Tag Archives: Denver

by | April 30, 2011 · 9:00 PM

Western Conference Playoff Predictions: Grizzlies vs. Thunder

Haters gonna hate.

According to the Beef and our predictions, this matchup wasn’t supposed to happen.  However, now that it’s here, we gotta break it down.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder vs 8. Memphis Grizzlies

We had the Thunder losing to Denver in the first round.  The Nuggets were the stronger team with more depth and the better coach.  The Thunder pulled it out though and nearly swept Denver who barely won game four.

Likewise, we had the Grizzlies succumbing to the No. 1 seed in the West, the Spurs.  Again, San Antonio had the depth, experience and the better coach in Greg Popavich but Memphis took care of them in six.

Now, we have two of the youngest teams in the West matching up in a series that will truly state who is ready to be an upper-echelon team.

Key Matchups:

Zach Randolph has really risen to the occasion for this team.  It took some good playoff games for him to get the well-deserved raise that they offered him last week.  However, he isn’t done yet.  Now, this is his team and he is going to be willing to do anything to take them to the Western Conference finals.

That being said, it comes down to who the Thunder decide to put on him.  Kendrick Perkins sounds like the man for the job but in their last matchup, he wasn’t healthy.  Also, Z Bo has a lot more energy and ability in the post than Perkins can handle.  He scraps for rebounds and gets a lot of second chance points for the Griz.  Serge Ibaka will have to get in there as well and try to slow down Randolph who is proving to be one of the biggest surprises of these playoffs.

Kevin Durant was the leading scorer for the Thunder in every game in the first round.  Denver was unable to stop the Durantula who only scored less than 25 in one of the five games against Denver when they held him to 23 in game two.

They still won that game due to the performances of Russell Westbrook with 21 and James Harden with 18.  Since Memphis will have no chance of stopping Durant, it will be them defending the rest of the team.  The Griz get a lot of steals and lead the league with 9.3 a game and it will be up to Westbrook and company to take care of the ball and accent Durant’s unstoppable scoring.

X-Factors:

Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur Will have to show up for this series.  Oklahoma City doesn’t defend the post well at all.  They give up 22 points a game alone to the leagues various frontcourts and really lucked out since none of the big guys for Denver showed up for the last series.  Perkins got into foul trouble quite a bit in the first round so that might be a good player for them to attack.

The Thunder need to get some points from their bench.  The second unit for Memphis includes Shane Battier and O.J. Mayo who can both put up some points.  Even Greivis Vasquez showed he can ball in their game six win that clinched the series against San Antonio.  Harden will have to show up and score which he has proven he can do but they are going to need a lot more from Eric Maynor, Deaquan Cook and Nick Collison.

Prediction:

Since we have gotten everything wrong when it comes to these two teams so far, we might as well take a risk.  Memphis will win this series in six games.  They are on an intense high from the Spurs series and if they stay hot, no one can stop them.  They were 3-1 against the Thunder this season and they seem to be playing for a lot more.  This is the first time Oklahoma City has been to the second round but it’s the same for Memphis.  The only difference is that no one saw the Griz doing this and we don’t think they are done surprising people.

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by | April 16, 2011 · 4:33 PM

Western Conference Playoff Predictions: Thunder vs. Nuggets

What me worry? Think again Nick.

It really made no sense when NBA fans stated that Oklahoma City would stomp Denver in the first round.  However, it’s really looking more and more like those fans may be onto something but not for the reasons they may assume.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. 5. Denver Nuggets

Yes, Kevin Durant is a takeover player that people love to namedrop in sports debate. He has scored a lot against the Nuggets as well with 44, 22, 32 and 28-point performances as his Thunder amassed a 3-1 record against Denver this season.  However, he is just one man.

What those fans aren’t discussing is the lack of fallout felt in the Mile High City after Carmelo Anthony left for the Big Apple and how scary that really is.  If you play for Denver now, you either dwelled in Anthony’s shadow for years or were dispelled from New York for the prima dona.  Either way, you have a chip on your shoulder and you play for a coach in the same position.  George Karl has not even been mentioned as a candidate for coach of the year after taking his team 17-7 since losing the All Star (12-1 at home).

Key Matchups:

The issue with why those fans were wrong lies here: it isn’t Durant vs. the Nuggets but the Nuggets vs. themselves, or rather, their ailments.  Denver is very injured.

This team became extremely deep after sending Melo to NYC.  Raymond Felton adds depth to the backcourt, Danilo Gallinari gives them a big body that can shoot, Wilson Chandler provides them another guy down low, Al Harrington gives them size and Timofey Mozgov speaks Russian.  However, starting point guard Ty Lawson sprained his ankle in the last regular season game of the year and is day-to-day.  Arron Afflalo is being called a game-time decision after injuring his hamstring.  Gallinari is probable after injuring his ankle and Nene is probable too with an injured groin.

J.R Smith will have to rise up with Afflalo not 100 percent.  Kenyon Martin and Harrington will have to hold down the frontcourt with Nene and Gallinari injured.  Karl has options but their situation is anything but ideal.  At full health, this team could roll the Thunder but that isn’t the case now.

Next, Scott Brooks needs to take advantage of this appropriately.  The starting lineup in OKC is good but not great.  It’s convenient to have  Nick Collison and James Harden coming off the bench but Eric Maynor running point when Russell Westbrook is sitting isn’t the best.  If Denver isn’t going to have the depth they succeeded with towards the end of the season, then it’s up to Brooks to figure out how to exploit that the best way he sees fit and that’s by playing smart.

X Factors:

Harden will have to show up for this series.  He finished off the season well and is easily the best player on that OKC bench.  While he doesn’t really produce a lot in the minutes he’s given, he doesn’t turn it over and that’s key when you talk about secondary units.  During the regular season, the OKC bench was sixth in the league in lowest amount of turnovers with only four a game.

J.R. and Felton will be on that court against the garbage backup players that the Thunder have and by the way, Denver’s bench is sixth in the league in steals per game. If Harden and Maynor don’t take care of the ball, they will be looking at the back of Denver jerseys for most of this series.  The backup guards for Denver are definitely going to be important due to the fact that it will be them filling in for the injured players.

Prediction:

This will be the best first-round playoff series in the West.  OKC has the atmosphere and Denver has the altitude (Where Durant won his first game there ever this season).  The only thing for sure is that this series will go seven games.  However, the injuries in Denver really make it hard to figure out who has the overall edge.  Durant may be good but he just isn’t going to march his way to the Western Conference finals.  Denver has a lot to fight for, they have a better coach and they have better depth.  The Beef is giving it to them in seven.

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by | February 22, 2011 · 6:09 PM

Not all is lost

It's time for Denver to take what they have acquired and move forward.

Now that we all know where Carmelo Anthony will be playing, it’s time to thank a certain team that really helped this trade happen.  However, it’s neither the Knicks nor the Nuggets.

Yes, thank the Cleveland Cavaliers for helping make this transaction happen even though they have absolutely nothing to benefit from Melo switching teams other than increasing how badly they will get beaten at MSG.

We all remember last summer and ‘The Decision’ that went down that landed LeBron James in Miami.  Cleveland made no attempts to trade him and essentially let The King decide his own fate in free agency.

Instead, they saw what owner Dan Gilbert would later refer to as a LeBron who was ready to move on.  They were knocked out of the second round of the playoffs in six games after losing the last three of the series to Boston.

The Cavs were the best teams in the East and went into last season’s All-Star Break with a 40-11 record.  They are starting this year’s second half of the season 10-46, a complete 180˚.

Cleveland set the record for longest regular season losing streak with 26 earlier this month.  They only lost 21 last year.

Cleveland got nothing out of LeBron leaving but a bruised ego.  The Nuggets’ GM, Masai Ujiri, had to have seen that losing a superstar to free agency can leave quite a big crater.

