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

[Andrew]

Nice throwback performance by Hill. It's always fun when unexpected heroes step up for you; Eric Piatkowski turned in an amazing performance for me in an old Bulls Dynasty (either 2005 or 06), knocking down desperation threes to get me back into a game I probably should've lost. I had to give him the starting nod in the next game after that effort.

[Kenny]

Grant Hill what a game!

Hill can still do his thing. Btw I would feature the ATL or HOU

Yeah, he's still got a rating of 69... which is enough for me

:o ol' man Hill showing the youngsters how it's done; bummed to see Camby retire but awesome he'll be honored and have his jersey in the rafters

Good to see Marcus getting his J retired Feature the Pacers!

That'll teach them for getting on his lawn

I always thought Marcus deserved to get it retired when he's done. He was the backbone of their defense for a long time.

Yeah, I wouldn't call myself a Lakers hater... just a Nuggets fan . There's a bunch of players on the team that I like actually (Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Luke Walton).

I kinda sounded like Laker hater when I said that, but I don't hate them, it's just that they are rivals with the Rockets (because of last year's amazing playoff series), so it would be a good laugh for me, though impossible, to see the Lakers at the bottom.

Yeah, I know how you feel. The Rockets did unbelievably well though, considering their two stars were out completely. I just always figured that Kobe Bryant had a smug and calculating demeanor... which is why I'm not a huge fan of the Lakers. No way am I underrating his ability though... he's the best closer in the game.

Nice throwback performance by Hill. It's always fun when unexpected heroes step up for you; Eric Piatkowski turned in an amazing performance for me in an old Bulls Dynasty (either 2005 or 06), knocking down desperation threes to get me back into a game I probably should've lost. I had to give him the starting nod in the next game after that effort.

Yeah, I tend to play for the unexpected heroes. A few years ago when I was controlling Milwaukee, I won the Finals MVP with Josh Childress

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

Denver started off the 5 game round with a bang, scoring impressive wins over Houston and Memphis. In the feature game, they were furiously challenged by Atlanta... however in the last two games, they suffered from heavy losses at the hands of Charlotte and the East's top seed Indiana. They now sit 18 and 7 for the year. Here's the feature game:

Denver surge past Atlanta



Denver came back from a 11 point deficit at the end of the 3rd quarter to beat Atlanta 78-77. Joe Johnson and Russell Westbrook dominated early, with 25 and 18 respectively. Marvin Williams also showed his value with 16 of his own as Atlanta took a commanding lead to start he 4th quarter. However, another huge game by the Birdman and the return to form of Carmelo Anthony stopped their run short. Chris Andersen scored 22 points and grabbed a massive 17 boards, while Melo scored 20. Ty Maximilian also helped out with 18 points. Down by one point, Atlanta star Joe Johnson had the shot to win the game, but he didn't get the bounce he needed.

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

ATL@DEN

DEN: 78 (Andersen 22, Anthony 20, Maximilian 18)
ATL: 77 (Johnson 25, Westbrook 18, Williams 16, Smith 11)

Sprite Performer of the Game: Chris Andersen 22 points 17 rebounds 3 assists 1 block

Rebounds

DEN: Andersen 17
ATL: McGee 11

Assists

DEN: Billups 6
ATL: Johnson 5

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

Last 5 Games

HOU: 88-63 W
MEM: 91-83 W
ATL: 78-77 W
CHA: 81-63 L
IND: 94-84 L

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

The Unexpected

Over the 5 game stretch, both Chris Andersen and Taylor MacKenzie had star performances... at the start of the season, these two guys probably weren't at the top of the list of players expected to have a big season. MacKenzie scored 32 against Houston and 30 against Memphis, while the Birdman's run of excellence continued throughout the round... here are his numbers over the 5 games:

Houston: 14 points | 19 rebounds
Memphis: 9 points | 18 rebounds
Atlanta: 22 points | 17 rebounds
Charlotte: 10 points | 19 rebounds
Indiana: 6 points | 15 rebounds

Increased Playing Time

While MacKenzie had poor performances in the last 3 games of the round and Ray Allen sitting on IR, Shannon Brown has cashed in on some extra playing time. Here he is blocking the Pacers' Danny Granger.

Back in form?

