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Horror Movie A Day: Quint on STUDENT BODIES (1981)
First, we will remove all these ugly little frog penises.
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today's installment of A Movie A Day.
[The regular A Movie A Day list has been frozen in order for me to do an all-horror line-up for October. I've pulled many horror titles from my regular "to see" stack and have ordered many more horror and thriller titles to make sure we have some good stuff. Like the regular AMAD column all the movies I'm covering are films I have never seen, but unlike the regular AMAD column I will not connect each film to the one before it. Instead I will pull a title at random every day and watch whatever the movie Gods determine for me.]
Happy Halloween!
We cap off the 31 day run of Horror AMADs with 1981's horror movie spoof STUDENT BODIES.
Now, this movie is not a horror comedy. A horror comedy is EVIL DEAD 2 or ARMY OF DARKNESS or RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD (aka DEAD-ALIVE) or SHAUN OF THE DEAD. This is a flat out spoof, more comfortable sitting next to movies like SATURDAY THE 14TH, which came out a few months after this film.
And this movie was almost brilliant.
The opening of the movie is fantastic. It's funny, smart and full of random humor. You have a Michael Myers house clone and a subtitle that burns in saying "HALLOWEEN NIGHT" then it fades out… fading back up to the house again. This time a different holiday is slapped on the subtitle. Then it fades out again. Then fades up one more time, this time saying "Jamie Lee Curtis' Birthday" before finally cutting inside.
We get a typical stupid babysitter pretty much talking to her friend on the phone saying, "Gee, I sure hope nothing happens to me tonight," while her prude friend on the phone is warning her not to have sex.
The bad guy of the movie is called "The Breather," who is voiced by Richard Belzer, so you get a general idea of how much the comedy is being played up with him.
The Breather starts calling this girl, who is, of course, waiting for her horny boyfriend. Like any horror bimbo, she keeps answer the phone with the heavy breather on the other line. Then she doesn't and the phone starts jumping on the table, demanding to be picked up… then I swear it cums on her. Maybe it was supposed to be saliva, but it sure didn't look like saliva.
I was thinking, "Okay, this is kind of smart and funny," then she goes outside to check on the meowing of a cat… and they cut to a dog barking at her, except every bark is a meow. Then the dog lifts its leg to piss and they put in a ripping fart sound effect.
It was this point that I was like, "This movie might be my favorite film of all time if they keep this up." It stays strong for the entire opening scene. The girl goes back inside and the camera lingers on the door lock. If that wasn't enough to get the point, they put a flashing arrow and the word "Unlocked!!!"
The girl goes to the kitchen (which is fucking filthy, dishes piled everwhere), opens the fridge and grabs a piece of fried chicken to eat. Her boyfriend jumps her mid-bite and says he wants to do it. She's like, "Not here, not now!" and he goes, "How about in 10 seconds in the bedroom." "Okay."
Little things like that, poking fun at slashers, keep the opening really funny, but after the two are killed (the girl with a paperclip, the boyfriend hacked up off-camera) and we follow the main story of the virginal teen friend I'd say 90% of the jokes fall completely flat.
That's not to say there aren't any interesting ideas… the Breather is seen only by his galoshes and rubber gloves, like kitchen gloves, so every creepy teacher we meet who would be a suspect ends up wearing these rubber gloves during their classes. Sometimes they even go the extra mile and have the adult branded "Suspect #1" or whatever.
And there's also a running body count.
I'd say my main problem is they don't make use of some of the most funny characters they introduce. There's a blind black dude who has a car accident with a student in a wheelchair, fighting for the handicapped space. Or rather, it's the blind dude's dog, who was driving, that has the accident. But for the rest of the movie they're a team, the wheelchair dude narrating what's happening.
These dudes are hilarious, but they are little more than glorified extras.
The star of the movie, though, is the creepy janitor, Malvert. I say this in all kindness and with all respect, but Malvert is one fucked up looking dude. He's super tall, super lanky, but maybe 100 pounds. In fact, the actor's name is The Stick. That's how he's credited. He's only done this one movie, but I think he could have been a star in the same way Michael Berryman was a horror icon.
He's so awesome and I want to see him star in a film. His comedic timing is right on and he's just so interesting to watch. His body moves differently than an average person and he's just fascinating.
Unfortunately, we're left with the less interesting story of the Absintence poster-child Toby (Kristen Ritter) who figures out the killer is only going after teenagers who have sex, which happens everywhere around the school at any time. Hell, the next to die get it while trying to fuck at the funeral of the first two victims.
