[KokoTheMonkey]

VS.



Game 1: Denver @ San Antonio - 4/24, 7:00 PM, TNT
Game 2: Denver @ San Antonio - 4/27 7:00 PM, TNT
Game 3: San Antonio @ Denver - 4/30 9:30 PM, ESPN
Game 4: San Antonio @ Denver - 5/2, TBA
*Game 5: Denver @ San Antonio - 5/4
*Game 6: San Antonio @ Denver - 5/6
*Game 7: Denver @ San Antonio - 5/8


* - if necessary





I'm still going to make individual game threads for each game, so this is kind of the preview/prediction thread, where you can share ideas/thoughts before the series starts up. I'll start things off with the rosters and and some statistics:




Starters:




PG - Andre Miller - 35.0 MPG - 13.7 PPG - 7.0 APG - 4.1 RPG - 2.7 TO
SG - Dermarr Johnson - 17.3 MPG - 7.1 PPG - 1.1 APG - 2.1 RPG - 0.9 TO
SF - Carmelo Anthony - 34.7 MPG - 20.6 PPG - 2.6 APG - 5.6 RPG - 3.0 TO
PF - Kenyon Martin - 32.5 MPG - 15.5 PPG - 2.4 APG - 7.3 RPG - 2.1 TO
C - Marcus Camby - 30.5 MPG - 10.3 PPG - 2.3 APG - 10.0 RPG - 1.6 TO




Reserves:


PG - Earl Boykins - 26.2 MPG - 12.2 PPG - 4.4 APG
F/C - Nene - 23.8 MPG - 9.4 PPG - 5.8 RPG
F - Eduardo Najera - 22.0 MPG - 7.0 PPG - 4.8 RPG (With Denver)
G/F - Greg Buckner - 21.6 MPG - 6.1 PPG - 41 starts this season
SG - Voshon Lenard - 20.5 MPG - 13.5 PPG - Has only played 2 games
SG - Wesley Person - 18.5 MPG - 8.0 PPG - 47 3P% - (With Denver)
C - Francisco Elson - 14.0 MPG - 3.7 PPG - 3.0 RPG




Starters:




PG - Tony Parker - 34.3 MPG - 16.7 PPG - 6.2 APG - 3.8 RPG - 2.7 TO
SG - Manu Ginobili - 27.7 MPG - 16.2 PPG - 3.9 APG - 4.5 RPG - 2.3 TO
SF - Bruce Bowen - 32.1 MPG - 8.2 PPG - 1.6 APG - 3.5 RPG - 0.7 TO
PF - Tim Duncan - 33.5 MPG - 20.6 PPG - 2.7 APG - 11.2 RPG - 1.9 TO
C - Rasho Nesterovic - 25.5 MPG - 5.9 PPG - 1.0 APG -6.6 RPG - 1.0 TO




Reserves:


G/F - Brent Barry - 21.5 MPG - 7.4 PPG - 2.2 APG - 2.3 RPG
F/C - Robert Horry - 18.8 MPG - 6.1 PPG - 3.6 RPG - 37 3P%
C - Nazr Mohammed - 17.7 MPG - 6.0 PPG - 6.3 RPG (With Spurs)
SF - Glenn Robinson - 16.3 MPG - 9.3 PPG - 2.6 RPG
PG - Beno Udrih - 14.3 MPG - 5.8 PPG - 1.9 APG - 42 3P%
F/C - Tony Massenburg - 11.3 MPG - 3.3 PPG - 6 starts this season
G/F - Devin Brown - 18.5 MPG - 7.4 PPG - 2.6 RPG (Not expected to be ready for first round)





Team Statistical Comparison:

DEN - 99.3 PPG - 97.3 OPPG - 23.8 APG - 41.8 RPG - 14.4 TO - 45.9 FG%
SAS - 96.5 PPG - 88.3 OPPG - 21.7 APG - 42.4 RPG - 13.0 TO - 45.4 FG%

[cpawfan]

I doubt Vo will be on the playoff roster over Russell.

