Position Number Name
Height Weight
PPG RPG APG FG% (Points, Rebounds, & Assists Per Game, Field Goal Shooting %)
Recent Highlights
NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS
Small Forward 15 Carmelo Anthony
6-8, 230
2007-08: 25.7 5.0 5.2 .453
Is averaging 29.3 ppg in the Nuggets six wins, however just 18.3 ppg in their three losses so far this season. Has scored 10+ points in 138-straight games, which ranks as the second-longest active streak in the NBA.
Power Forward #4 Kenyon Martin
6-9, 240
2007-08: 8.5 5.1 0.4 .477
Posted a season-high 14 points on .778 (7-9) shooting from the field in 23 minutes vs. Portland on 11/14. Has tallied five or more rebounds in six of his seven appearances this season, despite averaging just 22.1 mpg.
Center #23 Marcus Camby
6-11, 235
2007-08: 9.8 13.2 3.2 .514
With his 13 rebounds vs. Portland on 11/14, he has now pulled down 10+ boards in eight of Denver’s nine games. His 3.3 apg average currently leads all NBA centers so far this season, as does his 1.73 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Shooting Guard #5 Yakhouba Diawara
6-7, 225
2007-08: 4.9 1.8 1.1 .471
Is 6-1 as a starter so far this season (.857), after going just 8-11 (.421) in his 19 starts as a rookie last season. Is 5-1 as a starter so far this season (.833), after going just 8-11 (.421) in his 19 starts as a rookie last season.
Point Guard #3 Allen Iverson
6-0, 165
2007-08: 25.0 3.2 8.0 .454
Joins LeBron James and Baron Davis as the only players to currently rank in the Top-10 in both points and assists. Scored a season-high 37 points while shooting .700 (14-20) from the field vs. Cleveland on 11/12.
KNICKS PROBABLE STARTERS
Small Forward #23 Quentin Richardson
6’6” 235
2007-08 7.3 5.7 0.9 .333
Scored seven points and had six rebounds in 28:24 at LA Clippers, Nov. 14…Scored 19 points and had seven rebounds in 42:11 vs. Orlando, Nov. 9…Scored seven points and had three rebounds in 21:46 vs. Denver, Nov.6…Scored six points (2-5 3-PT FG) and had two rebounds in 35:51 at Cleveland, Nov. 2.
Power Forward #42 David Lee
6’9” 240
2007-08: 10.3 8.8 1.1 .492
Scored a career-high 24 points (8-12 FG) and had a season-high 16 rebounds in 49:54 at Sacramento, Nov. 16…Scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds in 39:05 of starter action vs. Miami, Nov. 11
Center #34 Eddy Curry
6’11” 285
2007-08: 19.3 7.5 0.6 .610
Ranks among the league leaders in FG% (.610, 64-105 FG)…Scored 27 points and had nine rebounds in 34:18 at Sacramento, Nov.16…Scored 24 points and had eight rebounds in 34:40 vs. Denver, Nov.6…Scored 18 points and had seven rebounds in 32:55 at Cleveland, Nov. 2.
Shooting Guard #11 Jamal Crawford
6’5” 200
2007-08: 19.6 3.0 5.4 .400
Ranks among the league leaders in minutes per game (41.5)...Scored 25 points and had eight assists and five rebounds in 44:04 vs. Denver, Nov. 6…Scored 24 points and had seven assists in 42:00 vs. Minnesota, Nov. 4
Point Guard, #25 Mardy Collins
6’6” 220
2007-08: 2.0 1.3 1.3 .300
2007-08: Averaging 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game…Started and scored four points and had two assists in 18:41 at Sacramento, Nov. 16…In his first
game action of the season, scored two points and had three rebounds and two steals in 20:47 vs. Miami, Nov.11.
TEAM STATS COMPARED
Points Per Game:
Denver...108.3
New York..99.6
Field Goal Accuracy
Denver....475
New York..437
Rebounds Per Game:
Denver....44.8
New York..44.5
Assists Per Game:
Denver....24.1
New York..17.8
NUGGETS INJURY REPORT
OUT: Anthony Carter suffered a 3rd metacarpal fracture on his right hand and underwent successful surgery on 10/10. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks
OUT: Chucky Atkins suffered a severe right groin strain at Phoenix on 10/25 and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks.
OUT: Nene suffered a torn ulner collateral ligament in his left thumb at Boston on 11/7 and underwent successful surgery on 11/9. He is expected to miss six weeks.
OUT: Steven Hunter underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on 11/16 and is expected to miss six weeks.
KNICKS INJURY REPORT:
OUT: Jerome James: Left Knee Tendinitis/Right Foot Bone Spur & Cyst
QUESTIONABLE: Zach Randolph: Personal Reasons
QUESTIONABLE: Reynaldo Balkman: Sprained Right Ankle
ON THE AIR:
Tonight’s game will be televised on Altitude with Chris Marlowe calling the action and Scott Hastings providing analysis. The game will also be broadcast on KKFN AM 950, with Jerry Schemmel doing the play-by-play and Jason Kosmicki hosting the studio courtside.
