Game 83: Hive Five
by atthehive on Apr 20, 2009 12:31 AM CDT
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I'll lead in with one of my favorite quotes about the postseason. "When a team loses in the playoffs, it looks like they'll never win again. When a team wins in the playoffs, it looks like they'll never lose again." Before getting into the analysis, it's important to keep that in mind. With all the energy, emotion, and intensity of the postseason, situations often seem larger than they are. The whole series could be flipped on its head with a New Orleans win in Game 2.
Of course, there are some serious issues to take into consideration. Let's list them one by one:
Kenyon Martin Owned David West
I'm assuming Byron Scott does not want to hurt David West's pride, and thus, will go to him many times in Game 2. From what I saw in Game 1, the West-Martin matchup has no chance of success. Whatsover. Zero. That's how amazing Martin's defense was on West. He bodied him out of position, forced him out to 15 feet on every play, and made him take horrific fadeaways. West generally doesn't like to pass unless he's doubled, and Denver took full advantage of this. DX turned into an offensive black hole and got dominated by Kenyon Martin. I don't see it changing. If West is going to produce anything on Wednesday, it will be through Chris Paul's creation.
Tyson Chandler is nowhere close to Tyson Chandler
He's not going for rebounds, he's not going for blocks, he's not playing good defense on Nene. There is something seriously wrong with his leg/ankle/whatever else. The more I think about it, the more that rescinded OKC trade makes sense. I mean think about it. An OKC physician literally put his career on the line by calling off the trade. There's no way he does that without serious, legitimate concerns; I don't buy that a physician puts his career on the line just to take the fall for a front office with cold feet. Well, anyways, it doesn't look like we'll have the real Tyson Chandler for the rest of this series.
The Bench is Horrible
We can't sugarcoat it any longer, the bench is terrible. We can't hold out hope that the bench will magically become good in the playoffs because, well, here's the playoffs, and they still suck. Hilton looks scared on the floor, Julian Wright's confidence looks shot from his undefined role, Devin Brown is Devin Brown, and Sean Marks is Sean Marks. Daniels is the only competent guy on the unit, and by competent, I mean league average.
Those are three serious, serious issues. They are issues which, if they are not fixed, could portend a Denver sweep. The onus is on Byron Scott to find different ways to utilize West, and creative ways to use Marks and Ely (?).
Of course, there are some major regressions to be expected. Chauncey Billups was super lucky. He's a very good player, but he got a ridiculous number of shots to drop tonight. David West was very unlucky on non-1on1 situations. He bricked a ton of wide open looks from very easy locations. Those two regressions alone should put us back in the thick of things. When we return home, we'll ideally get a few more close calls going our way. But unless we fix at least one of the three big issues, it's going to be tough for us to pull this series out.
We got smacked in the mouth. Hard. The Nuggets could make this a quick fight by delivering a second beat down. If we want to extend this thing, we'll need better energy, better effort, and better execution. The Hornets are a seriously flawed team, but a 30 point loss in Game 1 doesn't mean we're done. We'll see if the Hornets can show us something on Wednesday.
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Called it
Getting TC returned to us like tainted Chinese food product from OKC was no reason to celebrate like many, bewilderingly, did at the time. Chandler’s defense has been an overrated component of the Hornets game through about 9/10 of our wins this season, which have come largely despite it, not because of it. Wilcox would have allowed us to change pace & go faster instead of staying in the half-court offense every minute, and in terms of blocked shots, rebounds, and changed shots, it’s not unlikely Wilcox would crash the boards harder than Tyson either – and Smith would give us a capable man off the bench, instead of the floor zombies Hotel Hell Hilton & worthless Sean Marks.
What is the story with Scott, he needs to put the fire of God in the first-unit to D-up, and JuJu & Mo-Pete should come off the bench first, not Hilton & Marks. I can see that the coaches may think going that small would disadvantage our defense & rebounding capabilities, but seriously, have Hilton or Marks hampered any halfway capable NBA big-men, or enhanced our rebounding stats. at all? Despite their height – a la CP3 – I think JuJu & Mo-Pete would get us MORE rebounds & D than those two scrubs, what does everyone else think?
by Abstract Capital on Apr 20, 2009 12:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Great post by the way
Always good analysis from everyone who posts here
by Abstract Capital on Apr 20, 2009 12:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Marks didn’t get enough of a chance to play tonight with how things went. He’s been rebounding better than his average the past few games. And he managed to rack up 3 boards I think in the first two minutes that he played. Some fouls called on him and the technical were questionable. He’s still doing real well rolling off the screens and getting to the board as demonstrated by the dunk as soon as he came into the game. As for Armstrong, he really needs to work on his free-throws. It was really agonising seeing him shoot them. I’m not sure about Armstrong, but Marks seems to play very well with CP3 and it’s a combination I hope I continue to see.
