"Nene's Back" Last year, Nene suffered a torn ACL in his right knee after just three minutes of action against the Spurs on opening night. He had successful surgery but was out for the remainder of the season. This season, his 5th year of his all-Denver career, the knee has been still painful and ocassionally swelling. During the last month, Nene's determination to play again and the Nugget's increasingly desperate need for a big man inside with the loss of Kenyon Martin for the whole season has had Nene earning more and more playing time. Melo summed up the great happiness the Nuggets have regarding Nene's stronger and stronger play by saying "Nene's back." You will probably agree. In the last 5 games, Nene has averaged 18 points and just about 7 rebounds a game on 34 minutes per game. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> The Return of Nene By Travis Heath In the NBA Finals of 2001, Shaquille O'Neal somewhat affectionately referred to Sixers starting center Todd McCullough as "respectable. Just a month ago most Nugget fans would have settled for the same level of play from their young Brazilian big-man. That's what makes the development of the last eight games so astonishing. Nene went from being virtually ineffective to dominating cats on the low block almost instantaneously. If there was any doubt about Nene's resurgence, his vicious dunk over Warriors' starting center Andris Biedrins all but sealed the deal. Yes, Nene is back, and no one is happier about this development than Carmelo Anthony. "Nene's back," Anthony asserted after Monday's win. "That's what we've been looking for the whole season. He's back. As an organization we've been wondering when we were going to get the Nene back that we knew before the injury, but he's back. I've been loving him out there and I'm pretty sure the team is loving him." The team is loving him and Nene is again loving life on the basketball court. When asked if his game had returned, Nene responded: "It's coming. My body's strong." While he may be feeling stronger, Nene was quick to point out that he's not yet 100 percent. "My knee still hurts a little bit. The cold weather, that is not helping, man. Coach he knows how many minutes I can play. He sees the game, if I'm tired or not and if I'm doing good or not. He knows the minutes." Even though Nene doesn't believe he is all the way back, he is convinced he has never played better basketball at any point during his career. "I think my last eight games have been the best streak in my career. God's blessed me. I hope to keep it going like that." And it's probably not a coincidence the team has won three straight games, all three of which have featured Nene dominating on the low block. "We need to take the last three games as an example," Nene added. "We need to play together, enjoy it and play hard defense." Of course your friendly neighborhood columnist couldn't let Nene get away without asking him about that nasty flush he had over Biendrins. "The dunk is hurting me now, my elbow," Nene said with a smile. Don't misunderstand, though, this was a different kind of pain than the kind Nene was feeling in his knee earlier this season. It was the kind of pain that hurts so good. </div> Source
