Friday, March 11, 2011

SOME NOTES ON BASKETBALL

*  The Nuggets win again, defeating the Suns 116-97, ending a losing streak in Phoenix that dates back seven years for the Nuggets and back to 1997 for Nuggets' coach George Karl.  As the Denver Post pointed out:

The Nuggets, dropped by TNT on Thursday night for a lack of star power, are methodically proving team power can be just as scintillating. They are a raw reincarnation of the 2003-04 Pistons, a bunch that is a fast-breaking, breathtaking sum of its parts. It's a team that is not only making believers out of fans and purists who thought basketball couldn't be played like this with any consistency and win, but by the scouts who cover them.  At one point during the game, one gasped: "These guys are really good, man."  "I've never seen these guys play like this before," said another, obviously familiar with the iso, pick-and-roll Nuggets. "A really different team."

*After yet another Knicks loss, the New York Times notes:

The Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he was not necessarily happy that Carmelo Anthony is out of the Western Conference because he said the Nuggets improved themselves in the deal. “I think they hit a home run,” Cuban said. In the deal, the Nuggets received Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov from the Knicks. Denver is 6-2 since the trade.

*  The CU Buffs are likely to make it into the 68 team NCAA tournament.  They beat Kansas State for the third time this season, and will face Kansas next in the Big 12 Tournament.  Kansas beat CU twice this season, but the Buffs were close to the upset in both games.

3 comments:

Bizzy Brain said...

Great to see the success of the team play Nuggets! Even the lowly Indiana Pacers beat the Knicks in NYC, which means getting rid of Carmello certainly helped Denver and didn't do all that much for the Knicks.
Colorado got super royally screwed in not getting an NCAA bid, and EVERYONE agrees. Sorry to see what has to be corruption in the selection process.

DES said...

Amen and amen. The pictures of the team in today's Daily Camera were quite sad - they had all gathered at Coach Boyles' house to watch the selections with the presumption that it would be a celebration.
The Nuggets had another great team-game against the Pistons. They certainly should have beat Detroit, but they did it in convincing fashion, leading by as much as 30 in the fourth quarter. Folks are beginning to realize that this team is fun to watch!

Steve Heller said...

Maybe the Nuggets will blaze the trail back to emphasis on team play, the way basketball is supposed to be played. I know a lot of coaches would love to see that.