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Tag: Denver Nuggets (Page 1 of 2)

Alex Kennedy Winds Through the West

October 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards is primed for a breakout season, according to Alex (@Timberwolves/X).

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Alex Kennedy, Chief Content Officer at BasketballNews.com and host of Running Up the Score, a biweekly live sports show airing every Tuesday and Friday night, stops by to wind through the Western Conference just as the league readies for tipoff. The Nuggets are Alex’s leading squad but far from the conference’s only contenders. Oh, and he has firmly taken a seat aboard the Wemby Train. Who’s coming with him?

2:44-4:03: “This is a [Nuggets] team that has been together, this core has been together for years, and they have so much chemistry. And I think that’s one of the most undervalued things in sports. We tend to get excited about these big, blockbuster moves and player movement, but chemistry and continuity really, really help and go a long way when you’re trying to contend for a championship. … There are a handful of contenders: Denver, Phoenix, the Lakers, and then, I think, to a lesser extent you go and look at Sacramento, Memphis, Golden State, Clippers.”

9:52-13:19: “We haven’t seen a player like [Victor Wembanyama], ever. … LeBron James said he’s an alien. He was like, ‘I don’t want to use the word ‘unicorn.’ That gets thrown around too often. He’s an alien.’ Giannis said he could be the best player in the NBA. I mean, these are superstar players that are raving about him and talking about him coming in and just dominating the league. Giannis even said, he was like, ‘I need to start winning some championships now because Victor Wembanyama’s coming.’ … It was interesting; in the first preseason game that Victor Wembanyama played, we saw [Chet] Holmgren and Wembanyama match up against each other, and it almost feels like the future of the NBA a little bit – these huge guys with crazy length that are kind of position-less that can do a little bit of everything and are super-skilled.” Continue reading

NBA Power Rankings (1/19/22)

January 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Chris Paul, who is on track to be selected to his twelfth All-Star team, leads the Phoenix Suns to the top spot in Aaron’s power rankings (Instagram/@Suns).

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We have officially crossed the halfway point of the NBA’s 1,230-game regular season, and to celebrate the occasion and welcome our show back from its hibernation, Aaron is excited to present a special solo episode of his (subjective) power rankings of the league’s 30 teams, organized into five tiers. Along the way, Aaron will also share his thoughts on a select number of teams and offer other interesting nuggets about the season so far.

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Mike Singer: Stopping Phoenix an “Impossible Equation” for Nuggets

June 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Nikola Jokic garnered 91 out of 100 first-place votes to win the first NBA MVP award in Denver Nuggets history. (All-Pro Reels/Wikimedia Commons)


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Nikola Jokic earned 2020-21 MVP honors and was presented with his trophy before Denver’s home Game 3 against the Phoenix Suns. But an epic individual performance from the skilled center was not enough for the team to avoid another double-digit loss, its third in as many games of the series. Facing a 3-0 hole, the Nuggets will need a miracle in order to make NBA history and become the first ever team to come back from such a series deficit. Our guest, Mike Singer of the Denver Post, breaks down how the Nuggets got to this point, with specific emphasis on Denver’s ongoing quest to replace the scoring void left by Jamal Murray’s season-ending knee injury and the team’s inadequate defense against Phoenix’s devastating pick-and-roll attack. Finally, Singer looks ahead to the most pressing offseason priorities looming ahead for the franchise.

8:08-8:33: “If Austin Rivers and Facu Campazzo are not giving you anything offensively, that means that you are not making Chris Paul and Devin Booker work on the defensive end. Therefore they’re saving all their energy for the offensive end and just picking you to pieces. So, talent disparity, but more specifically if you zoom in, it’s in the backcourt.” Continue reading

Sekou Smith: “In the West, Everybody is Swinging for the Fences at All Times”

December 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Guest Sekou Smith is “juiced” about seeing an unleashed Zion Williamson in his sophomore NBA season (Erik Drost/Creative Commons).

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Sekou Smith of NBA TV, NBA.com and the Hang Time podcast returns to the show to survey the ultra-competitive West, a conference replete with fascinating storylines ahead of the season’s start. For instance, should the Lakers be considered heavy favorites, what’s going on in Houston, which teams are best primed to squeeze into the postseason and what can we expect from the Warriors following a lost ‘19-20 season? Sekou tackles all these Western Conference questions and more, plus he offers a bonus Giannis extension reaction and Aaron delivers a Spurs-themed Sexy Stats segment coming out of the break.