Despite a loss against the Pacers, the Nuggets can take heart in the fact that Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points. His shot has been a little erratic this season, so his performance was well appreciated.

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

Next 5 Games

TOR
@GSW
@LAL
@LAC
@CHA

Feature game will be against Toronto

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

With any luck, I can snap this funk I'm in at the moment and get back to my winning ways. The next summary will be the December review... however I do have a big announcement coming up in the next post. It will without doubt create a buzz.

[Andrew]

Great comeback win over the Hawks, Birdman has been a beast on the boards as of late.

[Kenny]

The Christmas Day Trade

Denver acquire Kirilenko for Gortat, Williams







In a move that will no doubt be a head scratcher to a lot of people, the Denver Nuggets have acquired forward Andrei Kirilenko in exchange for Marcin Gortat, Lou Williams and Erick Christian.

While it is unclear what role he could play in the lineup, Denver coach George Karl is pleased to have a player of Kirilenko's calibre coming off the bench. His versatility has been sited as a big advantage he brings to the table.

While he had a solid season with Denver, Marcin Gortat was beginning to lose out on minutes because of the form of Chris Andersen. While there is no suggestion that he demanded this trade, he wasn't displeased by it either. Lou Williams is yet to see a minute of game time this season and it is believed that he could be a part of Utah's rotation. Playing one more game than Lou, Erick Christian also has a chance in Utah to get some playing time.

The trade in lamens terms

Denver are able to cut ties with a disgruntled Lou Williams and an under-sized stiff in Erick Christian. Marcin is a valuable player, but playing behind Birdman in his current form means he'll be keeping that bench warm.

Kirilenko is not only a skillful player on both ends, but he has an 11 million dollar expiring contract. If the trade doesn't work out, Denver can cut him loose and have an extra 11 million dollars, on top of the potential retiring contracts of Ray Allen, Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill.

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

While this trade is big news, it also leads up to something (or should I say someone) very big. And here it is:

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

The Big Diesel Arrives in the Mile High City



At the beginning of the season, the rumour mills were buzzing. Now, there's truth to the signing. Shaquille O'Neal has been signed by Denver for the rest of the season. With Birdman having a career season, the expectation of Shaq won't be quite as high as previous years and his playing time will initially be fairly limited.

With this signing, Denver now have the two oldest active players in the NBA.

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

Will this signing go down as a success? Or will it be the biggest blunder of my dynasty? The only way to find out is to stay tuned

[Andrew]

Those look like good moves, nicely done.

[Azzdogs]

AK47 will hopefully provide you with another defensive beast.

[Bucket]

Good trade.

[Martti.]

Kirilenko is a great addition, but not sure how he'll fit with you rotation. You have Melo, GH33 and your new guys but hey, it's up to you.

Shaquille should help as well.
(Interesting, I'm writing this from my iPod touch and I wrote Shaq and it immidiately offered me Shaquille with spell check)

[Andrew]

Kirilenko is pretty versatile though, he can pick up minutes playing alongside Melo or Hill when need be.

[Kenny]

Those look like good moves, nicely done.

Good trade and buy.

Thanks guys, I hope it works out. I kind of gave Shaq a nickname of "The Big Liability" when I was playing that NBA Finals against him, but hopefully he can come good for me this year. I guess I won't need him as much as Cleveland did.

AK47 will hopefully provide you with another defensive beast.

I hope so, I have good memories of him in NBA Live 06, so I guess it's a reunion of sorts

Kirilenko is a great addition, but not sure how he'll fit with you rotation. You have Melo, GH33 and your new guys but hey, it's up to you.

Shaquille should help as well.
(Interesting, I'm writing this from my iPod touch and I wrote Shaq and it immidiately offered me Shaquille with spell check)

Kirilenko is pretty versatile though, he can pick up minutes playing alongside Melo or Hill when need be.

I was planning on switching him between Power Forward and Small Forward. It all depends on who is running hot on the night... I wouldn't dismiss playing him at Shooting Guard either, but I have a lot of depth in that position, so with any luck that won't be neccessary.

[Kenny]

December 2012

MacKenzie picks up second award

Taylor MacKenzie has once again picked up the West Rookie of the Month award. Right now, he is by far and away the top rookie of his class and is the only one to lead his team in scoring. Barring a freak injury or bad computer simulation, I'd dare say he's a lock for the Rookie of the Year honor.

Team Overview

Well it's been an interesting month for the Nuggets. Birdman has absolutely dominated the boards, at one point he has 6 games in a row with 15 or more rebounds. He wouldn't look out of place with an All-Star jersey... or a second Defensive Player of the Year Award. As mentioned, Taylor MacKenzie won the West Rookie of the Month, but it hasn't all been smooth sailing for him. Towards the end of the month, he began losing time to an in-form Shannon Brown, who is now well in contention for a contract renewal next season.

Melo has provided the odd spark, but it's been the young guys providing the points for the team... and Grant Hill. Who could forget his 33 point performance against Dallas? Not bad for a 40 year old... and speaking of 40 year olds, the Big Diesel arrived under Denver's christmas tree this year, as well as former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko. Both of these guys will probably have a reduced role, but guys like JJ Hickson and Matt Bonner might have to really compete just to get some minutes. Chauncey Billups and Mario Chalmers have been rotating rather seemlessly at the point, while Ty Maximilian is putting his hand up for Most Improved Player honors... even though he was arguably the Finals MVP last year... strange how that works out.

Ray Allen and Arron Afflalo have seen next to no playing time in December, while the Nuggets say goodbye to Marcin Gortat, Lou Williams and Erick Christian. I think that covers everybody.

Around the League

Monthly Awards

West Player: [OKC] Stanley Alston (18.6ppg, 4.1apg, 1.9spg)
East Player: [WAS] Randy Foye (24.2ppg, 3.1rpg, 4.6apg)
West Rookie: [DEN] Taylor MacKenzie (17.6ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.3spg)
East Rookie: [BOS] Dave Russell (11.9ppg, 3.3apg, 1.1spg)

MVP Race

[CLE] Lebron James (27.7ppg, 5.1rpg, 1.2bpg)
[IND] Danny Granger (23.4ppg, 7.6rpg, 5.5apg)
[NJN] Devin Harris (20.6ppg, 6.8apg, 2spg)
[WAS] Randy Foye (20.8ppg, 4.8apg, 1.8spg)
[NJN] Amare Stoudemire (17.1ppg, 8.7rpg, 1.5bpg)

Standings

East

Washington 22-9
Cleveland 21-9
Indiana 18-9
New Jersey 20-12
Boston 17-12
Charlotte 17-12
Toronto 15-14
New York 15-14
---
Detroit 14-14
Atlanta 12-15
Orlando 12-17
Philadelphia 10-17
Milwaukee 11-19
Chicago 8-19
Miami 9-22


West

Oklahoma City 24-8
Denver 19-8
Portland 20-12
New Orleans 19-12
Phoenix 18-11
Memphis 17-13
Utah 15-15
Golden State 13-17
---
Sacramento 11-16
LA Clippers 11-16
Minnesota 13-19
LA Lakers 11-19
San Antonio 11-20
Dallas 10-20
Houston 10-20

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

So that's the month of December. I was a bit surprised by the breakout season for Randy Foye, but hey, all in the charm of the game I suppose. Hopefully there will be a lot of wins for Denver in January... and with one roster space still open, there might be another player addition to come yet.

[Andrew]

Good stuff, nice to see MacKenzie getting Rookie of the Month honours for his performance. Foye's improvement is obviously having a big impact in Washington, too.

[Kenny]

Signing Announcement: Denver add 3rd point guard... but who is it?


Smush Parker

George Karl doesn't like heading into the post-season without a 3rd point guard and despite the fact that it's only January, the Denver Nuggets have decided to sign one for the rest of the year.

So who is it? Well, this particular point guard has been away from the NBA for 5 years. He has previously played for 6 NBA teams, including both LA teams. He has been apart of Denver's pre-season squad before in 2008, but he was waived before the season has begun.

Any ideas? Well, if you give up, you can click on the spoiler.

[Martti.]

Some weird MVP candidates, but it's nice that all of them are from top teams. Lakers suck, that's nice.

[Kenny]

Good stuff, nice to see MacKenzie getting Rookie of the Month honours for his performance. Foye's improvement is obviously having a big impact in Washington, too.

Yeah I was thinking that too. I guess the game sees Foye as having a lot of potential, which I suppose he does in real life as well. He hasn't been playing in the league for all that long so who knows what level he will be at in 2013.

