duncan228
05-16-2009, 11:01 PM
Don’t gold rush the Nuggets (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Week_in_ReviewPreview_Dont_gold_rush_the_Nuggets.h tml)
Douglas Pils - Express-News
Right now, a lot of folks want to anoint the Denver Nuggets as heir apparent to the throne.
Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony led Denver to brilliant 4-1 series victories over the Hornets and Mavericks. There were tough moments, but the Nuggets met each challenge with quickness and increasing ease.
So much so, it seems logical to many that they could do the same to the Lakers should the West’s presumptive favorites survive the Rockets in Game 7 of the conference semifinals today.
It would be a wonderful story for a good coach in George Karl. He’s 10th on the victories list at 933, and only two above him never won a title — Jerry Sloan (1,137) and Don Nelson (1,309).
TNT’s Charles Barkley certainly seems smitten by the idea of the Nuggets and Cavaliers in the Finals.
“Denver and Cleveland are the two best teams I’ve seen in the playoffs,” Barkley said last week. “... I think the Denver Nuggets are going to the Finals. The Lakers have been too inconsistent.”
But if the Lakers swarm the undermanned and playing-over-their-head Rockets, the Nuggets’ cute little story won’t last.
Since 2003, when the NBA expanded the first playoff round from best-of-5 to best-of-7, nine teams have gone through the first two rounds with a record of 8-2 or better.
The Nuggets and Cavaliers (8-0) joined the list this year.
Of those previous seven, three made the NBA Finals, and all three lost — Lakers to the Celtics last year, Cavs to the Spurs in 2007 and Nets to the Spurs in 2003.
The Pistons in 2007, the Heat and Suns in 2005 and the Pacers in 2004 lost in the conference finals.
It shows that there’s something about overcoming adversity and being tested in the playoffs. Championship banners, gaudy rings and Larry O’Brien trophies are made of such things.
The Celtics proved that last year. The team with the league’s best record at 66-16 used all seven games to dispatch the 37-45 Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
LeBron James and the Cavaliers seemingly had the opening they needed. It took another seven games, but the Celtics prevailed there, too.
Subsequent 4-2 series victories over the Pistons and Lakers seemed easy after what Boston survived in the first two rounds.
“I did think it helped our team, and it helped me see how guys reacted in those situations, as well,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told the Associated Press.
The Spurs’ experience speaks to the same thing. In 2007, they fought through a six-game series that felt like seven with the Suns — the one with Robert Horry’s hip-check of Steve Nash. In 2003, the Spurs had six-game sets with the Suns and Lakers.
If the Rockets pull off one of the greatest playoff upsets ever, you can throw this thought out the window. But, should the Lakers put Houston in its place, expect L.A. to give Kobe Bryant another shot at that fourth ring. A tough test from Denver would aid the Lakers’ cause.
WEEK THAT WAS
Chauncey Billups likely became the first player not wearing a Celtics or Lakers uniform to qualify for his seventh straight NBA conference finals appearance when the Nuggets sprinted past the Mavericks.
Billups led the Pistons to six straight, winning two East titles and one NBA crown, before returning to Colorado in the trade for Allen Iverson in November. It’s a good thing, too, because not even Billups could have willed Detroit past the Cavaliers.
However, in Denver, where he played for two seasons early in his career and near where he attended Colorado, he’s become coach George Karl’s right-hand man.
Douglas Pils - Express-News
Right now, a lot of folks want to anoint the Denver Nuggets as heir apparent to the throne.
Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony led Denver to brilliant 4-1 series victories over the Hornets and Mavericks. There were tough moments, but the Nuggets met each challenge with quickness and increasing ease.
So much so, it seems logical to many that they could do the same to the Lakers should the West’s presumptive favorites survive the Rockets in Game 7 of the conference semifinals today.
It would be a wonderful story for a good coach in George Karl. He’s 10th on the victories list at 933, and only two above him never won a title — Jerry Sloan (1,137) and Don Nelson (1,309).
TNT’s Charles Barkley certainly seems smitten by the idea of the Nuggets and Cavaliers in the Finals.
“Denver and Cleveland are the two best teams I’ve seen in the playoffs,” Barkley said last week. “... I think the Denver Nuggets are going to the Finals. The Lakers have been too inconsistent.”
But if the Lakers swarm the undermanned and playing-over-their-head Rockets, the Nuggets’ cute little story won’t last.
Since 2003, when the NBA expanded the first playoff round from best-of-5 to best-of-7, nine teams have gone through the first two rounds with a record of 8-2 or better.
The Nuggets and Cavaliers (8-0) joined the list this year.
Of those previous seven, three made the NBA Finals, and all three lost — Lakers to the Celtics last year, Cavs to the Spurs in 2007 and Nets to the Spurs in 2003.
The Pistons in 2007, the Heat and Suns in 2005 and the Pacers in 2004 lost in the conference finals.
It shows that there’s something about overcoming adversity and being tested in the playoffs. Championship banners, gaudy rings and Larry O’Brien trophies are made of such things.
The Celtics proved that last year. The team with the league’s best record at 66-16 used all seven games to dispatch the 37-45 Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
LeBron James and the Cavaliers seemingly had the opening they needed. It took another seven games, but the Celtics prevailed there, too.
Subsequent 4-2 series victories over the Pistons and Lakers seemed easy after what Boston survived in the first two rounds.
“I did think it helped our team, and it helped me see how guys reacted in those situations, as well,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told the Associated Press.
The Spurs’ experience speaks to the same thing. In 2007, they fought through a six-game series that felt like seven with the Suns — the one with Robert Horry’s hip-check of Steve Nash. In 2003, the Spurs had six-game sets with the Suns and Lakers.
If the Rockets pull off one of the greatest playoff upsets ever, you can throw this thought out the window. But, should the Lakers put Houston in its place, expect L.A. to give Kobe Bryant another shot at that fourth ring. A tough test from Denver would aid the Lakers’ cause.
WEEK THAT WAS
Chauncey Billups likely became the first player not wearing a Celtics or Lakers uniform to qualify for his seventh straight NBA conference finals appearance when the Nuggets sprinted past the Mavericks.
Billups led the Pistons to six straight, winning two East titles and one NBA crown, before returning to Colorado in the trade for Allen Iverson in November. It’s a good thing, too, because not even Billups could have willed Detroit past the Cavaliers.
However, in Denver, where he played for two seasons early in his career and near where he attended Colorado, he’s become coach George Karl’s right-hand man.