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Orlando Pancakes
Member since 14 August 2012 | Blog
Helmet Stickers: 266 | Leaderboard
- SPORTS MOMENT: OSU winning the NC against Miami and being able to see such sweetness with my mom and dad.
- COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER: Archie Griffin
- COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER: Evan Turner
- NFL TEAM: Cleveland Browns
- NHL TEAM: Dallas Stars
- NBA TEAM: Dallas Mavericks
- MLB TEAM: Cincinnati Reds
- SOCCER TEAM: Any team with Hope Solo on it
Recent Activity
I completely agree with everything you said. By that logic though, we would also need to vacate our 1970 National Championship as we also lost our bowl game.
And as I posted earlier, at least according to this poll, most Native Americans do not find it offensive.
I included a link referencing the claim but here is the actual poll:
I included a link referencing the claim but here is the actual poll:
According to this poll, 90% of Native Americans don't consider the term "Redskins" offensive.
While we are at it, we could say that the term "Native American" itself is offensive as "American" is originally European. Canada agrees with this by using the term "First Nation" (Not saying that I agree or disagree.....but as long as we are on the subject).
Awesome, great follow up Hodge.
AMEN on that and MLK's message!!!
Hodge, I agree with you on the politics part. The rest....????
There is no way that I could take the first bite and ruin that cake.
Yeah I can't say that I agree with this. So taking this to its logical conclusion, we should get rid of affirmative action. I will surely lose helmet stickers for that comment but feel that it is worth it when responding to a Buckshot that is talking about the basis of such a policy (i.e, I didn't bring it up). Racism-it's wrong no matter the motivation or basis of it.
Sounds like excuses to me. I will grant you that there are rare cases where these conditions are present for some people, but the vast majority of people that are fat are themselves responsible for it.
Hail, gosh damn you; you make reasonable points backed up by actual facts. Everything you said within the context of one game is absolutely correct. I think the part where most of the comments here are more harsh on Gardner than you is that this is not a onetime scenario with him turning the ball over. He is a turnover machine back at full capacity after being broke for the Minnesota game. Braxton is the opposite and his last game was the exception, not the rule that is Gardner's play with the turnovers.
I was thinking the same thing. It sounds like a mix between the dad from The Wonder Years and Larry King.
That depends on what happens with other teams, as we do not control our own destiny like other teams do. If 'Bama and Oregon both win out, there is absolutely no way we play in the Championship game.....and it is with sorrow (but full certainty) that I say that we wouldn't deserve to either if you are comparing all three schedules.
All of that adds up to a B. Sounds about right. We are fortunate to still be undefeated while having plenty of room to improve. Besides the secondary, that says more about our potential than anything else.
Urban is an attempted murderer!!!
Muse, I understand what you are trying to say about giving intelligent women who know football a chance, but by your own admission this is not about women and more about their credentials. You already said "how many women have been given that opportunity to coach, play, or be ADs". Pollack said he wanted people with that experience and if women don't have the experience then I guess they don't have it. We could argue that they should maybe have more opportunities to have those experiences but that is another topic. The fact that they don't have those experiences is all he was saying; and there are plenty of qualified men who do. As a side note there actually are a few major women ADs out there so they would qualify under his scenario.
Squirrel Master, your logic is very skewed. If what you are saying is true then we should not have blamed 9/11 on extreme Muslim fanatics. There are plenty of extreme Muslim fanatics that are offended by us blaming 9/11 on them. They blame it on fighting a holy war and us having bases in the Middle East next to their holy sites. (For the record this is not political talk, just an example). You never let others justify what is acceptable; then you lose everything. Listen to others that are reasonable yes, but if an extremist says they don't like something, you don't respond to it. I'm not saying Ponder is an extremist, but my point is that you don't judge something as offensive if some people are offended or not. You need to stand by your own convictions. I don't care (and neither does Pollack apparently) if someone is offended by something I truly believe in. For the record I don't agree with him but I respect his opinion and he should not take back what he said just because someone was offended by it. This country has gotten so sensitive.
Urban, I respectfully disagree. Did you not watch last week's game against Wisconsin? How about that play in this game where he stopped short of the first down marker (and he could have run for it easy) and he threw a completion that got about 20 more yards than if he had ran it? That is just one example from this game but Braxton clearly looks to pass (and hence involve other skill players) than run. A lot of his runs tonight were called runs. I think Braxton is the ultimate weapon for what we have. You could also debate a few others (Johnny Football, Tajh Boyd, Winston from FSU maybe) but he is at or near the top.
ScarletNGray, this is so over the top that I almost think it's a fake comment. Nevertheless, you still get a downvote from me for your ignorance alone if it is real. Did you watch the game on mute or not notice Musberger's scarlet and grey tie? I think you made an honest mistake so I will leave it at a that......and a downvote of course. Lesson learned, no big deal.
"Sports are fun when they involve villains, and nobody played that role better than Bielema."
It's really hard to say it much better than that. I would say that I hope we play them in a bowl, but that would be taking us down a couple of notches.
Agreed CC. What's even more peculiar is that the NCAA threatened Penn State with the death penalty if they refused their current punishment, but by their own rules they had no authority to administer the death penalty since Penn State was never a repeat offender. The NCAA is SO inconsistent.


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Back to news articles
01 May 2013
Get on your bike with Sky Ride this summer
Sky and British Cycling confirm the return of a host of free events and activities taking place across the summer as part of Sky Ride 2013. These include more Sky Ride City events and Sky Ride Local rides than ever before stretching the length and breadth of the UK. Sky Ride 2013 is part of a national campaign by Sky and British Cycling encouraging thousands of people of all ages and abilities to get on a bike and discover the fun, freedom and health benefits cycling can offer.Sky Ride City rides are free one day cycling events offering people the chance to ride their bike on traffic free streets in the heart of major cities and towns across Britain. Sky Ride Local rides are led by British Cycling Ride Leaders and are a series of free small, weekly community bikes rides that take place every Sunday and give participants the chance to get out and explore their local area.This year's events build on the success of 2012, which saw over 146,000 people take part in Sky Ride City events and over 17,000 people take part in Sky Ride Local ride. Last year also saw British Cycling and Sky beat their goal of getting one million more Britons on their bikes and cycling regularly (once a month) by 2013. Sky Ride City Events will take place in the following towns and cities across the UK this summer:Plymouth - Sunday 12th MayBolton - Sunday 2nd JuneLeeds - Sunday 7th JulyStockton-on-Tees - Sunday 7th JulyBournemouth - Sunday 20th JulyNewcastle - Saturday 27th JulySouthampton - Sunday 28th JulyManchester - Sunday 4th AugustBradford - Sunday 11th AugustHull - Sunday 18th AugustTorbay - Sunday 18th AugustMilton Keynes - Sunday 25th AugustLeicester - Sunday 25th AugustYork - Sunday15th SeptemberIpswich - Date TBCBirmingham - Date TBC SeptemberThere are also events and rides tailored specifically for women with British Cycling's national Breeze Network , which encourage women to get on their bikes with women-only rides.In addition everyone is also encouraged to set up or join a Social Cycling Group which makes it easy to get together, find a place to ride and enjoy a bike ride at a level and time that suits you it's the ideal opportunity to take control of your cycling, discover new places to ride and make some friends along the way. Rides are organised all year round by cyclists across the country. For more information and to find a route or ride visit goskyride.com
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We had a great time on the sky ride around Manchester it's nice to get round your own city without the traffic. We are looking forward to doing some more city's around the uk
Can't see any in Scotland so not sure what you mean by the length and breadth of the UK . Length and breadth of England more like.
What...no Scottish venues?!!
Hi. Thanks for all your comment. We looked to set up Sky Rides in Glasgow and Edinburgh this year and weren't able to, sadly. This wasn't down to a lack of trying, there were a number of factors outside of our control.
The great news is we can confirm, as of today we'll be teaming up with British Cycling at the National Road Race Championships in Glasgow on the weekend of the 23nd of June. It's free to attend so come along to our famous bike cafe and cheer on your favourite British riders.
You can also make the most of Sky's commitment to cycling throughout the summer. Go to GoSkyRide.com to find out more on our guided bike rides and buddy rides.
Thanks, The Bigger Picture
Back to top
Hear from Ian Drake, Chief Executive, British Cycling, about how we're making a difference
"The unique nature of our partnership with Sky has been a key factor in cycling's phenomenal success story, perfectly complementing the support we receive from UK Sport and Sport England. The growth of our sport over the past four years has been amazing. Not only have our Olympic and Paralympic riders continued to deliver on the world stage, but we've also seen the emergence of Team Sky as a force on the road scene with high hopes this year for the first ever British Tour de France winner. Being a world leading cycling nation isn't just about winning medals – it's also about inspiring everyone to get on a bike, from the playground right through to the podium. That's exactly what initiatives like Sky Ride have achieved and we're well on track to reaching our target of getting one million more people cycling by 2013. I'm proud of what we have achieved through our partnership with Sky, and I look forward to delivering even greater success over the next few years."
We're helping more young people get involved through Go Ride
Sky supports Go Ride, British Cycling's successful schools programme that introduces children to all disciplines of cycling and encourages them to compete through Go Ride Racing. The aim is to provide 50,000 opportunities for children to get involved by 2013.
With our support, Go Ride has so far introduced over 16,000 young people from 192 schools to all forms of cycling, from BMX and mountain biking to traditional road racing. To date, over 800 Go Ride Racing events have been delivered and over 13,000 children have taken part.
Many young riders find it daunting to enter their first race and compete against more experienced riders who are often equipped with the latest bikes and specialist equipment. Go-Ride Racing offers riders under the age of 16 the opportunity to compete in a real race environment against cyclists of the same age and ability. Once novice racers have gained confidence, they are encouraged to make the step up to open regional competition.
