30 Teams In 30 Days: Denver Nuggets

[Boston34Celtics]

Here we go, it's that time of year. Basically what I'm doing is making decent-sized team previews, one per day in alphabetical order. Today's featured team is your Denver Nuggets.

Teaser:

2007-2008 was a “lost season” for Nene, as he battled through the removing of a testicular tumor, and was only able to suit up for 16 regular season games. However, the Brazilian product is said to have worked hard this past summer, and is ready to accept a larger role in Denver.

As long as he can stay healthy, don’t sleep on the abilities of Nene. As a starter in 42 regular season games for the Nuggets two seasons ago, the 6’11’’ big man held respectable averages of 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per contest, and also tallied 12 double-doubles throughout the 64-game campaign. Once again, physical wellness is the major factor, but a healthy and motivated Nene can do some damage inside on both ends of the floor. The length and activity of a Marcus Camby cannot be replaced, but getting Nene back would at least help cover up the wound.

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Comments appreciated.

[corona]

would you say a fundamentally sound player should be able to dribble with his left hand?

i would.

.

you're giving too much credit to camby. denver's defense wasn't much worse with him on the bench last year, and the season before it was actually better without camby in the game. i'd also say most true nuggets fans would agree that both kenyon martin and nene are better true nba defenders than camby - he blocked shots, but he didn't do the small fundamental things. don't forget balkman's the best wing defender (that will likely get minutes) we've had in who knows how long....so that makes an immediate improvement.

[Bukcic3]

i agree with everything corona said.
way too much credit given to camby. His numbers will plummet this season... and i expect 25+ games not played do to injury.
You obviously don't know much about this team, but that's ok no one will take your judgment seriously.
I'd bet anything that Denver's defense improves a lot this season. It won't be at the top of the league, but it won't be in the bottom 10 either.
Scoring will stay where it is since no key offensive piece was lost in the offseason.
and 38-44??? come on you can't be serious... the only teams that i think are better than Denver (in the west) are Lakers, NO, Utah (close call), Houston (if T mac is healthy all year), and Phoenix (passed their prime though). I think San An is done for, and Dallas too. Portland will be decent.

[Boston34Celtics]

I'm not giving too much credit to Camby. In fact I think it was blasphemous that he won a Defensive Player of the Year award. He is an overrated defender, without question.

But his style can't be replaced by anyone else on this roster. They no longer have a defensive quarterback. They no longer have that long, athletic roamer. They no longer have that activity around the basket. Nene is laterally challenged, and certainly doesn't give his all every time he's on the floor. On top of that, he and Martin are both guaranteed to miss games. Then what do you have? Steven Hunter and Birdman.

On the perimeter, this team is just hopeless on the defensive end. Sure, Renaldo Balkman is as active and energetic as any wing in the game, but he certainly is not going to anchor an entire defense. Carmelo has no desire to defend, Iverson gets overpowered and caught in the pick n' roll game, and in my opinion, Smith only turned it up defensively in the second half of last season for a contract. This is the same guy who told Byron Scott that he was late for multiple practices because he "isn't a morning person."

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but just because you disagree with my opinion/prediction doesn't mean that I'm clueless. I watch more than enough basketball, and I'm more than convinced that this team is putrid defensively. I think Denver becoming an improved defensive team is less likely than Denver being the worst defensive team in the NBA this season. I also know that I'm far from the only one who thinks that.

But hey, that's the fun of prediction-making. Sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong. We'll just have to wait and find out.

Regardless of our differences, thanks for your comments. I appreciate it, fellas.

[corona]

i maintain that a fundamentally sound player should be able to dribble effectively with his left hand.

.

kmarts a better defensive quarterback than camby. he did it for years very well in new jersey, and has always been more vocal. they may not have a shot blocking roamer in the starting lineup, but they have bigs that can actually cut off driving lanes and hedge picks and keep people out of the paint....as opposed to letting them in the paint and then attempting to block their shots. no question its a different style, and denver will have to adjust to that....but imho its a better style.

Smith only turned it up defensively in the second half of last season for a contract. This is the same guy who told Byron Scott that he was late for multiple practices because he "isn't a morning person."

when he was 18 years old.
i suppose he also simply turned on the scoring to be top 5 in the league per minute because he wanted a contract?
he must be a pretty incredible player than, huh? if so...what if you're wrong?

[DaFan334]

On the perimeter, this team is just hopeless on the defensive end. Sure, Renaldo Balkman is as active and energetic as any wing in the game, but he certainly is not going to anchor an entire defense. Carmelo has no desire to defend, Iverson gets overpowered and caught in the pick n' roll game, and in my opinion, Smith only turned it up defensively in the second half of last season for a contract. This is the same guy who told Byron Scott that he was late for multiple practices because he "isn't a morning person."

This team sucked on the perimeter because they were terrible in rotations which was because camby refused to rotated to the perimeter. I wish more people would have seen that to understand that losing Camby may actually be a really good thing for this team.

The lack of J.R. Smith in this preview really shows that you didn't watch much of the second half of the Nuggets season. The kid actually matured and the results were very scary. He was the best player on the floor for the Nuggets in the Lakers series which says alot when you have some other very talented players.

[berserker]

I agree with Corona.......I think Camby is overrated, but provided a lot of leadership that will be missed. However, that said, Martin/Nene are not as bad defensively as some might think. And Nene is a much better post player and gives us a different look on offense.

Also, I have to say that I respect the fan from Boston who stepped up on our board and gave a very valid and informed opinion. Agree or disagree, I appreciated how he responded with class. Thanks, man, you're welcome back here anytime. And congrats on last years championship.....

[Boston34Celtics]

Thanks berserker, and thank you for having legitimate discussion as opposed to another board on this site that I won't name, who locked my thread and called me a "troll" because they didn't agree with a couple of things. They didn't even give me a chance to make one response post.

DaFan334: I acknowledged that Smith had himself a nice second half in my initial response post, but I am skeptical as to whether he has really taken big steps toward maturing or if he did it for a larger payday. Now, I can't be crazy, because the lack of interest in Smith around the league this past summer tells me that I'm not the only one with those skepticisms and concerns.

corona: As I mentioned in the post right above yours: if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks again for your comments, guys.

[ambiglight]

Camby was a lot more important than denver fans are willing to admit WITH ac and ai in the backcourt. Those two were simply undersized guarding the perimeter and relied on a camby type defender to clean up the inevitable penetration. So if Karl continues the strategy he had last season playing AC more minutes than JR, the perimeter defense will only get worse given the fact that nene is not as good a help defender as camby.

Now if karl finally realizes what many around here have known for a while that this team's success is completely dependent on utilizing their best players or in this case a lineup with JR in it playing 30 to 35 minutes a night, the blogger is going to be completely wrong about the nuggets. JR starting with AI is probably worth 3 to 5 games.

[el loco]

Thanks berserker, and thank you for having legitimate discussion as opposed to another board on this site that I won't name, who locked my thread and called me a "troll" because they didn't agree with a couple of things. They didn't even give me a chance to make one response post.

DaFan334: I acknowledged that Smith had himself a nice second half in my initial response post, but I am skeptical as to whether he has really taken big steps toward maturing or if he did it for a larger payday. Now, I can't be crazy, because the lack of interest in Smith around the league this past summer tells me that I'm not the only one with those skepticisms and concerns.

corona: As I mentioned in the post right above yours: if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks again for your comments, guys.

I'd like to think he has turned the corner for the better. I am basing this on how he spent this past off season. He stayed involved with basketball and all of the news reported about him was positive.