by JChangNZ on Apr 20, 2009 12:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I forgot to add – the bench did a pretty good job keeping the deficit as it was when the starters went to rest. I think the key problem with tonight’s game was:
1) DX and CP3 had countless open shots that just wouldn’t go for them. This is really unlike them and it’s crucial that they hit them. If they had hit them, I believe this game would’ve turned out differently and
2) Chauncey Billups. Wow, what can I say; when he’s hot, he’s hot but he’s not going to be like that for the Nuggets all series, but it still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t put defence on him!
Anyway, hopefully we can steal game 2 from them because we looked really good in the first half of tonight’s game and I’m looking at the first half and it shows that we do have what it takes to beat the Nuggets.
by JChangNZ on Apr 20, 2009 1:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't think Wilcox over Chandler would change anything in regards to pace...
We’d still be a halfcourt team with only occasional fastbreak opportunities. Chandler can the run the floor so I don’t see the difference here. Byron’s teams are slow teams… since he came to NO the Hornets have ranked 28th, 21st, 23rd, 26th and 28th in pace.
The strange thing is… his New Jersey teams were considerably quicker-paced – ranking 12th, 9th, 10th, and 18th in pace during his time there.
As for Hilton & Marks… Hilton I pretty much agree, but I think Marks should get some burn. He can be valuable in bursts.
by Caleb462 on Apr 20, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bench would be 100% better with Mo Pete.
That said, um, forget nothing to say. Go Game 2!
by m-W on Apr 20, 2009 1:07 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
blazer fan here
just wanted to say, at least this didn’t happen to y’all at home. i was at the rose garden last night and it’s much worse when you not only get blown out on your first playoff game, but on your home court as well.
please, find a way to take down our division rivals.
by appel82 on Apr 20, 2009 1:12 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
At the game...
I happen to be out here in Denver and caught the game tonight. A couple observations:
1) I could count on my fingers the number of Hornets fans I saw. We represented down to the final second while the stadium was mostly empty because of rich folks trying to beat the traffic. This wasn’t as disturbing as the lack of diversity in the crowd.
2) Despite the win, Nuggets fans still think that they can’t beat the Lakers. The common feeling here is that a trip to the western conference finals would be a successful season. They don’t seem to realize they are the #2 seed.
3) Carmelo is not as good as his hype. After seeing LeBron, DWade, CP3 and Kobe, there is nothing that is intimidating about his game. Multiple times he settled for a fadeaway jumpshot after being ISO’d with Peja. He wouldn’t even test him.
4) The Hornets could’ve lost by a lot more. The Nuggets could not miss a shot, but they would’ve won by double digits even if they had.
5) The Hive is a better place to watch a basketball game than the Pepsi Center.
6) There was this 130lb freshman in college from New Orleans sitting in front of me and his boys and him were talking shit to everyone around us. One of the Nugget fans threatened to meet him in the parking lot and so the kid went over to him and whispered something in his ear. The guy, despite having 50lbs at least on the kid, turned red, apologized to all of us and turned around to watch the game and didn’t look back for the rest of it. When we asked the kid what he said, he replied “I told him that I was going to throw him in a dumpster.” Awesome.
by Marcus Aurelius on Apr 20, 2009 1:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
"Nuggets fans still think that they can’t beat the Lakers."
Well, they can’t.
by Caleb462 on Apr 20, 2009 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh and I'm with you on Melo...
He’s a talented player of course, but nothing I’ve seen from him suggests he’s in the same league offensively as Lebron, CP3, Wade and Kobe.
by Caleb462 on Apr 20, 2009 10:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
no we don't.
we all know someone else has to knock them out for us to have a chance.
by 16miledetour on Apr 20, 2009 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Byron Scott is a progress stopper.
Why he would put Brown in over Peterson is anyone’s guess. His stupidity and stubborness are baffling.
by redzero on Apr 20, 2009 9:13 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
As a nuggets fan
please don’t judge us nuggets fans based on the bottle incident, the guy was arrested and booed on his way out by the entire crowd. one bad seed shouldn’t ruin all of us.
and CP3 flops a lot more in person than i notice on TV.
also, does he have Lil wayne wrapped around his finger or what?
by 16miledetour on Apr 20, 2009 10:43 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Another Nugs Fan
Just wanted to come by and apologize for the idiot with the bottle as well. Not sure how it played out on TV, but I just want to let you know that the jumbotron scanned the crowd as everyone pointed at the person who did it. That was not cool, and an embarassment for the fan base.
