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how many rings does george karl have? and carmelo is supposed to gaurd manu, bowen and barry?
I wonder what gets passed around the halls and emails over at ESPN. They must have passed out posters with Marcus Camby and Nene Hilario on them, with bulging pectorals, about a month ago. They looooooove them some Denver Nuggets.
A. I wanted to find his email and snap back at this guy - who I usually find amusing - but ESPN hides their columnists emails pretty well, or don't post them, because they know their inane takes would get lots of flak. Anyway, my understanding is that Tony Massenburg is on the roster in order to knock some heads, and I'd take him over Nene, namby-Camby, and the poseur Kenyon Martin any day. Kenyon Martin sure is a tough guy, when the rim is undefended, bo-yee!! I remember something about KM's performance last time he met Duncan in the playoffs. Plus, if anybody tries to take out Parker, woe betide Earl Boykins the next period. The refs don't want to see this get too physical.A blueprint for beating San Antonio:
A. You need to get physical with them ... and Denver is the most physical team in the league. Guys like Nene and K-Mart will absolutely knock Mr. Eva Longoria (aka Tony Parker) down the first time he comes cruising down the lane (like the Lakers did last year). Also, Duncan has always been one of the classiest players around -- what happens to him when K-Mart is throwing elbows around, or Nene starts swearing at him in Brazilian? You need to do this stuff against the Spurs; I'm not sure they like rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty, especially with Malik Rose gone. Who's sticking up for TD when Nene clotheslines him into the basket support?
B. You need to keep throwing big guys at Duncan ... and the Nuggets have three good ones (K-Mart, Nene and the wildly underrated Marcus Camby). I see him making the Sad Duncan Face a lot, the one where he stands next to Popovich and looks like a son who just let down his dad in Little League.
C. You need a small forward who can post up the smaller Spurs guys (Ginobili, Bowen, etc.) and take advantage of them ... and the Nuggets probably have the closest thing to a young Bernard King right now in Carmelo Anthony. On paper, anyway.
D. You need a great coach. Not a good coach -- a GREAT coach. And George Karl is one of the best. He'll know exactly what to do here -- push the pace, knock bodies to the ground, bang the bejeezus out of Duncan (who's been banged up all season).
So why aren't I picking the Nuggets? I don't trust Melo yet -- the right team can get him into another one of those Athens-type funks, and I don't like the way he reacts when his shot isn't falling. If you're The Guy for a good team, you need to figure out ways to help them when you're not scoring. When Melo isn't scoring, he also stops rebounding and playing defense. Not a good quality. Still, any time you get two of the best five teams playing each other in round one, that's pretty cool.
B. Yes, the Nuggets have three good big guys down low. The Spurs have Tim Duncan. Would you trade all three for Duncan? Didn't think so.
C. Carmello Anthony is like a young, preschool version of Bernard King. I swear the ESPN crack-pipes have the Nuggets logo embossed on the side. What's Mellow's lifetime shooting percentage against the Spurs? He hits one out of every three shots or so, right? That's excellent odds. Plus, there's always the reverse of each of these points: the reverse, in this case, is a guy named Bruce Bowen. He's not as wide as Anthony, sure, but is deceptively strong. The players Bowen has trouble with are quick and nasty slashers like Wade, not spot-up shooters like Anthony with limited moves.
D. Admittedly Duncan is banged-up, and that's tough. I doubt Karl, who is close to the Spurs' coaching staff and organization, is going to go underhanded and try to take the man out. Karl is a good coach, but what has he won? Seriously? There's a guy on the other bench, you know. Plus, only one team has P.J. CARLESIMO.
It's really frustrating reading these takes. They're so ill-informed sometimes. I try to give them credence, in this case because Simmons is spot-on often. But I don't get the Nuggets love.
Don't people see how weak their offense is? It's predicated on the fast break, which will be shut-down, and on put-backs. Concentrate on each side, and you're set. They only have one offensive starter, and a couple off the bench. One of the biggest worries is Boykins, whom Simmons fails to realize.
A weak offense versus a strong (albeit injury-ravaged) defense? Essentially, this is a weaker version of the 2003 Nets. Not saying they couldn't somehow win the series or send it deep into 7 games, but I don't think it will. As somebody else pointed out, one team here is dangerous: Denver. The other team is far, far more dangerous: San Antonio. The true x-factor isn't Camby's blocked shots or anything on that side, but the Spurs' offense, their outside shooting. If Manu, Barry, Bowen, Udrih, and Robinson get it going from outside, they won't have to grind this series out, it will end pretty fast.
how many rings does george karl have? and carmelo is supposed to gaurd manu, bowen and barry?
'Mr. Eva Longoria (aka Tony Parker)"
... asshole. This point adds to the article's credibility. Everybody's a comic, 99.99% are bad comics. STFU, sports "journalist".
The single, primary key to beating the Spurs is exactly the same key for the Spurs to beat everybody else: defense.
2003 NBA - NBA Finals (4-2): San Antonio Spurs over New Jersey Nets
You guys are sensitive sissies.
Bill Simmons is the best sports writer on the Internet.
Whether he's the best sports writer or not is immaterial. How spot-on or how stupid is this take? That's the issue.
