Denver Nuggets - The Next Level [Game 3 + 4]

[Bulls#1]

You made me laugh with the guy on the banner!

[Kenny]

Fingers crossed for a repeat and a continued rise to stardom for Griffiths, with his brother along for the ride.

Thanks Andrew, I like the family angle myself. Hopefully Lawrence can be a decent role player as well.

You made me laugh with the guy on the banner!

Which one? The season 16 banner or the rookie banner?

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

The first 5 games of the 24-25 season provided mixed results for the Denver Nuggets. They easily accounted for the Bobcats in the first game of the season, but dropped close games against the Magic and the Heat in Florida. The first two home games of the season got them back on track though, beating both the Lakers and the Suns.

The first feature game of the season is against the Los Angeles Lakers:

Taylor Taunts Lakers



Denver came away with a 97-85 win over the Lakers, thanks to a star performance from Taylor MacKenzie. He continued where he left off in the second round of last season's playoffs, scoring 33 and being very active on the defensive end, with 6 steals. While Stan Griffiths was the only other double figure scorer for Denver with 16, they had minor contributions from Steven Hunt (9 points 10 assists), Julian Chandler (8) and an almost triple-double from Borislav Perko (8 points 14 rebounds 8 assists).

For the Lakers, it was new recruit Dave Russell who did most of the damage. The former Grizzlies guard scored 28, while Theo Hadson tallied 20. Archibald Sheehan had the only double-double, with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

After being swept in the playoffs previous to this season, Los Angeles were unable to get the revenge they wanted.

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LAL@DEN

DEN: 97 (MacKenzie 33, Griffiths 16, Hunt 9)
LAL: 85 (Russell 28, Hadson 20, Sheehan 15)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Taylor MacKenzie 33 points 2 rebounds 2 assists 1 block 6 steals

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 14
LAL: Sheehan 17

Assists

DEN: Hunt 10
LAL: MacMahon 5

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Last 5 Games

@CHA: 83-69 W
@ORL: 95-90 L
@MIA: 93-89 L
LAL: 97-85 W
PHX: 97-77 W

Denver start the season 3-2

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What a Debut!

Lawrence Griffiths (aka Stan's brother) had an incredible debut, after sitting on the bench for the first two games. He led the Nuggets with 34 points and 8 rebounds, in his first game. 21 other teams passed up the opportunity to draft him, will it be something each of them will regret?

Leading the Way

After winning the Finals MVP, Taylor MacKenzie has taken it on himself again to lead the scoring. He started the season with 25 against the Bobcats. He's currently averaging 22.6 points per game over the first 5.

Another Impressive Rookie

Julian Chandler showed he has a lot of potential, scoring 25 in the loss to Orlando.

Slow Start

Stan Griffiths is easing into his season. His best performance came against Phoenix, where he had 24 points and 6 rebounds. He's currently averaging 15.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.

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Next 5 Games

SAC
@MIN
@OKC
DAL
HOU

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If everything goes to plan, I'll be bringing up a milestone in the post after the next reader responses.

[Bulls#1]

The 16th season one and nice recap worth the read.

[cavs4872]

omg baby-Griffiths even looks more ridiculous in the game than in the rookie pic lol. He looks like an old grandpa. Not a bad start but eh..

[Andrew]

Not a terrible start, I'm sure you'll be back in form sooner rather than later. Good to see some promise in the rookies.

[Bulls#1]

I agree with Andrew not a terrible start but I think you will be back in your Finals Form

[qfrmcpt310]

Wow all of the rooks look like 17 year olds from the 70's 3-2 isn't a bad start, but it could be better

[Bulls#1]

lol

[Kenny]

The 16th season one and nice recap worth the read.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it

omg baby-Griffiths even looks more ridiculous in the game than in the rookie pic lol. He looks like an old grandpa. Not a bad start but eh..

Perhaps Grampa-Griffiths could be an alternative nickname?

Not a terrible start, I'm sure you'll be back in form sooner rather than later. Good to see some promise in the rookies.

I agree with Andrew not a terrible start but I think you will be back in your Finals Form

I'm not too worried, I've been known to lose a few at the beginning of the season. Right now I'm just testing some lineups, hence some consistency issues. I'm hoping the rookies will figure prominantly this season.

