Carmelo for MVP

There are rumblings of Carmelo Anthony being in the bid for the NBA league MVP. To his credit, Carmelo has tried to keep the rumblings down and let nature take its course. For Carmelo to win the MVP of the NBA there would first be Carmelo taking care of business against Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers come playoff time. Carmelo is off to a good start in that department.

Denver Nuggets 105 L.A. Lakers 79

The Nuggets exploded in the third quarter to take down Kobe and the Pau Gasol-less Lakers in a solid beat down that let out some of the frustrations from last year’s playoff ouster by the purple and gold.

Up just two points at halftime, the Nuggets outscored the defending champion Lakers 29-8 in the third, breezing to a 105-79 victory at the Pepsi Center.

“I think it was the best quarter I’ve seen our team play against a special team, maybe since I’ve been in Denver,” said Karl. “It was intense, focused,

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Carmelo Anthony shot 11- 20 for 25 points in a brilliant offensive performance. Kobe Bryant on the other hand did not fare so well and just plain ran out of gas in the second half.

Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with a pedestrian 19 points in 32 minutes, shooting just 7-for-17 from the field. He didn’t score in the second half.

Denver needed this game, needed to win big and show the Lakers that the Nuggets will be here to stay, but the Lakers openly admitted that the Nuggets beat them soundly, but it was the second game of a back to back and they were without Pau Gasol.

There will be some great Carmelo Anthony vs. Kobe Bryant battles this year and years to come

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers

The Lakers were coming off of a convincing victory over red hot Phoenix and in rolled a determined Denver.

One night after running the Suns off the court during a resounding 121-102 victory, the Lakers went back to work against another hyperkinetic team with something to prove to the defending champs and the rest of the league.

The tempo was just as high Friday as it was Thursday. Maybe higher.

The Lakers raced to an 8-0 lead, but it didn’t take long to realize this was not going to be a second consecutive runaway victory for the Lakers, who set season highs by scoring 121 points with 36 assists against the Suns.

The difference between the Suns and the Nuggets was evident in the game’s first few minutes Friday. Unlike the Suns, the Nuggets are willing to crash bodies and hack and whack the opposition while still pushing the ball down the court.

When the third quarter began, the Lakers simply wilted under the pressure.

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So maybe it was not an earth shattering victory, but at least the Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony served word that they are to be reckoned with this year!

Image: Zuma Press

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Chauncey Billups has always been a clutch free throw shooter, the type of ice in the blood, never lose your cool, want that player with the ball and the game on the line sort of player. You know if the game is on the line that Chauncey is going to win it for you.

Denver Nuggets 90 Chicago Bulls 89

Have you seen how Billups shoots his free throws? There is very little movement in his legs at all. Aren’t we taught to bend at the knees and slowly come up and the release is at the end of the shot? Not so for Chauncey as he doesn’t seem to put any legs into his free throws at all, they just seem effortless and always seem to go in no matter how much pressure is on him at the time.

This time it was Chauncey beating the Bulls, but his shot did not win the game until the referees got together and looked at the film of Brad Miller’s last second shot. The odd thing was that just before Brad shot his three pointer, Chauncey purposely missed his second free throw to run the clock out in order to win the game. You can check it out in the YouTube below.

After nearly four minutes, the surprising call was made — the Nuggets had defeated the Bulls 90-89 at the United Center, by a fingertip.

It was the basketball equivalent to winning by a nose. Chicago’s Brad Miller launched a jumper at the buzzer Tuesday night. The initial ruling was that the basket was good and the Bulls celebrated like they had won a playoff series. Then the officials ruled that the ball hadn’t completely left Miller’s hands when time expired, and Denver stole a big road victory.

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You can watch the final shot here on YouTube.

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Carmelo Anthony is in Denver right on the edge of the Rockies celebrating his stay with the Nuggets. Carmelo won’t be a part of that celebrated free agent class next year and that is just fine with him.

There aren’t going to be a lot of happy people out there,” Anthony said. “It’s going to be a zoo. … There are too many people.”

Three years ago, James, Wade and Bosh all signed three-year contract extensions with an option for a fourth year, making them eligible to become free agents in 2010. The move gives them a chance to make more money by becoming free agents sooner. More importantly, it also gives them the power to leverage their teams into keeping a talented supporting cast around them – and the flexibility to leave if their teams don’t.
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Carmelo Anthony took the advice of his Mom and signed a 4 year deal with a 5th year option totaling 80 million bucks and putting off free agency until 2012. Even that may not be necessary, because Carmelo likes where he is at and he likes the team he plays for right now.

