Nene is the MVP in terms of quality and Chauncey Billups is the MVP in terms of quantity for the Denver Nuggets so far in the 2008-09 season. DENVER NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS Quality of Players Includes all tracked actions and adjustments for hidden defending 2008-09 Regular Season As of Feb 20, 2009 Nene Hilario 0.864 Carmelo Anthony 0.860 Chauncey Billups 0.859 Chris Andersen 0.755 J.R. Smith 0.749 Kenyon Martin 0.724 Renaldo Balkman 0.716 Anthony Carter 0.652 Linas Kleiza 0.558 Dahntay Jones 0.424 Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more Historic Super Star 0.950 and more Super Star 0.850 0.949 A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849 A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774 Major Role Player 0.650 0.699 Role Player 0.600 0.649 Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599 Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549 Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499 Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449 Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349 REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION Real Player Production (RPP) is the sum of all the good things minus the sum of all the bad things a player has done since the season began. Although RPP includes all tracked defensive actions, there is no methodology as of yet for adjusting RPP for hidden or untracked defending, such as man to man defending that forces missed shots. Therefore, you should, in order to fairly evaluate the following ratings, remember that the better defenders have done some more for the team relative to the lessor defenders than the ratings are showing. DENVER NUGGETS REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION Quantity of Players Includes all tracked actions 2008-09 Regular Season Through Feb. 20, 2009 Chauncey Billups 1322.40 Nene Hilario 1303.00 Kenyon Martin 1050.05 Carmelo Anthony 1034.90 J.R. Smith 919.45 Anthony Carter 765.75 Linas Kleiza 668.90 Chris Andersen 584.40 Dahntay Jones 379.50 Renaldo Balkman 267.65 NUGGETS MVPS Congratulations and respect are due to NENE, who has been leading the Nuggets in quality basketball so far this season. Congratulations and respect are due to CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, who has contributed more than any other player to the Nuggets so far this season. NUGGETS SUPERSTARS AND STARS <strong>Historic Superstars</strong> None <strong>Superstars</strong> Nene Chauncey Billups Carmelo Anthony <strong>Stars</strong> None NUGGETS OTHER KEY, NON-STAR PLAYERS <span style="font-weight:bold;">Solid Starters</span> Chris Anderson J.R. Smith Kenyon Martin Renaldo Balkman <span style="font-weight:bold;">Major Role Players</span> Anthony Carter <span style="font-weight:bold;">Role Players</span> None ======= DEFENDING AND OFFENSIVE SUBRATINGS ========================================== DENVER NUGGETS OVERALL DEFENDING SUBRATING Includes both tracked and hidden defending 2008-09 REGULAR SEASON As of Feb 20, 2009 Nene Hilario 0.493 Chris Andersen 0.431 Kenyon Martin 0.415 J.R. Smith 0.409 Renaldo Balkman 0.379 Carmelo Anthony 0.362 Anthony Carter 0.329 Chauncey Billups 0.293 Linas Kleiza 0.201 Dahntay Jones 0.195 DENVER NUGGETS OFFENSIVE SUBRATING Includes all tracked offensive actions 2008-09 REGULAR SEASON As of Feb 20, 2009 Chauncey Billups 0.645 Carmelo Anthony 0.574 Nene Hilario 0.483 J.R. Smith 0.451 Renaldo Balkman 0.412 Anthony Carter 0.398 Linas Kleiza 0.383 Kenyon Martin 0.380 Chris Andersen 0.360 Dahntay Jones 0.282 NENE: SUPERSTAR AND MVP--QUALITY CARMELO ANTHONY: SUPERSTAR CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: SUPERSTAR AND MVP--QUANTITY <a href="http://nuggets1reference.blogspot.com/2009/01/user-guide-for-real-player-ratings-by.html">USER GUIDE</a> For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the <a href="http://nuggets1reference.blogspot.com/2009/01/user-guide-for-real-player-ratings-by.html">User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports by Team</a>
Carmelo Anthony is improved from a month ago, which slightly increases the Nuggets chance of winning a playoff series against anyone. The Houston Rockets are one of the more likely possible matchups for the Nuggets. Very significantly, if the Nuggets play the Rockets, they could possibly win it now, due to the Rockets loss of their second best player, Tracy McGrady, due to an injury. It's not out of the question anymore. Also, the Rockets are going with Aaron Brooks at PG now that Rafer Alston is traded to the Magic. Brooks has rated only as a minor role player so far. Although he will undoubtedly rise to at least role player, Alston was the better bet for the Rockets for the playoffs. Despite the above, I am as of now still predicting a Rockets win over the Nuggets in the playoffs, should they meet. If forced to predict the result in games, I would say Rockets 4 Nuggets 2, but I would not be all that shocked at Rockets 4 Nuggets 3. Let's check how the ratings have changed in the last month: NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS JAN 15 Chauncey Billups 0.909 Nene Hilario 0.845 Renaldo Balkman 0.830 Carmelo Anthony 0.821 J.R. Smith 0.787 Chris Andersen 0.763 Kenyon Martin 0.744 Anthony Carter 0.637 Linas Kleiza 0.552 Dahntay Jones 0.455 NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS FEB 20 Nene Hilario 0.864 Carmelo Anthony 0.860 Chauncey Billups 0.859 Chris Andersen 0.755 J.R. Smith 0.749 Kenyon Martin 0.724 Renaldo Balkman 0.716 Anthony Carter 0.652 Linas Kleiza 0.558 Dahntay Jones 0.424 ROCKETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS FEB 20 Yao Ming 1.008 Tracy McGrady 0.793 Ron Artest 0.765 Luis Scola 0.716 Carl Landry 0.695 Rafer Alston 0.618 Aaron Brooks 0.582 Von Wafer 0.580 Shane Battier 0.524 Brent Barry 0.503 Luther Head 0.446 Chuck Hayes 0.429
With Carmelo Anthony improved and with a truly startling number of quality players showing up in the Nuggets ratings, with eight players who are major role players or better, it may be time to start considering the Nuggets more seriously. Not me yet, but maybe you. What I need to consider the Nuggets seriously for the playoffs is a change at 2-guard. Were J.R. Smith to start and were Dahntay Jones' minutes be reduced substantially, the Nuggets could defeat the Rockets now that Tracy McGrady is gone. The Rockets advantage would be reduced to a very, very small amount, and it would be mostly based on playoff experience and coaching. Whoever played better and smarter would win the series. I would still say Rockets but would not be shocked if the Nuggets won in this case. But with Dahntay Jones playing a lot of minutes, and J.R. Smith still relegated to a "black sheep type role", the Rockets remain favored, although not by anywhere near as much as they were when they had Tracy McGrady.
