Tag: Denver Nuggets (Page 15 of 22)

      Carmelo Anthony collapses and no one seems to care

      April 9, 2010 /

      Strange scene in Oklahoma City the other night. Carmelo Anthony knocks his head on Kevin Durant and collapses, and play goes on. Take a look:

      Why would the refs put the ball in play with a player laid out on the floor? Why wouldn’t the Denver coaching staff yell and scream for a timeout? Why in the world is J.R. Smith trying to score when his teammate is prone on the court? Several people dropped the ball in this situation.

      Here is what Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin had to say about it:

      “I couldn’t believe J.R. would try to go for the layup,” said Chauncey Billups, who was on the bench at the time. “I was like, ‘Dude, are you serious? Call timeout, man, you see the dude ain’t move. What in the world are you thinking about?'”

      Martin veered toward the positive, pointing out how Anthony was able to return and help the Nuggets to an important victory over the Thunder.

      “It says a lot about Melo to be laying out like that and come back in and hit two clutch free throws,” Martin said.

      He was asked, doesn’t the play say a lot about J.R. Smith?

      “Yeah, whatever,” Martin said.

      The NBA: Where Caring Happens.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Video

      Do the Nuggets have what it takes?

      March 1, 2010 /

      On the heels of their 95-89 loss to the Lakers on Sunday — the first time the Lakers beat Denver in three tries — J.A. Adande is left wondering if the Nuggets have what it takes to win a NBA championship.

      As much as they insist they’re not as running-game dependent as they used to be, here’s some evidence to the contrary: Denver now is 0-3 when scoring fewer than 90 points and 5-13 when scoring fewer than 100 points.

      Coach George Karl expounded on the Nuggets’ half-court issues, saying, “A lot of our losses, it’s because we don’t offensively trust the pass and have enough patience to fight through the defensive intensity. When we find the open man, when we move the ball and have a high assist night, it’s the key to us winning games.”

      When it goes bad, they’ll pull up for the quick jumper or they’ll forget to put the ball in the hands of Anthony, the third-best scorer in the league.

      When asked if he thought the Nuggets had a good chance of knocking off the Lakers or the Cavs, Bill Simmons said this in a recent chat:

      Absolutely. They’re one big body short, but other than that, they have everything I’m looking for in a legit contender. My 2 questions are these… 1) When is Chauncey going to realize that he hasn’t been Mr. Big Shot in about 4 years? When he waved Melo off vs. Cleveland last week to brick a game-winner, I was in shock. Melo has to get the ball in all big situations. So until they solve that alpha dog issue, I can’t buy in. 2) George Karl teams just have a habit of beating themselves in dumb ways in big playoff series. I worry about them playing a 7 game series against LAL in which they’d win 3 and give away 2 more… a little like the 2002 Kings

      I like what Billups has brought to Denver, but Simmons is right — he has to defer to Carmelo in crunch time. (Unless, of course, they occasionally want to use ‘Melo as a decoy, but that should be the exception, not the rule.) However, there is some evidence that Billups is simply better in the clutch. According to 82games.com, Billups’ FG% in the “clutch” (defined as 4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points) is 48% while Anthony’s is just 34%.

      But that just seems to be an anomaly. Last season, Anthony was one of the top crunch-time players in the league (57% FG%), so the Nuggets need to keep feeding him the ball. Remember, this is the guy who led Syracuse to a national title as a freshman, hitting a number of huge shots along the way.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals

      LeBron takes too many jumpers in crunch time

      February 19, 2010 /

      Yes, he posted a never-before-seen 43-13-15 last night, but he still jacks way too many jump shots. Case in point: Check out this series of shots by LeBron over the last nine minutes of last night’s 118-116 loss to the Nuggets.

