NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 2/5 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Flamethrowers... You pick up the melted remains of a child's doll. It's face drips plastic like that Nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark. All around you the ground is blackened soot. Someone took a flamethrower or two to the city's perimeter defenses.

Wandering outside the charred walls you find a breach near the old Fish market. The rusted iron gate here has turned into glowing hot liquid. It now steams into a slowly hardening black pool. You toss the scorched doll into it and, instantly, flames engulf it. The doll sinks into the pool as if it were swallowed by quicksand. The little plastic hand is the last thing you see before that, too, is gone.

It's here where they got in and raided the city's supplies. People try to cover up the gaping hole by tossing junk in it. No one is in the mood to discuss it.

You ask someone what happened and the best you get is a grunt and point to brick wall. Written in ash, a message from DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. Their defenses were scorched, exposed and left smoldering. Injuries have them vulnerable and marauders are quick to take advantage.

I will continue to track them...

Denver was on fire tonight. Or was that L.A. that was burning? The Nugget perimeter game could not miss. Without Melo suited up, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith took turns torching the Lakers on their way to a 126-113 win.

Billups drained three after three and J.R. Smith hit a number of long jumpers. Credit those two for getting in the zone, but the Laker D was very soft.

Billups just shot right over DFish, not worried about any kind of challenge on his way to 9-13 from three and a career-high 39 points. Almost all of that was done in three quarters.

The turning point came when the injured, but always game Kobe Bryant sat in the third quarter with four fouls. Quickly, Billups erased a 9-point Laker lead.

"We never really recovered after that third quarter," Phil said. He later added, "I'm just glad that didn't happen in a playoff game. That's all."

This game didn't sit well with a number of Lakers. They can try to take out that anger against the Blazers on their court, snapping that losing streak in Portland. If not, the they'll go 1-3 in their last four games.


Kobe -- -- There was talk he might not play in this game with the sprained ankle. It's Kobe. He's going to play and even with the bum wheel, probably be your best player on both ends of the court. Going back to last year in the Conference Finals, a turning point for the Lakers against these Nuggets came when Kobe started to defer to others and set up the bigmen. "I just had to quarterback it a little bit," Kobe said at the time. The Nuggets would send extra defenders to help, he would counter by pulling them away from the hoop and pass. With his injuries, the question tonight would be if he could quarterback while being less of a threat? Kobe started hitting from the perimeter early despite the bad wheel. Later, they would double as soon as he touched it. The Lakers worked that for a few points, Kobe making the hockey assists. The problem, however, came when Kobe picked up his fourth foul in the third. He was ticked for not getting calls on the other end. When he sat, the game turned as Billups lit up DFish and erased the Laker lead quickly. Late in the fourth, Kobe would defend Billups with Brown on Smith. Smith would take over as Kobe would cool down Billups. Kobe can't guard 'em both, even if his ankles were healthy. The Stats: He scored 33 points on 11-22 shooting (4-8 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 9 boards, no assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He drained a pull-up wing jumper in early offense. He swished a wing three on a swing pass from Artest. He missed an elbow jumper. He sank a tough baseline fallaway from the right side. He swished a wing three from the right side. He stepped back on the break, took the kickout from Ron and swished a three. After several minutes of no shots, he missed his next three. He hit Billups on a three, poor D. He missed a heave from three at the buzzer, Pau dunked it in. He had 13 points on 5-8 shooting. He attacked, spun and was grabbed by Martin, he made both FTs. He swished a face-up wing jumper from 19 feet out. He swished a wing three on his next touch. He missed a baseline jumper and was wondering where the whistle was. He overpowered his man in the post and scored an And-1, he made the FT. He worked the high screens to draw defenders, then hit bigmen and it led to scores to close the half. He had 23 points on 8-12 shooting (4-6 from three). Second Half: He missed a pull-up three. He threw a pass away on an instant double. He missed a lefty layup that he usually scores with ease. He ballwatched and his man scored a layup. His man was screened well by Pau and Kobe attacked for a bank, he wanted the foul. He hit a fallaway bank with Martin holding his hand as he spun, he barked at the refs for the no call. He lost the ball on a triple team and was called for the foul himself, that didn't sit well, but Kobe did sit (Kobe's fourth with 4:16 in the third). He had 4 points on 2-4 shooting in the third. He missed a long jumper. He attacked and missed a jumper short. Bad pass to Pau, tried to bounce it when he should have gone high. He attacked down the lane and missed another easy layup. He attacked Smith and pulled up in the lane for an And-1, 9-footer, he made the FT. He missed a three. He attacked and was mugged for more FTs, he made both. He attacked and missed a drive. He attacked, more FTs, he made one.

