Chip Patterson, recent graduate of University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, writes for TheHoopDoctors.com and BusterSports.com. A lifelong student of the game, he has passionately followed the NBA and College Basketball since C-Webb was calling “Timeout!”.
A little over a week ago, as we looked into the NBA crystal ball, we saw five teams that appeared to be separating themselves from the rest of the pack. “The Big 5” was a term that was being tossed around to describe Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, and San Antonio.
The season is only a week old, so is it too early to start reconsidering our classification, and count the Denver Nuggets (4-0) in this crop of the NBA elite? Probably, but they seem to be headed in the right direction.
Maybe you have been so immersed in Bat-Gate you have missed out on the fact that ‘Melo is playing like an absolute monster. Leading the league in scoring (34.5 ppg) should be no surprise after we got the warning of “I’M BACK” in the fourth quarter of the season opener against Utah.
But it’s not all high scoring and high flying that has Anthony on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. It is has been also setting up teammates, hustling on defense, and not only getting to the charity stripe — but converting. Leading the league in both FTA and FTM helps stabilize a team that is missing a key offensive component in J.R. Smith (still serving his 7 game suspension).
If the Denver bench is a question mark, then Ty Lawson has been doing his best to be an exclamation point for the Nuggets. His ability to push the ball allows the high powered Nuggets to continue to run, even with Billups on the bench. But defense will continue to be a concern for Lawson as he adapts to the tricks of the trade in the Association.
Denver’s opportunity to break through the “Big 5” and prove themselves as title contenders will come next Friday the 13th in a Western Conference Finals rematch with the Lakers at home. J.R. Smith will be back, and have two games under his belt as the Nuggets return to the Pepsi Center from their current Eastern Conference road swing.
Testing themselves against the Lakers is the best way to determine Denver’s place in the West, and the only way to gain respect as title contenders.
(Unless of course the Nuggets implode in this road trip, and then I’ll swallow these words with my leftover Halloween candy)