I think his take is spot-on. He's not saying "This is what will happen and this is why Denver will win." He's saying IF Denver expects to win, their only chance is by being physical down low, keeping Tony out of the paint and throwing Duncan off his game. I think that's 100% accurate, and I think you're misunderstanding his point by arguing that the Nuggets can't or won't accomplish those things.
Do you have a better idea of what it will take to beat the Spurs?
"best sports writer on the Internet"
That's saying something?
Classic!I see him making the Sad Duncan Face a lot, the one where he stands next to Popovich and looks like a son who just let down his dad in Little League.
[email protected], [email protected]A. I wanted to find his email and snap back at this guy
"Mr Eva Longoria (aka Tony Parker)..."
"Still, any time you get two of the best five teams playing each other in round one, that's pretty cool."
Nuggets are one of the Top 5 teams? I'd like to see this list.
Here's a guess:
1. Spurs
2. Pistons
3. Mavs
4. Heat
5. Nuggets?
Nuggets > Suns? Nuggets > Rockets? Nuggets > ok, you guys get it...
"Denver is the most physical team in the league."
is he stuffing serious?
thats the only reason i'd scoff him
I also dislike his "suggestion" that someone clothesline TD.
That's uncalled for. Do I write an article about how someone should take a baseball bat to Bill Simmons? (hmmm, maybe I should....)
I wasn't too impressed with Nene's pugilistic style when he fought Olowakandi. If he decided to clothesline TD, TD would probably let it slide. He wants to win a ring and fighting could cost him another le. But I think TD could strap, if push came to shove. Anyway, we have T-mass if the Nuggets want to play street rules.
I'd much rather focus on the box score of their matchup
Tim Duncan
21 points
47% FG
20 rebounds
10 assists
8 blocks
K-Mart
6 points
13% FG
10 rebounds
1 assist
2 blocks
I don't know about you, but Timmy killed K-mart.
And check out how much perceptions have changed since the 2003 finals
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...ory?id=1568501
If the Nuggets can figure out a way to take out Parker and Duncan at the same time so they only get one guy suspended for the rest of the playoffs that would probably cons ute their best strategy for winning the series.
Bill Simmons is usually funny, but I think he needs to stick to that. This one sounds like an attempt to actually produce sports-related observations, and it ain't his schtick.
Being physical is what the Lakers did to the Spurs last year with Malone getting away with a lot, and everyone allowed to slap at TP in the lane. There's nobody on the Nuggets with Malone's foulproof teflon coating and the Nuggets do not have the aura of the Lakers.
Around this board, the "best" sports journalists are those who say good things about the Spurs, and the "worst" are those who don't.
It's a simple as that.
Portuguese speaked in Brazil is quite different from the one speaked in Portugal.
I think that a portuguese won't understand nothing when Nene swear.
I don't think, you could understand someone of Scottland or Ireland swearing, even if it is still english.
The name of the language is still Portuguese, I think that was Flash's point.
Hmmm...this guy is under-rating the Spurs toughness. Tony did get smacked around by the Lakers last season but that wasn't why he started to be ineffective...he started to be ineffective because the Lakers started doubling him with the ball and it was the first time that had ever happened to him...it was also the first time I've ever seen Phil put a double on a PG...ever. It's rare enough seeing him put one on a big man...but doing it to a PG is unheard of...if they think that smacking Tony around will make him stop going inside they are wrong...the only thing that stops him is clogging the paint.
And he's also wrong if he thinks the Spurs don't have guys that can dish it out...
I can already tell you that Nazr will lay an elbow upside someones head...Horry can be decptively physical when he wants...and we haven't seen that side of Glenn Robinson yet but he has it...he'll get physical too...especially when someone takes a cheapshot on one of his teamates...I've seen him get in someones face before...for Ray Allen believe it or not.
And contrary to what most people think, Rasho does give hard fouls...ask Kobe.
And don't forget Bruce...
I used to think Barry was soft if someone got tough with him(because of what happened when Bruce put that gash in his forhead in 02)...but this year he has disproven that...as exstatic pointed out...Barry actually plays better when someone smacks him upside the head...I actually hope the Nuggets to that...I think he's shooting about 80% from 3 this season when someone does get physical with him.
And you know Manu is tough.
If the Nuggets try that approach with us it will only result in a more severe ass kicking.
They better just take the asswhupping they've got coming to them like men, and not try and escalate things.
Last edited by whottt; 04-22-2005 at 05:51 PM.
Brazilian Portuguese is a dialect of Portuguese at this point.
I had a Portuguese partner in France (there are about 1 million Portuguese in France) who said Portuguese and Brazilians manage to understand each other, but the divergence is large and increasing, exactly like west-side San Antoino Tex-Mex "Spanish "and Madrid Spanish.
Has anybody seen the movie on cable "Sweet 16"? It's about low-class street punks and criminals in Scotland ... with sub- les in English.
Or did anybody understand a word spoken by Brad Pitt in "Snatch" ?
Safe bets:Who's sticking up for TD when Nene clotheslines him into the basket support?
Manu
Nazr
Massenberg
Horry
could probably throw in Bowen too.
Horry isn't gonna throw a punch at him...but Nene better hope his nuts are protected
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