"Where is Melo"

[Orangeyes]

Chant resounding in the Pepsi Center in Denver

Melo left game early with fluid on the knee.

The Nuggets are mauling NY

 

[CorduroyG]

funny how the knick threads on here are getting less and less as the season has gone on. there were as many knicks threads as syracuse threads in nov/dec!

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

This is a beautiful thing to watch. The Nuggets might just mess around and win the West. Oh, and thanks in advance to the Knicks for being awful in 2014, we'll enjoy that 1st round pick.

 

[SoBeCuse]

This is a beautiful thing to watch. The Nuggets might just mess around and win the West. Oh, and thanks in advance to the Knicks for being awful in 2014, we'll enjoy that 1st round pick.

I wonder if the ones on here who ripped Ty Lawson will ever come forward. They were quite a few people who thought he sucked (even at UNC) and wouldn't make it in the NBA.

 

[Rocco]

His knee could be worse than previously thought. NYK's run starts and stops with Melo.

 

[texascpa]

This is a beautiful thing to watch. The Nuggets might just mess around and win the West. Oh, and thanks in advance to the Knicks for being awful in 2014, we'll enjoy that 1st round pick.

I usually don't stay up past 10:30CST any longer, but I watched through the 3rd quarter (11:30p) because of how fantastic the Nuggets looked. It is amazing how often they get into the paint and how many ways they do it. The fact that no Nugget made the All-Star squad just shows how much they play as a team and how distributive the team play is. Faried and Lawson will be on an All-Star squad in the next year or so, though. Jon Barry couldn't say enough good things about them.

Oh, and the crowd was also chanting "Who Needs Melo?".

 

[Upstate]

The Knicks can easily maintain without Melo. It's the absence of Stat that's going to hurt them the next few weeks. He was on a tear.

 

[shandeezy7]

I usually don't stay up past 10:30CST any longer, but I watched through the 3rd quarter (11:30p) because of how fantastic the Nuggets looked. It is amazing how often they get into the paint and how many ways they do it. The fact that no Nugget made the All-Star squad just shows how much they play as a team and how distributive the team play is. Faried and Lawson will be on an All-Star squad in the next year or so, though. Jon Barry couldn't say enough good things about them.

Oh, and the crowd was also chanting "Who Needs Melo?".

I would say the Nuggets needed Melo back when they were a joke of a team when they drafted him. I understand the sour grapes feeling and Melo probably could have handled his exit from there in a better fashion, but that team was a disaster before he showed up in '03.

 

[Knicks411]

The nuggets are pretty close to unbeatable at home.

I saw a stat on twitter that when a team is playing the second game of a back to back in Denver (which wasn't the Knicks last night), they have lost 41 of the last 44

 

[texascpa]

I would say the Nuggets needed Melo back when they were a joke of a team when they drafted him. I understand the sour grapes feeling and Melo probably could have handled his exit from there in a better fashion, but that team was a disaster before he showed up in '03.

Oh, I definitely agree and I couldn't have been happier as a Nugs and Cuse fan, but eventually the welcome wore off and you could see that the Nugs were not going to get much better with the sole focus on Melo. A change was needed for both the Nugs and him.

 

[DoctorBombay]

The Nuggets will lose in the 2nd Round for the same exact reasons they always did- too many good/great players (Lawson, Farried, Chandler, Gallinari) and no superstar a la, OKC, Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, etc.
I really like Lawson and Farried, but they are not superstars, at least not yet. During crunch time the last coupla years, Lawson wasn't enough, Gallo wasn't enough, Chandler(?)...really? So who's gonna carry you in a game 7 against Durant/Westbrook, or Griffin/Paul, or Kobe/Howard, or Duncan/Parker?
Add to this that George Karl SUCKS as a big-game HC and Denver will continue doing what they did when Melo was there- win lotsa regular season games, and lose in the playoffs.
The NBA is a superstar's league- you gather as many as you can (minimum 2) to counter everyone else's. The last "very good buncha players/team" to win it all, sans superstars, was the Bad Boy Pistons...and Denver is NOT them. JMHO

 

[ssbriefcase]

I would say the Nuggets needed Melo back when they were a joke of a team when they drafted him. I understand the sour grapes feeling and Melo probably could have handled his exit from there in a better fashion, but that team was a disaster before he showed up in '03.

He handled his exit better than any other nba star. Everybodys not going to fall in love with the city they're drafted to, especially with not enough good help. But he gave 7 great seasons to Denver. Denver fans always blame the player instead of the organization when they choose to move on. So sick of a lot of the nuggs fans in this city always hating on Melo instead of being appreciative. The nuggs were a wasteland before Melo. I bought season tickets his rookie season and they set one attendance record after another. He made them relevant.

 

[ssbriefcase]

The Nuggets will lose in the 2nd Round for the same exact reasons they always did- too many good/great players (Lawson, Farried, Chandler, Gallinari) and no superstar a la, OKC, Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, etc.
I really like Lawson and Farried, but they are not superstars, at least not yet. During crunch time the last coupla years, Lawson wasn't enough, Gallo wasn't enough, Chandler(?)...really? So who's gonna carry you in a game 7 against Durant/Westbrook, or Griffin/Paul, or Kobe/Howard, or Duncan/Parker?
Precisely...
Add to this that George Karl SUCKS as a big-game HC and Denver will continue doing what they did when Melo was there- win lotsa regular season games, and lose in the playoffs.
The NBA is a superstar's league- you gather as many as you can (minimum 2) to counter everyone else's. The last "very good buncha players/team" to win it all, sans superstars, was the Bad Boy Pistons...and Denver is NOT them. JMHO

 

[ssbriefcase]

