Some positives for Denver after the AS Break

[Ice32]

Whilst the injuries have taken its toll on Denver, there are some positives to look forward to after the All Star Break. Denver have 31 games over March and April which is made up of:

-Only 16 of the 31 games are against Playoff contenders
-16 home games, including 7 straight between Mar 5 - 21
-7 of the 16 home games are against non-playoff teams
-Only 5 back-to-backs
-Only 5 games against the Top 4 Western Teams (OKC, Spurs, LA, Mavs)

-Gallo should be back by Mid March (middle of the 7 game home stand)
-Wilson Chandler should be good to play beginning of March
-Nene/Mozzy should be healthy

Things that we have learnt:

-Al Harrington's production has declined - he should not play more than 20 mpg
-Rudy and Dre are below average defenders
-Faried is a work in progress but has a lot of upside
-When Nene plays, he is decent
-Brewer has played well in Gallo's absence
-Ty needs to play at a high level every game not 1 out of 3
-Afflalo has taken a while to play to last years level
-Koufos has been a pleasant surprise
-Birdman may be good as gone
-Stone/Hamilton probably won't get much burn

George Karl needs to stop relying on 'small ball' and playing 3 guard line-ups, today vs OKC was a prime example. Whoever plays with energy, needs to get minutes, Denver need to get back to the level they were playing when they were 14-5. Defend, run, pass the ball, score on fast breaks.

My prediction in the 2nd half of the season is 22-9, which would make us 40-16, good enough for 4th - 6th in the West.

[Meloshow]

Looks good.

With this sort of team (running, hustling shooting), momentum is the most important factor. It doesn't matter where your seeded come playoff time, if we're flying high heading in, I truly believe we can take anyone. Think Golden State 2007.

The injuries have given an opportunity for some of the benchies to get a really good run and I think that will only help down the stretch so these guys are ready to play when their number is called once we have a full squad on the floor. Some have taken the opportunity and seized it ie. Brewer & most recently Faried which demands minutes, hopefully Birdman keeps getting DNP-CD's because Manimal is a very rich mans Bird, even this early in his career.

With the schedule lightening up as much as it could for the condensed season it is, hopefully any of the guys that have little nagging injuries (Afflalo) can take care of themselves and we can be ready for a real red hot crack at it once Gallinari is good to go.

Two cents given.

[goppfather]

I would agree with most. I disagree with most negative talk about Dre. While maybe not the nibblest afoot, he makes up for most of it with basketball I.Q. Andre is the least of Denver's problems

Get some guys healthy and Denver has a chance to compete in the playoffs. The thing they need the most is someone who can put the ball in the basket. Watching games around the league, every team you see, there are 2 guys on the floor at almost any given time who can make a 15-18 foot jumper. Denver does not. Even with Rudy and Gallo playing, they are both so streaky.

[b-lawson]

Im not positive about anything but a sure first round loss as always, IF we get in the playoffs

Playing at home means nothing this year. How did we fall so low at home but play so good on the road? One reason we're losing at home is cause Miller is slowing us down and injuries I admit. We need to run run run and run at home to tire teams out. We at home playing slow but running on the road

This season is just full (Please Use More Appropriate Word)

[KAVK]

Health, then it goes along how Karl is dictating a rotation. Not to overplay Al, and Dre. Hamilton, Faried and some time for Stone at least till we get our regular rotation guys back. One thing with Karl that bugs me most is that he is too cautious that prevents him to make brave moves when necessary.

If Chandler is a not joining this year then we need to see how this Stone kid progresses and play Hamilton more over Rudy.

Koufos, Faried, Brewer, AAA, Miller as starters & Mozgov, Al, Hamilton, Stone coming off the bench is what i would go with till injured guys come back.

[BullsCroatia]

I haven't been watching many Nuggets games this season which is really bad since they are among the very small number of teams that I actually like outside of the Bulls.

I was looking up some numbers and Faried's production caught my attention.

9.5(on .667% )+8.3 and 1.2 blocks in just 22 minutes over the last six games. Pretty, pretty good. Why doesn't this guy get more minutes? Will his minutes(and production) go down once Nene is back?

[youngthegiant]

I haven't been watching many Nuggets games this season which is really bad since they are among the very small number of teams that I actually like outside of the Bulls.

I was looking up some numbers and Faried's production caught my attention.

9.5(on .667% )+8.3 and 1.2 blocks in just 22 minutes over the last six games. Pretty, pretty good. Why doesn't this guy get more minutes? Will his minutes(and production) go down once Nene is back?

because george karl does not play rookies. he has been playing so well though that it would be a tragedy if he lost minutes. i personally think we are better with him than nene but i suspect that his minutes will go down once nene returns.