Spurs vs Nuggets, round 1, pretty much a lock.

[Phonzie20]

PHONZIE!!!

How the are you?!?!

Hows life in paradise?

I'm doing ok. Just thought I'd make an appearance

How you doin T?

[T Park]

Doin great.

If we can get by the Nuggets and whoevers in round 2, I feel great about gettin back to the finals

[cambrad]

Tim Duncan is so gangster. "f**k you. You're a piece of s**t."

He belongs to us now.

[Cara De Dedão]

v.

Lineups:

bench: najera, kleiza, smith, evans, carter
v.

bench: ginobili, horry, vaughn, barry, oberto

Matchups to Watch:
v.
Two quick, all-star guards going at it. Who can get into the transition game more and score on their fastbreak/secondary break layups? Turnovers will likely be the biggest issue for Iverson. If he can keep them down to ~3, then he & the rest of the team will be far more successful.
Iverson will undoubtedly step up his play a couple notches, but he can't sacrifice team play and ball movement to do so. Still needs to be selective in where he chooses to get his shots up.

v.
Offense v. Defense. Can Melo impose his will against a great defensive player. Anthony's biggest key will be passing out of the midpost and not taking the matchup too personally or letting Bowen get under his skin. San Antonio will overload his side of the court throughout the series and melo needs to be overly willing to make a move, sag the defense and then make passes out to the wings so the ball can be swung to the open shooters.

v.
Foul trouble will be the biggest issue for Nene. He needs to stay on the court for 33-35mpg, because he's the best matchup defensively for Duncan, and he's the only real finishing big man Denver has. He gives Iverson & Melo an interior passing option, and may be able to draw a few fouls on Duncan if he's aggressive in the paint.

v.
The fact is that Denver has virtually nobody to contain Ginobili. It'll take all of Blake's effort, and the weakside defense of particuarly Camby to slow Manu down. The biggest key for Blake will be to simply hit his perimeter shots on offense. He cannot psyche himself out in this series or go cold for a game or two.

Series Trends to Look for:
Side pick & role with Iverson & Carmelo. How successful can Carmelo be in forcing Parker to switch onto him?
Nene's foul trouble. Will the officials allow him to get out of the first quarter with just 1 foul, and into the final few minutes of the game with 4 or less?
Jr Smith's playing time. He's capable of changing a game with his shooting. Can he do everything else well enough to stay on the court and earn the time to get those shots up?
Camby's aggressiveness. When he's energetic and blocking shots, everything else defensively picks up for the Nuggets. He cannot take plays off or be lazy.

Keys for Denver:
Cannot turn the ball over. Passes need to be quick and precise, as does the ball handling. Turning it over 15 times or more will be a near guaranteed loss.
Need to be consistent offensively. No 4-6 minute lulls where everyone settles for jumpshots and there's no penetration into the lane.
Rotations out of double teams (on duncan) and pick and rolls (with parker/ginobili) have to be flawless. Can't be lazy, can't not know where you need to be. San Antonio will always find the open man and Manu/Barry/Finley will always make you pay.
Match the physicality of the San Antonio defense.
Control the defensive glass. No giving up second chance point opportunities, especially off rebounds in the paint. Don't rely exclusively on Camby/Nene to get it done, has to be a team effort, and Carmelo specifically.
Do what's been successful during the recent win streaks, which is moving the ball, playing unselfishly, and attacking the basket.

Injuries:
Kenyon Martin - knee surgery.



Courtesy of Corona from Denver Nuggets Talk

[td4mvp21]

I say Spurs in 5 or 6.

[Dre>Parker]

The Nuggets suck, as their late-season defense in the last few games proves.

Nuggets score 104 PPG, while allowing 103 PPG, 5th worst allowed PPG in NBA.

Spurs score 99 PPG, allowing 90 PPG, lowest in NBA, and best diff in NBA.

Nuggs are a weak road team, a ty 21 - 19, vs. Spurs 27 - 12.