Sky enables staff to take on cycling challenges in the UK and in Europe
An exciting programme of cycling events offered to Sky staff is going from strength to strength. From supporting a small group of 27 employees to take on the Etape du Tour (a stage of the Tour de France open to amateurs) in 2009, the programme has grown significantly, supporting nearly 300 people to take on three European sportives in 2011.
And in 2012, almost 500 people got involved in five summer challenges, including taking part in 24 hours of Mountain bike Mayhem and riding up the Champs Elysee on a Sky staff three-day London-to-Paris ride.
The cycling community at Sky is now well established, underpinned by a number of passionate cyclists who formed their own cycling club 'Sky Velo'. Only a few months old Sky Velo already has over 600 members. The club is key in helping support Sky's cycling initiatives. By volunteering as mentors and ride leaders, and encouraging colleagues to ride regularly, Sky Velo members act as cycling advocates, helping to make our cycling programme more sustainable.
Sky Ride is increasing cycling and bringing economic benefits
In 2011 Sky and British Cycling commissioned a report from the London School of Economics charting, for the first time, the full economic impact of the cycling sector on the UK economy.
The report showed that the sector generates £2.9 billion, equating to £230 for every cyclist in the country with £685 million coming from new cyclists. The socio-economic benefits included over £500 million generated in wages and £100 million in taxes from 23,000 employed directly in the bicycle industry.
There was evidence of increasing participation in cycling, with events such as Sky Ride contributing to this, as well as health benefits through saving £128 m per year in absenteeism.
With Sky and British Cycling on course to get 1 million more people cycling regularly by 2013, a further £141 million should be generated through cycling. The report describes the current state of the cycling sector, showing where, with the right support, is has the potential to grow, delivering benefits that everyone in the UK can enjoy.
Read about how we are encouraging our staff to get back on their bikes.
Linked to our commitment to cycling at Sky, we also want to encourage our staff to get back on their bikes and enjoy cycling. We have a dedicated cycling website for them, which provides information on opportunities for getting involved, including free lunchtime led cycle rides.
Our staff can register for the bike-to-work scheme, borrow a bike, get their bikes serviced free, find a buddy to cycle into work with, and sign up for cycle training. For more serious cyclists, we offer the opportunity of participating in the Etape challenge, including significant training through our partners at British Cycling. The Etape du Tour is one of the most gruelling cycling events in Europe, and offers amateur cyclists the chance to ride over the same mountainous terrain that professional riders will conquer days later during the Tour de France.
In 2013, Team Sky propelled Chris Froome to be the second British winner of the Tour de France
Read more
Find out how together British Cycling and Sky inspire the nation to get on their bikes
sky and the Sky trademarks are owned by British Sky Broadcasting Group
plc and Sky IP International Limited and are used under licence.

subset: commoncrawl


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With the cost of travel going up and budgets getting squeezed we know not everyone has the opportunity to attend all the great conferences we have the honor to be invited to attend and present at. That's why we put together a full day online curriculum for you to take advantage of.
9:00 am – 9:20 am
Seth Godin on how to get your ideas to spread:
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Avinash Kaushik on how to create a data driven culture:
10:00 am – 10:10 am
Mike Grehan on the future of Search.
10:11 am – 10:15 am
CommonCraft on social media in plain english.
10:15am – 10:30 am
Please take a 15 minute networking break. Find some great people on twitter or friend some fine people on Facebook. On twitter you can follow me @TheGrok or on FaceBook @Bryan Eisenberg.
10:30 am – 11:10 am
Doug Mack, Carrie Johnson, David Daniels on Web 2.0 and what it means for retail from Shop.org.
Click here to view this presentation.
11:10 am – 12:00pm
Mitch Joel & Carrie Johnson on Social Shopping: How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Customer Control
Click here to view this presentation.
12:00pm – 1:00pm
Enjoy your lunch break.
1:00pm – 1:20pm
Ze Frank on …
1:30pm – 1:45pm
Gary Vaynerchuk on building personal brand within the social media landscape
1:45pm – 2:00pm
Rand Fishkin on SEO for branding and blogging for higher rankings.
SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday-SEO for Branding from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.
SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday-Blogging for Higher Rankings from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.
2:00pm – 2:05pm
Chris Anderson on Free! why $0.00 is the future of business.
2:05pm – 2:50pm
Bill Tancer on Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters.
2:50pm – 3:00pm
Chris Brogan on new media's necessary evolution for progress. Rated R for language.
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Please take a break and speak to some real people
3:30pm – 3:35pm
Andy Beal on how to monitor your competitors.
3:35pm – 4:30pm
Adaptive Path staff on customer experience and how it integrates with marketing efforts.
4:35pm – 4:45pm
Chip Heath on making ideas stick.
There were several topics we wanted to include but didn't make it in because either; there we no presentations of it online, we weren't thrilled with the content available, or Iweran out of time in trying to keep this virtual conference to one day.
Some of the important topics we wanted to cover:
1. the importance of good copywriting online
2. comparing search, display, ppc, cpm, cpa, etc.
3. creating efficiencies in your marketing
4. marketing in a recession
5. Integrated Brands & Interaction: connecting your online to your offline channel
6. preparing your organization for social media
7. why organization must adopt a continuous improvement process for their marketing efforts
What topics would you like to have seen?
P.S. We made the decision to leave any of our presentations/interviews out of the agenda to eliminate any bias, but if you want to watch some of our presentations, here you go:
1. How to get your organization to start testing
2. How to use personas to increase sales
3. Using Persuasion Architecture to improve your online results
Just plain great idea!! Thanks!
Now why can't I come up with a great idea like that? Might be because I'm not as smart as you guys are. Amazing.
Awesome! Terrifying. Engaging. Revealing.
Thanks Bryan.
This was such a brilliant idea that I stole the concept (with all the love and attribution back to you .
I called mine: Pixelated – Your New Business Conference Starts Now Online. With the idea being to get some unique perspectives on the changing world from a business, marketing and technology perspective.
And, you know me, I had to throw some motivation in there as well
Thanks (as always) for the amazing content and inspiration!
If people are not zonked out from yours, they can check mine out here:
Wow, Really great stuff. Thnx for putting so mych great info on one page so extra useful bookmark too.
Nice work
Bryan, more evidence of how you influence the industry with great ideas. I just love how @mitchjoel is reusing the concept, plus @chrisbrogan and others are setting these up as well.
[...] by Chris Brogan who was responding to a post by Mitch Joel, who was making a play on an Idea by Bryan Eisenberg. The post is a very simple concept getting known around the blogosphere as [...]
This is such a cool idea. Thanks Bryan!
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for this. I'm glad people are getting used to the idea of online conferences! My client, Network Solutions is also sponsoring one next week. It will feature some great marketing experts talking about everything from blogs to Twitter to building a web presence. Lots of great videos are lined up: http://www.solutionsstarsvideo.com/
Livingston Communications for Network Solutions
[...] Grokdotcom has a monster post including a bunch of great videos about the SEM field. Highlights include Rand Fishkin's "Blogging for Higher Rankings" video, and Common Craft's Social Media in Plain English. [...]
[...] from one of my very favorite authors, Bryan Eisenberg, who began the virtual conference love on GrokDotCom. However, Seth Godin says don't let the thanks get in the way, so let's move [...]
awesome. Thanks for the share
[...] It all started with Bryan Eisenberg, a Web analytics and ROI expert, who regularly writes on ClickZ and is a co-author of Call To Action, Waiting For Your Cat To Bark? and Always Be Testing. He decided to initiate a free online conference: OnClick: The Online Marketing Virtual Conference Mashup. [...]
I really like that you guys post so many of these on the web, thank you!
Great stuff, so much information all available in little time split portions. I checked out a couple but will be back to review the others that interest me. Making Ideas Stick was very informative!
Wow, Really great stuff. Thnx for putting so mych great info on one page so extra useful bookmark too.
Nice work
Thank you Bryan,
It's amazing content.
I really like that you guys post so many of these on the web, thank you!
Great videos. Attending conferences is very difficult these days. Almost impossible.
[...] To Action,Waiting For Your Cat To Bark? and Always Be Testing). On his GrokDotCom Blog, he created OnClick: The Online Marketing Virtual Conference Mashup. Eisenberg collected, gathered and aggregated some of the best presentations he's uncovered [...]
Hi, thank you for the great video about online marketting. I like watching this.
Interresting reading just like all other articles from Bryan. I do prefer the articles related to SEO.
I highly enjoyed this. Hopefully it'll help me in my endeavors.
Interesting videos. Seomoz gave me some ideas. Increasing page ranking stuff. Thanks for the post.
I agree with the terrifying aspect to the online marketing techniques. But, believe me once you begin working with the new medium your company no matter if it is small, or large will benefit. There is a sense of control and an ability to really reach the audience that you aim for. The tips on managing time and networking is fantastic as we are at risk of isolating ourselves due to the online environment. Face to face human contact is so important to ensure a complete social and professional engagement.
Thanks a lot for compiling this wonderful list of videos and information! For people who want to learn more about mobile advertising and marketing, it would really be great to read through and watch all the videos which you have posted!


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yup, I need Help said...
Good set of tips, thanks Chase.
Ok here is my question, what poison do you use for your mut spec? Also if you did switch to combat what poison would you go with, I've seen a few people say wound on main, deadly on off hand?
Yup, I need Help said...
So wound/cripple then, ok I can see that.
For mut PvP you pretty much just go dual WP.
The great thing about it is that even if a paladin spams cleanse there's no way he's ever going to get that wound poison off him as long as you're there stabbing him, plus WP does a tidy amount of armor-ignoring damage to the target as well, I think it's the main reason a rogue can even take down a plate-wearer.


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- Like A Fridge Full Of Frozen Pizza
- Adam Young
- 649 plays
Hey I'm Jass. Music and food is good. Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
Yep that's Adam! Here's the original video [x] :)
i am a tad confused. the picture….is that Adam? no way! he wasn't joking was he? did he shave his hair???? or is that...


