RealGM

was watching my guy Renaldo on the score hardcore sports canadian network tonight vs. the Bucks.

seen he cut his dreads, something he said he'd never do dating back to his days @ SC. anyway, he has 4 blocks tonight & 20 minutes goin steady, playing damn nice D w/ a + 15 leading Denver. He is one of my main players in the NBA since his rookie season w/ NYK, but isiah thomas really ******* him over his 2nd year, with really bad PT rotations.

Anyways, didn't see him playing much with the big D to begin the season, a couple DNP's, but now he's getting some playing time & delivering defensively.

What do you boys in Denver think about him & his game since he was acquired (stolen) from NYK, and why did he cut his dread? lost a bet to Melo? aahah.

haven't got to watch him alot other then tonight, i know he never had a jumper(really only part of game he needs to work on immensely) what it look like Denver?

He didn't cut his hair...

Balkman is the truth. He's earned a solid spot in the rotation.

I saw him leave for the locker room in the 4th, heard sprained an ankle. Anyone know if he'll miss any time?

Anyways, didn't see him playing much with the big D to begin the season, a couple DNP's, but now he's getting some playing time & delivering defensively.

i believe he hurt an ankle in the preseason and was struggling with that early in the season (thus the dnps). looks like he may have aggravated it tonight unfortunately.

we all like him though. defensively he's an upgrade over najera and i like his constant movement offensively (though he has pretty awful hands). hit two 20 foot jumpshots against boston, and has been hitting his free throws....both good signs. should be slotted in for 15-20 minutes a night all season.

I knew he was talented, and Isaiah was definitely on to something when he drafted him. The problem is that you can't take a role player in the first round of the draft. Getting out of New York probably relieved a lot of pressure, and his supporting cast here is absolutely amazing. The day we got him I knew he'd be solid, but the way he meshes with our starters and anchors our secondary squad is really impressive.

He'll definitely earn himself solid MLE money by playing here. He's still got plenty of potential to improve-- his jumpshot has already changed drastically since playing here. He's obviously the beneficiary of open looks created by other offensive options, but defense is where he really shines.

He handles larger players because of his quicks, and he is in tune with the defensive scheme. I've seen him point out rotations and call out traps almost as much as Chauncey. Given that he has openly admitted that he's a defensive player, I'd love to make him a career Denver player. It will depend on money and the opportunity to win a championship, but I'm very very high on him. Sixth man high.

another thing, i'm not sure if you all up in the D got to see yet, but this man is a beast on the boards. will grab the rebound, take off with the ball, pretty improved handle, run the floor end-to-end like a deer & off the bounce make nice crisp sometimes one handed passes, that are very accurate. he's got a knack for that ****,

also not sure i've seen somebody get his hands on so many jumpshots on the perimeter, he closes out extremely quick, is deceptively quick & athletic when doing this, and has perfect positioning to alter shots, w/o taking the body.

southeasy wrote:another thing, i'm not sure if you all up in the D got to see yet, but this man is a beast on the boards. will grab the rebound, take off with the ball, pretty improved handle, run the floor end-to-end like a deer & off the bounce make nice crisp sometimes one handed passes, that are very accurate. he's got a knack for that ****,

also not sure i've seen somebody get his hands on so many jumpshots on the perimeter, he closes out extremely quick, is deceptively quick & athletic when doing this, and has perfect positioning to alter shots, w/o taking the body.

Loving Balkman so far. Provides alot of what we lost with Najera in the terms of hustle and defense, and the ability to guard guys much bigger than him because he works smart and hard on that end of the floor.

His offensive game is not good, but he does provide some things that we don't have, moving with out the ball, great offensive rebounder. I wish he was better at handling the ball, and I'd like to see him hit his jumper with more consistency (Grg should help with that), but overall he's been exactly what I hoped he would, and exactly what this team needed him to be.

Hope the ankle isn't too bad, we'll need him more the next few weeks while Andersen is getting healthy (and hopefully learning the correct way to take a charge).

balkman has been one of the most underrate acquisitions of the offseason by anyone...IMO hes been a top 3 MVP on this team for the little things he does. great pickup by the FO.

