Welcome to another edition of NBA Nation Australia’s Roundtable! This week we’ll be tackling more hot topics from around the league including George Karl, the MVP award, the free agent debate in LA, most improved teams, Derrick Rose and Kobe’s mum (only because it’s Mother’s Day). We also welcome back podcaster and blogger Jabari Davis from The OpinioNation (theopnation.com), Brent Veale formerly of That Basketball Show and Tom Read from the #BelieveTheHype podcast!
David Lee helped off the court…
If Golden State want to make a charge at the NBA championship they will have to do it without their All- Star power forward. Continue reading
Andre Miller with no regard for safety throws a 3/4 court alley oop to JaVale McGee
When a new NBA season approaches, we all tend to get rather excited.
Excited about all things new…
Aside from starting afresh, we get a new roster to get excited by.
We get excitement of our respective teams tip-off, new rookies, new everything…
We also get some new jerseys to get hyped up for.
This 2012-13 season has seen numerous teams, change things up jersey-wise and here are some of those….
Welcome to Part two of our team preseason previews! Today we take a quick look at the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers and how they will go in the coming season!
It’s not often a team trade’s spare parts for a All-Star Gold Medalist . Thats what the Nuggets have done on the back of the Dwight Howard Mega trade.
Denver had to part with:
Denver received:
- Forward – Andre Iguodala
Denver upgraded a position which they were lacking. They weren’t lacking at guard, but lacking a defensive powerhouse. Igoudala has been troubling Eastern conference offenses since 04-05. Now a wiley veteran Iggy will bring mature leadership and strong leadership to a young and physically gifted team. Alongside Karl, Gallinari, and Miller Iggy joins a crew capable of being a nuisance to the Western Conference powerhouse Lakers, Thunder and Spurs.
The Nuggets lacked balance over the last 2 seasons. The Nuggets would struggle to string wins together, this could partly be put down to youth but they lacked consistency on both ends of the court. The Nuggets showed they can compete with the best teams last season by pushing the Lakers to seven games. Iguodala provides the leadership, cool head, strong hands and experience to lead this Nuggets to another playoff campaign and possibly more.
This trade has the Mile High City excited and ready for a mouth-watering 2012/2013 season.
The Nuggets and Lakers meet in the playoffs tomorrow for the sixth time since 1976. The Lakers have been victorious every time, this time could be different. The Nuggets finished 3 wins behind the Lakers, 3 wins from holding home court. If they had put away games against Cleveland, Golden State, and New Orleans than Denver would be playing games 1 & 2 at home. The Nuggets need to do the following to steal this series:
The Nuggets are bobbing in and out of playoff contention. With their huge win today their chances firm . They sit at 7th in the West one game clear of 8th placed Houston and one game clear of facing the ferocious Thunder in Round 1. Denver has 6 games in 11 days before the playoffs begin, only 1 game against the East, so each game will be critical.
April 16 @ Houston
The Nuggets spanked the Rockets in Denver today by 15 points after leading by as many as 20 points. Faried dropped a double-double and is emerging as another great draft pick from the post-Anthony era. The Rockets don’t have anyone who matches up against his big body as well as an OKC or San Antonio. It’ll be a tight hard fought game but the Nuggets should eek out a win.
April 18 vs Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers lead the season series 2-1 and this is a crucial game for both teams. The Clippers will want to come to Denver and pick up a win away from home heading into the playoffs just to keep pace with the Lakers. Denver needs to protect home court. Paul could run wild and slice this Denver defence to shreds, even though he is only 26 he commands the Clipper offense like a veteran. Denver cant afford to drop a game against a Western conference opponent here. Continue reading
George Karl has over stepped the line. Ever since the Nuggets traded their star centre away for Javele McGee (helping the Clippers get Nick Young in the process) they have been back pedalling. Now George Karl has fallen over himself trying to convince everyone this trade was a good idea;
[On Javele McGee ] “I think he plays a little bit like Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), but he’s a defensive Kareem more than an offensive Kareem. He’s not going to be a power player, but he’s going to be an athletic-length-long player.”
George, I love your style, I love your attitude, you bring grit and toughness to the Nuggets. But stop it. Kareem was selected on 11 NBA All- Defensive teams, Kareem was a smart, intelligent player, Javele McGee is a goof.
Lets give Karl the last laugh – he has worked magic with the team he has now, maybe he can squeeze blood from this stone.