Wow all of the rooks look like 17 year olds from the 70's 3-2 isn't a bad start, but it could be better

lol

Aside from Lawrence Griffiths, Jim Simon's head for some reason stands out the most to me. It's kind of a strange shape.

Hopefully I can get on a bit of a run in the next summary.

[Kenny]

A Milestone of Sorts

I was looking at my user stats on NLSC and I realised that this very post was going to be my 1000th in this thread. Admittedly after almost 5 years of being on this site, my overall count is relatively modest, but this dynasty has been a nice little constant for me.

Even though this dynasty has a lot of seasons left, I've been thinking about what will happen when it does come to an end. An idea that has constantly been in my head has been to extend the dynasty on through another NBA game (probably a 2k with the editable draft classes), but one thing that deterred me was the fact that players in the 2010 and 2011 drafts wouldn't be there. Then it occurred to me; nothing would stop me from putting them into the game further down the line.

With this in mind, I decided to compile this list:

NBA Players I Wish Were in this Dynasty

Kenneth Faried

A no brainer really. Faried is my favourite player from the 2011 NBA Draft class, not just because he plays for Denver, but because he leaves absolutely nothing in the changeroom. Every night, he gives you flat out effort and is an incredibly athletic player.

Gordon Hayward

If Faried is my favourite player from the 2011 NBA Draft, then I could possibly argue that Gordon Hayward is my favourite from the 2010 draft. I don't think he gets enough credit for what he does for that Utah team.

Evan Turner

Admittedly Turner is on this list because of the player he was for Ohio State. He was an absolute beast in college, but I think he's also turned into a decent role player in the NBA. He's a versatile guy, who could possibly have been the 6th man of my team at some point.

Landry Fields

Every time I think of Landry Fields, I think of the great line from one of Lamrock's stories:

"I wanted Landry, not Landry!"

Landry (Fields) is a great player who's often overlooked. I would have made it my duty to give him the credit he's due.

Kyrie Irving

A little Aussie homerism comes into play here, but I also can't deny that Irving is a great player.

Ricky Rubio

I have no doubt that Ricky Rubio would have been the second coming of Steve Nash in NBA Live 10. He would have made me swear at my TV screen, after dropping 35 points and 10 assists in the first half. He would have made the dynasty mode much harder than it has been... which could have been very interesting.

Jeremy Lin

The rise of Linsanity was such a great story for the NBA. Being able to report on that would have been so much fun.

Greg Monroe

From a team stand point, Greg Monroe would be a great fit for my system. A 6'11 centre who adds 15 points and 10 rebounds a game and is a pretty good passer. I imagine Greg would have been an all-star a few times over in my dynasty, if he existed.

Gary Neal

Like Rubio, he technically was drafted earlier, but he didn't come into the NBA until 2010. He's one of the reasons the Spurs have the best bench in the league currently. He would be a starter or 6-man on plenty of other teams I think.

John Wall

Some of you are probably thinking "Why John Wall? He sucks!"

I'm fully aware that he has not lived up to the potential so many people saw in him... at least not yet. But could you deny how fun he could be to control in this game? Not to mention that EA would probably give him a very generous player rating, being the number 1 overall. There are players in this dynasty and many stories who have overachieved compared to their real life counterpart, and I believe John Wall would be one of them. An opponent would also be much harder with a virtual John Wall than without him.

--------------------------

So what are your thoughts? Do you like my list? Do you think it's crazy? Anyone you'd include or omit?

Edit: the proof

[Andrew]

Congrats on the milestone!

That's a pretty good list already. How about someone like Kawhi Leonard though? Derrick Williams too, perhaps?

[Cruzerr]

I guess baby Griffiths is laying down the LAW! :=

Congrats on the milestone from me aswell.

[Martti.]

Faried's my fav rookie too, I wanted to get him in my HEAT association, and he actually was in the draft class I used, but right now he's a FA and his ratings are very poor. Still might sign him though.

Congrats on the milestone, I wouldn't even know if something like that would come up.