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ACP Best Practice Advice
The Clinical Guidelines Committee at ACP develops best practice advice to address the value of diagnostic tests and therapeutic interventions for various diseases. The development of these papers involves evaluation of the benefits, harms, and costs and how this can be translated into the value of an intervention. Establishing this balance ensures effective delivery of high-value care.
Current Best Practice Advice:
- High-Value, Cost-Conscious Health Care: Concepts for Clinicians to Evaluate the Benefits, Harms, and Costs of Medical Interventions (2011)
Full text | Summary for Patients
- Screening for Colorectal Cancer: A Guidance Statement from the American College of Physicians (2012)
Full text | Summary for Patients
- Guideline: Oral Pharmacologic Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the American College of Physicians (2012)
Full text | Summary for Patients
- Upper Endoscopy for Gastroesophageal Reflux: Best Practice Advice from the American College of Physicians (2012)
Full text | Summary for Patients | Video News Release
- Diagnostic Imaging for Low Back Pain: Advice for High-Value Health Care From the American College of Physicians (2011)
Full text | Summary for Patients | Video News Release
- Inpatient Glycemic Control: Best Practice Advice From the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians (2013)
Full text (free until June 30, 2013) | News Release
Related Links
Patient Summaries
Patient summaries are available for many of ACP's guidelines and guidance statements.
Guideline Reprints
Request bulk reprints of all guidelines published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Mobile Guidelines
Download ACP's clinical recommendations to your iPhone, iPad, or Android.
Those with other mobile devices can simply visit http://www.acponline.org/mobile/clinicalguidelines/ from your mobile browser to access the Recommendation Summaries in a mobile-friendly format.
Search ACP's complete collection of clinical, ethics, and public policy recommendations.
High Value Care
Access resources and information for ACP's High Value Care initiative.
Access your peers' clinical expertise in our ACP members-only Special Interest Groups virtual community.
ACP Depression Care Guide provides physicians with team-based practices for screening, diagnosis, and management of depression in primary care settings.
What will you learn from your Annals Virtual Patient?
Annals Virtual Patients is a unique patient care simulator that mirrors real patient care decisions and consequences. CME Credit and MOC Points are available. Start off with a FREE sample case. Start your journey now.
Products and Resources for Patients
ACP has developed easy- to-use materials designed to help educate your patients on self-management of a wide variety of common health conditions. Order yours today!


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Much of the material listed on these archived web pages has been superseded, or served a particular purpose at a particular time. It may contain references to activities or policies that have no current application. Many archived documents may link to web pages that have moved or no longer exist, or may refer to other documents that are no longer available.
Media Release
Senator the Hon Robert Hill
Leader of the Government in the Senate
Minister for the Environment
30 September 1998
Federal Environment Minister today announced funding of up to $2.7 million over the next 3 years to purchase land and restore wetland habitat around Hexham Swamp for rare and endangered waterbirds, and to improve fish spawning habitat in the Hunter estuary.
Senator Hill made the announcement while inspecting the Shortland Wetlands Centre with the Federal Member for Paterson, Bob Baldwin.
The Shortlands Wetland Centre have also recently received $18,000 of Natural Heritage Trust funding this year to develop a community based monitoring program for the Kooragang Ramsar site and adjacent wetlands.
The Hexham Swamp project will result in significant on-ground environmental improvement, including:
Bob Baldwin, said "this waterbird conservation project will be a great boost for the environment around Newcastle, and will also lead to significant economic benefits for the Newcastle region.
"Not only will we be bringing this wetland back to life for the waterbirds, it will also make a substantial contribution to the recreational and commercial fishing industry by recreating fish spawning habitat in the Hunter estuary."
Oceanwatch estimates that the rehabilitation will provide increased productivity for the fishing industry by an estimated $1.6 million each year.
Senator Hill said "this project demonstrates just what can be achieved when local people work together with landholders and industry to restore our natural environment.
"Newcastle should be very proud of this project, which will be promoted at next year's international 'Ramsar' wetlands conference in Costa Rica, as a world class example of wildlife habitat conservation."
For further information:
Peter Cosier 08 8237 7920, 0419 693 515


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love punch -
drew this because one of my friends commented on this post that team charge brawling would be super great
me & ofleaves getting our team charge on
(via lightsofmidnight)
haha finally got this done.
part one of my art trade with Spacey.
team charge
more like team cuties
why havent i uploaded this yet
(Source: biskcut)
math class is v productive
at school :)
nnnn here
my otp
Here you have a Team Charge :33
I ship them as moirails so hard ;_;


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Twinkies are back! Anything else in the show is secondary. Nah, all kidding aside, Angry Birds is on TV! Ok ok, seriously though. What did we talk about this morning on the Walk of Shame?
How well do you know your Pearl Jam lyrics? How well does Pearl Jam know their lyrics? Well, here's today's Wrong Wrong Wednesdays mondegreen ….
And do you remember that biker's marriage proposal last month? Well click [here] for the update …
Speaking of arrests, this man gets a ticket … click [here] to find out what for.
Return to: THE WALK OF SHAME Blog


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- Home
- Student Union
Student Union
A message from the Chancellor
The Student Union at UIS will create a more vibrant campus life for students—and for faculty and staff. With so much to offer students, the Student Union will propel enrollment growth, and by drawing all of us into a closer community, it will help to keep students at UIS until they finish their degree. This beautiful building will also welcome community members to campus and provide a bright, spacious, and comfortable location for events, varied dining options, and social gatherings.
As you explore the information, photographs, renderings, and so much more included in this website, please be aware that state funds cannot be used for this vital project, and consider how you can support this crucial and strategically planned addition to Springfield's public university.
Student Union Campaign Kickoff, Tuesday, September 30, 4:30-6:30
Come hear the Chancellor explain this important project and hear from a student, SGA President Joe McGee, who was instrumental in getting the student referendum for the Student Union passed. If you're a student, come learn about what your fees will help bring to campus (and remember, fees begin ONLY after the Student Union has been completely built and is open for students to use).
The Student Union Campaign Kickoff will have a carnival theme, with games, carnival treats, giveaways (including a free t-shirt), and special "tours" through the Student Union floor plans.
Take a look at a printed announcement (pdf–and thanks, Jeff Williams in Campus Services, for the great design). COME ONE! COME ALL!
Updated floor plans
The architects have made some changes to the floor plans. Take a look…
New Student Union Video!
We asked Chancellor Koch, faculty member Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson, and three outspoken students–Jamaal Hollins, Samia Ahmad, and Nate Hoyle–to share their excitement about the new Student Union. Take a look at the new video.
Additional Media
Schematic Design Video Tour of the Student Union (note: it is still in design phase and this is only a virtual representation)
Photos from student union focus groups


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Foot Patrol x Asics Gel Saga II – U.S Release Date
The Foot Patrol x Asics Gel Saga II already dropped a few weeks ago, and now U.S fans will finally get a chance to get their hands on them. The suede/nubuck constructed upper and the unique branding will sure to be a quick sell out when it releases.
Get ready because the Foot Patrol x Asics Gel Saga II will hit select Asics accounts on October 12th. Check out the list of U.S retailers that will carry these this Friday.
Proper | Long Beach – USA
Blends | Los Angeles – USA
Undefeated | Los Angeles – USA
Blends | Costa Mesa – USA
Bait | Irvine – USA
St. Alfreds | Chicago – USA
Concepts | Boston – USA
Bodega | Boston – USA
Ubiq | Philadelphia – USA
Atmos | New York – USA
Kith | New York City – USA
Kith | Brooklyn – USA
Shoe Gallery | Miami – USA
Feature | Las Vegas – USA
Packer | New Jersey – USA
Kicks/Hi | Honolulu – USA
Nice Kicks | Austin – USA
About the Author (Author Profile)Senior Editor for TheShoeGame.com Twitter: @FootSole_ja & Instagram: @alexthagr8_tsg
Comments (9)
These are on point!
will be scooping these
can these be bought online? and if so which stores?
Soooo sooooo soooo nice!
No love for the DMV
Exactly what LG said times twenty…
These are real nice. Wish I could get off on friday to get them but I can't
No dirty south love I see guess not meant to be


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Cast members from "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" have been savvy about parlaying their notoriety into business opportunities. Kandi Burruss is also a boutique owner, after all, and Kim Zolciak has that "Tardy" song.
But who says the guys can't get in on the action? Not Ed Hartwell.
We're told the former NFL player and husband of Lisa Wu Hartwell plans a stage debut next month. He will star in the live performance of "False Profits! God Don't Like Ugly Saturday," billed as both play and "old school concert." The show is at 6:30 p.m. May 8 at the Rialto Theater downtown.
A press release helpfully pointed out that the word "prophets" is rendered "profits," the homonym serving to note the "controversial topic of pastors who use their church for their own personal monetary gain."
Ed Hartwell said in a statement about the show, "I am excited about this performance and it is about time someone spoke out about this very serious issue in the


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By Exercise physiologist and Certified Wellness Coach Michael Scholtz, MA
Being a parent while still focusing on your own health and happiness can sometimes be a tough task. Worrying about your child's diet, exercise and fitness along with your own can sometimes seem like a job that only a super hero can tackle. But there are ways to help parents seem like "Super Moms" and "Super Dads" by finding balance in their own lives.
This summer in a theatre near you, Gru, the lovable ex-villain in Despicable Me 2 faces a mighty dilemma when he is recruited by the Anti-Villain League's Lucy Wilde to fight crime on a global scale. He is enjoying his new life raising three adopted daughters and suddenly he must balance the responsibility of saving the world with the demands of being a dad. Sound familiar?
