronger. Their skills are how we want to play. And Fournier can be here to learn in practice and maybe even a couple minutes in games.”

http://blogs.denverpost.com/nuggets/201 ... seas/7048/

[The Rebel]

guess who's back, you know you love him, the one and only Anthony Carter.

Jeremy Wagner ‏@RoundballMiner

Only 2 invitees for #Nuggets training camp. PG Bez Uzoh, and of course, PG Anthony Carter. Adding PGs make sense with Stone injury.

https://twitter.com/RoundballMiner

[corona]

What's everyone's thoughts on the new alternate uni's? I'm still undecided on whether I like them or not.

better than the horrid dark blue road alternate jerseys.

i liked the white & orange mining ones the best.

[DaFan334]

Is that black or dark blue? Or both?

[Teens On Acid]

terrible execution on the jersey...i think the concept is good, but the typeface is way too heavy and the placement of the numbers throws the balance off. too many stripes also. Less is always more, they should have stripped the design back like the Brooklyn jerseys.

also, i just threw up in rage at the thought of anthony carter being associated with us again.

[Nuggets_Talk]

terrible execution on the jersey...i think the concept is good, but the typeface is way too heavy and the placement of the numbers throws the balance off. too many stripes also. Less is always more, they should have stripped the design back like the Brooklyn jerseys.

also, i just threw up in rage at the thought of anthony carter being associated with us again.

youd rather have a jersey like the nets?

[The Rebel]

Karl still pushing Lawson to step up as a leader

Asked about Lawson's growth as a leader, Ujiri said: "He's got a lot of work to do. There's plenty of work to do, because he does have the talent and abilities. I think Ty's up for it. He's had a great summer. He's worked out a lot. And I think it's getting in his mind that — the time has come. It's a big year for him. We're going to ask more of him, there's no question about it."

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_21676596/nuggets-coach-george-karl-wants-ty-lawson-step?source=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz289NmpSKT

[Maf]

Love these new jerseys. Might be because of "new effect." And if Nuggets go 18-0 with them I'm sure everyone'll love them.

[Ruhiel]

Love these new jerseys. Might be because of "new effect." And if Nuggets go 18-0 with them I'm sure everyone'll love them.

I don't like the numbers in the corner. Or the old school patterns on the sides. But overall they made yellow look good. Only other team looking good with yellow is LA (Cavs wine+gold doesnt count).

[Teens On Acid]

terrible execution on the jersey...i think the concept is good, but the typeface is way too heavy and the placement of the numbers throws the balance off. too many stripes also. Less is always more, they should have stripped the design back like the Brooklyn jerseys.

also, i just threw up in rage at the thought of anthony carter being associated with us again.

youd rather have a jersey like the nets?

absolutely. I like minimalist design, i think the new jerseys are a bit immature. there's no clarity, it's a clunky mess. i love the colour scheme though, and i think if the designers had stripped everything back they could have created something much more attractive and timeless.

edit: just mocked this up..i know it's not to everyones taste but this is what i'd love to see, simple, iconic, timeless.

[The Rebel]

Training camp officially starts today, hot on the heels of media day where the Nuggets announced they’ve finalized their 17-man roster with guards Anthony Carter and Ben Uzoh.

The Uzoh addition is an interesting one. His name was one of many New Jersey Nets linked to Denver in the early days of the Melo saga. Uzoh isn’t a threat to make the roster now but the Nuggets could keep an eye on him in the future. Anthony Carter gives George Karl a veteran presence familiar with how he runs camp. If reports from last season are true, Karl has tried to recruit Carter as an assistant coach.

This training camp features a strong core of players looking to expand on roles they already have. Following them are about nine rotation guys fighting over four open spots. There’s probably about half the roster whose performances in camp could have a huge effect on their futures. Here are five storylines to watch as camp and preseason unfold.

http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2 ... -to-watch/


having Carter as an assistant coach would not be the worst thing, although just the idea of him being in camp bugs the hell out of me.

[Teens On Acid]

agreed. I want him nowhere near our squad. The old team has finally been dissolved, there's no reason for him to be around.

[dis4ryan]

King Carter has finally returned to his throne. The King back!

[Powder Blue]

New alternates are a whole lot better than the old ones. If I get one it'll have to be custom thought cause I don't think anyones future on this squad is set in stone.

I'm not all that superstitious so I'm gonna make some guesses on who I think gets injured first. Chandler and Gallo top 2 with Dre as the least likely to.

Poor Nuggets camp coverage, couldn't even catch a video of the press conference. The Broncos had much better coverage, prolly has something to do with the new QB, forgot his name...