And in Keeping with the "There Will Be Blood" theme from last time:
*Cough* Jameer *Cough*(As a ball player. I'm sure he's a fine person.)
I am so sick of writing about the Pelicans!
Pre-Game Thoughts: No offense Pels fans, as I'm certain you are equally sick of the Nuggets. Who made this dysfunctional schedule and why does it only include 5 opponents over the course of the last month? Question: is Jameer out with a calf injury, after inexplicably returning for one game to sabotage all momentum our young pg's and indeed the team had mustered, in making the playoffs seem like a very real possibility, or did T.C. finally put Malone in timeout? Here's hoping it's the later. Meanwhile Boogie's only Achilles heel (his Achilles heel) is acting up, so he's questionable.
Denver Roster:
Will "The People's Champion" Barton,
Juancho "No Room For A Nickname" Hernangomez,
Mike "The Human White Flag" Miller
Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone
New Orleans Roster:
Jrue "The Frenetic Phoenetic" Holiday
"The Other" Jordan "The Other" Crawford
E'Twaun "The Answer...To A Question Never Asked" Moore
Quincy "Standing On The Wall Like He Was" Pondexter
" WilliamsDante "Oh Goodie... Denver! Member-Berry #3" Cunningham
Anthony "Milkshake" Davis, J/K, "The Brow"
Donatas "Oh Goodie... Denver! Member-Berry #4" Motiejunas
DeMarcus "Boogie" (why mess with a splendid nick-name?) Cousins
Alexis "The Smoothie King Center" Ajinca
Update: I saw you trying to sneak your way into the rotation on me again. Nice try Jameer. Not this time! No Boogie tonight, so the Nuggets will probably be blown out, if recent history is any sort of indicator.
Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
TPM™ Game 79 NO
Jameer Nelson @the 1: N/A
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: +6
Jamal Murray @the 1 +25
Nikola Jokic @the 5: +28
Mason Plumlee @the 5: +13
Kenneth Faried @the 5:N/A
Darrell Arthur @the 5: N/A
Roy Hibbert @the 5: 0
Total TPM™ starting Game 10 vs. Pdx
Jameer Nelson @the 1: 65 Games -245
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: 11 Games +81
Jamal Murray @the 1: 23 Games +253
Nikola Jokic @the 5: 61 Games +806
Mason Plumlee @the 5: 23 Games +131
Kenneth Faried @the 5: 29 Games -123
Darrell Arthur @the 5: 18 Games -25
Roy Hibbert @the 5: 5 Games +6
Avg. TPM™ Per Game (excludes games where given 1's/5's get zero minutes @the 1/5)
Jameer Nelson @the 1: -3.77
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: +7.36
Jamal Murray @the 1: +11.00
Nikola Jokic @the 5: +13,21
Mason Plumlee @the 5: +5.70
Kenneth Faried @the 5: -4.24
Darrell Arthur @the 5: -1.39
Roy Hibbert @the 5: +1.20
Analysis:
Qtr1- Undefeated starting PG Jamal Murray gets the nod over the "injured" Jameer. This one is worth my time/effort after all. Ally is looking beautiful as always with her olive-mosaic dress & new do. AD is on a minutes restriction so we can expect him to play 41 like last time he was, I'm sure. Denver is hiding Big Honey on Cunningham early, exposing Faried to AD (the folly in many people's concentrating on offense when they talk about how good these two are together). Nikola with a "Jokic" foul at the 8:30 mark following a turnover. Gotta stop compounding mistakes young man. Tied at 14 half way through the 1st as Mudiay checks in. Cunningham exits after nabbing his 2nd foul. Mudiay is off to a rough start defensively. Jokic is the first player for either team in double figures. Plumlee checks in and is much more effective than in his past few games. Nuggets up after one 30-25.
Qtr2- Faried was credited with a 2nd foul during the time out. Not sure how accurate that is since he had been on the bench for some time at the moment of correction. Murray is attacking the rim tonight, something only he amongst all Nuggets (yes that includes the vets) seems to realize is necessary when slumping from the outside. AD gets his 2nd foul at the 8:30 mark. He is now in double figures for the Pels. The Nuggets are being careless with the ball and NO cuts it to two, on an 11-2 run with 6 to play. Chuck Nasty has one sweet ass mullet! Hill, with his 2nd foul at the 5:30 mark. Denver has turned it over on 4-5 possessions, and now trail 41-40. Chandler gets his 2nd foul with 2:30 to go. Gallo is the 2nd Nugget in double figures. Big Honey is +19 TPM largely due to being hidden defensively and his usual productive self on offense, but has 5 turnovers & the Nuggets lead at the half 51-50
Halftime: Gotta stir the gumbo. Not being facetious or figurative, though perhaps timely.
Qtr3- Well that was refreshing. Er I'm sure it will be, as the fond darkens in color and deepens it's richness. I'll rue the day if I ever let a little Nuggets game get in between me and the culinary arts. Nori's playoff beard is in post-season form. Very strange sequence where Faried is falling out of bounds on the fast break, zero Nuggets hustle into the front court, so he bounces it off the bottom of the backboard, rebounds, is fouled while scoring then air-balls on the FT. Perfect microcosm of both this game and the season. Jokic has a 2d with 8 to play in the 3rd. Cunningham has quickly nabbed his 3rd and 4th fouls. Moore is the 2nd Pels player in double digits, while Harris and Murray become the 3rd and 4th for Denver. Nuggets are in the penalty at the 6 minute mark, and Denver, now playing with a small amount of defensive intensity has stretched the lead to 11. Mudiay checks in at the 4 minute mark, drills two 3's and gets a dunk and Denver now has a 20 point lead out of seemingly nowhere. Amazing what energy and athleticism can do in a hurry. Crawford is the 3rd NO player in double figures. Harris has an outside shot at a 3d, and Jokic a 4d (turnovers.) Denver is up big after three, 92-74.
Qtr 4- Sweet dish by Mudiay leads to an even sweeter dunk by Murray. Murray has more dunks tonight than the rest of the season combined. Murray is the 2nd Nugget over 20 in scoring. He then throws a pass into the 10th row and the artist formerly known as MM22 is throwing things at a monitor somewhere in Hawaii. Chandler with his 4th foul at the 8:30 mark, up 16. Murray has tied his career high with 24. He then surpasses it on 3 FT's after a terrible heat check 3. He has the Nuggets last 8 points, much like Mudiay did in the 3rd, and the lead is 22 with 7 to play. Monster jam by Harris. "It's a dunkathon"-Marlowe. Harris is the 3rd Nugget over 20 in scoring. Murray drains a 3 and now has 30. Jameer meanwhile, has 30 over the course of the last month, roughly. The Smoothy Cream Center is the 4th Pels player in double digits, and also picks up his 4th foul. The Human White Flag checks in to a chorus of cheers and "we want Mike" chants, indicating the opposite of surrender for a change. Hibbert also checks in and immediately blocks one. Beasley is also in and it is officially recycling time. Juancho is chucking, but who cares. For perhaps the first time this season, two players tracked are above 20 in TPM and the Nuggets win going away, 122-106.
Final Thoughts- THEY RE-RE-ENDED THE JANIGHTMERE!
If you require a coach on the floor, it merely highlights what a terrible in game decision maker you are Malone. You are officially on the clock! Well, my clock anyway. It's not about youth vs veterans, it's about playing your best players in the rotation, and Jameer ain't it.
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