There is this old Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk and the Enterprise discover this massive planet eater drifting through space. I'm beginning to think that when Melo and J.R. and Camby return, the Nuggets will become a "team eater," wearing out and demoralizing their opponents to the point of self destruction or surrender. This is what happened to the Sonics tonight. Opposing coaches will say when they see the Nuggets "My god, who created this monster?" The monster was created by the Nugget's owner, the Denver front office, Melo becoming a superstar, Camby, Boykins, and several others playing their guts out, and Allen Iverson wanting to win a Ring more than anything in his life and being one of the best basketball players of all time. Oh, and we may have gotten an assist from David Stern. David Stern, with his massive suspensions to Melo and J.R., may have put just enough fire under the behinds of the Nuggets front office to seal the Iverson trade before the Celtics or Wolves or somebody else could get their hands on him. So it is possible, though not probable, that Iverson might have gone elsewhere were it not for the suspensions. The Nuggets ended their stubborn resistance to parting with Andre Miller after those historic mega suspensions came down and then the historic deal was done. Aside from that, it also seems that someone (it wasn't me, I swear) put a really nasty spell on many of the teams that are playing the Nuggets during the long suspensions and the Camby injury. First the Wizards were exhausted from a double overtime on the road the night before. Then the Celtics were without their top two scorers, as well as all their other big veterans. The Suns had all their guys, but they were sent packing because the game was cancelled from the blizzard. That game has now been scheduled for when all Nuggets except K-Mart are supposed to be back from various injuries and suspensions. And it goes on. The next game is at Oklahoma, and that team has recently been totally devastated by injuries. It's getting really creepy. Tonight the Sonics were without their top two scorers. Strong forward Rashard Lewis (22 ppg) is out 2-3 months with a torn tendon in his right hand. And shooting guard Ray Allen (25 ppg) did not travel to Denver because his fiance had a baby on Wednesday. Center Chris Wilcox was so disgusted with the whole chain of events that he was double t'd and ejected near the end of the third quarter. The Sonics lost their fight after that. But the Sonics played extremely tight b-ball in the first half, taking everything the loose Nuggets defense gave them, and making the Nuggets pay for a bunch of sloppy turnovers. But in the second half, they could not defend the Answer, who produced one of the best games of his career, an almost perfect display of basketball skill and will to win. The home crowd understandably went crazy, and the Sonics gradually wore out and lost their confidence that they could beat this monster. Jamal Sampson, a C-F who has had almost no playing time until tonight, played 17 minutes and picked up 9 boards in that short time. Reggie Evans had 18 rebounds, and Najera just 4, as the Nuggets totally dominated the boards all game long. Evans, who likes to go to the hoop, made 5 of his 6 free throws tonight and finished with 9 points. Najera was 4/4, and 1/1 on 3's for 9 points, and he had 3 assists and the 4 rebounds. DerMarr Johnson played 29 minutes and he was 3/9 and 1/4 on 3's for 7 points. Other than 7 rebounds, Kleiza's night was a disaster, and he had to be pulled from the game early with 5 fouls and 5 turnovers. With Nene out again due to the knee, George Karl has essentially run out of players. As a result, Diawara got massive playing time, 38 minutes. He was 2/8, 0/4 on 3's, and 4/4 from the line for 8 points. He also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Diawara showed some signs in late November and the first week of December but all the crazy stuff that's happened to the Nuggets recently and his being a starter too soon has taken a big toll on Diawara's game. Obviously, Karl thinks Diawara's game will return when things start to get back to normal, judging from the huge minutes Diawara had. Many Iverson critics over the years have claimed that A.I. either can not or does not want to play the point. He always could play it, the relevant question was and is whether he wants to play it. And for the Nuggets, he clearly does want to play it. He had 10 of the Nuggets 16 assists. In games similar to this one earlier this season, with a 10-12 point lead early in the 4th, the Nuggets would frequently have a bunch of turnovers and get torched to the point where they would lose the game. But with Iverson at the helm, there was no way that could happen. Iverson, with an assist from Boykins, broke the spirit of the Sonics, starting with the Wilcox ejection, to the point where the Sonics gave up. The guy is playing his heart out just because he's happy. Specifically, he's happy to be playing for a team that has more wins than losses (16-10 now), and for a team that has a 10 point lead at the start of the 4th, instead of being 10 behind as was often the case in Philadelphia. It's like 1999-2000 all over again; Iverson is having dream games because he knows that there is a real