nuggets clinch

With the win vs. Sacramento tonight, combined with the Jazz lost to the Timberwolves the Dever Nuggets finally are in the playoffs after almost 1 decade!
This also ends the Jazz annd Trailblazers long playoff runs but begins a new one for the nuggets.

good game for the nuggets beating 1 of the better teams in the league. Now that they offically in the playoffs, this should increase the chances of Carmleo Anthony being rookie of the year leading his team to the playoffs, while LeBron will be watching!

It's great to see the Nuggets make the playoffs, but I still believe LeBron James has locked up the ROY award. The best Melo can probably hope for is co-ROY, but I still predict that LeBron will stand alone.

I wouldn't be suprised if the award goes two ways.

I'm glad the nuggets made it. I think Portland would have made it if they had the team they have now at the start of the season. But they didn't. lol. *shrug*

It's great to see the Nuggets make the playoffs, but I still believe LeBron James has locked up the ROY award. The best Melo can probably hope for is co-ROY, but I still predict that LeBron will stand alone.

It's great to see the Nuggets make the playoffs, and I believe Carmelo Anthony has locked up the ROY award. The best 'The Hype" can probably hope for is co-ROY, but I still predict that Melo will stand alone.

Uh, OK.

Anyway, LeBron apparently has the edge in early balloting (earlier thread), which is why I'm still picking him to be ROY.

don't wanna get too off topic, but this is the 3rd year in a row the Kings have knocked the Jazz out the playoffs (making nuggets win this game=jazz out)

dunno why but.... to me it seems LeBron has been out done by Melo...
I was kinda hoping LeBron could lead his team to the playoffs....

Great game! Marcus Camby made the difference in this ballgame. Anyways i wonder why bibby did not play in the 4th qtr.... To Peja youre a great shooter but youre also a bad clutch shooter(airballs, bricks).

in the style of Ric Flair " WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"



Melo for ROY

This makes the Nuggets the first team in NBA history to make the playoffs the season after a season with less than 20 wins (17).

I think this actually edges Carmelo over Lebron merely based on the fact that wins mean more that stats. Anybody can put up good stats on a bad team (in the East for that matter). Carmelo has not only been able to put up numbers but has been able to put them up against the elite teams in the west. He's managed to lead his team where nobody expected him to do his first season. There's no question that Lebron has more skills, however Carmelo winning it would send out a better message to the younger players up and coming.

I remember when Kiki Vandeweghe said last year that the Nuggets would make the playoffs in 2004. Everybody laughed... (and I did too)

I'm happy for this young and talented team.

I think this actually edges Carmelo over Lebron merely based on the fact that wins mean more that stats. Anybody can put up good stats on a bad team (in the East for that matter). Carmelo has not only been able to put up numbers but has been able to put them up against the elite teams in the west. He's managed to lead his team where nobody expected him to do his first season. There's no question that Lebron has more skills, however Carmelo winning it would send out a better message to the younger players up and coming.

I don't totally agree. Carmelo is better surrounded than LeBron in his team even if I admit that the Eastern Conference is quite "easier" than the Western.

Lebron's team isn't that bad either especially since they have two of the EAST's best big men and also McInnis. Their bench is what really suffers, Tony Battie is the only experienced player on the bench.

I say co-ROY. I think they are exactly even. Lebron had slightly better stats (VERY slightly better) but Carmelo's team won the games it had to to get into the playoffs while the Cavs completely collapsed when it was time to lock up a playoff spot.

The Cavs collapse was mainly due to the fact that McInnis got injured though, it wasn't really Lebron's fault. It's also due to Boozer getting tired, Eric Williams also getting injured, and Lebron getting frustrated and trying to take over games which in-turn resulted in him shooting lower percentages, getting more offensive fouls, and more turnovers.



In the end, everyone's responsible

There's more to the Cavaliers' collapse than just losing point guard Jeff McInnis, which is what everyone wearing wine and gold has pointed to. Indeed, McInnis' injury immediately signaled the team's descent from the playoff race.

It is so apparent that McInnis, a fierce competitor who's never really been seriously injured in his NBA career, tried twice to come back from injuries before he was anywhere ready to do

so.

But as there is often in life, there's so much more to the story. Others have had their

role.

LeBron James has gotten frustrated.

He wants to take over games and win them on his own. And he has the power to do so; he's shown it all year. But he tends to force things, a natural for rookies.

During the losing skid, his turnovers and offensive fouls are up. He often carries that frustrated attitude over to the defensive end, where he tries to make great plays and misses or allows his man to score too easily.

That's OK; he's going to get better. James' growth from the beginning of the season to the end has been inspiring, hinting of how great his career will be.

Forward Carlos Boozer has gotten tired.

Boozer's defense, especially off the dribble, has been weak in the stretch run. He's become more foul prone of late, often because he's a step slow. He hasn't been as active within the offense, either. He's played more minutes than at any time in his life. They're hard minutes, and it's worn him down.

Eric Williams has become injury-prone.

His second half was marred by one pain after another. A bruised knee, a twice-injured right wrist, a bruised Achilles tendon. At age 31, he couldn't cope with those pains and be effective. His production dip hurt the team's rotation.

It could go on and on. The defense has become susceptible to dribble penetration and isn't very good in transition.

This is not a secret; every team they play tries to beat them up and down the floor.

The finger of blame doesn't miss the coaching staff, either. They've often used McInnis as an excuse instead of finding an answer, not that they haven't tried numerous options. But they, too, are still learning their personnel.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO