Admittedly, I stole this idea from At the Hive and I wanted to bring you, the reader, more insight on the Nuggets than perhaps you are use to.
So, I reached out to Mike the Nuggets Examiner, Jeremy of Roundball Mining Company, and Andrew of Denver Stiffs to get their thoughts on my SEVEN questions heading into Round 2 against the Dallas Mavericks.
(Head over to their sites for more detailed previews and other insights to Nuggets basketball!)
Here are their thoughts … Q&A style to my Billups inspired 7 Questions:
Continue reading after the jump where we get into predictions …
5.) Josh Howard and J.J. Barea were difference makers for the Mavs against the Spurs. Dahntay Jones and Kenyon Martin came up big for Denver. What role players must step up in this series?
Mike: J.R. played pretty well against New Orleans, but he’s even more important in this series. He has to balance his ability to come in the game and knock down shots and still play tough defense on Jason Terry. He’ll have his hands full in this round.
Jeremy: “I do not know if you can call him a role player, but I expect J.R. Smith to have a big series being checked by the Mavs’ smaller shooting guards. Kenyon is going to have to frustrate Dirk and I think he will have some success in doing so. And as I alluded to in my answer to question four, I think Anthony Carter may play a bigger role than Jones this series.”
Andrew: “I wouldn’t call Josh Howard, a one-time All-Star, a role player. But for Dallas, I believe J.J. Barea and Erick “the waste of space” Dampier must come up big, or they’re done. For the Nuggets it’s the usual role players that we’ll be relying on: Chris Andersen, Dahntay Jones and Anthony Carter. Carter could actually harass Barea into a bad series.”
6.) Jason Terry (13.4 ppg in the playoffs) vs. J.R. Smith (16 ppg) … who is the more important 6th man going to be?
There you have it Nuggets fans. Everybody is picking Denver and I don't want to be the odd man out … I'll take Denver in 5 as well. I just don't see the Mavs stealing one early, but I can see Denver taking either game three or four and you must be crazy to think Denver wont win a Game 5 in front of the hometown fans.
We'll see you all Sunday!
Big Thank Yous to Mike, Jeremy, and Andrew for their insight and predictions!
I'll again have a "mini-preview" up on Yahoo! Sports' blog Ball Don't Lie opposite of Wes Cox of Mavs Moneyball … be on the lookout for that tomorrow!
GO NUGGETS!! And Dad … GET WELL SOON!