Denver knew that Melo did not want to stick around playing at the Pepsi Center.  They too could be accused of not surrounding him with championship-caliber talent.  Al Harrington, Allen Iverson and even an aging Chauncey Billups weren’t going to bring a trophy to Colorado basketball especially with a star like Anthony who only made it past the first round of the playoffs once in his career in Denver.

New York is Melo’s home and he wanted to return.  Even the Nets caught the hint after a while.  He was born in Brooklyn and won the National Title at Syracuse.  He wanted to play at the Basketball Mecca, Madison Square Garden.

It wasn’t a question of if but rather when.  Denver knew this.

Now, the Nuggets are walking away with Wilson Chandler who will give them depth up front alongside Kenyon Martin and Danilo Gallinari, who they also acquired in the trade.  Additionally, Raymond Felton is coming to town in the midst of a season that is qualifying him for most improved player.  George Karl has stated that he wont be starting over Ty Lawson but we have already seen him employ a two-guard set with Billups that worked.  The first round pick and two second round picks they are getting will help as well.

Again, the Cavs got nothing.

You can also see what emerged once LeBron left.  Several players are seeing more minutes including J.J. Hickson who has gone from scoring eight points a game last season to just over 12 this year.  We have yet to see who will step up in Denver but someone will have to.

As of now, the Nuggets have a 32-25 record and are seventh in the West.  Utah is right behind them at 31-26 but have yet to win without Jerry Sloan.  Memphis will be without their star player Rudy Gay for several more weeks and Phoenix just isn’t the same without Amar’e Stoudemire whom Carmelo will be scoring with in New York.  They still have a chance to make the playoffs and shouldn’t be worried.

It’s obvious that Denver will miss Carmelo but thanks to the mistakes of Gilbert and the Cavs, they saw how not to lose a superstar.

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by | January 14, 2011 · 10:20 PM

Anthony Randolph’s two points per game enter Carmelo Anthony trade talk

Why does this man have anything to do with Carmelo?

It was a hot summer of offseason moves and acquisitions that has created a season unlike any other we have ever seen.  This trade deadline is not trying to stray from the theme of shock and awe.

Carmelo Anthony felt left out this summer and now he and Denver are clogging the Internet with news overload of a potential trade.  It’s leaving a pretty bad taste of rotten Beef.

Now, the Knicks put Anthony Randolph on the trading block for a potential first round pick.

Randolph is averaging two points a game.

Who would trade a first round pick for a 21-year-old who is coming off of a season where he only played 33 games and is now only putting up only a bucket a night?

Supposedly, New York is putting him out there for the draft pick that they would ultimately send to Denver.  They have been shopping with some teams that they (and we) think will be potential lottery teams.  Minnesota, Indiana and Portland have been talked about as potential new homes for Randolph.

However, the Knicks may be trying to unwrap their present a little early with Melo not ruling out the option of just finishing his season in Denver and then signing as a free agent in the Big Apple.

It is still unknown if they will be able to grant him the max deal he wants and we still have to see if this collective bargaining agreement goes through.  Both would reduce his pay dramatically.

As this trade stalls even more and more over Anthony’s unwillingness to sign a $65 million extension, which would be required for it to occur, the league is sitting and waiting.

Dallas needs a new forward.

Orlando has not ruled out shopping for more players.

Charlotte is looking to rebuild.

Boston is having a problem with continuously injured big men.

Portland is losing its star for an extended period of time.

Miami needs some more presence off the bench.

Atlanta is a mess and so is Phoenix.

Nothing has been mentioned about any sort of deals between any of the teams above outside of ones that ultimately tie back to Anthony.  Everyone wants to talk about this trade and no one is making moves in the mean time.  Owners outside of these talks have no idea what sort of deal will be worked out for Melo.  The trade deadline looms on February 24 and the All Star break is the perfect time to reformulate a team to prime itself for the playoffs.

By then, everyone should know where they stand.  By then, we will know where Carmelo will be ending the season.

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