Gasol -- -- Offensively, Pau is a key trigger man for the Lakers against the Nuggets. The Lakers can work the high screens, free him up and the Nuggets must rotate. Pau will be left with either jumpers or passes to his other bigman for scores. That will generate a lot of offense. And, of course, the Nuggets have issues with him in the post. He didn't have a clean game on that end, even got yelled at by Phil for a bad pass. Still, you'll take 17, 17 and 6 any day. He wasn't the guy defending the shooters on the other end that killed the Lakers. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 8-17 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 17 boards (9 offensive), 6 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a 17-footer. He hit Bynum off the high-low (from Kobe) for a reverse. He attacked and airballed a layup expecting the foul. He swatted Martin on a dunk. He wheeled around Martin and scored a layup. He ball-watched and gave up an And-1. He missed a sideline three against the shotclock. He was shoved out of bounds with no call. He missed a turnaround jumper. He grabbed a long airball heave from Kobe and dunked it in at the buzzer. He had 4 points on 2-6 shooting in the first. He had Billups on him and scored a jumphook as Andersen tried to help. He was stripped in the post. He swatted a Billups drive. He cleaned up a DFish missed jumper with an easy putback. Great touch pass off the screen-roll with Kobe to set up Powell with a dunk. He dunked in a missed floater by Powell. He had 10 points on 5-9 shooting to go with 8 boards, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Second Half: His lob was deflected back to him, so he hit a short right handed hook. He missed a baseline turnaround. He was blocked on a short jumper. He forced a pass into a crowd, turnover, points the other way (and a big lecture from Phil at the timeout). He lobbed to Bynum off the Kobe/Pau screen-roll. Nice screen to erase Kobe's defender for a score by Kobe. He attacked quick to the middle, stopped and hit with his left going the other way. He dunked in the paint off a rebound. He drew FTs on the screen-roll with Shannon with 2 minutes left, he made one.

Bynum -- -- Bynum sat out practice after bruising his knee near the end of the last game. He wore protection over his knee and was a step slower and not quite able to challenge shots as well as before the injury. This got him into foul trouble and softened up the post D considerably. He gave up just a few too many easy ones because of it. The Lakers need him to beast on both ends against the Nuggets. He just couldn't impose himself on either end with the level of impact the team needs in a big game. Heal up quick, Drew. Asked if they got pushed around, Bynum said "some of us." The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting to go with 5 boards, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He split a double team and scored a layup. He reversed off the high-low from Pau. Nene blew past him for a reverse dunk. Andersen gambled on a reach, Bynum teached with a slam. He grabbed a loose ball, attacked and powered in a layup. He had 8 points on 4-4 shooting. Second Half: He missed a short baseline jumper trying to power it in. He dunked off the lob from Pau (Kobe high-screen play). He was blocked by Andersen on a jumphook (got to freeze him with a head fake). He tried to make a post move and was hit on the arm, no call and he lost the ball.