Perhaps being charged with saving the world is not commonplace, but most parents recognize the challenge of balancing job and family responsibilities. When you add losing weight and taking care of your health into the equation, it's a formula for feeling overwhelmed by what you "should" be doing and feeling guilty for all that you don't achieve.
Here are 3 things you can do to help maintain your balance, and your sanity, as you juggle work, family and health.
Put yourself first. Yes, it sounds selfish. But, if a super hero is weakened she can't help others. To maintain your super powers you have to prioritize your own sleep, healthy eating and stress reducing exercise sessions. Perhaps a better way to frame this recommendation is "put yourself first for 15 minutes each day".
What could you do in 15 minutes per day that would have the greatest impact on your health? Eat a healthy meal vs. grab fast food? Go for a walk? Meditate? None of these things is earth shattering all by itself, but taking that 15 minutes on most days of the week can help restore your power to full force!
Second, include your family in your healthy choices. Go for a walk with your spouse. Forget about getting a "workout" and just take the time to connect. Play an outdoor game like Frisbee or go to a park as a family. Ask for your kids help in the kitchen. Chopping and peeling and mixing gives all of you a sense of creating something together. And, showing them where healthy food comes from and how to prepare it is invaluable.
Lastly, focus on what is happening in the moment. In our fast-paced world full of options for staying connected, getting information and being entertained, it's easy to get distracted. You sit down to eat and end up checking email. Your kids want to go outside but you're busy on social media. You plan to go exercise right after work, but get distracted by the 24-hour news show on television.
Laser focus is crucial to any hero. And, "tuning in" can help you enjoy the things that matter most. If you know that sitting down in front of your computer will cost you fifteen precious minutes and prevent you from being mindful of what you're eating, be sure to eat where you can't see the screen. Set aside a finite time for using social media in order to clear out time for interacting with your family. If it's time to exercise, don't stop to "check in" on what's on TV. The news can wait.
There you have it. Three keys to maintaining super hero status; take time to rejuvenate your powers, be sure to include your sidekicks in the fun, and maintain your laser focus. Go out and be super!
Michael Scholtz, MA, is an exercise physiologist and certified Wellness Coach, and one of the experts you have access to in The Biggest Loser At Home Program. The Biggest Loser At Home Program gives you online access to The Biggest Loser diet and fitness program designed by our health and wellness experts and personalized to fit your goals and lifestyle. The Biggest Loser At Home Program gives you all the tools, expert help and community support you need to succeed. Click here to sign up. Start your own weight loss journey today!


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Found April 01, 2013 on Project Spurs:
TEAMS: San Antonio Spurs
While all the attention may be on the San Antonio Spurs and their march towards a fifth NBA title, let's take time to give some recognition to their D-League affiliate Austin Toros. To honor the Toros for winning the 2011-2012 NBA D-League championship, the team was given a Proclamation from the State of Texas which recognizes the Toros as 2011-12 NBA Development League Champions. The Toros defeated the Los Angeles D-Fenders in last season's D-League finals 3-2. Check out video of the Toros being honored and who knows, with the Toros are currently slotted as the fifth seed in the D-League playoffs, perhaps both the Spurs and Toros can bring another title to the Lone Star state this season.
Original Story: http://www.projectspurs.com/2012-arti...
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I would say maybe. I do like the black/white sort of contrasty color scheme but not really the post work finish - a little gritty feel not smooth enough for me. The model is hot though and the lingerie looks great on her and pose is decent- however placement of arm closest to viewer is just there. I like the model's wavy hair though and she has lovely features but expression is too blank.
I would say probably. I like the pose of the model and her overall look- lovely how her hair is framing her face and the expression is decent and quite expressive. The accessories add a bit of her personality but the black background is a bit stark.
Maybe. I like the outfit on the model and she's got a good pose going. The makeup is good as is the hair style but facial skin looks too perfect - over photo shopped. The background I don't really like though- Dirty wall. And model's expression isn't fully there.
Sorry, I don't love this one... It's a bit hard to make out the details of it. I like the black and white tones and that dress looks great on you- The posing is decent especially since you're in motion. But your expression looks too surprised and the dark shadows on your face and on the side are not good. But I would probably still work with you- Can still tell that you have a long, lean figure and lovely features.
Still love:
Thank you (probably).
No. I don't really like the angle and the crop at the top is a bit too tight. The blurriness of the bottom half of the photo is a bit much- distracting. Model looks decent- nice black shirt and a sort of mischievous smile.
I like:
Maybe. I do like the image but I think the skin tones and color scheme is a bit too bright and makes it look a little unnatural. Plus the skin tone color does not go with the model's orange makeup and accessories.
Yes. Nice lighting and color scheme. The model looks very sexy - love that pose she has going on and the high heels look great on her, as does the license plate on her butt.. I like her slightly crimped blond hair and she has a lovely smile. Nice background too!
http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/26794065 18+
Looks like you removed your profile?
Maybe. It's just not really my style- the black/white is quite stark and quality of image is grainy and there's a little bit too much shadow. I can't really make out your face too well but I do like the way your hair frames your face and you seem to bring emotion to the table so that's good. The posing is pretty good- lovely bare back.
Maybe. I like the background and star/light in the background and the model's styling is cool.. Really like the outfit, colorful makeup and hair as well as the black gloves. But don't like where it's cropped on top- where you have cut off the top of the unicorn horn and the model's eyes/eye color looks unnatural, expression is quite blank and skin has a grainy quality that I dislike.
No the image is clearly a self pic- it is bad quality, blurry, too close up, and badly cropped. It looks like you have nice blond hair and blue eyes but the expression is very blank.
Maybe. The image is a little dark, a bit blurred especially the background and model's skirt- would like it to be in focus more. I do like the outfit on the model and her outfit, as well as pose. Expression is really blank/bored though. But pretty makeup/features.
No problem. Keep it up!
Probably not. The pic quality is just okay- Your face/hair part is a bit blurred. The angle is also not the best -- makes you look short (even if you are, you don't want to appear that way) and looks like you have no torso. It also makes your body appear much larger than your hand on the couch. Also your expression looks blank/bored. I do like the shoes you have on though.
I would say yes. I like your look- Pretty dark hair with light colored eyes and lovely features. Lighting and background is nice. But your expression is kind of blank and boring- straight on. PS You're really gorgeous... Now work with better photographers and come up with better concepts!
Yes. Even though the lighting and color scheme is not the best quality, that is not your fault. Your makeup artistry is plain to see- I really like the black liner cat eye effect and silvery smoky eye shadow. Nice nude lips as well. The updo is also lovely and goes well with the makeup.
Yes! Your avatar image looks flawless - I really like the close up/smoothness and the color tones are great. Makeup looks lovely on the model and I love how everything is so clear- Nice lighting as well.
Yes. I really like the lighting and color scheme and the model looks great- I love her red hair and the black dress looks good on her. Pose could be better- more graceful and expression is quite blank.
Yes. I really like your look- especially love your wavy tresses - nice color as well. Makeup looks good on you but the expression is a little blank- Would be better if we could see your eyes more. Also the white shirt is really big on you so we can't really see your figure. Overall nice image though and I really like the location/background.
Thank you for your honesty.
Yes. I like the light color tones and the clarity/smoothness of the image. The furry white surrounding the model looks great against her pale skin and the light blond hair with blue-ish eyes go together well. Great capture of features and nice expression as well.
Thanks for the critique! I definitely got some work to do.
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Apparently the Denver Nuggets did not learn much from their battle against the Grizzlies. Despite cruising to a relatively easy 116-105 win against the Washington Wizards the Nuggets played incredibly soft defense in the first quarter and allowed the Wizards to get off to a very good start.
Antawn Jamison shredded Kenyon Martin with his typical variety of offensive talents. From awkward push shots to long range bombs Kenyon had no shot at slowing down Jamison. The sad thing was at least he was trying to defend Jamison because neither he nor any of the other Nuggets seemed interested in playing any team defense.
Kenyon may have had a difficult time with Jamison and I do not think anyone will think any less of him because of it, but Nene was the real problem on defense. With 7:57 left in the first quarter Kenyon faded back into the lane as James dribbled away from a screen set by Jamison. James passed it back to the wide open Jamison, but J.R. Smith rotated very crisply and Jamison passed to Dominic McGuire, who J.R. left to cover Jamison. Kenyon was still in the lane and Nene was covering Darius Songaila in the corner. Kenyon started drifting towards the corner expecting Nene to rotate up to McGuire. Nene never budged and then Kenyon just decided that if Nene was not going to cover McGuire neither was he and he just hung back in the lane. McGuire drove into the lane and hit a runner over Kenyon all made possible by Nene's decision to impersonate a statue.
To make things worse the Nuggets were switching a lot of screens. Nene allowed a layup by Jamison on a pick and roll when he started to switch with J.R. and ran towards the weak side with McGuire even though J.R. was right there. Songailia then set a screen for Jamison and Nene was nowhere to be found.
Kenyon was called for his second foul at 3:05 of the first quarter on a sequence where James cut through to the right corner and Jamison cut up to the right wing. Instead of sticking with their men Chauncey and Kenyon switched. Jamison cut to the rim and Chauncey was not big enough to defend him. Kenyon was having to play further from the lane than normal due to James' ability to hit the three. When Jamison received the pass Chauncey could not stop him and Kenyon was too far out to help at the rim.
J.R. Smith was the real story of the night though. His play on offense was nothing short of exceptional. He posted his second career 40 point game and what was most impressive about it was it was not due to a barrage of threes. He only scored nine of his 40 points on threes. His career high 43 points were generated largely by his 8-15 performance from behind the arc. We should have known J.R. was in for a big night when he scored the first bucket of the game from the post. I think it was the first time in his career that Smith scored from the block. He caught the ball, spun baseline on the bigger McGuire and laid the ball in on the far side of the rim.