[cavs4872]

Congrats badreligion Your longevity with this dynasty was really what inspired me to start my Raptors.

[Bulls#1]

Congrats for this milestone I really loved your story.

[Axel The Great]

It's been a while since I last posted, but I'm finally caught up now. Great start for baby-Griffiths, though I don't think he'll be as great as his brother.

Congrats on the milestone. One of the reasons I've enjoyed your dynasty story is that you never run out of ideas for milestone posts. Always original. Speaking of your milestone post, what do you think you could have done with a player like Patrick Patterson? I like the way he plays irl, but if he would have existed here, would he be a player you'd have gone after?

[Houndy]

Fuck congrats man, haven't seen dis place in a while.

Helluva start, and I wish Hayward was doing better than he does in the NLL league for me

[Lamrock]

Congrats man. Never quite had 1000 posts, period in any of my stories (damn association ADD - also known as Thierry-itis). (Also, after five years as a member, it no longer tracks which forums/topics you post in most)

Incoherence aside, this story is awesome and hopefully some day they'll make another NBA game as compelling to you as Live '10 and you can dominate with the last two draft classes. Until then, give Liam some playing time!

[Mavs4Life]

I forget to check this out and you're already in the new season and Stan has a brother! A black guy with white hair? Things change fast....

[Kenny]

Congrats on the milestone!

That's a pretty good list already. How about someone like Kawhi Leonard though? Derrick Williams too, perhaps?

It probably would have been a better if I changed Gary Neal to "Anyone from the Spurs", as I would have liked both Kawhi Leonard and Banana Splitter to be apart of this dynasty.

On an athletic standpoint, Derrick Williams would have been solid. However, I'm not completely sold on his game. I guess he would have fallen under the same category as John Wall.

I guess baby Griffiths is laying down the LAW! :=

Congrats on the milestone from me aswell.

A nickname involving the Law would be awesome

And thanks, I really enjoyed thinking of who I'd include in this dynasty.

Faried's my fav rookie too, I wanted to get him in my HEAT association, and he actually was in the draft class I used, but right now he's a FA and his ratings are very poor. Still might sign him though.

Congrats on the milestone, I wouldn't even know if something like that would come up.

I'd say sign him if you still have the opportunity. You could play him like the Nuggets played Birdman in the 08-09 season; 20 minutes of energy off the bench with a few highlight blocks and dunks.

The number was on my profile. I never usually check it, but I noticed it was getting close, so I planned for that milestone ahead of time.

Congrats badreligion Your longevity with this dynasty was really what inspired me to start my Raptors.

Thanks Dan, I'm glad you've been influenced by this story. Dynasty writing has become a favourite hobby of mine

Congrats for this milestone I really loved your story.

Thanks •BS•, I'm glad you've enjoyed it

It's been a while since I last posted, but I'm finally caught up now. Great start for baby-Griffiths, though I don't think he'll be as great as his brother.

Congrats on the milestone. One of the reasons I've enjoyed your dynasty story is that you never run out of ideas for milestone posts. Always original. Speaking of your milestone post, what do you think you could have done with a player like Patrick Patterson? I like the way he plays irl, but if he would have existed here, would he be a player you'd have gone after?

He's still ridiculously raw, but I think over time he'll be a good energy player off the bench.

While my general recaps are always the same, I try my best to come up with new ideas for posts. I'm glad you appreciate it. As for Patrick Patterson, I actually haven't seen a lot of him. I haven't seen the Rockets play in a really long time actually. The season opener against the Lakers in the 10-11 season I think was the last time. Looking at his stats though, I think he could have been a solid bench guy. I do like the challenge of playing small, so it would have been fun having him play a little bit of centre too.

Fuck congrats man, haven't seen dis place in a while.

Helluva start, and I wish Hayward was doing better than he does in the NLL league for me

Thanks Houndy

Gordon made a liar out of me in game 3 against the Spurs as well. 1-10 (0-5 3PT)... yikes!

Still, he's my favourite player from the 2010 draft class.