Ritter's not bad in the role, but her character just isn't all that interesting and only seems to run into more interesting people… There's the shop teacher obsessed with horse head bookends, the Biology teacher who hates frog dicks, the creepy principal, the cop on the case (who should have been played by Leslie Nielson… "I'll cut right to the point. You're the murderer.") to name a few.
They also throw a lot of the random humor that I love so much out the window after the meowing, farting dog. Although we do get a death-by-eggplant, so I'm not left completely in the dark.
Another negative is the lack of satire on the nudity and gore. There's even a scene taking place in a girl's lockerroom that you feel is obviously meant to satirize this very point, but the movie is PG for some damn reason.
Now, I know the movie is rated R and they do that by stopping the film and having one of the producers come on to say that all their research has shown that R-rated horror out-perform PG horror, so with that in mind… "Fuck you." And then we see the MPAA R-rating band… Okay, that's funny… but seriously, if you're going to send up slashers, you gotta have tits and gore. You have to.
Final Thoughts: It gets negative points for the giant missed opportunity to go overboard on crazy, unrealistic gore, but ultimately I found myself enjoying the movie even though it is overloaded with more misses than hits. It's easy to stand back now and see the stereotypes, but when this film was made there were only 2 Friday the 13th films that had been made and the full on slasher rip-off overload handn't hit, so I have to give it some respect for noticing these patterns and formulas so early in the game. If it had been made better or at least gone whole hog into the bizarre humor then I think it could have been the AIRPLANE! for horror films. As it is now, it's an interesting send-up, but nothing that'll ever play for more than a select group of horror lovers.
Before I head off to Harry's Halloween party, I must close out this HMAD run with my final of this week's recommendations. If you've been paying attention, I've been pointing out some of my favorites of the genre that I feel are either underappreciated or overlooked. We've covered IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, DEMONS, DEMONS 2, WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? and now we have our final entry.
This one is different from the others in that for some insane retarded reason it is not available on DVD, but you can find it on pretty heavy cable rotation still to this day and there are places you can look for laserdisc rips coughcoughebaycoughcough… Excuse me, I got something stuck in my finger-throats.
I am talking, of course, of Fred Dekker's masterpiece of '80s horror-comedy work NIGHT OF CREEPS.
I remember watching this as a kid and I was blown away immediately because it doesn't start out like your average horror movie. We start this movie in space, jumping into the middle of a story already in progress. These little squat aliens are chasing another squat alien through the corridors of an Nostromo-like ship, firing lazer guns at him.
The running alien is carrying a container and is able to eject it into space before he is captured. The thing falls to Earth in the '50s. The opening with the aliens is in color, but the '50s are in black and white as college kids make out. They see what they think is a meteor and like THE BLOB have to go investigate it.
On the radio we hear of an escaped lunatic, so the girl is freaked out while her boyfriends leaves her in the car to go explore the meteor.
Dekker cuts back and forth between these two as she anxiously waits in the car, listening to the news report and realizing she's on the exact road they suspect the killer to be walking… sitting in a convertible, of course.
The boyfriend finds the capsul in the woods, leans in for a closer look and a slug jumps out of the burning metal and into his surprised mouth.
Back in the car, we see the form of the hospial gown-clad lunatic carrying an ax slowely creeping up on the girl. She doesn't notice him, but we do. The dude raises the ax high and swing it with full force. Just as it connects with the neck (in one shot… which I don't have any idea how they did) they cut out of the intro and giving us our main setting. This same town, but in the '80s.
The movie is so totally '80s, in all the best ways, just like REAL GENIUS is totally '80s in the best ways. Our heroes are two of the unlikeliest of the genre… geeks. One is a ginger named Chris Romero (Jason Lively) and the other is a handicapped smart-ass named JC Hooper (Steve Marshall).
Yes, most people in this movie are named after famous horror directors. The lead girl is Cynthia Cronenberg (Jill Whitlow), the gruff cop is Det. Cameron (Tom Atkins), but there's also a Landis, a Raimi, and the C of JC Hooper is Carpenter.
But what's great about this movie is that it's not a horror spoof. It's its own story and doesn't fill the screen with winks and nudges in every frame. It's not aping any other movie, but telling its own story.
