Nuggs were 16-11 last year so how is Billups making them MUCH better, let alone MUCH MUCH better? Also- Camby is not overrated. He was Defensive Player of the Year in 07 and All Defensive First Team in 08 and deservedly so.
But that's kind of the point. The Nuggs are no better than us. We lose three in a row but so do they. As for the Lakers, they will fall apart as the season goes on. They played 11 of their first 15 games at the Staples Center. Now that they're leaving their nest, they're falling apart.
Camby is a horrible man defender, he is only a good weakside defender. He is overrated. Look at the nuggets this year, Billups is a much better player than Iverson at this point in there careers. He isn't selfish, the main reason why the Nuggets are struggling has to do more with Anthony sucking so far.
Anthony sucking? He scored an NBA record 33 points in a quarter. It's the only NBA record that has been set or matched this season.
Denver's a good team, they're 16-7 since Billups arrived and they beat Boston in Boston, which is quite an accomplishment. They're not a title contender by any means, but we're not a clear-cut better team than them right now.
The Nuggest weakness is their bench, we definitely have them beat there. But there starting lineup is better than ours. LMA will get thrown around by the physical Kenyon Martin, Billups will make Blake his bitch, and I don't have faith that Batum can guard Melo yet.
Agreed... their strengths are where we're most weak. They have a strong PG, we have inconsistent PGs. They have one of the best SFs in the game, we're still looking for our SF. They're physical inside, and we're really not that physical. But we do have our advantage with Roy over Dahntay Jones, and our depth is certainly better. It's an interesting matchup, but one that scares me a lot.
I like the advantage of Roy over Jones too. They do have JR Smith off the bench though and he can heat up quickly. I figure Nene and Oden to be a wash too, depends on how the refs call it because neither guy gets much respect from the refs.
Greg really needs to play well and stay out of foul trouble. And JR Smith can put up 20 in a quarter. Hopefully Rudy can negate him. But Denver still plays no defense. And I don't know how much longer we can rely on Brandon putting up 30, 40, 50 points a game to save us. We need our depth to shine.
I want no part of the Lakers this year! Our team is not ready for that kind of exposure and I think Roy would agree. Make the playoffs and be solid. That's all our guys need to do this year. The Rockets, Mavs and Spurs all look like they are hanging on by their fingernails and a long year could be very hard on them. The Lakers are the team and everyone else is playing for a distant second this year. Lakers/Celtics write it down, going to happen!!! The west as I see it.... Lakers........ Hornets,Jazz,Nuggs,Suns,Spurs, Blazers. I think we could beat the Hornets in a playoff and maybe the Jazz if we had home court. Not confident we could take out the Suns or Spurs in a long series yet, and Nuggs are not a good matchup for us. The Lakers will mop the floor with us now. However all of this could change in a hurry if Oden comes out of his shell faster than most of us think. Oden could make Roy and LA's life sooooooo easy that we could be very dangerous in the playoffs. Not good enough to challenge LA but maybe to get into the second round. That would be good enough for this year in my eyes!
Maybe because Nash is a horrible defender and has never been known for his defense. This is common sense.
We are not chasing the #1 seed this season, get real. I will be surprised if we finish above the #3 spot in the West. We should be focused on winning the NW Division, which at the worst would mean #3. Utah had a tough start without their main man Dwill... we will be neck and neck all season. If we can get Home Court in the first round, we may make a bit of noise in the postseason. The odds of us catching the Lakers are almost nil. And honestly, I hate to say it but we are not as good as the Lakers yet. I do love your optimism, Eric.
Also, it looks like Nash has lost half a step, esp. in terms of lateral movement this year. I have seen Steve Nash play good D at the end of games in situations where execution is important; I think his lack of D is just because of the run-n-gun style.
The Rockets are 18-9. How are they hanging on by their fingernails? And the Spurs have played pretty well since Manu and Tony came back and they know how to turn it on down the stretch.
Unfortunately, that is not true. Winning the division only guarantees you a top 4 seed and it doesn't even guarantee home court advantage.