I expect the Spurs to take both games in SA, split in Denver, finish SA, 4 - 1.

Only someone without knowledge of the game of basketball would actually use actual ppg to determine how good a team is on defense. Why? Because any idiot would know that when a team plays at a higher pace than others, they'll naturally give up more points, because there are going to be more possessions in a game. Thats why you adjust for pace, and use the points per 100 possessions formula. In reality, the Nuggets are an above average defensive team, in the area of 8-12 in the league. Check the stats.


And I also don't see how you can claim the Nuggets are a " ty road team." Any time you can go + .500 on the road, especially in the Western Conference, you're a pretty good road team. Especially considering there are only 6 teams in the entire league with winning road records(the Nuggets being one of them).


Its nice to see all Spurs fans are so mature that they don't have to take such weak attempts of shots at another team, especially when they're supposedly so much better, just to prove....?

[cambrad]

I lost $400 vbookie cash today.

Thanks a lot Timmy. Thanks a lot Spurs.

[Cara De Dedão]

I lost $400 vbookie cash today.

Thanks a lot Timmy. Thanks a lot Spurs.

God just punished you.

[Cara De Dedão]

Is it time to go back to talking about the upcoming round 1 matchup, or should we come back later?

[ploto]

Thought this was a good place for this:

Saturday, April 21, 2007
3:00 PM - First Round, Game 1 (ABC)
5:30 PM - First Round, Game 1 (ESPN)
8:00 PM - First Round, Game 1 (ESPN)
10:30 PM - First Round, Game 1 (ESPN)

Sunday, April 22, 2007
3:00 PM - First Round, Game 1 (ABC)
5:30 PM - First Round, Game 1 (TNT)
8:00 PM - First Round, Game 1 (TNT)
10:30 PM - First Round, Game 1 (TNT)
*Possibility of TNT games airing at 1:00 PM, 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM, depending on whether or not a game will be played in the Pacific Time Zone.

Monday, April 23, 2007
7/8:00 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)
TBA - First Round, Game 2 (NBA TV)
9/10:30 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
7/8:00 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)
TBA - First Round, Game 2 (NBA TV)
9/10:30 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
7/8:00 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)
9/10:30 PM - First Round, Game 2 (TNT)

[cambrad]

Is it time to go back to talking about the upcoming round 1 matchup, or should we come back later?

Nope. They just wanna talk about Joey Crawford, James White, and when the Finals take place.

[J.T.]

So who do we play in Round 2?

[J.T.]

So who do we play in Round 2?

Phoenix.

[cambrad]

J.T. made a funny.

[johngateswhiteley]

Nope. we are at most a speed bump on their way to the finals.

yeah.

[DrD]

Efficient game for Bonner:

4 shots, 4-4 from the line. 10 points, 10 boards, 2 assists

[Cara De Dedão]

Let's try again... Round 1? Anyone...

[J.T.]

Let's try again... Round 1? Anyone...

Yawn. Have the Nuggets made it out of the first round at all in the Melo era?

[siopaoboi]

sup guys!

another nugg fan here here's to be great series.

[J.T.]

Oh my god they're multplying like AIDS.

[T Park]

multiplying like rabid rabbits.....

[siopaoboi]

actually, i've been trolling for the past few years. thanks to johngateswhitley

we're pretty harmless. just bringing some excitement to the series

[BloodLine]

We will beat tha Nuggets very easy 1. because we are way better and have more to show for it!! 2. we have tha best D!!! 3. We play TEAM BASKETBALL unlike Melo and Iverson!! Melo is too damn selfish and Iverson cries to damn much in tha game!! (while he is whinning about a play we will already have scored 3 times and he will still be crying over a play!!)

look who is saying hey man you love tony parker he s just a baby ...

[cambrad]

actually, i've been trolling for the past few years. thanks to johngateswhitley

we're pretty harmless. just bringing some excitement to the series

Don't make us look bad, okay?

[J.T.]

When do round 2 tickets go on sale at the ATT Center?