Chucky Atkins to Denver

[gasolina]

C - Camby / Najera
PF - Nene / Martin
SF - Melo / Kleiza
SG - Smith / Diawarra
PG - Iverson / Atkins

Pretty decent lineup. Won't win the west though. Is Smith gonna be able to play this year? What about his accident?

Knowing George Karl, Atkins will play significant minutes at move Ivy to the 2.

Martin / Kleiza / Najera are good replacements for Camby and Nene whenever Camby goes down or Nene is in foul trouble.

I'm keen to see Kmart this year. He might have to take off that headband and those armbands coz he's just a role player now.

[Richie2k6]

Pretty decent lineup. Won't win the west though. Is Smith gonna be able to play this year? What about his accident?

He's fine and will play next year. I think he's the X-Factor for us next season.

[Fatal_Flaw]

I think this is a good pickup. Anybody who watches the Nuggets on a regular basis knows that the reason they crap out every year in the playoffs is not because of bad defense. It's because of bad 3-point shooting. Chucky Atkins gives them what they didn't have last year: a veteran who is a proven 3-point threat. I think he'll flourish in Denver with all the open looks he'll get from AI and Melo.

[Darsh]

word homeboy. ^

[FPower]

Chucky was a good player four or five years ago; I haven't watched him much since then. He'll definitely chuck up shots, but his actual PG skills are underrated IMO. His defense is as bad as advertised though.

Atkins gets bashed alot here, IMO he will do fine in Denver. He's a player the Nuggets crave the past few seasons.

[artificial]

Originally Posted by GoldNugg21

I like this pickup, assuming Karl doesn't overplay him like he does Blake. Pick up Eddie Jones or Devin Brown (I'd prefer Eddie)

I like that idea actually. Not sure if it may actually happen, but either would bring some much needed perimeter defense. And also agree that overplaing Atkins would be a mistake.

i certainly didnt expect to see anything like this when i clicked on a topic about chucker atkins

[NugzFan]

Originally Posted by gasolina

I'm keen to see Kmart this year. He might have to take off that headband and those armbands coz he's just a role player now.

that doesnt make any sense.

[AI Nuggets3]

we'll see how Chucky does in a very wide open fast offense. in a lot of certain cases, he's going to be a serious upgrade from Blake. on defense tho? probably not.

i know we're not exactly the Spurs on defense, but he was amazing last season against us. dropped 27pts and 13 assists against us i believe one night.

the news im hearing is that Eddie Jones will probably be the next player Denver signs.

[AI Nuggets3]

may i add that FINALLY Denver has a legit 3 pt threat again......

37% 3pt shooter signed for cheap. good signing

[Rockets(T-mac)]

Pretty good signing they get a back up PG and great shooting from the outside. There defense is not getting any better though.

[AI Nuggets3]

Eddie Jones is hoping to become the newest Nugget.

Denver will be okay in a season or two on defense (perimeter wise). Diawara and Klieza are 2 young guys that have shown a lot of promise defensively as future "very good" perimeter defenders.

[Fatal_Flaw]

I'm not too concerned about their defense. It'll come around. It's common knowledge that when the playoffs roll around, defensive intensity increases. That held true with the Nuggets as well. The Spurs averaged 94.2 PPG on 44% in the series against Denver. That's a big improvement than in the regular season where their opponents averaged 103.7 PPG on 46% shooting. If they sign Eddie Jones, this would be their roster for next year:

Iverson/Atkins/Anthony Carter
Jones/Smith/Von Wafer
Melo/Klieza/Diawara
K-Mart/Najera/Evans
Camby/Nene

They'll definitely have all the pieces necessary to contend for the title next year. The only 2 things I'm questioning Denver on is can they stay healthy and is George Karl the right coach to lead them to the championship. My guesses to both of those questions are no, but I hope I'm wrong.

[Y2Gezee]

Originally Posted by Rockets(T-mac)

Pretty good signing they get a back up PG and great shooting from the outside. There defense is not getting any better though.

Denver's defensive woes are so overrated its getting ridiculous.

Seriously. First of all early in the season their defensive statistics weren't great in part due to their best defender Kenyon going down and Nene hardly playing. Still they weren't terrible, it was their PACE. They were the highest paced team in the NBA by a nice margin, more possessions= more points for both teams, yet the Nuggets were top 10 in defensive efficiency and had a 60% winning percentage to boot.

Then comes the suspensions and the AI trade. Well during those suspensions nene was still an in and out player and Camby hurt his hand and missed some games, and there was no way that situation was going to help their winning or defensive stats. After the trade they had 2 new starters in Blake and AI, and really Nene didn't become a consistent starter til Feb. You can't just throw guys together and expect great offense and defense without enough practice or that thing called a training camp, and both sides of the ball struggled until they had time to gel. Which ended with them looking like one of the best teams in the league again on both sides of the ball, including winning a defensive battle with the Mavs. And also ended with them giving the Spurs their toughest series probably, atleast doing the best defensive job on them.


Oh, that doesn't even include the fact that they're getting their best defender back in Kenyon.

[AI Nuggets3]

denver probably did the best defensive job on San Antonio in this year's playoffs.

there were times when Nene was completely killing Duncan.