Congrats man. Never quite had 1000 posts, period in any of my stories (damn association ADD - also known as Thierry-itis). (Also, after five years as a member, it no longer tracks which forums/topics you post in most)

Incoherence aside, this story is awesome and hopefully some day they'll make another NBA game as compelling to you as Live '10 and you can dominate with the last two draft classes. Until then, give Liam some playing time!

That's interesting that it doesn't keep track after 5 years. My 5th will be up on the 16th of August.

I hope there will be another dynasty I'll find as exciting as this one. I always thought that my next big one would be with an Eastern Conference team. At the moment, the Brooklyn Nets would probably be on the top of my list, but only if I started in the inaugeral season. I'd probably call it something lame like "The Dynasty Sign".

As for Liam, it'll be a hard rotation for him to crack, but I'll give him a chance somewhere down the line.

I forget to check this out and you're already in the new season and Stan has a brother! A black guy with white hair? Things change fast....

Don't worry, this dynasty hasn't moved much in the past week or so. I'm becoming more unpredictable with the times I post, thanks largely to university.

I was kind of disappointed that Stan's brother didn't look more like him. How he looks though is incredibly amusing though, I will admit.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

The Nuggets won 5 from 5 in this summary, boosting their overall record to 8-2. They easily took care of Sacramento at home and their short road trip saw big wins against Minnesota and OKC as well. The Nuggets then returned to the Pepsi Center and took care of business against the Mavs.

The feature game against the Rockets turned out to be the closest of the round:

Nuggets Extend Streak to 7



The red hot Denver Nuggets were too much for the Houston Rockets, as they won by 93-84 at the Pepsi Center. Taylor MacKenzie once again led the way for the Nuggets on offense, scoring 30 points; however, the night belonged to Borislav Perko. He registered his first triple-double of the season, with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Dwight Howard complemented the Nuggets' franchise men by scoring 16 off the bench.

Houston were without their own star power forward Armando Ferrer, but they were still able to remain competitive in the game, thanks to 24 points and 8 assists by Austin Nolan. He led a field of 5 Rockets double-digit scorers. Gabriel Harris (16 points, 12 rebounds) picked up the only double-double for the Rockets, while Marcel Turner (13), Ken O'Reilly (11) and Otto Bradley (10) all made minor contributions.

With this win, the Nuggets are now on a 7 game win streak, after starting the season 1-2.

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HOU@DEN

DEN: 93 (MacKenzie 30, Perko 24, Howard 16)
HOU: 84 (Nolan 24, Harris 16, Turner 13)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Borislav Perko 24 points 10 rebounds 10 assists 1 block 2 steals

Rebounds

DEN: Perko 10
HOU: Bonner, Harris 12

Assists

DEN: Perko 10
HOU: Nolan 8

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Last 5 Games

SAC: 112-70 W
@MIN: 97-85 W
#OKV: 78-59 W
DAL: 103-84 W
HOU: 93-84 W

The Nuggets currently have a record of 8-2.

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Derrick Goes Alright

Against the Mavericks, Derrick Rose proved that he wants more than just a ring for his retirement. 22 points and 22 assists (off the bench) is a good enough indicator that he still has a little left in the tank.

Embracing the Blake Role

Dwight's rebounding numbers aren't huge this season, but he's proving at times to be hard to handle on the offensive end. Against Sacramento he scored 24, which he followed up with 21 against Minnesota.

Steady Sophomore

Stan Griffiths is a marked man this season, but he's still providing a great second option on offense. He was excellent against the T-Wolves though, with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks.

Rookie #3: James Palmer

James Palmer had the best performance of his career so far against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He scored 17 points, thanks to some hot shooting from the perimeter.

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Next 5 Games

MEM
NOH
@NOH
@GSW
@LAC

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While uni has been a factor, I do admit that I have been putting this post off a little. Games 6-10 are always the most involved, since I usually follow this post with a player critique.

Hopefully after this I can post more regularly.

[Kenny]

The 24-25 Ten Game Player Review

Those who have been following for a few seasons will know the drill. After the first ten games of the season, I give my opinion on how I think the each player from 1-15 is playing. Also it's a means to give a bit of an insight to those who don't often get the headlines.