Artest -- -- For a brief flash in this game, Crazy Ron appeared for the first time this season. He took exception to a hard foul under the hoop and got in the face of Joey Graham. He ended up getting a tech for shoving Graham in the face. He regained his cool and I'm sure he'll be reminded not to let the Nuggets bait him into anything. Defensively, J.R. Smith isn't a good match up for Ron. He has the speed to go past him on iso and the quick trigger to hit from distance if Ron doesn't play tight. The Lakers will need to keep a more athletic player on him, but Phil went with that for a while tonight. If they do have a cross match on D with a smaller Afflalo or Smith on him, Ron needs to get under the hoop and make them pay. Not necessarily with his own post up, but grabbing offensive boards and drawing fouls, just out muscling them. Normally, Ron will be on Melo and someone else will take Smith. Phil put Ron on Billups briefly to end the third. Should have tried going to it sooner. It was pretty obvious Billups didn't even notice DFish and was shooting over him at will. Ron would have at least made him drive and mix it up. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-9 shooting (2-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He up-faked off the pinch post, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. With the play out of the timeout busting, he iso'd and hit a three on the wing. He airballed a fallaway over Smith (back him down, power up). Smith blew past him for a layup. He missed an easy layup with his left. He missed a three. Second Half: He charged on the first possession of the second half. He cleaned up a Fisher miss with an easy putback. He missed an open wing three. He was whipped down by Graham and got the crazy eyes (he shoved Graham in the face and picked up a tech), he made both FTs. He swished a corner three on the next possession. He was tapped on a layup.

Fisher -- -- Pretty horrible first quarter from Fisher. He went 1-4 while leaving Billups wide open to double on others on a couple possessions. Billups had 14 points in the first and never looked back going on for a career high. In the third quarter, he torched Fish again for several threes. Billups erased a Laker lead and turned the game in the Nuggets favor with that run. Phil finally went with Ron for a few possessions on Billups. That kind of efficiency from Billups just killed the Lakers. Even though Phil said Billups was just in the zone, the Lakers did nothing to try to take him out of that. They didn't crowd him or make him drive. They didn't double. He just shot over out-stretched hands. Very poor Laker D despite Billups being in the zone. Offensively, Fish got back 4 of those 39 points from Billups. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He swished a wing jumper off the Pau screen to start the scoring. He doubled off Billups twice to give up open threes. He bricked an open layup in transition. He drove baseline and bricked another layup. He missed a pull-up chuck from three, not running the offense. He stripped Smith on help D. He missed a wing jumper on a kickout, but Pau cleaned it up. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting. Second Half: He missed a sideline three. He sank a wing jumper after a couple scores by Billups on the other end. Didn't bother to take defensive notes, just picture Billups shooting over DFish again and again.

Lamar -- -- He lacked focus off the bench to start the game. The result was picking up a couple of fouls and having to sit back down. With Bynum strapped with fouls, Phil then went to Powell. Usually not a good thing, but Lamar's team-high -20 probably says it all. He played better in the second half, but the team needed his A game with Kobe and Bynum slowed. He played very soft on both ends of the court. His jumper looked good on a couple of possessions, but the Lakers needed more than that from him. Defensively, he was confused on several rotations. The result was usually a three for someone. The Stats: The Action: He back-rimmed a short jumpehook. Crowding Martin for no reason on the perimeter, foul. Bad position on D, dunk for his man. Moving pick, just not engaged in the game. Phil sat him for Powell twice in the half. He jogged on a closeout and it allowed the Nuggets time to fumble the ball and then hit a three. He grabbed a missed three by Ron and powered it back in. Second Half: He was fouled on the baseline, he made both FTs. He swished a sideline jumper. He missed a pull-up three. He drained a sideline three. He attacked with speed and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a layup.

Brown -- -- Billups was hitting threes like freethrows, J.R. Smith on the other hand was making some more athletic type of jumpers -- step-back fallaways, hanging banks. Those seemed to me to be the harder shots to defend. Shannon got a good chunk of minutes against him, but had no answer for that. Offensively, Shannon was more aggressive than recent games. The problem wasn't on that end of the court. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-12 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 3 offensive boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. The Action: He missed a drive, but got it back. He drained a pull-up 15-footer on the break. He was fouled on a jumphook with no call. Second Half: He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked in transition and scored a layup. He stopped on a dime and hit the pull-up elbow jumper. He fumbled away a loose ball that looked like he had. He missed a baseline jumper. He swished a wing three. He missed an open three. He set up Pau on the two-man game for FTs. He blew around Andersen and scored a reverse. He and Lamar got crossed up and gave up a three to Smith in the corner. He sank a long wing jumper.

