This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Rec and Sports
Recreation and Sports Information
Season Preview For The Denver Nuggets
During the past few seasons, the Denver Nuggets have been one of those teams that generally play respectable basketball, finish the season with a winning record, make the playoffs and exits in the first round. Basketball fans had become accustomed to seeing this take place on a yearly basis, so people were surprised (to say the least) to witness the run that the Denver Nuggets embarked on during the 2009 NBA playoffs.
Not many expected the Denver Nuggets – who were notorious for losing in the first round it seems – to make it to the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets were out manned and out played against the Lakers but that still doesn’t take away from the excellent season they had.
The knock on Denver for many years was they can score but refused to play defense – this wasn’t the case because Denver was’th is defense. Trading Iverson for Billups, definitely was a key move to fixing this problem.
The addition of point guard Chauncey Billups essentially changed their season for the better once he arrived in town. Billups brought a defensive mentality from the Detroit Pistons who were one of the best defensive teams of the decade.
Billups is also a great on court leader who knows how to play in big games. In 77 games with Denver Billups averaged 17 points per game, 6 assists and 91% at the free throw line. At 32 years old at the time, Billups seemed to hit the prime of his career.
Carmelo Anthony emerged as a defensive player as well because of Billups. Anthony could possibly be the best pure scorer in the entire NBA – that includes Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Everyone knew ‘Melo could score but his improvement on defense was most impressive.
One who provided much “entertainment” for the Denver Nuggets was Chris “The Birdman” Andersen off the bench. The Birdman has become one of the best shot blockers averaging nearly 3 blocks per game. Look for him to have another great defensive season.
After a hard fought series versus the Lakers, their season was cut short. Still, it was a beautiful run in Denver, one they hope to repeat.
For more Nuggets talk, check out the Denver Nuggest forum at RootZoo Sports, the most exciting sports forums online.
Leave a Reply