Basically, Jason Lively falls in love with Jill Whitlow… and that's completely understandable. I'm totally in love with her, she falls completely into my ideal woman mode. She's beautiful, but in a natural girl-next-door way, she's kind, a little shy and can handle a flame-thrower. My ideal woman, in a nutshell.
She's in a sorority, so Lively thinks the only way he can stand a chance of being with this girl is if he's accepted into a frat… run by her boyfriend Brad (Allan Kayser). They have no intention of letting in two dweebs, so they send them on an impossible task to gain admittance… that leads our two heroes to a science lab where they're trying to find a corpse.
They find one, alright. It's the cryogenicly frozen '50s boyfriend who swallowed a slug. They try to steal him, but when he's pulled out of the ice chamber he shows some life and they haul ass out of there.
One thing leads to another and the '50s dude's head splits open, spilling out a whole host of alien slugs, which begin to infest people turning them into zombies all leading to the climactic Prom Night.
Tom Atkins rocks the house in this movie. He's a real tough ass and doesn't take any shit. Sarcastic, mean… awesome badass who answers his phone "Thrill Me," something I've been known to copy from time to time.
The effects are great, the humor is fantastic, all the actors are perfect for their roles and Dekker's smart script and hunger as a first time director really makes this a classic. And Dick Miller is in it, so case closed.
Tomorrow we return to our regular AMAD line-up. We last left off with 1944's noir LAURA starring the radiant Gene Tierney and we pick up on November 1st with another Gene Tierney film!
Here's the list for the first week of November!
Saturday, November 1st: BLACK WIDOW (1954)
Sunday, November 2nd: THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947)
Monday, November 3rd: THE FLYING TIGERS (1942)
Tuesday, November 4th: EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973)
Wednesday, November 5th: THE BUSY BODY (1967)
Thursday, November 6th: IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963)
Friday, November 7th: LIBELED LADY (1936)
Previous Movies:
June 2nd: Harper
June 3rd: The Drowning Pool
June 4th: Papillon
June 5th: Gun Crazy
June 6th: Never So Few
June 7th: A Hole In The Head
June 8th: Some Came Running
June 9th: Rio Bravo
June 10th: Point Blank
June 11th: Pocket Money
June 12th: Cool Hand Luke
June 13th: The Asphalt Jungle
June 14th: Clash By Night
June 15th: Scarlet Street
June 16th: Killer Bait (aka Too Late For Tears)
June 17th: Robinson Crusoe On Mars
June 18th: City For Conquest
June 19th: San Quentin
June 20th: 42nd Street
June 21st: Dames
June 22nd: Gold Diggers of 1935
June 23rd: Murder, My Sweet
June 24th: Born To Kill
June 25th: The Sound of Music
June 26th: Torn Curtain
June 27th: The Left Handed Gun
June 28th: Caligula
June 29th: The Elephant Man
June 30th: The Good Father
July 1st: Shock Treatment
July 2nd: Flashback
July 3rd: Klute
July 4th: On Golden Pond
July 5th: The Cowboys
July 6th: The Alamo
July 7th: Sands of Iwo Jima
July 8th: Wake of the Red Witch
July 9th: D.O.A.
July 10th: Shadow of A Doubt
July 11th: The Matchmaker
July 12th: The Black Hole
July 13th: Vengeance Is Mine
July 14th: Strange Invaders
July 15th: Sleuth
July 16th: Frenzy
July 17th: Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut
July 18th: Cadillac Man
July 19th: The Sure Thing
July 20th: Moving Violations
July 21st: Meatballs
July 22nd: Cast a Giant Shadow
July 23rd: Out of the Past
July 24th: The Big Steal
July 25th: Where Danger Lives
July 26th: Crossfire
July 27th: Ricco, The Mean Machine
July 28th: In Harm's Way
July 29th: Firecreek
July 30th: The Cheyenne Social Club
July 31st: The Man Who Knew Too Much
August 1st: The Spirit of St. Louis
August 2nd: Von Ryan's Express
August 3rd: Can-Can
August 4th: Desperate Characters
August 5th: The Possession of Joel Delaney
August 6th: Quackser Fortune Has A Cousin In The Bronx
August 7th: Start the Revolution Without Me
August 8th: Hell Is A City
August 9th: The Pied Piper
August 10th: Partners
August 11th: Barry Lyndon
August 12th: The Skull
August 13th: The Hellfire Club
August 14th: Blood of the Vampire
August 15th: Terror of the Tongs
August 16th: Pirates of Blood River
August 17th: The Devil-Ship Pirates
August 18th: Jess Franco's Count Dracula
August 19th: Dracula A.D. 1972
