We won there in the second game of the season...can we do it again? Denver is playing terribly at home, losing their last 6 in a row while only averaging 83 PPG the last 3. And while their offense is struggling, their defense ranks among the league's worst in opponents' shooting percentage. The Wolves are only favored by 1, but this is a game they need to win.
Denver's offense relies on Faried put-backs and SF's shooting (Gallo and the emerging Will Barton), so the key is putting a body on Faried and aggressively defending the perimeter. Mudiay has been a disaster in his rookie year...4 TOs per game while shooting 31% (although he is a plus defender).
Sam Mitchell made a bizarre comment yesterday that Kevin Martin continues to play because he is playing defense. He must be seeing something I'm not seeing. I agree that Kevin is hustling more consistently on defense than usual, but he is still a liability. That said, we need his scoring to stay in the playoff race, and he showed signs of getting into one of those ridiculous shot streaks he has a history of getting into. Denver doesn't defend the perimeter well, so I'm looking for a big game from him tonight. KAT is also coming off a terrific game and was 28-14 in the first Denver game, so I'm expecting big things from him too.
This is a game we need to win. There was much optimism when the Wolves went home for 4 winnable games, but they struggled to win only one of them. Now they have a stretch of 7 games against below .500 teams, so again it's time for them to make a statement if they truly believe they are playoff contenders.
Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
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longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]
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AbeVigodaLive
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Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
1. The Denver home record is interesting. Historically, they've been such a good team there.
2. Premature on the George Karl firing? They fired him after an unexpected 57-win season in 2013. The team has gotten progressively worse since. Back to point #1... that team went 38 - 3 at home.
3. Mudiay's shooting was gonna be the wild card with him, right? Yikes. I remember discussing the only video of him I saw prior to the draft... he shot an airball from the free throw line. That's nearly unprecedented for a PG.
4. I think I like Will Barton. He reminds me a bit of a more efficient, still improving Corey Brewer from what I've seen.
5. I think Denver is a 50+ loss team when all is said and done. So yeah... in a season where we want to see signs of growth from the Wolves... a win would be good.
2. Premature on the George Karl firing? They fired him after an unexpected 57-win season in 2013. The team has gotten progressively worse since. Back to point #1... that team went 38 - 3 at home.
3. Mudiay's shooting was gonna be the wild card with him, right? Yikes. I remember discussing the only video of him I saw prior to the draft... he shot an airball from the free throw line. That's nearly unprecedented for a PG.
4. I think I like Will Barton. He reminds me a bit of a more efficient, still improving Corey Brewer from what I've seen.
5. I think Denver is a 50+ loss team when all is said and done. So yeah... in a season where we want to see signs of growth from the Wolves... a win would be good.
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longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]
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Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
Good points, abe. Yeah, Denver and Sac-town have always been a bettor's paradise for the home teams (visitors always whined about the altitude in Denver), but they have lost their edge this year. I like Barton too...I'm more worried about him than Gallo.
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AbeVigodaLive
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Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
longstrangetrip wrote:Good points, abe. Yeah, Denver and Sac-town have always been a bettor's paradise for the home teams (visitors always whined about the altitude in Denver), but they have lost their edge this year. I like Barton too...I'm more worried about him than Gallo.
I'm not much of a fan of Gallinari.
I just realized Denver has Foye AND Mike Miller?
Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
AbeVigodaLive wrote:longstrangetrip wrote:Good points, abe. Yeah, Denver and Sac-town have always been a bettor's paradise for the home teams (visitors always whined about the altitude in Denver), but they have lost their edge this year. I like Barton too...I'm more worried about him than Gallo.
I'm not much of a fan of Gallinari.
I just realized Denver has Foye AND Mike Miller?
Yep funny isn't it?
Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
longstrangetrip wrote:We won there in the second game of the season...can we do it again? Denver is playing terribly at home, losing their last 6 in a row while only averaging 83 PPG the last 3. And while their offense is struggling, their defense ranks among the league's worst in opponents' shooting percentage. The Wolves are only favored by 1, but this is a game they need to win.
Denver's offense relies on Faried put-backs and SF's shooting (Gallo and the emerging Will Barton), so the key is putting a body on Faried and aggressively defending the perimeter. Mudiay has been a disaster in his rookie year...4 TOs per game while shooting 31% (although he is a plus defender).
Sam Mitchell made a bizarre comment yesterday that Kevin Martin continues to play because he is playing defense. He must be seeing something I'm not seeing. I agree that Kevin is hustling more consistently on defense than usual, but he is still a liability. That said, we need his scoring to stay in the playoff race, and he showed signs of getting into one of those ridiculous shot streaks he has a history of getting into. Denver doesn't defend the perimeter well, so I'm looking for a big game from him tonight. KAT is also coming off a terrific game and was 28-14 in the first Denver game, so I'm expecting big things from him too.
This is a game we need to win. There was much optimism when the Wolves went home for 4 winnable games, but they struggled to win only one of them. Now they have a stretch of 7 games against below .500 teams, so again it's time for them to make a statement if they truly believe they are playoff contenders.
If you watch Martin on every possession you will find his defense a lot better that you are expecting which is terrible defense which is a rep he has earned over time and hard to shake. He is putting forth the effort and clearly has a clue what he is supposed to do in the defensive scheme. He does a pretty good job with guys that move well without the ball. Bazz puts forth the effort but doesn't have a clear concept of what he is supposed to be doing gets lost much more on screens or chasing guys around. He has been much more solid the last 3 or so games but Martin has easily outperformed him this season. Martin would pretty much have to lock guys down for most people to think he is doing anything worthwhile on that end and I get why but I think he has generally not been a liability on that end and that's something all things considered. Will it keep up? Idk it would be nice if it did and he started hitting shots.
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BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]
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Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
I think we'll be fine tonight, as long as we can contain Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe. Wolves by 10.
Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
KennyBania wrote:I think we'll be fine tonight, as long as we can contain Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe. Wolves by 10.
Isn't it tradition for X-Wolves to go off against them? Miller and Foye go off for 50 between themthem and the Wolves lose by 1.
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Coolbreeze44
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Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
BizarroJerry wrote:I think we'll be fine tonight, as long as we can contain Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe. Wolves by 10.
When is it time for my favorite, David Puddy?
Re: Mile-high musings- Nuggets GDT
When does the Rubio Rant from Pork start?