Of the 4 games the teams have played this season, there was only one in which both teams were mostly healthy (Box Score of Jan 8th game) The pre-Karl Nuggets got close in the 4th quarter before the Spurs pulled away and won. After the game, Pop wasn't happy with his team's play and well, the Nuggets were coached by Cooper.

This should be a great series with a bunch of close games. If Karl can figure out a way to slow down the Spurs guard penetration without leaving Bowen open in the corner, the Nuggets could even win the series.

Oh yeah, one other key for the Nuggets - don't let Kenyon shoot the ball 23 times against the Spurs

[Sir Patchwork]

Nuggets have been on a fire latetly, but some of that is due to a pretty easy schedule. They beat a few playoff teams, but the majority of those were lottery teams in the last 20 games.

Spurs in 6 seems popular, I'd lean more towards Spurs in 5.

[DaBobZ]

Spurs in 5, I expected the same against the Grizz last year. I was quite surprised we swept them in the first round. The same could happen this year... Well we are a heck of a better team this year IMHO. As long as Timmay is healthy nothing can happen to us it seems. I'd take our bracket over HCA against Phoenix any day.

[FreeMason Jr.]

"Najera's playoff status unclear after hand injury"

Link

Apparantly, he broke his hand in last night's game against Phoenix. He may only be a reserve for the nugz, but he's still pretty damn good. If he plays or not could prove to be pretty crucial to the outcome of this series.

[Camaro_870]

should be a fun series.... i'm interested to see how denver plays against the spurs(in playoff mode)

[KokoTheMonkey]

I think Spurs in 6 sounds about right to me, although we're going to have to play pretty damn steady. Hopefully our guys realize that the playoffs are coming up and decide to play hard all game every game.



The fast break points and the benches I think are going to be the big things in this series. When Denver is scoring on the break it's hard to beat them, so we really need to turn this into a half-court game, which means the jumpers have to fall.

[texan]

This match-up reminds me alot of the Spurs-Suns 1st Round Series two years ago. This Denver team is young and talented, yet vastly inexperienced in the playoffs. They will give us a run for their money, but I don't think they have any legitimate threat to actually win the series. The key to this series will be tempo and defense. If we can make every game a half-court game, then we have this series under wraps. Denver is not good as a defensive unit, and in the half-court setting we should easily score on them, however if we let them get out and run, they could win a game or two. I predict that we win in 5, but I also wouldn't be suprised with a sweep, or a 6 game series.

Prediction:
Game 1: Win
Game 2: Loss
Game 3: Win
Game 4: Win
Game 5: Win

[sheefo13]

I wonder if the spurs can pull this off. I hope so, and i expect it to happen. I would expect a 6 game series, maybe 7....

[texan]

Originally Posted by sheefo13

I wonder if the spurs can pull this off. I hope so, and i expect it to happen. I would expect a 6 game series, maybe 7....

How come you lack confidence in the Spurs? I know they didn't have such a hot finish to the season, but it was due to injuries, mainly TD's injury and he is back. Also, its not like we have played bad lately, just not as well as usual.

[KokoTheMonkey]

Originally Posted by texan

This Denver team is young and talented, yet vastly inexperienced in the playoffs.

I don't think they are that inexperienced. Camby and Martin have had deep runs into the playoffs, and they they did make it last year as well for guys like Carmelo, Miller, and Nene. They have an experienced coach though, which is a bigger issue IMO than experienced playoff players.

[XxMia_9xX]

i say spurs in 6... i dont think the nugz are that good. people are expecting an upset. yes they've had a great run but i trust the spurs. they are a completely different team when it comes to play-off.

[texan]

Originally Posted by KokoTheMonkey

I don't think they are that inexperienced. Camby and Martin have had deep runs into the playoffs, and they they did make it last year as well for guys like Carmelo, Miller, and Nene. They have an experienced coach though, which is a bigger issue IMO than experienced playoff players.

Other than Camby and Martin, who has had a significant amount of playoff experience? Last year, they got swept in the 1st Round(or did they win 1 game?), if I remember correctly, giving most of their guys 4/5 games of playoff experience. They do have more playoff experience than I originally thought, but it still isn't much and doesn't nearly match ours. I don't expect it to be a major difference, but guys still will be somewhat new to playoff pressure and such.