Farmar -- -- It seemed like for every good play Farmar had, Ty Lawson got two on him. Farmar had good penetration offensively, but gave it up just as quickly on the other end. I wouldn't have minded seeing Farmar on Billups a little. He can be surprising with his challenges on jumpshots. It also might have changed up Billups' attack. You can't live by that because Billups can overpower him, but in this situation...change is good. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He attacked with speed and banked a floater over Andersen. He attacked again with speed next time down and banked over Andersen (same exact shot). He missed a wing jumper. Lawson was getting past him for penetration, then hit a jumper on him when he sagged. He tried to take Nene off the dribble and was blocked. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He attacked off a screen and hit a floater. He bricked an early offense three.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha was a -12 in 11 minutes. He was a brick machine from behind the arc, going 0-5 in those short minutes. He was the anti-Nugget. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting 0-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. The Action: He kicked out to Powell for a jumper. He missed a wing three in early offense. He attacked off the handoff and drew FTs on a reverse, he made both. He swiped a ball on one end, then hit the baseline jumper off the pitch out on the other end. Good effort on the offensive glass to keep a board alive. Second Half: He mised a wing three, got it back and missed another one. He fouled with 2.4 seconds left in the quarter on an offensive board giving up two FTs. He missed a sideline three out of a timeout. He missed an open sideline three.

Powell -- -- He came in for Lamar who had picked up two fouls and looked without focus to start the game. He later had a brief stint closing out the first half. The team survived those minutes and Josh gave some decent hustle. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 1 board in 6 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sank a sideline jumper on a Sasha kickout. He missed an elbow jumper. He dunked off a touch pass from Pau on the screen-roll play with Kobe. He missed a floater, but Pau dunked it back in. Second Half: He did not play.

Phil -- -- "I'm not going to berate my team," Phil said after this one... Phil called a timeout after a 6-0 run from the Nuggets to bring them back to within 13-12 midway through the quarter. Some poor D on Billups to start the game... Kobe forced a Nugget timeout with his 13th point on 6 shots to give the Lakers a 24-13 lead... Denver tied it with a 13-4 run... The score was tied 30-30 after the first... Phil started the Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... The Lakers were up 43-36 at the 8:36 mark when Phil sat Kobe and went with a Bynum, Powell, Sasha, Shannon, Farmar unit. What?... A moment after Kobe and other starters returned, they trailed 54-53... He brought Powell back in up by 1 with 2 minutes left for Lamar who had 2 fouls. Good close out by that unit... The Lakers led 64-59. The Lakers shot 53 percent (26-49, 5-11 from three). The Nuggets shot 54.5 percent (24-44, 6-8 from three)... Hamblen said the team needed to pack it in better defensively... Phil called a timeout and barked at Pau for a boneheaded pass into a crowd that resulted in transition points... Phil had to sit Kobe who picked up some cheap fouls while not getting any whistles himself... Billups drained three after three on fire over DFish. He erased a 9-point lead in a hurry. Got to get a new defender on him... Phil moved Ron on to Billups briefly... The Lakers trailed 94-89 going into the fourth. The Nuggets shot 12-15 from three after three quarters... That was a 19-6 run while Kobe sat... Phil started the Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... After giving up 35 points in the third, the Lakers gave up 32 in the fourth. Not going to beat anyone doing that...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The moment Phil had to make his first subs in the third (sitting Kobe and Bynum because of fouls), the Nuggets went on a 19-6 run to erase the Laker lead.

[mhan00]

ugly game.

[smiles]

brown should of been on billups. 6-3 vs 6-3.

[mhan00]

someone needs to put fisher down. he's been awful this season.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I am amazed that a player with Fish's experience leaves Chauncey Billups -- I gotta say that again CHAUNCEY BILLUPS -- wide open to help out on Denver's bigs. WHy would you ever do that? That's crazy, especially when Chanuncey starts out hitting his first shot from 3. But that's not the first time Fish made extraordinarily bad tactical decisions on D. The fact that his body won't allow him to play straight up D anymore, even if he wanted to, makes his play both stupid and tragic.