J.R. was in the lane all night long. He scored 22 points in the paint on a variety of drives, dunks and short jumpers. He even dropped in a running hook. His defense has been better ever since the last Laker game where he took the challenge of guarding Kobe Bryant. Offensively he has taken his game to another level since being named a starter.
If there is something that can push the Nuggets to a higher level down the stretch and in the playoffs it would be J.R. taking another step forward on offense.
While the Nuggets did capitalize on the recent five game stretch against inferior opposition to get back into first place in the Northwest Division and back to 20 games over .500 they only played two quarters of exceptional defense, the first quarter against the Nets and the fourth against the Grizzlies. They now embark on a crucial three game road trip that takes them to Phoenix, New Orleans and Dallas. They may have a five game winning streak, but they will need to raise their level of play on defense in order to earn success in any of those three games.
Additional Game 70 Nuggets
Mindboggling Game Stats
Pace Factor: 101.0 – Highest pace factor since game 45 at Memphis (101.6). The 42 combined turnovers played a factor in that as did the fact the Nuggets really ran the floor well in the last three quarters.
Defensive Efficiency: 104.0 – Solid, but not great. They did force 23 turnovers. Denver had not forced more than 16 turnovers in a single game since the game in Orlando immediately preceding the All-Star break.
Offensive Efficiency: 114.9 – Chauncey was pretty bad and 19 turnovers did not help, but the Nuggets did shoot 53.0%.
Featured Blog: Bullets Forever
The Washington Wizards return to the Pepsi Center missing four players who would be starters under normal circumstances. Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood are all out and Caron Bulter is unlikely to play due to an inflamed hamstring.
The last time the Wizards were on the court was in Los Angeles and the Wiz watched helplessly as a 95-95 fourth quarter tie rapidly morphed into a 123-108 loss. The kicker is they did not sacrifice the game at the altar of the Lakers. It was against the Clippers that they gave up the game deciding 28-13 run. It was so bad that a perpetually disinterested Baron Davis collected 20 assists.
It all adds up to what should be the easiest win of the group of weaker squads who have been lined up in the Nuggets path during their four game winning streak. The only question is will the Nuggets jump out to an early lead, give it back and then roll late in the game (a la the Clippers, Thunder and Nets games) or will they fall behind and be forced to storm back (thank you once again Memphis)?
The Wizards are not devoid of talent. Antawn Jamison is a true professional giving it his all night after night when most veterans would be mailing it in. I still hold out hope that Andray Blatche will turn into a more dominant Lamar Odom and Dominic McGuire does a great job of corralling rebounds and handing out assists while possessing a complete lack of ability to score. Plus JaVale McGee is a good energy player with some nice potential. (I also still think Javaris Crittenton could turn into a nice player, but good luck getting me to admit it in public. Ah, dang it.)
From the Nuggets perspective, look for Carmelo Anthony to be licking his chops at another shot at the Wizards. The last time Washington was in town Melo hung 49 on the Wizards and by the end of the game Antawn Jamison was on one side and another Wizard player (Andray Blatche? I do not remember who it was) was on the other and they basically bear hugged him in order to prevent him from getting another shot off and potentially scoring 50.
The Wizards also have no one capable of hanging with Nene in the paint or with J.R. on the perimeter. Heck, the Wiz even gave up Dahntay Jones' season high of 18 points just a few weeks ago.
Look for Kenyon Martin to play once again and to probably test his back again in the second half.
In more disturbing news Stumbleweed pointed out that George Karl has said that Linas Kleiza deserves more minutes. Kleia has had roughly 65 games to get out of his months long slump. If we lose Renaldo Balkman to Karl wanting to give Kleiza an even greater opportunity than he already has I may have to quit blogging. I realize Kleiza has been a good weapon off the bench in the past, but the team is bigger than Kleiza's search for his wayward shot. Anyway you look at it empirically or statistically Balkman is the superior player. I would go on, but I do not want to get too bent out of shape over something that has not even happened yet.
The only thing that concerns me (other than Kleiza supplanting Balkman in the rotation) is the potential for the Nuggets to be looking forward to the huge three game roadie coming up following tonight's game. The chance that they might overlook Washington is there although the dog fight they experienced in Memphis should help remind them of the importance of focusing on every opponent from here on out.
Previous Matchup: Game 50 – Den 124 Was 103
Featured Blog: Bullets Forever
I know you all have been waiting with baited breath to see the green jerseys the Nuggets will be wearing on April 2nd and 4th to promote NBA Green Week.
Photo courtesy of the Denver Nuggets
I have to say as far as green Nuggets jerseys go, this one is pretty cool. I like the fact they kept the yellow accents and did not go with a lighter green. Now if we can just get the black rainbow jersey in the rotation I will be happy.
Photographed by: Rick Stewart/Getty Images
What do you guys think?
I mentioned in my game recap of the Denver Nuggets 121-96 victory over the New Jersey Nets that Denver played very strong pick and roll defense. I purposely left the details out because I was planning on putting together some video evidence so here you go. Take note of how the Nuggets defended as a group and every movement was done deliberately with a purpose behind it.
The frustrating thing is watching them defend the pick and roll correctly it really is not that difficult. No one is doing anything superhuman or spectacular. To be fair, defending the pick and roll against Keyon Dooling is slightly easier than when Devin Harris has the ball, but the same principles apply no matter who is dribbling the ball.
Is the back back to normal for Kenyon Martin?
According to Chris Tomasson of InDenverTimes.com Kenyon Martin is hoping to return to his regular minutes as soon as tomorrow against the Washington Wizards. When asked how much he would play Kenyon responded, "Probably regular minutes. I think so." The reason Kenyon thinks he is ready to expand his role once again is based on how well his back responded to playing the final 33.2 seconds against the Grizzlies last night.
George Karl might not be quite so quick to push Kenyon back into his regular court time saying, "I'm not going to go from playing him one game 15 minutes and one game (24) minutes to all of a sudden playing him 35 minutes. I'm going to feel out the situation.''
I agree with Karl. Kenyon's health is too important to suddenly decide that he is fine and jump back into his old routine just because his back responded well to a 30 second cameo. Especially in a game against the Wizards when the Nuggets should be able to earn a relatively easy win with Kenyon resting comfortably on the courtside padded chairs.
Doug Moe spreading his Doug Moe-ness
Did you know that the NBA celebrated Heritage Week a couple of weeks ago? Me neither. Anyway as part of the festivities Doug Moe was interviewed on NBA TV by Andre Aldridge and Eric Snow. Moe discusses his early coaching days with Larry Brown, if the old timers really were more fundamental and of course, if you can win a title with a running team.
Check out the full interview by clicking here.
Quote dump
Benjamin Hochman shared some quotes he has collected from George Karl on some timely topics, although they may not be so timely a day later. Nothing too earth shattering, but Karl does hit on a "cockiness" that may have lead to the Nuggets recent road failures and wonders if some players try too hard to draw a foul instead of make a shot from time to time.
Going Green
The Nuggets are going to break out some green uniforms as part of the inaugural NBA Green Week. They will wear the green duds against the Utah Jazz on April 2nd and against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 4th. The uniforms will be unveiled this evening (March 19th) by George Karl when he represents Kronke Sports Enterprises and their Play Clean: Eco Friendly Entertainment initiative at the Sustainable Opportunity Summit being held at the Colorado Convention Center.
I will pass on a picture of the green unis when I see one. All I know is it ain't easy being green (warning graphic muppet content). I am glad the Nuggets are not playing the Celtics because it was weird seeing the Chicago Bulls wear green in their game against the Celtics on St. Patty's Day.
They do not really actually train anyone though, do they?
The Nuggets announced the 2009 winners of their Excellence in Athletic Training in Colorado High Schools program. Nuggets head trainer Jim Gillen, who began his career as a high school trainer, presented the awards to winning schools Cheyenne Mountain High School trainer Shaun Carmody and Alameda High School head trainer Dominic DiManna on March 14th when the Nuggets beat the Clippers. Both schools receive $2,000 to support their training programs. There were also two runners up, Chaparral High School and Ignacio High School, who each received $500.
Ignacio recently knocked Heritage Christian High School out of the state basketball tournament the game after Heritage ended my son's high school basketball career so I am not sure if I should like them or not.
The Denver Nuggets 111-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies was a perfect example of the difference between playing hard and playing with focus. From the opening tip the Nuggets played hard. They understood the importance of this game and they wanted to win. But their hard work returned poor results because their lack of focus created easy scoring opportunities for the Grizzlies.
Denver snuck to within two points early in the third quarter at 59-57, but then the Grizzlies exploded on a 20-5 run. The Nuggets were not physically sloughing off, they simply made silly mental errors that allowed the Grizzlies to bag some easy points.
It all started after a nice defensive sequence by Carmelo Anthony who ran Rudy Gay off the three point line shut down a drive attempt and then when Gay went to the basket a second time Melo directed him baseline right into Nene resulting in the ball going out of bounds. On the inbounds play O.J. Mayo passed the ball into Marc Gasol and then cut past Gasol to the baseline and took a handoff. Dahntay Jones had been playing Mayo to come to the middle of the floor and was way out of position. Nene stepped out on Mayo after the handoff and Mayo threw him a shot fake. Nene left his feet and for some reason Jones, who was trying to get back into the play took a running leap from ten feet away, which even had Mayo shot would have been a completely ineffective challenge. With Nene and Jones in the air Mayo drive right to the rim and laid in an easy finger roll.
There was a play where Melo had to tie his shoe and he was late coming down the floor. As a result of Melo getting into the play late Chauncey only had one option to trigger the offense and that was Kenyon on the left wing. (Of course, Chauncey could have waited a couple more seconds to let Melo get back into the play or he could have penetrated or even shot, but he did not.) Darrell Arthur realized Chauncey wanted to pass the ball to Kenyon and he overplayed him. Despite telegraphing the pas and seeing Arthur all over Kenyon Chauncey passed the ball anyway. Of course Arthur stole the pass and took it the other way for a pretty sweet slam.