possibility that this team can land in the finals. A.I. himself said recently that he feels as if he has been reborn. So our new team captain was 17/29, 1/2 on 3's and 9/12 from the line for 44 points. To go with the 10 assists, he had 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Earl Boykins has almost become Iverson #2, an even shorter and more improbable version of basketball will to win than Iverson himself. They are almost like soul mates who think and play in a very similar way, though Boykins is ultimately limited by being only 5'5" tall. In just 3 games, Iverson may have found his favorite run and gun partner of his whole career. Boykins was a superb 9/17, 1/2 on 3's and 5/6 from the line for 24 points. He played 31 minutes while A.I. played almost the whole game. The next game is tomorrow night, (Friday, Dec. 29) in Oklahoma to play the Hornets at 6 pm mountain time. REGGIE EVANS WHERE HE DOES HIS BEST WORK WHO CAN KEEP UP WITH THIS GUY? BASKETBALL PERFECTION ELEVATION AND WILL TO WIN POSITIONING AND MOVES THAT YIELD GREATNESS THE A.I. EXPRESS WHEN A.I. IS HAPPY, OTHERS GET HAPPY EVERYONE IS HAPPY IN DENVER SO STERN CAN EAT ONE OF OUR JERSEYS
Nice recap, as always. I was really impressed with Iverson last night. For those that say he won't be able to share the ball, I think he's pretty much proved them wrong up to this point. Iverson showed terrific court vision, and really got his teammates involved. And when they needed it the most, Iverson took over with his scoring. I can't wait to see how this team will play like when both Carmelo Anthony and Jr Smith returns. Also, with all the rumors going around about Boykins being traded, I really hope the Nuggets hang onto him. He and Iverson have been a really entertaining duo to watch
Yes.. Iverson has been averaging a double- double in all 3 of his games and his 40 point performance yesterday showed he can get his points but still get 10 assits. Carmelo nd Iverson together will be a monstor combo
Perfect system, perfect complimentary players, perfect fit. Pretty much sums up AI catching on right away with Denver. What I like about Iverson is taking accountability for his mistakes or poor choice of shot selection. He winced a few times after taking some ill advised shots and made sure to let the open man know he was at fault for not passing him the ball. There was a positive energy when AI was on the court, and he kept his players smiling and motivated by sharing the basketball and pushing tempo all game long. Like George Karl said in the post game interview, "Passing is contagious, Iverson can average 10 assists easily for this team." Well Iverson is averaging 11 assists in his first 3 games, and you saw players like Reggie Evans catching the passing bug and finding Najera or Kleiza slashing down the paint for easy baskets. Kenny Smith also had a great observation about AI in Denver. He said, AI is impossible to stop in this offense, because the Nuggets run semi-fastbreaks on every possession. In Philly, Mo Cheeks offense was grind it out halfcourt sets, and defenses were allowed sag and cut off the spacing for AI to operate in. In Denver AI has more areas to attack a defense and with George Karl supporting his team to take quick shots, AI should be able to dissect apart teams. It's going to be interesting to see how this team plays against someone like San Antonio, who do all they can to slow tempo down and force you to score in the halfcourt.
Hands down for AI. When he's happy and pleased with his team, he's unstoppable. I still don't like him, but it's fun to watch him play. Very great basketball player. I meant "great" for not only for his basketball skills.
Did anyone see when it was like 4 seconds left in the 2nd quarter and Reggie Evans was standing up near the bench, Iverson thought he was playing and he threw it to him, and it went out of bounds. That was hillarious. Iverson is playing awesome with the Nuggets getting yet another double-double. If he can play like this with Melo and Camby back, man Nuggets have a good future ahead of them.
<div class="quote_poster">Umair Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Did anyone see when it was like 4 seconds left in the 2nd quarter and Reggie Evans was standing up near the bench, Iverson thought he was playing and he threw it to him, and it went out of bounds. That was hillarious.</div> LOL, now I understand the situation better because I didn't see Evans and therefore didn't realize this funny bad pass occured because Iverson thought he was playing A very good pass was Iverson's bounce pass from near midcourt right through two defenders who found a teammate (don't know anymore who it was) for the easy points. That was a great play. And as shapecity said it, lots of other people did a good job two finding the open man.
<div class="quote_poster">Umair Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">^Also why would Iverson pass to Evans?? He can't hit a friggin three!</div> Reggie very well may have an open entry pass for someone. Just because he doesn't shoot the ball, doesn't mean there isn't an open man. Iverson, I think, proved a lot of people wrong with his play in Denver, it shows he can play basketball, and not just 1 on 1 basketball, but team basketball. And all he needed was a better team.
