After going 32-8 to finish the year last season Denver so far hasn't been able to continue the success. They are 11-10 to this point, which is just okay. But this team was so phenomenal at the end of last year that we expected more from this them. George Karl is with them now that he's healthy and the Nuggets should be right on track. The team MVP so far has been Marcus Camby. Camby has been a borderline all-star for years and is undoubtedly going to be one if these stats keep up: 17.2 PPG, an NBA-high 13.8 RPG and 3.3 Blocks Per Game. Carmelo is the go-to-guy who this year particularly is developing his scoring capabilities at a frenetic pace with 21.9 PPG. Andre Miller is starting to more closely resemble the 10.2-assist player he was in Cleveland; his 7.8 APG are his highest totals in 4 years. Kenyon Martin hasn't been worth the money to this point. The 12.2 PPG are a nice side note, but the insufficient 4.9 rebounds are terrible. When Martin has sat out Francisco Elson has had to step in and play PF. The Nuggets could be playing Nene had he not ended his year a whopping 3 minutes into the season (not even Kwame Brown got injured that fast). Anyway, Elson hasn't carried the torch in his nine games, grabbing just 3.4 Rebounds Per Game. Statistically the team is a mixed bag. They score and allow an average number of points, their scoring of 97.2 down from the 99.5 they got last year. Andre Miller and Earl Boykins are one of the best PG duos in the NBA, giving Denver the 4th most assists in the League. Marcus Camby has lead the Nuggets to be 3rd in rebounding, astounding since Martin is having such an off year. However nobody shoots the 3-pter worse than Denver who shoots it at a measly 25%. Designated 3-pt shooter Voshon Lenard is having problems on and off the field which has revert his season shooting from downtown to just 29%. When Denver went on a tare last year, it was only to get back to the 45-50-win team that the Nuggets can be. Now that they are on par around .500, they can work on getting through Minnesota. They are 8-3 at home, which is good because they are at least duplicating the success they had at home last year. But to get to Minnesota they have to record a nearly winning road record. If they can't, then they should at least find their way to the bottom spectrum of the playoffs. |
