Last night the Nuggets won the Northwest Division with a 110-98 win over the Portland Trailblazers.
The article calls it the Nuggets’ first division title in eighteen years, which is just ridiculous. Anyway, I’m thrilled, so we’re going back to the Hole Punch Vault to see what went right and what didn’t this season.
First things first. I did say the Nuggets would win the division title, and I’m pointing that out because my recent predictions that the Broncos and University of Connecticut’s mens basketball team would win championships have whittled down my readership. (I also predicted a record of 54-28. That seems unlikely, as the Nuggets would not only have to win out, but also win half a dozen games they’ve already lost.)
What went right: Frontcourt depth. Nene injured his knee in the first game and was lost for the season and Kenyon Martin has been in and out of the lineup. And Ed Najera is gone now. But the Nuggets pieced together a decent inside corps thanks to a surprisingly more consistent Francisco Elson, an amazing start by Marcus Camby, and, of course, Carmelo’s maturation.
What went wrong: Earl Watson. I thought we signed him because we actually wanted him, but it turned out he really was just trade bait like everyone else said. I guess this actually went right because we did trade him.
What went right: Carmelo. My prediction (ahem):
What went wrong: Outside shooting. We’re dead-last in three-point percentage.
What went right: The trade that brought us Ruben Patterson and Reggie Evans.
I gave us the slight edge when it happened, but Kiki deserves serious props because it turned out to provide a major boost. It didn’t get the publicity, but forget what you’ve heard-it worked out fifty times better than when the Broncos signed all those Cleveland Browns.
Outlook: Maybe the biggest factor in the division title, of course, was the rest of our pathetic division, from which we will likely be the only playoff team. This puts us in an interesting playoff position. As a division winner, we’re automatically a top-three seed (we’ll be No. 3), but have a chance to finish with a worse record than the sixth seed, meaning we wouldn’t even have homecourt advantage in the first round.
Anyway, the sixth seed will probably be the Memphis Grizzlies or Los Angeles Clippers. Statistically, both look to have a little bit of an edge on us. But I think the Nuggets’ situation is somewhat analogous to that of the Pittsburgh Steelers this year-because of injuries and, in our case, trades, the team is better than its numbers and record would indicate.
We can beat either team. We’d even have an outside shot against the Suns in the second round. Either way, while the Nuggets may not look like they’ve made the huge leap I’d predicted, they continue to become one of the league’s elite teams.
The article calls it the Nuggets’ first division title in eighteen years, which is just ridiculous. Anyway, I’m thrilled, so we’re going back to the Hole Punch Vault to see what went right and what didn’t this season.
First things first. I did say the Nuggets would win the division title, and I’m pointing that out because my recent predictions that the Broncos and University of Connecticut’s mens basketball team would win championships have whittled down my readership. (I also predicted a record of 54-28. That seems unlikely, as the Nuggets would not only have to win out, but also win half a dozen games they’ve already lost.)
What went right: Frontcourt depth. Nene injured his knee in the first game and was lost for the season and Kenyon Martin has been in and out of the lineup. And Ed Najera is gone now. But the Nuggets pieced together a decent inside corps thanks to a surprisingly more consistent Francisco Elson, an amazing start by Marcus Camby, and, of course, Carmelo’s maturation.
What went wrong: Earl Watson. I thought we signed him because we actually wanted him, but it turned out he really was just trade bait like everyone else said. I guess this actually went right because we did trade him.
What went right: Carmelo. My prediction (ahem):
I think Carmelo will have a fantastic season and score in the mid-twenties per game, in addition to regaining his rookie year late-game mojo. He won't be a stopper defensively, nor will we ask him to be, but expect him to play hard enough to earn big minutes.Carmelo did indeed raise his scoring average to a current 26.8 per game. Even more impressively, he’s continued the efficiency he showcased at the end of last season with career-highs in field goal (48.2%) and free-throw (80.7%) shooting. And if you’ve watched a Nuggets game lately, you’ve surely heard that his late-game shooting percentages are among the league’s best (actually, I think they’ve said he is the league’s best), placing him in stark contrast to classmate LeBron James. Carmelo probably deserves cursory MVP consideration, if only because of how the offense stagnates when he’s on the bench. And he’s averaging 37 minutes per game.
What went wrong: Outside shooting. We’re dead-last in three-point percentage.
What went right: The trade that brought us Ruben Patterson and Reggie Evans.
I gave us the slight edge when it happened, but Kiki deserves serious props because it turned out to provide a major boost. It didn’t get the publicity, but forget what you’ve heard-it worked out fifty times better than when the Broncos signed all those Cleveland Browns.
Outlook: Maybe the biggest factor in the division title, of course, was the rest of our pathetic division, from which we will likely be the only playoff team. This puts us in an interesting playoff position. As a division winner, we’re automatically a top-three seed (we’ll be No. 3), but have a chance to finish with a worse record than the sixth seed, meaning we wouldn’t even have homecourt advantage in the first round.
Anyway, the sixth seed will probably be the Memphis Grizzlies or Los Angeles Clippers. Statistically, both look to have a little bit of an edge on us. But I think the Nuggets’ situation is somewhat analogous to that of the Pittsburgh Steelers this year-because of injuries and, in our case, trades, the team is better than its numbers and record would indicate.
We can beat either team. We’d even have an outside shot against the Suns in the second round. Either way, while the Nuggets may not look like they’ve made the huge leap I’d predicted, they continue to become one of the league’s elite teams.
Comments
that's why i come here.
and for the liberal beratement, albeit employed ardently.