Carmelo has that Rocky Mountain High!

The addition of Chauncey Billups, who came to the Nuggets by trading Allen Iverson to the Pistons, has bolstered a strong lineup and given them solid direction. Carmelo laments that they are the Rodney Dangerfield of the National Basketball Association and feels the talent is there to beat the Lakers and move on to the NBA finals.

What he does not lament if being a member of next year’s free agent class. Carmelo Anthony wants to remain a Nugget for life.

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Believe it or not, George Karl the Nuggets coach is a big fan of Allen Iverson and thinks that Allen will thrive in Memphis if he is prepared to move to a new part in his career. George Karl refers to this as being a mentor to the younger guys and a bench player. Memphis has a number of younger guys like O.J. Mayo and could use a strong mentor, but Allen Iverson? That is going to be tough.

“Now that he’s getting in whatever you want to call it, the twilight of his career, I hope he gives the sixth man, come off the bench; be a scorer off the bench, be a mentor to young players in Memphis, give it an opportunity.”

“Sometimes ego gets in the way of all of us – we all have at times trouble to realize, you know, we gotta do it this way. I think if AI realizes that he can be a mentor, he can be a great sixth man; Memphis has an interesting basketball team with Randolph, and AI, and some of the changes they made this season. I think they have an opportunity to kinda be a surprise in the western conference.”
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George joked that he teases Chauncey Billups all the time that he replaced talent with brains. He assesses that Allen was not the problem with the defense; it was poor shot selection that led to easy plays for the other team. George really believes he can make the transition to the bench.

Allen Iverson with the ball in his hands, big surprise

My money is on Allen disrupting a team that already has a problem in Zach Randolph and causing the team to implode and disappear from the face of the Earth. Allen will then move on to another team. After a few years we all will realize the Grizzlies are gone.

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Ok, no surprise here in the NBA.com Power Rankings.
Yes, it is the Los Angeles Lakers number 1 as they should be, but maybe you should take a look, because they added Ron Artest. If handled correctly he can be a force. And Lamar Odom? They resigned him and he is a difference maker.

There was little doubt that fans in Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, San Antonio and other cities were holding out hope that Lamar Odom(notes) would just sign with Miami instead of returning to the Lakers.

As it turned out, Odom never really intended to leave the Lakers—and he wound up taking less money than Lakers owner Jerry Buss initially offered him upon the opening of free agency to return. Odom signed a four-year deal worth $33 million—if the Lakers pick up a fourth-year team option.

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Scanning further down the list to the seventh spot you find the Denver Nuggets. Hey, didn’t they kind of pass all of the West teams except for the Lakers? And all they get are a seventh place ranking? Whoa, that is tough! That may cause Chauncey Billups to shrug his shoulders and say something strong like “We’ll see.”

Chauncey Billups may shrug

Wait a minute; Portland and Washington are rated 8th and 9th? When did this happen? Agent Zero returns and the Wizards and going to play great ball? Andre Miller moves to Portland and they are going to play great ball? Why don’t you ask Utah, Atlanta, and Philly about that?

Oh wow, Phoenix Suns in 15th and belonging there. That is hard to believe with a healthy Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, but it is probably right.

Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks after about 425 player deals sit 27th and 28th. Ouch!

Rounding out the 30th spot are the Sacramento Kings and your intrepid author defies you to name one single King player. They earned that spot.

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Today in a deal with the Denver Nuggets, Joe Dumars sent Aaron Afflalo and Walter Sharpe packing to free up salary cap money in search of signing a big man.

Sharpe had hardly played at all and Aaron Afflalo played a little bit more, but not even enough for us to remember how to spell his name. Afflalo came to the Pistons and surprised everyone with his strong defense, but strong defense does not get you on the court when you have offensive liabilities and Rip Hamilton is ahead of you.

So who is Joe D after?

The team is reportedly interested in Celtics restricted free agent Glen Davis, a second-year power forward who is coming off a breakout postseason run when he replaced an injured Kevin Garnett.

Davis, who is listed at 6-foot-9 and 289 pounds, is considered a little short for the power forward but is able to compensate with his size and bulk. He has a good midrange jumper and is a good rebounder.

If the Pistons make Davis an offer, the Celtics would have seven days to match.

Other free agents that could fit the bill are Knicks center Chris Wilcox, Spurs power forward Drew Gooden and Cavs power forward Joe Smith.

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This begs the question, will the Pistons try to make a move on Carlos Boozer or is there something wrong with him? It has been rumored that Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince would have to be involved in the deal and the Pistons were not ready to go that route.