Looking forward to game 2. Best of luck for the rest of the series, but go Nugs!
The artist formerly known as Nuggets4.
by JLucas4092 on Apr 20, 2009 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
CP3 Flopping
I think it was just the game. I noticed he was turning on the acting a lot more too (esp on that one where his arm got slapped and he went to the ground-don’t know the Nugget backup who slapped the arm), which is probably due to the desperation of CP when he realized we were pretty much screwed last night unless we could magically get someone important in foul trouble.
And what was the bottle incident? I must have missed it.
I'm proud of my damn strong football team. Have a great day!
by Mikethetiger on Apr 20, 2009 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Gotta like the class of Nuggets blog-folk
To come here and denounce bottle thrower. So much more fun when we can compete with friendly rivalry. That said, I hope Byron can prove his critics wrong and make the adjustments necessary to get Game 2.
by m-W on Apr 20, 2009 12:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Honestly...
if the Hornets were playing anyone else, I’d probably be cheering for them. I love CP3. I love Posey. I hate playing them. Hell, I picked you guys to beat Orlando in the pre-season for the whole thing. So now I say we just let the winner of this series win it all. :) Honestly though, I’m just thrilled to not be dealing with Lakers “fans” in the playoffs this year.
I honestly thought the Nugs would be up 2-0 after the first two games, but I never saw last night coming. And it scares me. Melo didn’t play great, which gives me hope, but CP3 and West never got going either. I’m scared the Hornets are going to come out pissed off in game 2 and the Nugs will come out flat. If it’s 1-1 heading into game 3, the Nugs are in a LOT of trouble.
The artist formerly known as Nuggets4.
by JLucas4092 on Apr 20, 2009 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I like the way you think
Though I wonder if one could it was really West not getting going or Martin just owning him and getting in his head. I guess we’’ll have to wait till Game 2 to figure that one out. Still, if we can come home 1-1 I’ll be very happy, as that was all I was expecting before Game 1.
I'm proud of my damn strong football team. Have a great day!
by Mikethetiger on Apr 20, 2009 4:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Another nug fan here
Anytime West had an easy look inside, K-mart was using a foul against him. He never got in a rhythm and couldn’t find his outside game. I don’t expect him to get shut down like that for the whole series. CP3 really wanted to win the game, I thought he was off and yet he still got 21 and 11. The teams are really going at each other, I think there’s going to be some great games. Ultimately, it was probably the bench that did you guys in last night.
Hornets will bounce back, I hope the Nugs will be ready. Cheers to a good ass series. Oh yeah, and sorry about that bottle thing, we’ll make sure the guy gets what coming to him.
by runningdonut on Apr 20, 2009 6:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Health is why we have no chance in this series
Tyson is terrible
West won’t stop crying
Paul looks tired
Nobody else is awake
by AppleCub on Apr 20, 2009 7:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Tyson had one off game. I think he's allowed that after missing so many.
I just disagree on West. And Paul seems more frustrated than anything. Count on all three having a better game Wednesday.
by m-W on Apr 20, 2009 8:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
agreed
i agree with m-W we should excuse tyson for a couple of games. west will find his shot, and classy denver fans! i love it that the league has many classy fans compared to many Laker fans who think they are the best and kobe is the best but clearly, Cavs are just in the same level and kobe is just the 4th best player in the league(LBJ,CP3,Dwade)
by nikkoewan on Apr 21, 2009 8:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Stars
Aside from Billups picking up the slack and Chris Paul getting his usual double-double the other “stars” didn’t shine too bright in Game 1.
I’m looking for Melo and West to bounce back. I’ll again be in attendance for Game 2 (fairly close to the Hornets bench) and look forward to a great game.
The Hornets’ ability to put up points in a hurry against Denver scares the sh*t out of me. The Nuggs gave up a lot of open looks and that needs to stop!
Devin Brown may not be very talented, but he does typically play well versus Denver … off the bench earlier this season he put up like 16 or 18 points and basically won the game for NOLA along with Peja. Just like Denver had in Game 1 the Hornets will probably have an unexpected breakout player in Game 2.
Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan
by Nate Timmons on Apr 21, 2009 2:05 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
at the game
The response to the beer throwing incident WAS great indeed. The whole arena booed the guy and he was kicked out.
by Marcus Aurelius on Apr 22, 2009 11:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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