During the past few seasons, the Denver Nuggets have been one of those teams that generally play respectable basketball, finish the season with a winning record, make the playoffs and exits in the first round. Basketball fans had become accustomed to seeing this take place on a yearly basis, so people were surprised (to say the least) to witness the run that the Denver Nuggets embarked on during the 2009 NBA playoffs.
Not many expected the Denver Nuggets - who were notorious for losing in the first round it seems - to make it to the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets were out manned and out played against the Lakers but that still doesn't take away from the excellent season they had.
The knock on Denver for many years was they can score but refused to play defense - this wasn't the case because Denver was'th is defense. Trading Iverson for Billups, definitely was a key move to fixing this problem.
The addition of point guard Chauncey Billups essentially changed their season for the better once he arrived in town. Billups brought a defensive mentality from the Detroit Pistons who were one of the best defensive teams of the decade.
Billups is also a great on court leader who knows how to play in big games. In 77 games with Denver Billups averaged 17 points per game, 6 assists and 91% at the free throw line. At 32 years old at the time, Billups seemed to hit the prime of his career.
The Denver Nuggets are in a loaded Western Conference so taking the next step to the NBA Finals will be no easy feet. This potentially could be the MVP season Carmelo Anthony which he hasn't had yet - granted Carmelo is still only 25 but his prime years are fast approaching. This could be the year of Carmelo, he maybe talked about in the same breathe as Lebron James and Kobe Bryant as the games best all around player, not just the best scorer in the league.
As a result, the Nuggets ended up beating the Hornets in five games, before easily defeating the Mavericks in round 2 of the NBA playoffs. Then it was on to the Western Finals against the Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets have the same core of players that had last season and it wasn't enough to beat the Lakers, maybe Denver can add one more piece to their team to give them a better chance this season. - 31494
Not many expected the Denver Nuggets - who were notorious for losing in the first round it seems - to make it to the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets were out manned and out played against the Lakers but that still doesn't take away from the excellent season they had.
The knock on Denver for many years was they can score but refused to play defense - this wasn't the case because Denver was'th is defense. Trading Iverson for Billups, definitely was a key move to fixing this problem.
The addition of point guard Chauncey Billups essentially changed their season for the better once he arrived in town. Billups brought a defensive mentality from the Detroit Pistons who were one of the best defensive teams of the decade.
Billups is also a great on court leader who knows how to play in big games. In 77 games with Denver Billups averaged 17 points per game, 6 assists and 91% at the free throw line. At 32 years old at the time, Billups seemed to hit the prime of his career.
The Denver Nuggets are in a loaded Western Conference so taking the next step to the NBA Finals will be no easy feet. This potentially could be the MVP season Carmelo Anthony which he hasn't had yet - granted Carmelo is still only 25 but his prime years are fast approaching. This could be the year of Carmelo, he maybe talked about in the same breathe as Lebron James and Kobe Bryant as the games best all around player, not just the best scorer in the league.
As a result, the Nuggets ended up beating the Hornets in five games, before easily defeating the Mavericks in round 2 of the NBA playoffs. Then it was on to the Western Finals against the Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets have the same core of players that had last season and it wasn't enough to beat the Lakers, maybe Denver can add one more piece to their team to give them a better chance this season. - 31494
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