HyTop Game 1 Report

Ultimately, I liked what I saw. Granted, this was against a bad Sonics squad, but the Nugs played like a Very Good Team, especially down the stretch.

But first, the Bad:

- The Nugs played down to the Sonics’ level, especially in the second quarter. This is reminiscent of the last five years of Nugs teams. They played nice in the opening burst, then looked around and said, “oh, shit, it’s Seattle?!” and kind of chilled for a while. Luckily they were able to snap out of it. But that mentality is dangerous. If cats like Damien Wilkins and Chris Wilcox had stayed hot, the game could’ve been in doubt.

- Nene remains fat as fuck. There is a strong possibility that he can’t dunk right now. He’s 6-10 and he’s spinning out layups at the rim. But I don’t care about his offense. Wilcox got whatever he wanted in the paint. This is a direct result of Nene’s obesity. Despite Hubie’s sunshiney predictions about 20-10, Cox is not that good. Without

- Melo didn’t get to the paint. At all. I don’t think he posted up all game. Any time he tried to drive, it looked forced and ended in a blocked shot or a turnover. This was weird. I think the Sonics were packing it in a ton. But I’m gonna keep watching.

On the other hand, there was plenty of Good:

- Forcing turnovers. The Nugs are the best team in the league at Fantasy Defense: blocks and steals. A.I. was credited for 7 steals, and might’ve gotten more. Camby did his usual thing, and the rest of the team swatted another handful of shots. All these things lead to running opportunities, which lead to easy baskets, which is where the Nugz live. A.I. is one of the best in history in terms of the steals he goes for vs. the steals he gets. He can’t guard anyone 1 on 1, but he was wreaking havoc for all 36 of his minutes last night.

- Outside shooting. With Nene fat and Melo stymied, the Nugs had to become an outside shooting team for much of this game. Only AI and Khouba were getting to the cup, and AI was missing a lot of layups. So they started shooting. First Melo, who hit his customary jab step jumpers, but then started dropping threes like it was the Olympics. If he’s really improved his range this much, he will become the second player in the league who is literally unguardable (the first is Kobe, natch). Then LK started dropping them. For all his faults, Kleiza has transformed himself into a marksman. He’s gonna play a big role this year. The Nugz won the game yesterday by shooting the Sonics out of the building. When has that happened in the last decade?

- Eddie Najera. Fresh from SuperCuts, Ed reminded the city why he might be the league’s most likeable player. All he does is everything he should (defends, cuts to the basket, finishes his layups) and a couple of things he shouldn’t (swatting Durant in the open court, drilling 2 threes (!)). I love it.

- Yakhouba Diawara. Did a decent impression of an NBA shooting guard last night. He made some open shots and didn’t airball the ones he missed. He drove to the hoop and ran the court for some layups, which he didn’t blow. His passing remains an adventure, and the vets sometimes have to wave him away toward where he should be, but it was promising. Also, he had a handful of outstanding defensive possessions, which is why he was out there.

- Depth. With K back, even for limited minutes, this team is suddenly stacked. Check the chart, even with the current point guard injuries:
PG – AI, Wilks (who kinda sucks)
SG – Khouba, Bobby Jones, Von Wafer, JR (soon)
SF – Melo, LK
PF – K-Mart, Nene, Najera
C – Camby, Hunter
That’s nasty! One of the best groups of bigs in the league. 2 superstars who will be on the court for most of the game. All of the 2 guards have something to give, and play hard (except JR). When Chucky gets healthy (in 2 months! wtf!?), there will be two legit solid NBA players at every position, except 2 guard, where there are 4 projects.

- AI at point guard. This worked out. Keep it going. Chucky should be a backup. He can pass.