      3:50 94-95 LeBron James makes free throw 1 of 2
      3:50 94-96 LeBron James makes free throw 2 of 2
      3:10 96-96 LeBron James misses 17-foot jumper
      2:39 98-98 LeBron James makes two point shot
      2:39 98-99 LeBron James makes free throw 1 of 1
      1:59 100-102 LeBron James makes driving layup
      1:23 102-102 LeBron James misses 24-foot three point jumper
      1:12 104-103 LeBron James makes free throw 1 of 2
      1:12 104-103 LeBron James misses free throw 2 of 2
      0:48 106-106 LeBron James makes 25-foot three point jumper
      0:00 106-106 LeBron James misses three point jumper (full court shot)

      3:19 109-110 LeBron James makes 12-foot jumper
      2:16 111-110 LeBron James misses 25-foot three point jumper
      1:50 113-110 LeBron James misses free throw 1 of 2
      1:50 113-111 LeBron James makes free throw 2 of 2
      0:48 116-113 LeBron James misses 24-foot three point jumper
      0:36 116-113 LeBron James misses 26-foot three point jumper
      0:23 116-115 LeBron James makes 9-foot running jumper
      0:23 116-116 LeBron James makes free throw 1 of 1
      0:00 118-116 LeBron James misses 28-foot three point jumper

      So, if we don’t count his desperation heave at the end of regulation, LeBron was 1-7 from 17-feet and beyond, and scored in some fashion virtually every time he went to the basket. He was 15-33 on the night and 1-9 from long range, so he was 14-24 on two-pointers and shot 17 free throws. In short, he was very successful when he attacked the rim, so he shouldn’t be settling for jumpers when the game is on the line.

      LeBron has worked hard on his three-point shot and is shooting a career-high 35.3% from deep this season. But he still doesn’t have a pure stroke, and probably never will. His elbow is cocked out and he often fades away. This is not how you shoot consistently from long range. To complicate matters, LeBron often has the ball in his hands so he’s not able to spot up like most pure shooters do. He has to dribble his way into position and take a contested shot — two more reasons why he should attack the basket.

      Just look at his game-by-game stats from the last month and a half. He made 30-49% of his threes just three times in 21 games. He shot 29% or lower twelve times and 50% or better six times. That is the definition of a streaky shooter. When he has it, he really has it, and when he doesn’t have it…well…last night was a great example. When his shot isn’t falling, he has to go to the hole, especially when the game is on the line.

      For all the talk last night about how Carmelo Anthony was guarding LeBron, let’s get real — Carmelo can’t guard LeBron off the dribble. No one can. The only one that can stop LeBron is LeBron.

      I’m not saying he should stop taking threes altogether, but if his shot isn’t falling, he has to attack the rim.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Nuggets’ Smith makes good with former lawyer

      January 27, 2010 /

      In 2006, J.R. Smith broke someone’s jaw during a pick-up basketball game in Houston. Charges were filed and Smith hired Houston lawyer Rusty Hardin, known for representing Roger Clemens’ in his case involving Brian McNamee. After Smith’s case, Hardin claimed he never received $22,753.51 in legal fees. Well, Smith decided to pay him just before things got ugly.

      From NBA.com:

      Dale Jefferson, Hardin’s attorney, had threatened to serve Smith with legal papers before Wednesday’s game at the Toyota Center. Smith paid a chunk of the fees less than two hours before tipoff, prompting Hardin to call off the process server. Smith has 30 days to pay the rest.

      “Mr. Smith has owned up to his obligations, and agreed to pay them in full,” Jefferson said, before he and Hardin settled into front-row seats. “When he does that, we will dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice. It has not been accomplished yet, but he did make a good-faith wire transfer prior to the start of the game.”

      The 24-year-old Smith called the dispute “a miscommunication.” He said before the game that he wasn’t aware that the bills had not been paid and had to “talk to my financial people about that.”

      Jefferson set a 6 p.m. deadline for Smith to start paying the fees, and Smith’s wire transfer on Wednesday was received with eight minutes to spare.

      “It was like a 3-pointer at the buzzer,” Jefferson said.

      I know professional athletes in general aren’t the smartest of people, but NBA players seem to find themselves in the stupidest situations. I have a feeling Smith just forgot that he owed Hardin the cash. If not, then he would have done this earlier in his career when his team was visiting Houston. Nevertheless, given Hardin’s profession, I’m surprised it took him this long to act. It’s not like Smith doesn’t have the money.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NBA

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