After Melo missed a layup the Grizzlies went the other way on a quasi fat break. Despite having four players back no one noticed Arthur running right down the middle of the floor. Nene stayed at the three point line to help guard Mike Conley even though J.R. was right there too. Chauncey was in the lane, but had his back to the ball looking at Mayo who was on the right wing outside the three point line. Kenyon was under the basket watching Rudy Gay, but he also had his back to the play. Arthur netted another dunk and the Grizzlies were up twelve 73-61.
During another Memphis possession Mayo took a shot from the top of the circle and J.R. ran out. Gasol collected the long rebound and Mayo cut from where he shot to the left wing. As J.R. came back in the play he just ran to the middle of the lane instead of running to Mayo and once Mayo received the pass from Gasol no one rotated over to him.
The run was capped off by a Gay three point play where he received the ball on the left baseline with Melo on him. Kenyon came over and doubled him. With the double team Melo had the responsibility to close off the baseline and Kenyon was to cut off a move to the middle. Even with his defensive responsibilities but in half (not having to worry about Gay driving right to the middle of the floor, Carmelo barely moved as Gay blew right past him along the baseline. Nene was in position to help, but reached instead of stepping in and Gay made a spectacular layup on the far side of the hoop and cashed in the free throw.
The Nuggets were playing hard, but they were playing with no focus or attention to detail. Because of that they saw a two point deficit balloon up to 17 in barely more than five minutes.
Even down 17 in the third the Nuggets managed to come back, but doing so not only required an increase in physical effort, but mental effort as well. In the fourth quarter the Nuggets played as hard as they have all season.
Denver was behind 100-88 with eight minutes left. Their comeback was triggered by an aggressive play trap a pick and roll by Renaldo Balkman who tipped the ball away from Conley and forced it out of bounds off of him.
To me the key play was all about hustle though. Melo tried passing the ball up the floor and his pass was tipped by Gay. J.R. ran the ball down just before it went out of bounds along the right sideline and passed it to Balkman on the block who immediately kicked it out to Melo for a three. The lead was down to eight at 100-92 and the Nuggets energy and focus was increasing on defense with every possession.
J.R. was hounding Mayo everywhere he went and on an ensuing possession after J.R. chased Mayo from one side of the floor to the other Mayo came off a screen and Chauncey pinched over from the top of the circle and forced a turnover.
Next J.R. picked Conley up full court trying to pressure him into a mistake. Conley ran off a Gasol screen where Nene hedged and forced him towards the sideline. J.R. was a little slow recovering, but after chasing Conley into the lane he followed the pass to Arthur and blocked his shot from behind.
After a couple of baskets by the Grizzlies Nene and Balkman doubled Gasol as he spun on the block and got too deep under the rim resulting in a turnover and what followed was the "May the force be with you" moment of the game. with the Nuggets down three, 104-101, Balkman received a nice pass from Nene, had his shot blocked, and then missed the wide open follow up layup. He managed to get the rebound again and Kicked the ball out to Chauncey in the left corner. Billups faked a pass up the sideline to J.R. and that fake drew Mayo out away from the middle of the floor which opened up the weak side wing for Melo. Chauncey skipped the ball across to Melo who drained a wide open game tying three.
The final huge stop of the game came with the Nuggets up one and 33.2 seconds left in the game. Memphis isolated Mayo in the middle of the floor near half court. Gasol came out to set a screen to Mayo's right. Mayo never went anywhere near the screen allowing Nene and Anthony Carter to play a soft double. Gasol then reset the screen and Mayo tried going right off of it. Carter did a great job of crowding Mayo without fouling to avoid the pick. Mayo was never able to break free and never looked to pass even though he was in a pack of Nuggets. Kenyon, who was inserted back into the lineup for that final stand blocked his shot. Melo made two free throws for the final margin.
Not only did the Nuggets play aggressive physical defense in the fourth quarter, but they also hit their shots. From the time they were down 17 Denver hit seven threes in 13 attempts. It is amazing what making shots can do for a team, just ask Sacramento.
I thought Memphis played well and they forced the Nuggets to earn the victory. While being happy with the result it is once again a little frustrating that Denver could not put together a complete game. Even with their amped up defense if they miss a couple of threes they lose that game. Many of you seem to think that the Nuggets will blow through Phoenix and Dallas on the upcoming road trip, but if the Nuggets play like they did tonight they probably lose both of those games.
Additional Game 69 Nuggets
Mindboggling Game Stats
Pace Factor: 94.2 – Pretty brisk for a road game.
Defensive Efficiency: 115.7 – Memphis shot 47.7% and only turned the ball over 10 times.
Offensive Efficiency: 117.8 – Very good considering Denver turned it over 19 times.
Featured Blog: 3 Shades of Blue
The Denver Nuggets have righted the ship at home, but their last road game was the debacle in Sacramento and they still have a five game road losing streak to teams with records under .500 (Sacramento, Indiana, Milwaukee, Chicago and New Jersey).
They had better turn that around tonight in Memphis. Look for Kenyon to play in the first half only again while Renaldo Balkman is questionable.
Previous Matchups: Game 6 – Den 100 Mem 90 | Game 45 – Den 100 Mem 85
Featured Blog: 3 Shades of Blue
With the demise of the Rocky Mountain News we have missed the tremendous coverage of the Denver Nuggets provided by Chris Tomasson and Aaron Lopez. Well, good news Nuggets fans, they are back thanks to InDenverTimes.com.
I was lucky enough to speak with Chris on a couple of occasions since the announcement that the Rocky was folding and he was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about InDenverTimes.com and how he will continue to cover the Nuggets.
Roundball Mining Company: What is InDenverTimes.com? What is your vision for it? At the press conference announcing the launching of InDenverTimes.com Brad Gray mentioned that 70% of a newspaper's budget is allocated to the physical production of the paper. Are online subscription based websites the future of journalism?
Chris Tomasson: The thinking is that newspapers, in their current model, are broken. With advertising declining, it costs so much to print and distribute a paper that newspapers now are laying reporters and editors off in masses. So they're further weakening their product just to try to live another day. The thinking is that, with InDenverTimes.com, being an online publication, the bulk of the money will be spent on what's most important: Having a staff of top-notch journalists delivering what people in Denver want to read. We hope we're the future of journalism, although that future in journalism is already prevalent with sports sites such as ESPN.com. Nobody says, "Where's my paper version of ESPN.com?" That's because it never existed. People know they need to go online. As more and more people move away from the paper model of a newspaper, I wouldn't be surprised if more sites like ours are cropping up in cities around the globe.
RMC: The viability of the site has been tied to acquiring at least 50,000 subscribers by April 23, 2009. Will some content be free or will all content be available by subscription only? If the goal of 50,000 subscriptions is not achieved will the venture be restructured or will it be left for dead?
CT: The news on the site will be free. But a subscription will get a reader access to columns, analysis, chats and all sorts of other extra features. We're fully confident we will get the 50,000 necessary by April 23. If, for some reason, that does not happen, our financial backers would look at all options and any decisions would be up to them.
RMC: How will your ability to cover the Nuggets be different from when you wrote for the Rocky Mountain News? Is there a budget for you to travel with the team?
CT: I like to to think that, not only would I pick up right where I left off, there would be more coverage. With the newspaper, we were limited by space, especially in recent years, with the paper getting smaller due to the economic times. But there is an unlimited amount of space on the Internet. As far as travel, when InDenver Times hopefully starts May 4, this Nuggets season will be winding down, if not over. We would then have ample time to evaluate how best to cover the Nuggets in 2009-10.
RMC: Is the editorial hierarchy of InDenverTimes.com organized in the same way as a newspaper? Will you have more latitude to write columns/opinion pieces in addition to news articles?
CT: It will be similar. We will have editors and reporters organized much like they are at newspapers. As for the writers, a key word is analysis. My editors believe I know the doings of the Nuggets as well as anybody, so I'm sure they would trust my analysis on the team. I will be around the team regularly, and will look to present all sides of the story.
RMC: Will you be covering other sports or news apart from the Nuggets?
CT: While I'm not expecting to be sent to city hall for a story, I'm sure I will be helping out in other sports areas, which I don't mind in the least. I've got plenty of experience covering all kinds of sports. I've even covered two Mr. Olympias, where I was the skinniest guy there, including the women.
RMC: In your opinion will the Nuggets get past the first round of the playoffs this time around?
CT: I sure wouldn't mind if they do. InDenver Times is expected to launch May 4. On that day, it's very possible the first big headline could be, "Nuggets finally win a first-round series." Most first-round series end around that time. Those at InDenver Times certainly wouldn't complain if we had a Nuggets second-round series to cover. As for my basketball opinion, I think they finally can win a first-round series. With their schedule easy down the stretch, the Nuggets look to be in great shape to win the Northwest Division and get a high playoff seed. And, while the West has depth this season, the only team that scares anybody a lot is the Lakers. And don't count on Denver being the No. 8 seed and having to open against the No. 1 Lakers (good luck with that matchup, Mark Cuban). But it's important to note that, even if the Nuggets win the Northwest Division, that's no guarantee of homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Nuggets need to win the division and make sure San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans don't all have better records. If that happened, the Nuggets would have to open the playoffs on the road.
Chris's first article is up on the site and I encourage everyone who has any attachment to the Denver area to head over to InDenverTimes.com and check out what they are doing. I am not sure if this is the future of newspapers, but it is a very interesting endeavor. Good luck to everyone involved and thanks to Chris for all his hard work in covering the Nuggets and whatever other types of sporting events may come his way.
Below is the promotional video explaining more about InDenverTimes.com.
I finally saw some of what I have been looking for from the Denver Nuggets during their 121-96 victory over the New Jersey Nets. It did not last for long, primarily only in the first quarter, which kind of made it not quite as cool, but it did happen.
