Nuggets overmatch Hornets


The Nuggets took it to the Hornets to end the second and open the third and the game was over.

The Nuggets are perhaps the deepest collection of talent in the league, and the Hornets opened the game tonight with one player who would start for most teams in the league.  The result was predictable – once that one guy, Ryan Anderson, wore down trying to carry the scoring load, the Hornets fell behind.

Ryan did try to carry it for a while, unleashing an array of spin moves, post ups and other ways to attack the Nuggets besides his amazing step backs and threes, but he is simply not a primary option.  He’s a magnificent complimentary scorer and talent who will carry you some nights, but this is not his role.

The Hornets guard play was more atrocious than usual tonight.  Vasquez opened the game strongly, but once the Nuggets put Andre Igoudala on him, he couldn’t get past the three point line or prevent turnover after turnover.  Roger Mason showed his talent for standing in the corner, Austin Rivers showed his defensive liabilities and inability to finish shots he creates at the rim, Brian Roberts hit some shots in garbage time, and Xavier Henry’s defense was as toothless as the airball three pointer he missed.  Oh wait, it wasn’t a three pointer because under no pressure, with no one near him, he still managed to step on the line before shooting.

I’m thinking that Dell Demps may be deeper than I thought.  He’s rebuilding a team, and this backcourt is going to get him a lot of pingpong balls, no matter what his front court looks like . . . when healthy

Good stuff

  • Anderson’s a versatile scorer.  I’d like to see him continue to put that on display and to see other sets put in place for him to score.  His ability to dribble in traffic is better than I gave him credit for.
  • Darius Miller was out there working hard and made the most of his time.  He’s not been given extended time to get rhythm, and he got some tonight.  He’s heady, and might be an option at the two guard.
  • Our scrubs outscored theirs?
  • I’ve loved Andre Miller since he won me a fantasy basketball league back when he led the league in assists in Cleveland.  The guy’s Basketball IQ is off the chart.  Put him with McGee, like the Nuggets do, and he almost compensates.

Have a good night.


18 responses to “Nuggets overmatch Hornets”

  1. I will say that Austin Rivers struggles to score….but his passing ability is very underrated and I would start him at point. He is quicker, more fluid, and doesn’t kill ball movement. He would be able to defend a point guard better than the 2. GV is a backup and Brian Roberts is a D-League player, nothing more….nothing less

    • I’d be fine if Rivers starts at the point as well. Though that would mean serious tankage. But we’re already tanking anyway.

      I personally, don’t think Rivers is ready to play the point and I’m not sure whether he will ever be ready, but at this point, we have nothing to lose and I could always be wrong.

  2. Any update on Davis’s ankle? Is it purely precautionary at this point? Between him, Kyrie Irving and Dwyane Wade, my fantasy season is going up in flames 🙁

  3. Anderson is obviously a great shooter, but he showed us tonight that he can score in many different ways. When our offense isn’t running smoothly, he is our only scoring threat. If opposing teams shut him down, they shut our whole team down. Denver realized this at halftime resulting in Anderson getting 0 points in the second half and Denver winning big. Getting Davis back will help, but until we get Gordon back there will be many nights like this. Expect Anderson to be an even better scorer when the other teams have to account for Gordon and Davis as well.

    Darius Miller passes up too many open threes. He did it quite a bit in this game, even with one minute left in the fourth quarter where it didnt even matter if he missed because the game was way over at that point.

    Austin Rivers takes some funky looking layups and misses them. He contorts his body in a strange way instead of just going straight up and putting it in.

    I got an ESPN update saying that Anthony Davis hopes to return in early December.

    Anyways… have a good night.

    • Miller passed up one open three, the others he made the extra pass because his teammate had a better look. Many of our players rarely make the extra pass it was nice to see that from the youngster.

  4. rivers must develop a midrange game ASAP… he’s still way too thin/weak to rely on his drives… he’s not getting the calls, and even if he got, he wouldn’t help his cause shooting under .700 from the stripe…

    never thought I’d say this with monty running things, but we look so bad defensively… open 3s, offensive rebounds, guys being beaten off the dribble at will… monty’s got to pick up on these guys, we might not be the most atletic or talented defenders on the league, but THAT bad I’m sure we’re not! C’mon!

    • We are horrendous defensively. Let’s keep in mind that we traded away the core of our defense during the offseason in Ariza and Okafor. Also, although Anderson is obviously a great shooter, he’s also a defenisve liability unfortunately–though we have even worse liabilities on the perimeter.

  5. Rivers is a better passer than Vasquez will ever be… Lopez is tall but with no ? and can he jump… LOL with only one year guaranteed… I think… This team has no leadership… Wish we had a PG like Miller… We are desperate for veterans.. but the EG drama is wearing thin…

    • Vasquez was averaging a strady 9 assists per game and his AST/TO ration is improved.

      Rivers is just not a point guard at this point in time. I don’t know whether he ever will be. He has a quick step off the dribble but has problems finishing and looks for his own shot more than he looks for others.

      • Have you not been watching the games? Rivers only really shoots at the end of the shot clock or when no one else is moving. He is constantly swinging the ball at getting others involved. He has way more than just pick and roll. Take that away from GV and he can’t even get pass the 3-point line

      • I have watched Rivers closely. When he penetrates, 9 times out of 10 he is looking to create his own shot. That’s part of the reason why he has such a horrible shooting % — he’s very predictable.

        When he doesn’t try to penetrate, he does swing the ball, as you said, so he’s not a complete black hole. But any player at any position can swing the ball. From a point guard, you need to create shots for other players. Rivers just doesn’t do that very well.

  6. Ryan Anderson was a great offseason pickup.
    On the other hand Monty should not start Mason when this team desperately needs to give more development time on the court to Rivers. Its not like the team is winning or something. This team just dont have winning chances until Davis returns taking into account the current schedule.
    Lopez shouldn’t start. He is not starting caliber. Did you see him last night? He didnt grab a single rebound during his first 16 mins on the court!?! This is a really bad sign for a 7 footer but of course this was the type of things he showed while playing with the Suns and that’s why no team threw an offer to him during the offseaon when he was a RFA

    • Everyone knew that Rivers would struggle most of, it not all, of his rookie year. I’d continue to bring Rivers off the bench and, to the extent possible, match him up against the other team’s backup. He’s more likely to gain confidence if he’s playing against backups.

  7. We just ran into a buzzsaw and a far better opponent without our 2 best players. With this and the Saints loss, yesterday was a tough day. Geaux Hornets

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.