Hard to watch Fish these days. The bleeding for tihs team starts at the point. I'll go one record (and hope I'm wrong) that unless the team gets an upgrade at the 1, they will get beaten in the play-offs. It's too great of a stagger and, like you said, Kobe can't guard two players at once.

SGH

[2The4th]

Name one PG that doesn't burn Fisher?

Please, I beg anyone to name one.

[mhan00]

i think dancingbarry also forgot a few emoticons for sasha. the one listed for him doesn't even come close to the devastation left in the wake of sasha's game.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Ugly game.
We don't feel like a team yet.

[DancingBarry]

mhan00 - Perhaps I gave him too much credit for his first half minutes. I did leave his write up short and to the point about being the anti-Nugget.

[LakerLanny]

[Sister Golden Hair]

I can only recall Sasha making one shot this year that actually mattered. I think it was to help the lakers hold onto a lead in the 4th. But that's it: one shot, from distance anyway. I know the other day he got a steal and made a lay-up, although I forget against whom. But I swear he's missed everything else.

Sometimes, there won't be another player within 10 feet of him, and he'll still clank the shot so horribly that I'm left aghast -- how can ANYONE miss that badly. His shot seems rushed and always off-balance.

Hard to belioeve this guy lost so much confidence, mojo whattever, but he's just useless out there.

SGH

[Thedo]

Hopefully this is a nice wake up call for us. Though we're playing injured, you know we have more hustle than this.

It didn't help that Bynum was outscored by Nene. If Bynum were able to exert his dominance over Nene, he would've likely picked up his defense, than instead of getting into foul trouble. This left a gaping hole in the paint, in which Denver guards were able to get through with ease.

Then again, perimeter defense wasn't so hot also. Billups/Smith were just too much. We definitely scored enough to win this game, but we just couldn't get any stops.

Areas that need work:
1. Protect the paint - we can't have guards like Lawson doing layup drills on us. Remember when we dared guards to drive in and knock the crap outta them? (aka Tony Parker). We gotta toughen up.

2. Run the offense - Kobe was hot initially, but after Denver closed in on him, turnovers ensued, poor transition defense occurred, and the score ran up. Kobe commands the doubles like DB said, and we need to hit the open man. Pau and Bynum need to establish position and dominate. Our guards need to hit open shots (poor Sasha). No more 1 on 1/iso situations. Long shots lead to long rebounds and fastbreak opportunities. Sure Kobe can bail us out from time to time. But he's playing injured. Maybe Kobe needs to rest up and our other guys need to step up?

Am I worried after this loss? a little
Do I still think we can win? most definitely

If we keep playing like this after all star break, then I'd start panicking. We still have time to gel. C'mon lakers, have some sense of urgency and re-instill fear that you've once established.

[SYS]

that's not Lakers any more

I hope phil has the potential to eradicate Fish from the theam

[LakerEric]

I don't care how much he has given the Lakers in the past. Fisher has to go down to 10 min max a game. Even less, would be fine with me. He has fallen beyond massive depths! Amazing how no one in the media won't point him out at all!! LMAO!
_________________
Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB.

Nene'. He is not a center, yet he plays center for the high powered Nuggets. I don't think Drew would have been able to keep up with him even if he didn't hurt his knee. Drew should have been featured more often offensively because Nene' cannot guard him. Drew shot a nice % tonight too.

A slow footed Drew + Fish = defensive kiss of death. Needless to say, this loss ticked me off. Hasn't PJ remembered that this same Chauncy Billups won Finals MVP for bone headed defensive schemes like tonight?

[Shaber]

Thank you DB!