*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary:

7:09-7:38: “To me, there’s a built in advantage for (head coach) T(yronn) Lue in familiarity that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. He’s the kind of human being – knowing him as well as I do – and kind of coach who’s going to be extremely beneficial to the Clippers as an organization. You’re talking about a guy who’s had experience with the pressures that come with a win-or-else proposition like he had with LeBron.”

11:16-11:53: “They’ve changed the expectation for themselves in the postseason, which if you’ve built the way that they have – which I think is some of the best front-office work, roster building, player development we’ve seen in the past few years – then you’re right where you want to be. You’re in that conversation among the best teams in the Western Conference. You have young stars who are entering into their primes. You have even younger potential stars, like Michael Porter. Jr. – Bol Bol being an even bigger reach but certainly with an upside that is really incomparable when you think about his size and skill set.” Continue reading

Drafting and Dynasties With Pesquera, Ibañez-Baldor

November 17, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Guest Javier Pesquera believes LaMelo Ball is the 2020 draft class’ top prospect and accordingly expects him to go No. 1 to the Timberwolves (Foxlifevisuals/Creative Commons).

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Javier Pesquera, roving NBA draft analyst and occasional consultant for The Stepien, returns to break down the fast-approaching 2020 draft. Then, after the break, Agu Ibañez Baldor stops by to discuss his book, “Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Teams in NBA History.”

*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary:

Javier Pesquera at 7:28-7:39: “At No. 1, I do have LaMelo Ball in his own tier by himself, and I think LaMelo Ball is gonna go No. 1 unless Minnesota actually finds a trade that they like, which I don’t think is happening at this point.”

12:25-12:42 (JP): “I think there are a lot of doubters as well. I do like him [Obi Toppin]. He has as much potential as anybody in this class, and that’s related to his physical tools. … The comparison to Amar’e Stoudemire pops in your head right away because of the way he leaps off the floor and the way he finishes in transition. He has that type of ability.” Continue reading

Howard Beck: Small-Market GMs With a Star Are “Always on the Clock”

February 12, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Anthony Davis’ trade demand is the latest example of a changing paradigm involving NBA superstars, argues guest Howard Beck (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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Bleacher Report‘s Howard Beck has been covering the NBA full-time for the past couple decades, and he detects an unmistakable change in the way the league’s superstars are increasingly dictating where they play. He discusses this phenomenon with regard to Anthony Davis’ recent trade demand, Milwaukee’s ongoing efforts to retain franchise cornerstone Giannis Antetokounmpo for the long haul and how the trend impacted this season’s awfully busy and entertaining trade deadline. Plus, the All-Star weekend is nearly upon us, providing an opportunity to touch on those festivities in Charlotte. Beck bites below:

12:54-14:52: “Tobias Harris, as a guy who’s in his prime who is a borderline All-Star, that’s, on its face, the flashiest acquisition of those contenders in the East. But it’s also the one that I think came with the most caveats and potential concerns. Because you already had a team with three stars, Embiid, Simmons, Jimmy Butler, where there are some tensions…there’s just some underlying tensions there about power dynamics and role and all this even though they [Simmons and Embiid] seem like they should fit together perfectly. And then you throw Jimmy Butler and all the volatility that can come with him on top of that…and now you throw [in] Tobias Harris who’s a high-usage guy…So, yes, the Sixers, their starting five might be the best starting five in the East now and may be the best starting five outside of Golden State, but that’s on paper, and the chemistry part of it I think has to be at least a little bit of a concern.” Continue reading

Adam Mares: Nikola Jokic Redefining ‘MVP’ in Today’s NBA

January 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Guest Adam Mares doesn’t quite see Nikola Jokic, 23, as the frontrunner, but he believes he’s more broadly changing how we define an NBA MVP (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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The Denver Nuggets are on the upswing with a talented young core and six straight months of winning basketball. They also hold the Western Conference’s No. 1 spot, one and a half games ahead of the Thunder and Warriors, and are led by MVP candidate Nikola Jokic. Adam Mares of SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs and Locked On Nuggets breaks down what makes Denver tick.   

