Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Nuggets Preview


First, I wanted to point out my other post from this morning, check it out and leave a comment if you feel so inclined.

Also Bill Simmons just released his MVP breakdown for this year. Check out what he had to say about B-Roy:

Think of all the under-25 guys we watched over the past two decades get thrust into a "You're a little young for this, but you're our franchise player, so um, how 'bout you be our leader?" and flounder miserably. We are talking about DOZENS of guys, a few of whom had more talent than Roy, but only five rose to the challenge without veteran help: KG, Chris Paul, LeBron, Wade and Roy. That's the complete list. (Unless I forgot someone. Which I'm sure I did.) To Roy's credit, some believe Portland is THE playoff sleeper and it's mainly because he's turned into such a killer closer. Stay tuned.
Nice praise for our boy. But onto the game preview!

Game Preview

Tonight’s game most likely will mean the difference between home court advantage or not in the playoffs. Like many sports personalities believe, we need to take our destiney into our own hands, and get a win tonight. But that won’t be easy with Denver trying to make sure they lock up the number 2 seed. So what can we expect from the Nuggets tonight?


JR Smith has been on a tear lately. He dropped 45 points on Kings last game, going 11-18 from deep. We need to make sure and reign him in. When he is hitting shots Denver is tough to beat. Carmelo has also stepped up his scoring as of late, and as always that is a difficult matchup for anyone in the league.


The Nuggets are attempting to take fate into their own hands as well tonight. With a Houston loss or Nugget win, they lock into the 2 seed. So know that this game is just as important to them as it is to us.


I personally think the Blazers know the importance and have been playing with a swagger as of late. I feel that it will be a close game, but the Blazers will pull away late like they always do, and wind up winning by 8-10 points. Here are my keys to the game.


Keys to the Game:


  1. Crash the Offensive Boards
    1. Denver is 23rd in the NBA in defensive rebounding rate (number of rebounds they get as a % of total rebounds in the game). That means the door is open for us to get second chance opportunites.
  2. Get Their Bigs in Foul Trouble
    1. This kind of goes hand in hand with crashing the offensive boards. Just be aggressive overall. After Kenyon Martin and Nene, their backups are Chris Anderson (not too bad for a meth-head) and Renaldo Balkman. Pryzbilla, Aldridge, and Oden need to abuse these guys on the block.
  3. Our Guards Need to Board
    1. I know, a lot of talk about rebounding but it is one of our pillars. Denver takes a lot of jumpshots, that means long rebounds. Our guards need to do their part and board it up.
  4. Forget about the Houston and San Antonio Games
    1. We need to put those games out of our heads, and focus on ours. We control our own fate, so lets go out and take care of our business.

Arguably THE biggest game of the year. I have a strong feeling the Rose Garden will have a very playoff atmosphere tonight.


Gambler’s Corner


Blazers -7.5

Over/Under 198.5


I am going with the Blazers and the under. Blazers have been rolling lately and I see them riding that momentum right into the playoffs.

6 comments:

  1. I hate to be the Devil's Advocate but i will take the nuggets.... 7.5 is a huge spread.... but i will go with over.

    By the way.... whats the status of Batum? that would be rad if he was back in the lineup....

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  2. I have not heard about Batum. I am guessing he should be back, because last game he was out with Strep throat. It would be nice for him to be back, but with how Outlaw played last game, I would feel comfortable with him starting again.

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  3. Gonna have to agree with El Robles on this one. i'm taking blazers in the over. and as for batum, ESPN has him as a game time decision

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