The Nuggets are very fortunate to have been able to pick Balkman up. We let Najera walk and made this trade to replace him with. Najera was a better shooter and bit smarter on the offensive end, but Balkman more than makes up for it with his energy and hustle. He has been a welcomed addition to the team. I am glad that we picked up his option.

Agreeing with the sentiment here... he's been great... better than expected, and I knew he'd be good. I agree he's a key player I think we should never trade him unless it's money issue... but defensively I think he has a chance to be a first team candidate. He has to develop offensively and then he will be the next James Posey (aka the Michael Jordan of role players).

is Balkman injured to account for lack of PT the last few games.

Denver becomes a great defensive team w/ Billups & Balkman on the court..

With Andersen coming back, there's less minutes going to Balkman. It's a shame, really. Dahntay Jones < The Monopoly Guy.

As a Knick fan and die hard New Yorker, I'm glad you guys accepted "TAZ" out there in Denver. He's a hard working dude and real NY fans miss his effort on the court. He'll get his standing O when the Nuggs come to NY.

2010orBUST wrote:As a Knick fan and die hard New Yorker, I'm glad you guys accepted "TAZ" out there in Denver. He's a hard working dude and real NY fans miss his effort on the court. He'll get his standing O when the Nuggs come to NY.

You sure? He may not even get off the bench.

This team needs a defensive spark off the bench at times and Karl is too f'ing stupid to play Balkman. He'sa "Karl" type player too. F'ing idiot favors the white guys too much (Andersen, LK) to play Balkman? Not calling Karl racist, I just don't see any logical reason why Karl isn't actually using his players fully. Oh wait, reason being is he is an awful coach.

Nutty Nats Fan wrote:

2010orBUST wrote:As a Knick fan and die hard New Yorker, I'm glad you guys accepted "TAZ" out there in Denver. He's a hard working dude and real NY fans miss his effort on the court. He'll get his standing O when the Nuggs come to NY.

You sure? He may not even get off the bench.

This team needs a defensive spark off the bench at times and Karl is too f'ing stupid to play Balkman. He'sa "Karl" type player too. F'ing idiot favors the white guys too much (Andersen, LK) to play Balkman? Not calling Karl racist, I just don't see any logical reason why Karl isn't actually using his players fully. Oh wait, reason being is he is an awful coach.

For whatever reason, it truly is a shame. Balkman provides his own unique hustle and D that no other player on the team provides. You'd think we'd TRY him when we're down 20 in the second and several minutes into the 3rd and still no headway. Especially when we are not finding rebounds....dude has a radar for loose rebounds.

If Karl was playing his version of the Nuggets vs. any one of us on NBA2K9's version of the Nuggets, Karl would be facing a blowout every game because he doesn't tap into his talent pool.

I want to see Balkman for at least 10 minutes every game if not more, but certainly not a DNP.

If we're winning, that's fine, Balkman maybe didn't get cut into the rotation - but if we're losing.....dude's fresh and ready to go. Send him out there to go to work.

Yeah. I really wish we had a coach like Pop. You just know he would be using Balkman to his fullest potential.

I do know Balkman supposedly had some ankle issues? But after Karl played him in garbage time against the Raptors, he has to be healthy now. Who the fark plays an injured player in garbage time? So only reason Balkman isn't playing is the moron coach.

Yeah, I don't get why Karl refuses to play Balkman, especially since he seems like a guy Karl would love. He was great while Birdman was out, and it doesn't make any since why he would completely fall out of the rotation. For us to be successful in the playoffs, I think Balkman needs to be getting at least 10 minutes a night.

Just another reason to hate Karl.

I know they weren't going to be Allstars, but what about Bobby Jones and Yak too?

Good defensive players and they were actually shooting well at the beginning of last season when they were getting minutes until Karl seemingly destroyed their confidence. Another reason I hate Karl, this team doesn't seem able to develop the "no name" talent they have. Well.. when they actually have some. Maybe this current FO doesn't bother drafting because they know with Karl it would be a waste?

Can you imagine the Spurs this year if Karl was coach? George Hill would be some rookie who never gets off the bench, among other things.

I think the Nuggets could be in a much better position today if Karl had been fired a year ago (or two).