The Nuggets played incredible pick and roll defense.
I have been hoping for more than easy victories over these five games leading up to their three game road trip. The wins are nice, but in games such as these I am looking for signs of improvement, not just a team who is out talent-ing their opponents. For a few minutes in the first quarter the Nuggets played very good team defense and showed great collective awareness on the pick and roll and that made me happy.
Of course, it did not last. There were spurts of good defense here and there, but nothing like they played in the first quarter. However, instead of getting upset about the relatively porous defense the Nuggets played for most of the night, I am going to focus on the good. After all, there has to be some good to come out of a 25 point win.
From time to time the Nuggets also applied very good ball pressure in the third quarter. The best example came with 9:27 left in the third. Brook Lopez caught an inbounds pass in the left corner. Nene was all over him. Lopez dribbled out to the three point line and picked up his dribble while Nene continued to hound him. While Nene was pressing Lopez, Dahntay Jones was all over Vince Carter who was trying to cut to the ball. Nene and Jones worked to knock the ball loose and the result was a break away dunk for Jones.
All was not well for the Nuggets defense though as they once again failed to close off the three point line. The Nets were 9-21 towards the end of the third quarter before finishing the game 1-5.
With all the talk of defense you never would have guessed that the Nuggets posted a season high offensive efficiency of 139.7. They only shot 45.5%, which is not bad, but they pulled down a whopping 25 offensive rebounds. The Nets only had 31 total rebounds. The offensive rebounding has been a trend over the three game winning streak as the Nuggets have posted three of their top eight offensive rebounding rates over the last three games. Against the Nets they earned a nearly unheard of offensive rebound rate of 50.0%. Chris Andersen lead the way with eight offensive rebounds in only 19 minutes making up for the fact he only nabbed one defensive rebound. Renaldo Balkman snared six of his own offensive boards.
The Nuggets also continued their running ways racking up 24 more fast break points.
The other big stories surrounding this game were the return of Kenyon Martin and the departure of Renaldo Balkman. Kenyon returned to the starting lineup, but only played in the first half to avoid restraining his back after the half time break.
Balkman, who had another amazing performance, gave Nuggets fans all over a scare when he strained his left groin muscle in the third quarter, but claims he will be ready to play tonight against Memphis.
I will say that I was disappointed that the Nets were hanging so close late into the third quarter playing without Devin Harris and on the second night of back to back games. After the Nuggets jumped on them in the first quarter New Jersey fought back, thanks to some impressive shooting by Vince Carter, and were only down six at the half. However, I set the bar at not allowing the Nets to get within ten points in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets succeeded in accomplishing that.
Next comes a road game against a feisty Grizzly squad. The Nuggets definitely look better now that they have had some days off. Conversely the Jazz, who beat the Wizards by 15 at home tonight, had to deal with a tough east coast roadie that handed them a three game losing streak. Denver is back in first place in the Northwest Division and fourth in the west, but both races are incredibly tight as the Nuggets are one of four teams with 25 losses, Utah has 26 and Dallas 27.
Additional Game 68 Nuggets
Mindboggling Game Stats
Pace Factor: 86.6 – Second slowest home game of the season thanks to all the offensive rebounds.
Defensive Efficiency: 110.8 – Not very impressive as a whole, but apart from their poor three point field goal defense it was a solid effort.
Offensive Efficiency: 139.7 – As previously mentioned, that is a season high thanks to all the second chance points.
Featured Blog: Nets Daily
The resurgence of the Denver Nuggets continues tonight as the potentially short handed, and certainly short spirited if that is a phrase, New Jersey Nets drag their keisters into the Pepsi Center.
After trailing the Los Angeles Clippers 101-89 last night the Nets came roaring back behind a determined Vince Carter who made some incredible shots on his way to 41 points. Carter drained a 28 foot three with 12 seconds left to put the Net up 105-102 capping a 16-1 run and Lawrence Frank chose to foul in order to prevent the Clippers from making a game tying three. Baron Davis made both free throws and then Jarvis Hays missed two free throws giving the Clippers the ball down one with five seconds left. Typically Mike Dunleavy draws up some inane overly complex set that takes longer to develop than there is time on the clock which results in a horrible shot. Last night it was easy. Eric Gordon drove the lane, kicked out to Baron Davis who whipped a pass to the wide open Steven Novak who splashed his seventh three of the night at the buzzer.
Even worse than losing the game the Nets may have lost Devin Harris to a sprained shoulder and he is unlikely to play against Denver. Even though the Nets are fighting for the final playoff spot I cannot see a scenario where they can compete with the Nuggets.
Another factor in Denver's favor is the fact that their previous meeting this season was somewhat memorable. You may recall that the Nets squeezed out a win by 44 points. If the Nuggets have any pride they will deliver a beating to a Nets squad that is physically and emotionally abused.
If the Nets are within single digits at any time in the fourth quarter tonight I will be seriously disgruntled.
Denver Nuggets Game Notes (probably no Kenyon)
Previous Matchup: Game 51 – Den 70 NJN 114
Featured Blog: Nets Daily
The Denver Nuggets supplied us with another relatively easy, but uninspiring win. Denver cashed in on runs in the first and third quarter to cruise to a 107-94 win over the slumping Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nuggets played a very strong first ten minutes and it was good to see them jump on the Clippers early. All too often Denver has allowed a lesser team to either be in the lead or remain very close at the end of the first quarter. The result has been that the opponent develops a sense of hope and the game ends up being much tighter than it had to be.
Even so after building a 13 point lead at 24-11 the Nuggets failed to score over the final 1:29 of the quarter while the Clippers tacked on a couple of Steve Novak threes in transition to drop the lead down to seven. In the second quarter the Nuggets built their lead back up to double digits, but the Clippers were able to get to within three and were only down by six at the break. The Clippers were able to come back because the Nuggets turned the ball over and LA hit a couple of jumpers. Therein lies the problem with being happy to have a ten or eleven or twelve point lead. They can disappear very quickly.
Despite the Clippers' second quarter spurt the outcome of the game was never truly in doubt. Denver jumped on them again to start the third quarter scoring the first eight points and the competitive portion of the game was over. Although both teams were resigned to the outcome of the game in the third quarter, the Nuggets never did land a knockout blow where the lead was pushed up over 20 points and stayed there. Denver had their biggest lead of 79-59 with 3:36 left in the third quarter. In less than three minutes the Clippers had it down to 11. I do not know where this sense of contentment comes from, but it definitely is not a good thing.
The Nuggets defense was not seriously taxed by the Clippers. Baron Davis was not overly aggressive and Eric Gordon seemed relatively passive himself. Even so the Nuggets once again struggled to cover the three point line. The Clippers shot 9-17 from behind the arc and 12 of those 17 attempts were uncontested. They came via a variety of defensive breakdowns. Two of the open threes came on passes out of the post, two came on drive and kicks, two were in transition, and the other open looks were results of a simple pin down screen, miscommunication, a loose ball situation and off a pick and roll.
Offensively, the Nuggets played with good movement and there were no prolonged stretches where they were settling for jumpers. They took advantage of their opportunities to run accruing 27 fast break points. The biggest difference I have seen in the running game is the outlet passing. Guards are setting up closer to half court and the bigs are hitting them quickly and accurately. The running game has also been augmented by having Renaldo Balkman in the lineup. He fills the lane as well as anyone and you regularly see him flying up the sideline passing player after player like he is trying to get to the bank before they close to cash his paycheck.
Balkman had another spectacular game scoring a career high 20 points and collecting ten rebounds. I love watching the way he gets his points. Out of his 14 shots only one was a jumper and only once did he create his own shot. He is a force on the offensive glass and, as mentioned many times before, he finds cracks in the defense around the rim resulting in easy hoops.
It is good to see the Nuggets get well during this portion of the schedule although they have not faced a team who has fought them like the Kings did, but I am not sure they will.
Additional Game 67 Nuggets
Mindboggling Game Stats
Pace Factor: 98.9 – Fast pace as you would expect from a game with 42 fast break points.
Defensive Efficiency: 95.0 – Denver held the Clippers to 39.0% shooting and did not give them many second chances allowing only five offensive rebounds.
Offensive Efficiency: 108.1 – Pretty good considering they turned the ball over on almost 25% of their possessions. You can thank the 41 free throw attempts here.
Featured Blogs: ClipperBlog | Clips Nation
Denver faces another must win game against a team with a losing record. The Los Angeles Clippers are basically healthy for practically the first time all season. However, scoring machine Zach Randolph will miss the game tonight while he is attending his funeral of his father back in Indiana.
The Nuggets have traditionally had a hard time handling Chris Kaman. Nene is the only Nugget who has the girth to keep him from getting great post up position and off the boards. Eric Gordon is already an offensive force. I do not recommend leaving him to help, but if they have to they better rotate back quickly. Baron Davis has the talent to dominate games, but he is either to banged up or not interested enough to do so lately. The other Clipper who likes to play against the Nuggets is Al Thornton. He posted one of his three 30 point games of the season and his only double digit rebounding game against Denver in the second game of the season. The last time Thornton played in Denver he threw down a 33 and 12 on the Nuggets.
Kenyon Martin has been listed as 50/50 to play tonight, but I sure wish they would list him as 0/100 until they know his back is 100%. The silver lining is we have another game to enjoy the contributions of Renaldo Balkman.
The biggest plotline though is Marcus Camby's return to Denver. To his credit he has continued his charitable work here. As far as his play on the court he is still putting up similar numbers to what he earned as a Nugget. In the handful of Clipper games I have watched this season where Camby has played he seems to be working harder on defending the pick and roll. I have ragged on Camby's post defense for a long, long time so Nene had better take it to him in the post.