August 20th: The Stranglers of Bombay
August 21st: Man, Woman & Child
August 22nd: The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
August 23rd: The Young Philadelphians
August 24th: The Rack
August 25th: Until They Sail
August 26th: Somebody Up There Likes Me
August 27th: The Set-Up
August 28th: The Devil & Daniel Webster
August 29th: Cat People
August 30th: The Curse of the Cat People
August 31st: The 7th Victim
September 1st: The Ghost Ship
September 2nd: Isle of the Dead
September 3rd: Bedlam
September 4th: Black Sabbath
September 5th: Black Sunday
September 6th: Twitch of the Death Nerve
September 7th: Tragic Ceremony
September 8th: Lisa & The Devil
September 9th: Baron Blood
September 10th: A Shot In The Dark
September 11th: The Pink Panther
September 12th: The Return of the Pink Panther
September 13th: The Pink Panther Strikes Again
September 14th: Revenge of the Pink Panther
September 15th: Trail of the Pink Panther
September 16th: The Real Glory
September 17th: The Winning of Barbara Worth
September 18th: The Cowboy and the Lady
September 19th: Dakota
September 20th: Red River
September 21st: Terminal Station
September 22nd: The Search
September 23rd: Act of Violence
September 24th: Houdini
September 25th: Money From Home
September 26th: Papa's Delicate Condition
September 27th: Dillinger
September 28th: Battle of the Bulge
September 29th: Daisy Kenyon
September 30th: Laura
October 1st: The Dunwich Horror
October 2nd: Experiment In Terror
October 3rd: The Devil's Rain
October 4th: Race With The Devil
October 5th: Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
October 6th: Bad Dreams
October 7th: The House Where Evil Dwells
October 8th: Memories of Murder
October 9th: The Hunger
October 10th: I Saw What You Did
October 11th: I Spit On Your Grave
October 12th: Naked You Die
October 13th: The Wraith
October 14th: Silent Night, Bloody Night
October 15th: I Bury The Living
October 16th: The Beast Must Die
October 17th: Hellgate
October 18th: He Knows You're Alone
October 19th: The Thing From Another World
October 20th: The Fall of the House of Usher
October 21st: Audrey Rose
October 22nd: Who Slew Auntie Roo?
October 23rd: Wait Until Dark
October 24th: Dead & Buried
October 25th: A Bucket of Blood
October 26th: The Bloodstained Shadow
October 27th: I, Madman
October 28th: Return to Horror High
October 29th: Die, Monster, Die
October 30th: Epidemic
Readers Talkbackcomments powered by Disqus
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Oct. 31, 2008, 7:51 p.m. CST
Just saw It's a Mad World this week
by rhcp2sweet
Pretty funny movie, except for the fact that Ethel Merman is annoying as all hell in it.
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:14 p.m. CST
You've never seen It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World???????????
by Vim Fuego
Jesus Christ on a Bike! One of the funniest films ever. Every time I watch it, the music cue for the big "Dubya" gives me the shivers. Just don't try to compare it to "Rat Race" that's all.
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:19 p.m. CST
Oh brother, Student Bodies was tough..
by poydog
to sit through. Sober. You're right on about Malvert though, dude is completely commited. Love it. Speaking of love, Night of the Creeps is UP there! For reals. One of an all time loves. Among which Trick 'R' Treat now belongs. And The Signal, coughcough. I have to recommend Hell High too, another favorite. Check it out if you can, tracked it down on ebay recently, looking for years. Happy Hallows to ALL!!!!!!!!!
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:44 p.m. CST
Ditto, Vim Fuego!
by theBigE
I can't believe Quint hasn't seen it!
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:50 p.m. CST
Madx4 World
by pilotgrl
Thanks for these AMADs, Quint. I'm enjoying them quite a bit. I don't think Mad, Mad...World is the funniest ever but it has fun moments and a great collection of classic comedians, if a bit long. Keep an eye out for a blink-and-you'll-miss-him Buster Keaton cameo.
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:54 p.m. CST
RUSS? Oink, Oink, my good man!!!
by James_O'Nasty
Shoutout to Jason Lively, the BEST Rusty Griswold ever! (the protagonist of "Night of the Creeps")
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:56 p.m. CST
The End of Student Bodies Gets Weird
by FlyingGuillotine
And actually kinda creeped me out a bit when I was a kid.