KEY MATCHUPS:
SG Jamal Crawford vs. J.R. Smith and Yakhouba Diawara One of the few chances the Knicks have to win this game is if Jamal Crawford gets 24-30 points, 7-10 assists, and some rebounds, to at least match what he accomplished against the Nuggets in New York 11 days ago. At the same time, the Knicks will have to hope that J.R. Smith has one of his off nights and that Diawara doesn't do much offensively as well. Crawford is too quick to be effectively guarded by Diawara on every possession. There has been alot of Nuggets news that has seemed too good to be true, or too good to last, lately, and one such news story is Diawara's scoring. However, Diawara has a history of teasing fans with some scoring and then becoming a very bad shooter again. Whether Diawara can keep his modest but important scoring going is an important factor for the Nuggets, who are much more desperate than most teams for scoring by reserves, because when the reserves don't score they are benched completely by George Karl, and benched players never score.
C Eddy Curry vs. Marcus Camby PF Zach Randolph is apparently not playing due to a death in his family; PF David Lee will be the substitute starter. Lee is average at best and will have a difficult time against Kenyon Martin. 11 days ago in New York, the Knicks got alot of second chance points in the paint while substantially denying Carmelo Anthony and other Nuggets both penetration to the hoop and second chance scores of their own. Since Nene is still not available, one of the only ways the Knicks could compete in this game would be to try to repeat what they did in that game, but since Randolph is out, Curry and Lee would both have to have huge scoring, rebounding, and defending games in the paint.
NUGGET'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Stay cool and confident. I’m going to have to keep including this key until the Nugget's players and coaches maintain their confidence more consistently. They also need to avoid the drama from having criticism and dirty laundry in the newspapers. And they need to avoid ugly off-court incidents. Yeah, I'm looking at you when I say that, J.R. Smith.
Avoid the temptation of taking too many 3-point shots. Quite honestly, I think the Nuggets got off to a lucky start for 3-point shooting, and there is the risk that players such as Diawara, Najera, Kleiza, and maybe even Iverson will attempt too many 3-pointers. Let's not get carried away, especially in this game. I am a little worried about that ugly 1/13 on threes shooting against the Trailblazers carrying over into this one. But there is no need for 3-point heroics in this game, because the Knicks most likely can not beat the Nuggets whether or not the Nuggets make some threes.
Get on the boards and deny the Knicks as many offensive rebounds as possible. The Knicks, at least if Zach Randolph is playing, are one of the better rebounding for second chance scores teams in the NBA, and the Nuggets without Nene are one of the worst teams for denying second chance scores from offensive rebounds. But with Randolph out, this is a golden opportunity for Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony, and Eduardo Najera to prevent that kind of thing from happening.
KNICK'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Double team Melo or Iverson, usually Melo. There is a reason most teams do this. You want to double Melo unless Iverson is killing you, in which case you probably should start doubling Iverson and going for steals off him. Also, you should always try to get Melo into foul trouble, because the reward is huge if you succeed.
Bring in the co-star of the Knick's soap opera, Stephon Marbury, as soon as possible. There is nothing to lose, because the Knicks can not win with Mardy Collins playing alot of minutes. Maybe Marbury will be fired up from this past week's soap opera, and will make alot of shots. Or, if the Knicks can not play Marbury much, tell Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford to try to keep the Knicks in the game by hitting some threes.
Penetrate to the hoop as much as possible and get as many second chance points as possible. It worked 11 days ago, and the Nuggets still are vulnerable to this, but it's going to be more difficult to do with Randolph out.
OVERALL PREDICTIONS
Zach Randolph's grandmother has passed away and so it appears that the extremely important Knick Randolph will not play. I don't know about and don't care about the details, but it appears that PG Stephon Marbury has now officially become the J.R. Smith of the New York Knicks, the black sheep in other words. Wasn't it a hoot when Marbury told the press that he has "alot of stuff on Isiah"? Why couldn't J.R. Smith have thought of that tactic to try to save his job last year? Because George Karl, unlike the Knick's coach, is a model citizen and a gentleman. (See, I don't always criticize Karl.)
To top it off for the Knicks, F Reynaldo Balkman is out with a sprained right ankle. So the Knicks have managed to be just as shorthanded as the Nuggets, who remain without PF Nene and their two designated point guards, Chucky Atkins and Anthony Carter. But the Nuggets are used to playing without those three by now, whereas the Knicks are going to be in a state of disarray if not outright confusion. One thing that is not confusing to me is that the Knicks need another new coach.
The Knicks played last night in Sacramento and the Nuggets have had two nights off.
The Knicks have virtually no chance to win this game. It's that simple. The only way the Knicks win is if the Nuggets play their worst game of the season right here. Both Melo and A.I. would have to be off, and the Knicks would have to clean up again on the offensive boards even though they don't have Randolph. Also, the Knicks would have to hit a substantial number of threes and Jamal Crawford would have to score and assist alot. The odds on all of those things happening are about 1 in 100.
The only other way for the Nuggets to blow it that I can think of would be for the Nugget's coaches to go back to playing just 8 players for substantial minutes in the game, and then getting too little output from the 3 non-starters. But George Karl likes Bobby Jones and Jones is the 9th guy, so that is unlikely.
So now that I jinxed it by predicting a near certain win, I will be sweating it out all game that the Nuggets are going to blow it. I should never, ever, predict a Nuggets win, but I could not resist in this case.
DON'T TICK ME OFF MORE THAN USUAL GK
Every so often, a player is benched or has his minutes cut way back, to under 10 minutes, for no apparent reason. That happening again is what I'm worried will tick me off big time one of these days.