Some weird MVP candidates, but it's nice that all of them are from top teams. Lakers suck, that's nice.

It is nice that a team that one had such an empire has fallen... although, I'm still skeptical to whether they'll miss the playoffs all together.

[kibaxx7]

The Thunder are playing huge in every dynasty in the forums as of late

[megarover]

Foye is putting up some out of this world numbers

[Andrew]

Not a bad signing there, hopefully he'll have his moments.

[The X]

Foye is putting up some out of this world numbers

I don't think they're too unreasonable. If Wizards made him their number 1 option then I could see him replicate his college scoring prowess & putting up 20ppg

[dare]

Hey man what is the Birdman's RPG, I'd like to have a Birdman watch

[Kenny]

The Thunder are playing huge in every dynasty in the forums as of late

The craziest thing about the Thunder in my dynasty story is that they don't have Durant (Minnesota), Westbrook (Atlanta) or Green (Dallas).

Foye is putting up some out of this world numbers

Foye is putting up some out of this world numbers

I don't think they're too unreasonable. If Wizards made him their number 1 option then I could see him replicate his college scoring prowess & putting up 20ppg

Hey, New Jersey are actually a good team in this story, so anything can happen.

Not a bad signing there, hopefully he'll have his moments.

I hope so too. He'll be used sparingly, but I think he's a solid 3rd choice point.

Hey man what is the Birdman's RPG, I'd like to have a Birdman watch

Currently sitting 1st in the NBA with 12.1 rebounds per game.

[Kenny]

5 Game Summary

Well, it's been an adjusting period over these 5 games. It has seen the arrival of Shaq, AK 47 and for those who didn't check the spoiler, Smush Parker. Denver struggled for consistency, going 3-2 and unable to string together a winning streak. They had a loss against Shaq's previous team the Warriors and lost a close one against the Clippers. The games seem to be getting closer and the Nuggets now sit 21-9. The feature game is against the Toronto Raptors... this is also the game where Marcus Camby got his jersey retired... here's how it went:

Denver thump the Raptors



Taylor MacKenzie and Chris Andersen combined to lead Denver to a 88-77 victory against the Raptors. MacKenzie scored a career high 38 points, while the Birdman pulled down a massive 25 rebounds. Amongst the other scorers for Denver were Carmelo Anthony (15), Chauncey Billups (14) and Ty Maximilian (12). It was too hard to decide who should get the Sprite Performer of the Game, and since it wasn't announced before the end of regulation, it was decided that both the Birdman and T-Mac should split the honor.

For the Raptors, Chris Bosh had a huge game with 28 points and 19 boards, while Jack and Calderon both had 12 and former Denver player Nene chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Calderon also had 11 assists.

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

TOR@DEN

DEN: 88 (MacKenzie 38, Anthony 15, Billups 14)
TOR: 77 (Bosh 28, Jack 12, Calderon 12)

Sprite Performer of the Game

Chris Andersen 4 points 25 rebounds 7 assists 2 blocks
Taylor MacKenzie 38 points 7 rebounds

Rebounds

DEN: Andersen 25
TOR: Bosh 19

Assists

DEN: Andersen 7
TOR: Calderon 11

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

Last 5 Games

TOR: 88-77 W
@GSW: 68-60 L
@LAL: 86-82 W
@LAC: 89-87 L
@CHA: 90-82 W

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

The New Guys

Shaq Attack

Shaq had an impressive debut against his former team. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block

The Gun

AK47 had a clumsy debut against the Warriors. He had 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. Since then he has been more solid in his play.

A comeback

Smush Parker debut against the Clippers. He registered 1 assist.



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

Next 5 Games

@BOS
@TOR
@CLE
MIN
OKC

As tempting as it is to make the feature game against Boston, I'd have to make it the OKC game. Boston of course have Michael Beasley, who was an important piece of Denver's championship puzzle.

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

Birdman Watch

Here are his numbers:

4.7ppg 12.1rpg* 1.9bpg+

*1st in the league
+8th in the league

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

[dare]

nice that you add a Birdman watch, maybe you should make him a 8 PPG or even 10 PPG and a 2+ BPG, sure lock as an allstar, nice debut by Shaq too

[Andrew]

Great screenshot of Shaq, nice numbers in his debut.