Oct. 31, 2008, 8:58 p.m. CST
Thanks for the horror AMADs Quint!
by IAmMrMonkey!
Really enjoyed reading them and have got some new DVDs waiting to be watched now. I'm almost sad to be back to the normal AMADs, even though it's still one of the best columns on this website. Long live the Quint!
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:18 p.m. CST
Ok this Shows my age, but I saw this in the 80's on Video.
by Darth_Kaos
I agree with you Quint. The first half of this movie was funny as hell. That scene in the girls locker room with the Breather POV always had me rolling.

 I remember seeing this and a movie called UP THE ACADEMY. Which you should check out as well. It from the guys at MAD MAGAZINE when they were funny.
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:18 p.m. CST
Thrill me.
by The Reluctant Austinite
I just brought in all the candy from the porch and I'm calling it a night. The trick-or-treating in our neighborhood is pretty slim these days, so any kid that came up to my house hit the mother load with candy and Halloween Play Doh. I had my laptop outside and watched "The Horror of Dracula" and "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankstien" until about 10 minutes after 9PM. Nine was usually about the time we started desperately looking for houses still giving out stuff when I was a kid, and ten was the nail in the coffin. I've had a few pumpkin ales and I'm starting to already get that sort of depressing feeling I get when some big event is over that you've been anticipating for a long while. This usually happens after Christmas and happened after I saw "Return of the King" at BNAT. It's over? Damn! And to make matters even worse, I don't really have anything better to do than write about on Talk Back on the internet. It's not even the witching hour yet. Well, I hope Harry's Halloween party is a blast. He's probably got John Carpenter at his house doing a live commentary to "Halloween" or something. Or Rick Baker in his kitchen doing make-ups for everybody. Oh well, for me it's going to be a couple more pumpkin ales and and then the usual trip to the pumpkin patch to hope HE shows up this year. Happy Halloween, AICN.
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:19 p.m. CST
Best joke of the movie?
by Anna Valerious
The African exchange student who finally makes it to school on the last day of school. Because he drove. XD
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:40 p.m. CST
Anybody else depressed
by Sick Fixx
now that October is over for another year?
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:43 p.m. CST
"Why does it sound like you are talking through a rubber chicken
by Darth_Nader
"Because I am talking through a rubber chicken." To this day that is how I great one of my best friends when he calls me.
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:43 p.m. CST
Goddamn that was a quick fucking month
by I am_NOTREAL
And can I just say, when it's Halloween, and you're the so-called Chiller channel, and the best you can do is the miniseries of The Tommyknockers, you fucking suck.
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:44 p.m. CST
Fuck yeah, it's depressing
by IAmMrMonkey!
What is there after Halloween but a slow crawl of credit card debts, hunts for obscure presents and increasing stress about Christmas. And then, before you know it, it's flippin' January, it's 2009, you realise you've just wasted another year doing the same thing you did the year before, you're completely broke because of all the money you spent on presents and the New Year where you spent three times as much as you normally would on a night out and now you're back at work.
Fuck yeah. No wonder more people kill themselves at this time of year.
Oct. 31, 2008, 9:58 p.m. CST
The Halloween Blues
by The Reluctant Austinite
I hear you guys. I think the thing is this: Summer is pretty cool and there's lots of fun things to do. The Summer movies come fast and furious. Then Fall arrives, the weather is nice and the whole month leading to Halloween is a blast (or at least a nice distraction from school/work/bills, etc.) But right after Halloween all you've got to look forward to is four months of nasty cold and icey rain until Spring. Christmas is nice, but has become so commercialized that it's more pressure than it is fun. The Holiday movie season is short and mostly focused on either cheesy kids/ family films or Oscar contenders. I love Halloween, but it starts to suck quickly when it's over each year.
Oct. 31, 2008, 10:05 p.m. CST
UK Horror Fans PLEASE don't miss...
by JIMBOCOP
...DEAD SET. I just watched the fifth and final episode of the E4 (UK digital channel) Halloween special "Dead Set" and it was absolutely brilliant, unmissable stuff. An almost inevitable zombie apocalypse breaks out and the only safe(ish) place left is inside the security compound housing the UK "Big Brother" house. As the undead hoard surrounds the place, the total a**hole show producer and his put-upon assistant enter the house, only to find the thick as f**k contestants think it's all part of a test... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vfoGjwHmqiw Don't let the BB connection put you off. It's really f**king gory (there's a death-by-fire-extinguisher scene that is far worse than similar ones in IRREVERSABLE or PANS LABYRINTH), but it's also funny as f**k, being written by Charlie (TV Go Home) Brooker and featuring real former BB contestants as parts of the zombie hoard. Davina McCall's [i]first[/i] death scene around a ½ hour in is worth watching for that alone. She's very [i]limber[/i]. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7cGTbiEXBSQ The whole thing is going to be shown again as a single feature length special tomorrow (Sat 1st Nov) night and I can't recommend it enough to any horror OR "Big Brother" fan (same difference, surely?)