Tayshaun Prince for Carlos Boozer?

Hmm, why not? Boozer is a career double double man and by the time the Pistons can go for the NBA title Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince will be all used up.

Hamilton is going into his 11th year and Prince is going into his 8th year, just like Boozer.

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Every year you hear the same thing about how the NBA is rigged so it will be a final with Boston and L.A. or a final with LeBron and Kobe or Shaq and Tim Duncan and every year we all fall for the same story line.

But the NBA is not rigged. There, it had to be said. Well, there were those times when my Pistons were, uhh, let’s save that story for another time and just stick with the NBA is not rigged, even though we know it is.

“The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth,” said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league.

Was the outcome rigged? I refuse to believe it was.

The 16 field-goal attempts the Nuggets missed during the fourth quarter had much more to do with the defeat than any of the 30 personal fouls called against Denver by the referees.

Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson and the Lakers organization were fined $50,000 by the NBA for complaining about the calls in Game 4, won decisively by the upstart Nuggets.

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George Karl thinks something stinks

When Kenyon Martin wanted to complain to the press about the referee’s favoring the Lakers, Chauncey Billups came to the rescue.

“Don’t let the league take your money,” Denver teammate Chauncey Billups told Martin.

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Chauncey Billups is all the rage right now. It seems like everything he does works and everything he touches turns to gold. Gold Nuggets, that is.

Always known as a heady player when he was a Piston, nothing has changed while on the Nuggets. Check out this YouTube of Chauncey dropping the ball off of Kobe’s back to create a score.

If the Nuggets win they will have to point to Chauncey and say he led them there. Funny thing is, if Chauncey was still with the Pistons they might not have gone any further than they did. The Nuggets give Chauncey a chance to shine in a way that the Pistons would not have.

So please, Piston fans, understand why Chauncey had to go and wish him good luck with the Nuggets.

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Jerry West just happened to mention that LeBron James has moved ahead of Kobe Bryant in the race for best imitation of Michael Jordan on an NBA court. How could he say that?

Kobe denies even hearing it, but went out and put up 40 on the Denver Nuggets in game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the forum in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant, now known as #2

Kobe is competitive, extremely, and as bad of grammar as that sentence is, it is ever so true. It had to hurt to hear a former Laker like Jerry West, and someone that Kobe looks up to, mention that Kobe has dropped to number two in the world.

Sorry, Nuggets, you will have to pay the price. Here is the actual quote from Jerry West.

“I look at Cleveland [and] say to myself, ‘How many games could they win without LeBron James?’ ” West said. “That’s how great he is. He has a chance to be arguably the greatest player ever to play the game. … Michael Jordan was the best defensive player in the league, but he was also the best offensive player. It wasn’t a one-year fluke; he proved it over time. LeBron James will do the same type of things because he’s getting better. He’s a much more effective shooter. When he’s making his shots from the outside, you can’t play him. He’s just too big, too strong, too quick. And he has incredible body control. But more than that, he’s a great teammate. You can see his teammates love him.”

And then, the money quote.

“If I had to have somebody make a last-second shot, it would be Kobe Bryant,” West said. “But even though it’s hard for me to be objective, because I brought Kobe to Los Angeles, I do think LeBron has surpassed Kobe as a player.”

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How can it be possible to have the Nuggets go this far in the playoffs? Some say it is all Chauncey Billups and maybe they have something there, because this would put Chauncey in his 7th straight Conference finals. Now that is some kind of record.

“It’s absolutely been a storybook, and I couldn’t write a better script — hopefully, I don’t wake up anytime soon,” said Chauncey Billups, the pride of Park Hill, who finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and a game-high 12 assists. “The win is for all the guys who have been here, haven’t been able to get out of the first round and carried that weight. And it’s for the city, for the fans.”

And so, with an electrifying 124-110 victory, the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 24 years.

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Now for those of us that assume the Los Angeles Kobe’s will be in the finals against the Nuggets, and that is not sure thing, we can no longer assume that LA will automatically defeat the Nuggets and go on to create the storybook matchup of LeBron vs. Kobe.

Carmelo is not just laying down, he is ready!

David Stern may not be too happy if it is Paul Pierce vs. Chauncey Billups, not quite the drawing power there. Carmelo in the finals, who would have thought it would happen this fast and maybe it won’t, but the Nuggets have a solid chance now. In fact, where are the Lakers? Denver is already waiting for them.

Oh yes, Denver is for real

Photo source Newscom

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