Here are some particularly golden nuggets (*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary per listener):

7:13-7:30: “You look at the 2015 Warriors. If I said, ‘Oh, take Steph Curry off that team,’ the offense all of a sudden doesn’t look good, and everybody would understand that. They’d say, ‘OK, well, yeah, of course you miss Steph Curry.’ We don’t think about this defensively. Paul Millsap is Denver’s Steph Curry on the defensive end. He has that type of impact.”  

11:12-13:14: “Isaiah Thomas [is] allegedly looming somewhere on the horizon, and he’s the one guy who has never played on this roster and whose role on this roster, I think, is not very clear. So he’s one guy that, I don’t know if it’s just a matter of a week or two of it being rocky. It just might not be a good fit. Who knows?

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The Bucks Are Scoring 122 Points Per Game! (An ’18-19 Quarterly Review)

November 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Khris Middleton is the most prolific 3-point shooter on a Bucks team suddenly quite 3-happy, and new head coach Mike Budenholzer approves (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).


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Aaron reviews the first quarter of the 2018-19 season, focusing on overall offensive production compared to last year and the Milwaukee Bucks’ considerable improvement spurred by their new style of play. While scoring is way up, offensive efficiency remains about the same as last season. Aaron explains how. He, too, explores Denver’s defensive progression under Mike Malone, as well as the unexpected offensive declines of the Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, and the Rockets’ regression on defense. There’s much more included, but we won’t give it all away. Oh, and next week, we’ll be back with a brand new interview.

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Adam Mares: “Guys Are Figuring Out New Roles Around Millsap”

November 7, 2017 / / 0 Comments

In Paul Millsap’s first season in town, Adam Mares sees clear contributions on both sides of the ball. He also believes the forward’s teammates are still adjusting to their new roles (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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The 5-5 Denver Nuggets are currently about as good as their record would suggest, according to this week’s guest, Adam Mares, host of the Locked on Nuggets podcast and site manager for SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs. He argues that despite the team’s considerable continuity, many players are still adjusting to new roles this season. In addition, the Nuggets are still incorporating Paul Millsap into their game plan, particularly on the offensive end. Adam discusses this process, Denver’s many young guards and much more in this action-packed episode. He strikes gold throughout, but here are some examples (the exact time stamps slightly vary from user to user depending on the length of one’s customized ads):

7:28-8:23: “[Nikola] Jokic really quarterbacked the offense last year from the center position – he was a point-center. And that wasn’t just a cliché. He really was the facilitator on offense…Steve Kerr was in town yesterday with the Warriors, and he said that the Nuggets’ offense last season was like a pinwheel where Jokic was the center of that and everybody’s kind of operating and cutting and spacing around him. Well, this season, they haven’t really gotten to that yet – I think they’re moving in that direction. They’re playing through Paul Millsap a lot as I think you would expect – he’s a four-time All-Star – and guys are just kind of figuring out new roles around Millsap, Millsap’s learning how to play off of Jokic and Jokic off of Millsap. And so, right now, in particular, their half-court offense has been pretty bad. Not just a little bit of a step back, but I think a huge step back.” Continue reading

Clippers Sail into Third, Hawks Rise Eight Spots (Power Rankings: April 12, 2017 Edition)

April 12, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Seemingly recovered from injury, Chris Paul is playing at a high level as he chases his first championship ring (Verse Photography/Creative Commons).

We’ve reached the final day in a historic NBA season packed with nearly unprecedented statistical seasons by some players, monstrous single-game outbursts by others and a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs for almost all of the teams in the league. On Wednesday’s final 14-game slate, six playoff seeds are still yet to be determined: 1, 2, 7 and 8 in the East and 4 and 5 in the West. Thirteen teams have already been eliminated from further contention, and the rest hope that their fortunes will be on the rise. This will be the final edition of our power rankings this season, but as a reminder, you can chart how every team has fared in our rankings over the course of the season with the interactive graph atop the Power Rankings landing page.

Biggest Jumps: Atlanta Hawks (+8), Minnesota Timberwolves (+6), Los Angeles Lakers (+6)

Biggest Falls: Philadelphia 76ers (-7), Denver Nuggets (-6), Dallas Mavericks (-5) Continue reading

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