NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS
KEY
POS. NO. PLAYER
HEIGHT WEIGHT
PPG RPG APG (Points, Rebounds, & Assists Per Game)
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Small Forward 15 Carmelo Anthony
6-8, 230
2006-07: 28.9 6.0 3.8
The first Nugget to score 30+ points in the first two games of the year since Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf in 95-96.
Power Forward #4 Kenyon Martin
6-9, 240
Career: 14.8 7.4 2.2
Has recorded 11 of his 13 total points and seven of his 10 total rebounds during the first half in the first two games.
Center #23 Marcus Camby
6-11, 235
2006-07: 11.2 11.7 3.2
Recorded his 21st career 20-rebound performance (16th as a Nugget) with 21 rebounds at Minnesota on 11/2.
Shooting Guard #5 Yakhouba Diawara
6-7, 225
2006-07: 2.1 1.7 0.9
Failed to score in seven minutes of action at Minnesota on 11/2.
Point Guard 3 Allen Iverson
6-0, 165
2006-07: 24.8 3.0 7.2
Made 15-16 free throws at Minnesota on 11/2 and is now shooting .880 (22-25) from the foul line this season.
HORNETS PROBABLE STARTERS
KEY
POSITION NUMBER PLAYER
HEIGHT WEIGHT
2007-08 AVERAGES (2 Games)
HIGHLIGHT NOTE
Small Forward #16 PEJA STOJAKOVIC
6-10 229
2007-08 AVERAGES: 18.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 31.2 mpg
Note: Scored 18 points, including four three-pointers, 11/2 vs. POR…had 19 points 10/31 vs. SAC, shooting 7-of-12 from the field.
Power Forward #30 DAVID WEST
6-9 240
2007-08 AVERAGES: 15.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 28.5 mpg
Note: Had 17 points for the second-straight game 11/2 vs. POR…also had three steals and two rebounds vs. POR…scored 17 points and had eight rebounds 10/31 vs. SAC.
Center #6 TYSON CHANDLER
7-1 245
2007-08 AVERAGES: 12.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 32.5 mpg
Note: Tallied his second-straight double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds 11/3 vs. POR…went 6-of-6 from the FT line vs. POR…15 points and 13 rebounds 10/31 vs. SAC.
Shooting Guard #9 MORRIS PETERSON
6-7 220
2007-08 AVERAGES: 10.0 ppg, 28.9 mpg
Note: Had seven points 11/2 vs. POR…scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting 10/31 vs.
SAC…hit three three-pointers after going 5-of-26 from behind the arc during the preseason.
Point Guard #3 CHRIS PAUL
6-0 175
2007-08 AVERAGES: 20.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 9.0 apg, 31.5 mpg
Note: Scored a team-high 19 points 11/2 vs. POR…tallied a double-double 10/31 vs. SAC
with 22 points and 12 assists.
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.
HORNETS INJURY REPORT
NO Injuries
ON THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be televised on Altitude with Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings handling the telecast. The game will be broadcast on KKFN AM 950, with Jerry Schemmel doing the play-by-play and Jason Kosmicki hosting the studio courtside.
KEY MATCHUP: C Marcus Camby vs Tyson Chandler
Tyson has 2 inches and 10 pounds on Camby but Camby has the veteran smarts and is playing his best basketball ever. As in all situations where Camby is matched against a bigger player, at least until Kenyon Martin is ready to go full out, the Nuggets are cruising for a bruising if Nene is absent without leave.
PG Allen Iverson vs Chris Paul
One of the more interesting point guard matchups you will see this season, both are smart players who can adjust their game to meet the specific situation at hand. But Iverson is much more experienced, more aggressive, and doesn't carry (we hope) as much of a scoring burden for the Nuggets as Paul carries for the Hornets. And Iverson has more freedom to make adjustments from George Karl than Chris Paul has from Byron Scott.
NUGGET'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Stay Cool and Confident - The Nuggets are off to a calm, cool, and confident start, similar to last year, and they need to stay that way. They need to keep turnovers and 3-point attempts within reason.
Distribute the Ball if at least a couple players besides Melo and A.I. are hitting- I have decided to modify this key to victory because, as Iverson realized in the Wolves game, it doesn't make much sense to distrubute the ball alot if no one is able to hit, which happens all too often to the Nuggets. Iverson, in the first two games, as already demonstrated how you make sure you win with the two different situations. So A.I. should evaluate the Kleiza-Najera-Wilks-? situation during the second quarter and halftime and distribute to these players more or less depending on whether they are hitting shots or not. If they are not hitting, A.I. knows what to do, and Paul is not going to be able to stop him.
Somebody's going to have help Camby deal with Chandler-West-Stojakovic in the post. That somebody is supposed to be Nene, but if he's still out of condition, Martin and Melo are going to have to step it up. Camby, of course, should continue to rebound and block the hell out of the ball.
HORNET'S KEYS TO VICTORY
Get Chris Paul into the lane as much as possible Aside from setting up a lot of different scoring plays, this has the side benefit of possibly wearing Iverson out.
Go all out from 3-point land The Hornets are off and running as a good passing and 3-point shooting team, and the Nuggets are simply bad at defending the three, and not a good 3-point shooting team themselves as of yet.
Try to rattle Iverson or double team Melo If you don't do either, you are asking for trouble. Go for steals against Iverson on defense and screen him out a lot on offense. And you might want to double team Iverson a few times and hope the open man will miss, which is a good bet with the Nuggets.
OVERALL PREDICTIONS
No team is an easy win for the Nuggets, and a team like the Hornets, with five solid and relatively consistent starters, is especially dangerous to the Melo-A.I.-Camby dominated Nuggets. While they have no veteran superstars as of yet, the Hornets have built a team that features quality starters at all five positions, while the Nuggets have three superstar starters, a rehab work in progress at the 4-spot, and a big problem at the 2-spot. Beyond the starting five, there isn't too much to get Nuggets fans worried about on the Hornet's roster. Once again, Melo, A.I., and Camby will be called on to carry the load and scrape out a victory against the starting Hornets. This is the kind of game where the home court advantage can come in very handy, so the Nuggets will have to hope that their fans are loud enough to disrupt the concentration of the Hornets. It's either going to be a very close win for the Nuggets or a Hornets win of up to a dozen points or so. Don't tick me off George Karl: stop panicking and pulling the plug on players who have played well in recent games after just 6-7 minutes.