Here it is:

The Starters

Stan Griffiths

Thanks to his huge rookie season, Stan is no longer able to slip under the radar. But while his numbers have dipped, it's been well within the context of the team. 15.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2 blocks per game is good enough for second amongst his teammates in each category.

Sure, his numbers have dipped a little, but I refuse to call it a slump. He's still a big part of why the Nuggets are currently 8-2.

Borislav Perko

Perko only has 1 triple-double for the season at the moment, but he's still having a very respectable season. He leads 3 categories for the Nuggets, with 7.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.5 blocks, as well as scoring 10 per game (4th).

A solid start to the season, but remember, it's only been 10 games. Borislav can flick that MVP switch at any time.

Dennis Anderson

Offensively, there hasn't been much to write home about for Dennis. His defense however could draw comparisons to the great Scottie Pippen. Even though Taylor MacKenzie picked up the top defensive award last season, Anderson is the guy that can defend 4 positions on any given night.

Taylor MacKenzie

T-Mac has continued his playoffs form into the 24-25 season. He leads the Nuggets with 21.2 points and 2.4 steals per game. Taylor's also shooting 39 percent from 3.

It's still early days, but I wouldn't be surprised if he picks up his second all-star nod this season.

Steven Hunt

Scoring-wise, Steven is basically a non-factor. However, the way he organises the offense is one of the big reasons to why the Nuggets are 8-2. 6.7 assists per game is a deceptive number for Hunt, as he'd probably get 2 or 3 more if they counted hockey assists.

He probably won't get back into an all-star jersey playing for this team, but he has the opportunity to add to his collection of two rings.

The Bench

Dwight Howard

For the first time in his 21 season career, Dwight Howard has been given a role on the bench; and he's been effective. He's currently 3rd in scoring (10.5) and his defense continues to change the way the opposition team plays.

Dwight is still a scary talent and could easily play for another 2 or 3 seasons.

Derrick Rose

On the opposite end of Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose is truly on his last legs. While he was explosive in his prime, Rose never really developed a reliable perimeter game and it's hurting him in his twilight years. In saying that though, he still managed a 20-20 game against the Mavs, so there's still that potential for him to be an impact player for the Nuggets.

Vince MacMahon

With the early focus on accomodating the veterans and the rookies, Vince's minutes have diminised a little. But with a 3 point shooting percentage of 37.5, he'll have more opportunities as the season goes on.

Julian Chandler

Chandler is a lot like T-Mac... unfortunately, I'm talking about the old school, inefficient T-Mac. Chandler is averaging 7.5 points off 41.5% shooting, which is an indicator that he's taking too many silly shots. There's no doubt that he has potential, but that kind of wreckless play will get him benched pretty quickly in this team.

Lawrence Griffiths

Baby-Griffiths has probably been the best out of all the rookies on the team. He's averaging 12.5 points from 4 games played this season. While his points average sounds like a good reason for him to play every game, he scored 34 of his 50 career points in one game, so that number is possibly a little skewed. Lance has some nice moves around the hoop though and hopefully he can learn a few things from Dwight.

James Palmer

If there's a flaw with Hunt's game, it's that he does go for too many steals sometimes; this provides the minutes for James Palmer. It's unlikely that Palmer will become a star, but he can be a solid rotation guard. He has deep range and is an adequate passer... pretty much all you can ask for from a third or fourth string point guard.

Axel Donnelly

Axel unfortunately hasn't gotten a lot of love this season, as he mainly just subs in when players get into foul trouble. Hasn't cracked the rotation yet, but with his talent, it's only a matter of time.

IR

Jim Simon

This rookie can create a lot of matchup problems with his size. However, since he's not great at driving and plays around the perimeter, it's very much a moot point.

Vincenzo Russo

He's only seen one game this season. Much like Basil Richter in the earlier days of his career, Vincenzo Russo is probably going to be an IR filler this season.

Liam Leopold

Sorry Lamrock, but I haven't been able to find a game for him yet.

[Cruzerr]

After the game against the wolves, I think there was a STANding ovation.

I can prob. do this all day.

I really like how Howard is coming from the bench and dominating though. Keep it up.

[Andrew]

Nice outing for Rose there. You look to be in top form early on, hoping for a repeat.