That is all.
Oct. 31, 2008, 10:34 p.m. CST
Horsehead Bookends!
by Big Bad Clone
My drama teacher in HS was in this movie (her only role in anything released according to imdb). It was funny how proud she was of this fact until she found out one of her students (me) had actually seen the movie. After that, she'd only mention it half-embarassed.
Oct. 31, 2008, 10:37 p.m. CST
JIMBOCOP is Charlie Brooker
by IAmMrMonkey!
I'm onto you "JIMBOCOP".
Oct. 31, 2008, 11 p.m. CST
I am sooooo busted!
by JIMBOCOP
Oct. 31, 2008, 11:07 p.m. CST
one of my favorites--
by dahauk--
So many memorable lines/moments---the breather/killer running his hand over all the killing instruments only the stop with glee at=paper clips! 'Sometimes Melvert pee red..'while whizzing into a bucket in the corner..you might not laugh at every gag, but they keep throwing them at you with regularity anyway. This came out when parody films were rare if not unheard of, so give them props for that.
Oct. 31, 2008, 11:39 p.m. CST
by Series7
Damnit someone beat me. This movie rules. Much better then scary movie.
 -----> Door unlocked.
Oct. 31, 2008, 11:47 p.m. CST
last nite was the 70th anniversary of welle's
by bacci40
war of the worlds...it can be argued that no piece of scifi has had more of an impact on popular culture than that radio program...welle's a genius, a man ahead of his time
Oct. 31, 2008, 11:50 p.m. CST
Night of the Creeps is a favorite
by Jarek
Have loved that one for years. Got lucky enough to see it on the big screen from a 35mm print last year at a revival screening in Toronto (with Dekkar in attendance)... great little flick, and Slither owes a lot to it.
Nov. 1, 2008, 12:11 a.m. CST
Oh man...Student Bodies
by Munkstomper
Student Bodies should be shown to film students on how to have a great movie hit a brick wall at the end. I LOVED this film...it was perfect, it was brilliant...then the ending. Oh man, that ending just completely killed my love for this movie. It was like they had this incredible idea and didn't know how to end it. I will always have a soft spot for "Student Bodies". What a shame......it could have been epic.
Nov. 1, 2008, 1:32 a.m. CST
Well done, sir.
by 24200124
I applaud your efforts during this month and this last week's double-review buildup to Halloween. Wonderful stuff, man. Thank you for this.
Nov. 1, 2008, 2:38 a.m. CST
"Go ahead...thrill me.."
by sonnyfern
Bow down to Atkins...
Nov. 1, 2008, 5:54 a.m. CST
Carpenter doesn't get his own character?
by NoodlesHahn
He has to piggy back on Hooper?
Nov. 1, 2008, 6:21 a.m. CST
German title of Student Bodies:
by DerLanghaarige
"What's the dead man doing on the clothesline?" One of my favourite movie titles ever. :D
Nov. 1, 2008, 6:44 a.m. CST
Jill Whitlow
by YeahSureWhatever
Nov. 1, 2008, 7:53 a.m. CST
Malvert pee red
by cornponious
Best line.
 Ever.
Nov. 1, 2008, 8:16 a.m. CST
Quint, you still suck at writing
by Bilblow
But this is a good exercise for you. Keep practice.
Nov. 1, 2008, 9:14 a.m. CST
I saw "Student Bodies"
by Drunken Rage
at the theatre; I read somewhere that it was directed by Michael Ritchie, a director I liked, but who was so pissed off with the movie he had his name taken off the credits. It's not very good but at least it's better than "Saturday the 14th" which is nearly unwatchable.
Nov. 1, 2008, 10:07 a.m. CST
by buffywrestling
I really enjoyed October's run, And to close it out on "Student Bodies" - well, that's just icing, baby. Thanks Quint.
