As the Nuggets prepare to kickoff the 2007-2008 regular season on Halloween against the Sonics, they are a team with several unanswered questions. Can they stay healthy? Who will play Point Guard and Shooting Guard? Will the defense be better than last season? Will they continue to suffer the third quarter meltdowns that killed them last season? Can the locker room chemistry survive the egos and personalities on this roster?</p> Three members of the backcourt will be on the bench dressed in expensive clothes for this game as JR Smith is serving the first of a three game suspension imposed by the team, Chucky Atkins is recovering from a groin strain that will keep him out until mid-December and Anthony Carter is recovering from a broken hand that will keep him out another two weeks. That forces George Karl to play Allen Iverson at Point Guard for the majority of the game and that is a good thing for the Nuggets. Last season, the Nuggets were 11-1 in games that Iverson had 10 or more assists. Back Iverson up at Point Guard for now will be journeyman Mike Wilks. If things go to plan and the Nuggets are blowing out the Sonics, Wilks will play more than the six to 8 minutes one would normally expect. When he is in the game, expect unselfish play, but don't expect much deep shooting. Not that it means much, but he did start the last four games for the Sonics, all defeats, last season and put up 16.8 PPG, 7.0 APG and 3.3 RPG in 42 per game.</p> All signs point to Yakhouba Diawara starting at Shooting Guard. Expect him to play physical defense on Kevin Durant and pick up early fouls leading to Bobby Jones and Linas Kleiza getting extended playing time. Jones has impressed the staff with his defense, hustle and surprising shooting. Kleiza is a favorite of Karl's and he will let the three point shot attempts fly. Von Wafer is the other young Shooting Guard on the roster and he has tremendous range. However, he is still a project and needs to gain a better understanding of the mental part of the NBA game so I don't expect to see him unless the Nuggets are able to build a large lead. Don't be surprised to see some minutes from Carmelo Anthony at Shooting Guard. The coaching staff has been impressed by his improved ball handling and he gives the Nuggets a chance to run a big, physical front line with either Eduardo Najera or Kenyon Martin at Small Forward for a few minutes.</p> The only question at Small Forward is how and where will the Nuggets get Melo the ball. Karl has talked about using Melo as a point forward, so I'll be watching to see how much he is used at that tonight, especially with the heavy load on Iverson's shoulders. The Power Forward spot is where things get interesting. Nene isn't fully recovered from his off season calf injury nor is he fully in shape yet so he along with Kenyon Martin are on limited minutes for now. In order for Karl to best utilize the limited minutes Kenyon is allowed to play (15-20 minutes for now) it appears that he will get the starting spot for tonight's game. Nene will likely get his minutes primarily as Marcus Camby's backup as Steven Hunter's role is to be insurance behind Camby, Nene, Kenyon and Najera.</p> The Sonics are completely different from the Sonics of the recent past. For starters, PJ Carlesimo is the head coach and Paul Westhead as the offensive coordinator. Nuggets fans are very familiar with Westhead after he lead the Nuggets to 20 victories in the 1990-1991 season and 24 victories in the 1991-1992 season. Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are gone and Kevin Durant is in place as the starting Shooting Guard. A lot is expected of Durant, but he is coming off of a left ankle sprain. Former Nugget Earl Watson will start at Point Guard, Damien Wilkins will start at Small Forward, Chris Wilcox will start at Power Forward and Nick Collison will start at Center.</p> Off the bench, the Sonics have Delonte West, Luke Ridnour and his face mask in the backcourt. Up front, Robert Swift is unlikely to play while Kurt Thomas and Jeff Green are game time decisions so that leaves Mouhamed Sene and Johan Petro to pick up rebounds, blocked shots and personal fouls. Wally Szczerbiak provides offense off the bench and Mickael Gelabale provides defense off the bench from the wing spots.</p> The Nuggets have a chance to get of to a fast start this season as the first four games are against teams that didn't make the playoffs last season and don't project to make the playoffs this season. Overall, of the 17 games the Nuggets play in October and November, 12 of the teams didn't make the playoffs last season (although 1 of those is Boston).</p> </p>
Good job with the thread cpaw.</p> I am excited to see how the Nuggets do. I've always thought Melo doesn't get enough credit throughout the league, and neither does the Karl.</p> Hopefully Kmart has a good game and he never gets injured again. </p> Nuggets 109 - 101 Sonics</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Answer_AI03)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> im hopin for a blowout.i hope anthony puts durrant in his place tonight.</p> </div></p> I doubt you'll see Melo on Durant much tonight, but the Nuggets have the bodies to make it rough on Durant.</p> I'm worried about the mental approach to tonight's game. On paper, this is a team the Nuggets should blow out, but last year they spent most of the season playing down to their competition. If they do that tonight and let the Sonics hang around, it doesn't bode well for the season.</p> </p>
Ya, but i think this year the team is so much more focused. Plus they had training camp+a half a season together now. not to mention a suitable backup for camby. I think this team is coming out of the west this year. There is no team in the NBA with more talent than us, Karl just needs to step up and get this team motivated to win a championship.</p>
I have a feeling Denver is going to blow the Sonics out tonight and send an early statement to the rest of the league. Everyone is healthy and the Nuggets are a very physical team on offense. All their players go hard to the rack and make their free throws. A young team like Seattle won't be able to handle this type of attack because they can't physically matchup and they don't have the experience to slow Denver down.</p> I'm pulling for Bobby Jones to win that starting SG job eventually. He's Mr. Intangible and gets his hands on a lot of loose balls, offensive rebounds, and tips. His jumpshot was looking good in pre-season and he knows how to play off of Melo and AI by slipping around the collapsing defense or floating to the baseline for wide open J's. Another basketball savvy player coming out of UW.</p>
I'm very curious to see what pace the Sonics attempt to play at tonight. Westhead is there to get them to play uptempo and they averaged 103.9 PPG in the preason. However, attempting to out run the Nuggets at home isn't a smart move.</p>
Nice write-up, cpaw.</p> I'm really looking forward to this game. Of course, it's a little disappointing knowing that Kevin Durant likely will not play, but I'm still anxious to see Seattle play. As a big Georgetown Hoyas fan, I can't wait to see my man Jeff Green (who may be my favorite college basketball player of all-time), and as a Celtics fan, I already miss the hell out of Delonte West. All individuals aside, this should be a very high-scoring game with a lot of fast break points and a lot of bricked jumpers. Denver should win this by double-digits.</p>
My guy, Delonte West, has been outstanding tonight on both ends of the floor. He has been very aggressive defensively, playing with his head up in transition, hitting the open man, making beautiful cuts, and giving Seattle instant offense as soon as he comes in the game. I'll miss Delonte's play and personality in Boston, but I'll tell ya... it's great to see him play so well in his Sonics debut.</p>
Damien's playing the way I would have liked to see him play last season.</p> Durant looked pretty good with that last shot, and Earl looked good on defense. Too bad his offense has been bad.</p>
This is going to be the story for Seattle all year long... they are very talented, they can score in bunches, and they can stick with almost anybody through 3 quarters. However, their inexperience will not allow them to close out games, especially against good teams like Denver. They put up a fight, but my goodness, did they fall apart in the 4th or what?</p>