Your analysis is the only bright spot after a game like this
_________________
.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[10_24]

[Addicus]

[Nobody]

[jmark]

Kobe's 4th foul completely turned the game. Several times he was fouled and got no call. Then he gets a frustration call. Goes out and the lead is gone. You tell me refs can't influence a game. Once Denver got rolling there was no stopping them.
_________________
"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[Klone_dd]

Ok, it was a bad game - a bad, bad game. The Lakers held their own until Kobe's 4th foul and the Nugget guards going nuts. The Nugs weren't playing that much D either up to that point.

Suddenly, the roles reversed. The usually undisciplined Nugs played with a purpose and the normally poised Lakers played with despiration. JoFar, Shannon & especially Sasha were jacking up 3's trying to match the Nugs. Sasha had another one of his patented stupid fouls = free points at the end of a quarter.

I thought Phil's "at least it wasn't a playoff game" comment was curious. It seemed like George Karl thought it was a playoff game and really showed the Lakers his playoff game plan. Rush tempo, have Nene attack Drew off the dribble, double Kobe on the catch, attack the Lakers 2nd unit guards. They didn't have Melo, but, in terms of strategy, didn't it seem like Karl played his hand early? Hopefully, the Lakers staff will find a way to combat all of it.

Still, there's no combating jumpers way behind the arc. Some nights you're on fire. Billups 3rd Q run ignited Smith and Lawson and with Kobe saddled with fouls, no one else could keep up.

[Rick12322]

The Denver foul magnets strike again, enabled by yet another rogue official from Stern's stable of criminals.

[angrypuppy]

Sadly, Billups is supposedly the type of player Fisher should be able to guard at this point in his career: A vet PG (with a bum ankle) who relies on strength and smarts rather than speed. We already know what Billups can do to Farmar, which leaves us with the inexperienced and inconsistent Shannon to guard him. That's a tall task for Shannon, especially when you consider that Phil uses Fisher in first quarters, which will enable Billups to get into a shooting rhythm early.

Let's not get started on guarding Ty Lawson. We lack the speed and the good sense to get in his way during transition. We simply made it too easy for Lawson out there.

Needless to say, these two teams will likely face one another in the Western Conference Finals. While Carmello is their best player, they will milk the mismatch at PG. The front office needs to find a solution before the trade deadline.
_________________
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

-Joni Mitchell

[night89]

As stated, Bynum needs to start adding as much muscles as he can, from now on. This losing body fat process is working too slow, and it only makes him more athletic, when what we really need is for him to be both athletic AND strong.

At this rate, he'll never be able to impose his will on Nene, much less Shaq. Shaq is still very much an All-Star caliber center at this point(his foul drawing ability alone makes him more dangerous than guys like Marc Gasol and Lopez). JO, who's not that bad a defender, even at his current condition, lasted exactly 3 minutes against Shaq, before getting in foul trouble. At his current state, Bynum will be lucky to last 6. And we can pretty much forget about Gasol guarding Shaq.

We need Bynum to be stronger than Shaq, not as strong, but stronger. That's the only shot we have of beating both the Nuggets and Cavs.

Also, it appears that the Nuggets have figured out our key to success, which is to constantly hit the weight room. Most of their main players look noticeably bigger than last year, and that's why they've all taken their games to another level.

The problem with us is that most of our players are not capable of adding any more muscles. The ones that can can't add much and/or too banged up to do it. Bynum is really our only hope of countering this massive wave of strength and athleticism that teams possess these days( seriously, nothing in the Shaq-era compares to this Nuggets team. I mean, Portland was big, but they weren't athletic, whereas this Nuggets team, including guys like Nene and Birdman, can all jump through the roof.)

Keep in mind that we did not even have to play their most athletic and dangerous scorer. The bottom line is that unless Bynum can get strong and athletic enough to deny the 5-pronged attack of Billups, Smith, Carmelo, Nene, and Lawson, without getting into foul trouble, then we have no shot.

The time has come for him to utilize the biggest reason why we drafted him, which is his frame's ability to add muscles. If he's not going to take advantage of that now, then it's pretty much useless. Any knee concerns can be reduced by losing them in the offseason. And really, what good is saving it for the future, if he's not going to be contending for championships. He needs to realize that our best chances to win is now.

[limchrc]

Thanks, hope we win our next game.