AI, Carmelo, & the Nuggets Come to Town

Ray Allen should have a big game if you go by the matchups…

I always liked Kenyon Martin. Man, he killed Antoine in the playoffs a few years ago. Denver has gotten zero value from him though. If he’s back this team is dangerous. I’d love to see Leon sent in to bang with Martin or Nene. A good test for him. And AI will be a great test for Rondo. We aren’t going to go 72-0 and this may be a loss even though they played last night. Posey should get some good minutes against Carmelo.

Kleiza played very, very well last night. But the flip side is that Nene has become a useless, overweight blob.

The Knicks won largely because Renaldo Balkman did an outstanding job defending Carmello in the second half. Bruce Bowen couldn’t have done any better. Conversely, the Nuggets couldn’t stop Zach Randolph.

The way for the Celtics to beat the Nuggets is to have Perkins and Garnett get up the floor ahead of the lumbering Curry and Randolph, plus someone has to neutralize Carmello. As for Iverson, he’ll dribble around and throw up a bunch of impossible shots, some of which will go in. But Carmello is the one who will beat you if you let him.

I meant Nene and Camby. But that’s the way to beat either of these teams (Denver or NY), because their bigs don’t like to run.

I’m expecting KG and Camby to be matched up most of the, especially when Nene is in. I think K-Mart has lost enough explosiveness that Perk should matchup on him too. More or less, I think KG needs to be on Camby as much as possible.

Last 3 years, Camby’s numbers against the Wolves (matched up on KG the majority of the time from games I watched) – 9.5 points, 9.4 boards. In the 03-04 playoffs against the Wolves, Camby averaged 12.6 points, 11.4 boards, 2.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks.[/b]

Not a huge surprise, and the ‘03-’04 playoffs were definitely different teams in a different time, but this should at least be relevant in how to expect the KG – Camby match up to unfold tonight.

I would put KG on Carmello, Perkins on Camby and Pierce on KMart (if KMart plays) or Kleiza.

MisterMiyagi said:
Ray Allen should have a big game if you go by the matchups…

Jeff said:
don’t sleep on Kleiza – he’s good

Yeah, both times I’ve seen Diawara play he’s been pretty good – especially on D. Even though he’s starting only because Atkins/Johnson are injured, he’s out there solely to play defense. So it will be interesting to see what kind of game Ray Ray can play.

Brickowski said:
  I would put KG on Carmello, Perkins on Camby and Pierce on KMart (if KMart plays) or Kleiza.

Not sure about KG on Carmello. That would take KG away from the basket… he needs to be in there on defense so he can create very difficult shots for AI and Melo when they get to the rim. Also, if KG is away from the basket watching Melo, Camby will wreak havoc on the offensive glass.

Rondo on AI
Allen on Kleiza/Diawara
Pierce/Posey on Melo
KG on Camby/Martin
Perk on Nene/Camby

I don’t think Pierce should cover Melo, but, Big Ticket, I understand your reasons for why Garnett shouldn’t. But if you shut down Melo, Denver isn’t going to beat you, no matter how many offensive rebounds Camby gets. That’s my rationale for putting KG on him.
Actually, Denver is a good team to zone. You want to make sure that you clog the lane so Iverson can’t score in there. Also, they don’t shoot that well from beyond the arc.

Actually, Camby is not that great on the offensive glass. The guy you have to watch out for is KMart (or Najera, if KMart sits again). And KMart is nowhere near the quick leaper that he used to be.

Great preview as always CB32! I am looking forward to this game. It should be a good one.

Does anyone know if the NBA League Pass preview is now over? I remember someone saying last night was the last free preview game.

Thanks.

I think that Pierce should be guarding Melo with Posey filling in if he struggles. KG has to be around that basket. Agree 100% though that if Melo’s effectiveness is reduced we win. I want Melo spending as much time and energy on the D end chasing Pierce as Pierce spends chasing him. KMart will be good in 20-30 games, but he sure didn’t look great the other night. Let Perk guard the Blob.

I think the game will be decided by a last second shot probably Iverson. Camby blocks shots and if KMart plays he does too. This a good night to take 15 foot shots and take it to the basket to get them in foul trouble. They like offense more as a team and it will be interesting to see how Denver passes the ball or they go 1 on 1.

For the most part, the officiating has been pretty good. But in the TWolves game, with the game close through three quarters, the refs called made some ridiculous star foul calls for the thugster that would have made Donnahy proud. Worse than the calls in our last game. Way worse. The refs pretty much turned the game around in the 4th quarter with those calls. If the thugster gets those type of calls on Rondo it could be a long game.

If they play the type of defense they did the first two games, this will be a 15pt win.

The Nuggets didn’t inpress me last night: all offense, very little defense (except Camby).
They will be lucky to win 45 games. IMHO the “sleeper” team in the WC is Houston.