The Nuggets will lose in the 2nd Round for the same exact reasons they always did- too many good/great players (Lawson, Farried, Chandler, Gallinari) and no superstar a la, OKC, Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, etc.
I really like Lawson and Farried, but they are not superstars, at least not yet. During crunch time the last coupla years, Lawson wasn't enough, Gallo wasn't enough, Chandler(?)...really? So who's gonna carry you in a game 7 against Durant/Westbrook, or Griffin/Paul, or Kobe/Howard, or Duncan/Parker?
Add to this that George Karl SUCKS as a big-game HC and Denver will continue doing what they did when Melo was there- win lotsa regular season games, and lose in the playoffs.
The NBA is a superstar's league- you gather as many as you can (minimum 2) to counter everyone else's. The last "very good buncha players/team" to win it all, sans superstars, was the Bad Boy Pistons...and Denver is NOT them. JMHO

Spot on

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

I've thought about this a lot over the last few weeks with how well the Nuggs have been playing, and there's only one team that I don't want any part of in the playoffs: Memphis. They can keep Denver out of transition and make the game as ugly as possible in the half court. The Spurs don't scare me over a 7 game series (See: getting swept last season), the Thunder are not the same and James Harden isn't walking through that door, and the Clippers are absolutely dreadful in the half court. To be honest, I don't think it really matters because I don't see anyone beating Miami.

 

[TinyManInside]

I wonder if the ones on here who ripped Ty Lawson will ever come forward. They were quite a few people who thought he sucked (even at UNC) and wouldn't make it in the NBA.

haha, yeah I remember getting blasted repeatedly for saying that Lawson was a much better pro prospect than Flynn.

Lawson's last year at UNC was unreal in terms of his assist to TO ratio.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

haha, yeah I remember getting blasted repeatedly for saying that Lawson was a much better pro prospect than Flynn.

Lawson's last year at UNC was unreal in terms of his assist to TO ratio.

He's one of only two players this year to have multiple games of 20+ points, 10+ assists, and 0 turnovers. The other guy is LeBron James.

 

[OrangeDW]

This is a beautiful thing to watch. The Nuggets might just mess around and win the West. Oh, and thanks in advance to the Knicks for being awful in 2014, we'll enjoy that 1st round pick.

The Nuggets will not win the West. No chance. They are at the same level they were with Melo...a 50+ win team who is not a real threat to win it all.

The Knicks improved a lot with the trade, so it was good for both teams. The Knicks got better, and the Nuggets were able to trade a franchise player and maintain at the same level...not much because of who they got for him, but for what they were able to do with the money freed up and by drafting well. Drafting Lawson and Farried were great picks, for where they got them.

The Knicks won't be awful in 2014, though.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

The Nuggets will not win the West. No chance. They are at the same level they were with Melo...a 50+ win team who is not a real threat to win it all.

The Knicks improved a lot with the trade, so it was good for both teams.

The Knicks won't be awful in 2014.

Much better team now. The ball moves on offense and the defense is a whole lot better. Biggest weakness is outside shooting/back-up PG play. To say there's no chance that they win the West is crazy, IMO.

 

[OrangeDW]

Much better team now. The ball moves on offense and the defense is a whole lot better. Biggest weakness is outside shooting/back-up PG play. To say there's no chance that they win the West is crazy, IMO.

How are they better? They might be more fun to watch, but I don't see how they're better. They're going to win 50 something games just like they did in Melo's last few years. Unless they actually do go to the finals, they aren't better.

No chance might be overdoing it, because I guess if Durant gets hurt or something they could.

It's very unlikely.

And I love watching them play, they're one of my favorite teams to watch this year, so I would love to see them make a run. They're a really good team, but not a legit contender in my opinion.

 

[ssbriefcase]

Ujiri said the Nuggs weren't a contender this season. Very rare to hear a GM say that. It was on the air waves out here for a week.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

How are they better? They might be more fun to watch, but I don't see how they're better. They're going to win 50 something games just like they did in Melo's last few years. Unless they actually do go to the finals, they aren't better.

No chance might be overdoing it, because I guess if Durant gets hurt or something they could.

It's very unlikely.

And I love watching them play, they're one of my favorite teams to watch this year, so I would love to see them make a run. They're a really good team, but not a legit contender in my opinion.

The roster is just better and deeper now. Ty Lawson is better than the PG's during the Melo era. Give me the Faried-Koufos-McGee combo over having K-Mart on the IR and Nene disappearing and being a below average rebounder. Having two legit scoring options and solid defensive players in Gallo and the recently healthy and rapidly improving Chandler has been great. Also, Corey Brewer is the most underrated 6th man in basketball and has been great defensively. While Igoudala hasn't had the touch on his jumper I was hoping for, he's been a great passer/rebounder/runner and locks down the best player (1-3) on the other squad. Last week he frustrated Chris Paul all night and can do the same to KD. The ball never stops moving on offense, the team rebounds a lot better, they're as good in transition as anyone (right there with Miami), and our bigs block shots at a higher rate. As I said, there are weaknesses and I worry about getting bogged down offensivley in the playoffs, but I don't think anyone in the West outside of Memphis can truly keep us out of transition, especially with the number of jump shots OKC and San Antonio take.

 

[Knicks411]

haha, yeah I remember getting blasted repeatedly for saying that Lawson was a much better pro prospect than Flynn.

Ditto. Lawson's last year at UNC was off the charts good.

Drafting Lawson and Farried were great picks, for where they got them.

Sigh, I wanted the Knicks to take both of these guys

 

[texascpa]

Ujiri said the Nuggs weren't a contender this season. Very rare to hear a GM say that. It was on the air waves out here for a week.

Called reverse psychology