Previous Matchups: Game 2 – Den 113 LAC 103 OT | Game 15 – Den 106 LAC 105
Featured Blogs: ClipperBlog | Clips Nation
I cannot believe I did not notice this sooner, but it just donned on me that I did not remember seeing Dahntay Jones play at all against the Thunder last night. A quick glance at the box score shows that Jones had the DNP Coach's Decision.
Could it be that George Karl has decided to give Jones' minutes to Renaldo Balkman?
With Kenyon Martin out and Anthony Carter returning to the rotation we probably cannot use last night's game as a template for how minutes will be handed out for the remainder of the season. Also, Jones started the game before against the Rockets because he was a better matchup against the Rockets' pair of swingmen Ron Artest and Shane Battier.
A quick glance at the Player Efficiency Ratings shows that the Nuggets bench is full of a bunch of below average players. Professor Hollinger sets the average PER rating to 15 and Anthony Carter (10.94), Linas Kleiza (13.10) and J.R. Smith (14.64) are all below average players. Dahntay Jones' 9.07 PER is the worst out of the Nuggets' rotation players. (To be fair, PER does not rate defensive ability outside of blocks and steals and as a result it probably sells players like Jones a little short.)
Renaldo Balkman's PER is 17.55.
The question I have been asking myself lately is how much better would the Nuggets be if Balkman was getting more of Kleiza's minutes. The question I should have been asking is how much better would the Nuggets be if Balkman was getting Jones' minutes. I am not saying play Balkman 17 minutes a night at shooting guard, but if we allow Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith and Anthony Carter to play the 96 minutes available between the two guard spots, have Kleiza back up Melo for 12 to 15 minutes a night, have Chris Andersen back up Nene for 18 to 22 minutes a game and then give Balkman another 18 to 22 minutes behind Kenyon that is a pretty stout rotation. On some nights Balkman can also help fill in at shooting guard depending on matchups.
As loyal reader Nuggets4 pointed out in the comments from the game recap Karl is still making references that the reason Balkman does not play more is because of his "spotty defense" and lack of a jump shot. The only time I saw Renaldo get out of position last night was when his man made a relatively slow cut to the rim and it appeared that Renaldo decided to pass him off to the weak side low defender while he stayed at the strong side elbow so that he could run out at a potential three point shooter. The result was Balkman's man was open under the hoop and scored an easy layup, but at least there seemed to be some semblance of a team defense thought process behind his decision even if it was a bad one.
Balkman does not have a good jumper, but he knows it and rarely takes it. Kenyon Martin does not have a good jumper, but he chucks it up constantly. I love the way Balkman plays offense. He is always around the rim and has a knack for finding cracks in the opposition's interior defense. I understand why Karl wishes Balkman could shoot a midrange jumper. Good outside shooting can open up the middle. Do not discount what Balkman does do though. His ability to find open areas and score in the paint breaks the defense down from its core, which is much more devastating. Balkman's true shooting percentage (adjusting shooting percentage to include threes and free throws) is third on the Nuggets at 59.2% behind Nene's 63.9% (and falling) and Birdman's 60.6%.
I will give Dahntay Jones credit. He has never been thought of as a defensive stopper at any point in his career, but he realized that was the role he would need to play to earn minutes with the Nuggets and he has worked hard to develop that aspect of his game. While he has had some great games as a one on one defender, he is not a night in and night out defensive stalwart plus he is not a high quality team defender. However, if Balkman can get 20 plus minutes a night and Jones gets more DNP Coach's Decisions I think the Nuggets would reap some pretty good benefits.
Getting in touch with our inner stat geek
Kevin Pelton over at Basketball Prospectus has been cranking out some great stuff as of late. He came up with a formula to determine what teams are the most inconsistent as far as beating the teams they should be beating by as many points as they should beat them by. Using adjusted expected scoring differentials Denver is considered the third least consistent team in the NBA. Confused? Just read it. I promise it will help having a smart person explain it instead of having me try to do it.
Kevin has also taken a look at how a team's average age impacts their defensive abilities using the Portland Trailblazers as the inspiration.
5280 article on George Karl
I am pretty sure I am the last Nuggets related blog to post a link to this piece on Karl, but if you have not read it yet, I highly encourage you to check it out. Also head on over to Denver Stiffs as Andrew has an interview with the author Robert Sanchez.
NBA players like Chauncey
Sports Illustrated has conducted a poll with NBA players on what point guard they would pay to see. Look who shows up tied for third.
A little humor to close the day
I never saw that Tokyo Drift movie, but I probably would have if there were scenes like that in it.
It sure was nice to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game that did not require a last second shot for once. Denver was in control from start to finish, but before we get too carried away with an easy win against a less than stellar squad, let's take a look at how Denver did in the areas we highlighted earlier this afternoon.
The Nuggets definitely cranked up the running game. Led by the return of Anthony Carter and the aggressiveness of Linas Kleiza and Renaldo Balkman Denver posted 25 fast break points. That is the most they have scored in a single game since February 6 in Washington, which was 16 games ago, when they accumulated 27.
The pace factor was a relatively slow 90.7, but that is most likely due to the number of offensive rebounds, the two teams combined to nab 33 offensive boards and offensive rebounds prolong possessions. We can tell from the fast break points, and from simply watching the game itself that both teams ran early and often.
The Nuggets addressed the issue of declining assist totals by playing unselfishly and earning good shots. 18 of the Nuggets 22 first half baskets were assisted. For the game they finished with 33 assists on 42 makes and 22 of those 33 assists were on shots converted at the rim. The movement and passing, especially in the first half, was outstanding. One of my frustrations lately with Chauncey Billups was that he rarely makes imaginative passes. It has been weeks since I saw him throw a pass that took me by surprise. He even made some nice passes to the roller off the pick and roll. Tonight was as good of a passing game as Denver has put together in a long time.
The other primary pitfall on offense was the fact the Nuggets had been shooting blanks. Against the Thunder they shot 50% for the game and that was made possible by the fact they shot 64% at the rim. They also shot 50% between fifteen feet and the charge circle. As I pointed out earlier today that range is typically the least accurate of the four areas we analyzed (layups, charge circle to fifteen feet, fifteen feet to the three point line and behind the arc). The key to shooting that well was the fact that the shots they took from that range were mostly wide open looks. As we moved further away from the rim their shooting on long twos and threes was not spectacular. The Nuggets shot 35.7% on both long twos and threes, but that beat their pathetic percentages from the previous ten games.
Another positive sign was 47% of Denver's shots were layups. That is up from their season average of 44.5%. Denver was incredibly aggressive in the first half as 56.8% of their shots attempted were layups. Part of the reason for that increase I believe is the Thunder lack a shot blocking presence in the lane and the Nuggets felt comfortable attacking the rim (Tyson Chandler anyone?).
While the Nuggets made progress on offense there is less of a reason to be excited about their defense. The two areas I sited where Denver has fallen off were in committing shooting fouls and defending the three. Denver sent the Thunder to the line 32 times where they amazingly made 30 of them. Those 32 free throws were slightly higher than the Nuggets had been allowing during their 11 game slump and Oklahoma City attempted one more free throw than Denver.
The Nuggets would appear to have defended the three pretty well as Oklahoma City made only 3 of 13 attempts. A closer look reveals the Nuggets contested only four of the Thunder's 13 attempts from behind the arc. They did miss all four of those attempts and only made three of the nine open attempts, but that ratio of open shots to contested ones was not good a better shooting team will make a much higher percentage of their open threes.
As I mentioned this afternoon the real issue was with the Nuggets' poor rotations and overall team defense. The Thunder do not have any deadly three point shooters with Kevin Durant out of action and because of that when they played drive and kick the recipient of the pass either took a midrange jumper or drove. Both of those plays are easier to defend than a three point attempt because there is not as much ground to cover. The few times the Nuggets were required to rotate they did not do a particularly good job.
Overall Nuggets fans should just be happy with a win in which the Nuggets were not seriously threatened. On the other hand there were some red flags. Aside from the tendency to foul and their inability to consistently challenge Oklahoma City's three point attempts the Nuggets yet again struggled to hold the lead. Denver built up a 42-23 second quarter lead and saw the Thunder gnaw it down to five in roughly six minutes. The key was another problem we have seen in the past and that was the Nuggets inability to defend the fast break. Earl Watson continually drove through the Nuggets sluggish transition defense as he was allowed to drive as deep in the lane as he pleased. The one time Anthony Carter tried to stop him about 16 feet from the rim AC never even moved his feet and was called for a tripping foul. It was not just Carter though all of the Nuggets' guards were guilty. J.R. was the worst offender and Chauncey was only slightly better as he at least made Watson change directions before making a layup.
The Nuggets built up another 19 point lead in the fourth quarter, but once again allowed the Thunder to whittle it down to nine with over three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Their inability to put the game completely out of reach is unsettling.
The Nuggets have four more games against subpar teams to get these kinks worked out. Both the Jazz and Trail Blazers lost tonight and it is tempting to get excited about the Nuggets' prospects to win the division again. Before I anoint the Nuggets favorites again they will have to prove to me that they have addressed all of the problems we have dealt with today.
Additional Game 66 Nuggets
Mindboggling Game Stats
Pace Factor: 90.7 – Slow for a game in Denver, but understandable due to the high offensive rebound rate.
Defensive Efficiency: 109.2 – Not as strong a performance as we hoped for, but they did hold the Thunder to 40.2% shooting. However, if Durant had played this number would obviously have been much higher.
Offensive Efficiency: 123.5 – Very good offensive performance, but we already knew that.
Featured Blog: Daily Thunder
Even without Kevin Durant the Thudner are rolling. Jeff Green is back and Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic are all playing well. Even Kyle Weaver is hitting his threes.
No Kenyon tonight (as I pointed out he tweaked his back on the first play of the second half against Houston), but Anthony Carter is going to play.
Featured Blogs: Daily Thunder
Previous Matchups: Game 34 – Den 122 OKC 120 | Game 49 – Den 114 OKC 113