Nov. 1, 2008, 10:15 a.m. CST
Back to regular AMAD
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
Quint is hardcore.
Nov. 1, 2008, 12:08 p.m. CST
I said....
by Jason B. Swaim
Nov. 1, 2008, 1:35 p.m. CST
by tonagan
All they sell are baby supplies. I saw no mention of Night of the Creeps.
Nov. 1, 2008, 2:35 p.m. CST
I'm taking it out...I'm doing the thing mother told me not to do
by darquelyte
I'll always have a special place for Student Bodies. Back in high school, we'd watch it at the Halloween party each year. It wasn't even available on video back then. Someone had taped it from On Tv, an early and long defunct pay network. It has some good ideas and good lines, (Hmm, Chicken...hmm, broken...hmm,) but ultimately just falls apart. I'd love to see someone remake this and finish the job properly. Especially if they could find "The Stick" aka Malvert. That guy ruled.
Nov. 1, 2008, 2:52 p.m. CST
I guess I'll check back into this column next October.
by Zombieflicker
I'm not a classic movie buff. I really enjoyed this column this past month though. Maybe someone should do a "horror/sci-fi movie of the day" column.
Nov. 1, 2008, 4:13 p.m. CST
I always thought the best slasher parody...
by Continentalop
Was Slumper Party Massacre. It spoofs and sends up all the cliches while at the same time operating as a decent slasher flick. Plus, it does the best send up of horror films gratutious nude shower scenes by having a very gratutious nude shower scene.
Nov. 1, 2008, 6:42 p.m. CST
Night of the Creeps!
by Jawa 007
Always gotta give props to that movie. An all time great one for me.
Nov. 1, 2008, 6:52 p.m. CST
Just want to say...
by JIMBOCOP
Kudos to Quint for the AMAD and the October run in particular. Top marks sir! That is all.
Nov. 1, 2008, 9 p.m. CST
Drunken Rage
by caruso_stalker217
As shitty as SATURDAY THE 14TH is, the sequel is much much worse.
Oh Christ, was it terrible...
Nov. 1, 2008, 10:44 p.m. CST
night of the creeps---
by dahauk--
--the movie has two endings, with or without the spaceship over the graveyard. also a fun movie..
Nov. 2, 2008, 12:50 a.m. CST
you know what pisses me off?
by GavinVanDraven
Spider-Man 3. the moment when the meteor carrying the alien symbiote landed a few yards away from pete and mj. the blob and night of the creeps immediately came to mind. slither also.... that just sad. and weak, considering spidey 2 had the whole "jj jamison jr is an astronaut thing" going for it. wtf?
Nov. 2, 2008, 12:53 a.m. CST
by GavinVanDraven
the janitor cracks me up. i showed my vhs copy of NOTC to a buddy of mine a few years back... and we always use that line in conversation....SCREAMING LIKE BANSHEES! (in a very racist asian voice no less) fuck! when do we get a DVD? this is one of those real gems from the 80's... and we need a dvd and bluray release already!
Nov. 2, 2008, 1:13 a.m. CST
This is garbage
by HereAgain
I just watched a bit on YouTube. It looks like it was filmed by high school students, and the "humor" is moronic.
Nov. 2, 2008, 1:33 a.m. CST
by jcrash
Did you hang up? No, I just said "click" Hilariously stupid movie. I loved it in high school, I have no idea if I'd still find it funny, but now I'll have to go rent it and find out. Thanks for reminding me of this blast form the past.
Nov. 2, 2008, 10:49 a.m. CST
The Funniest Scene in Mad, Mad World...
by Admiral Nelson
...is the entire sequence involving Jonathan Winters and Phil Silver, where the slimy Silver has Winters locked up in a gas station with 2 nebbishy attendants convinced Winters is a crazy escaped lunatic. When Winters breaks free and destroys the entire place with his bare hands (like the Incredible Hulk), I thought I was going to have a heart attack from laughing. (Then again, I first saw this movie when I was 12, but I still think it's funny as hell.) A lot of people think the film's over the top (and it does lose steam once they find the money), but for me, this film has scenes of pure genius. (And Dick Shawn's first scene with his bikini-clad dancing girlfriend is freaking HILARIOUS.)
Nov. 2, 2008, 10:53 a.m. CST
Note: that should be "Phil Silvers"
by Admiral Nelson
Nov. 2, 2008, 10:46 p.m. CST
Why'd I have to pick a jogger?
by Domi'sInnerChild
The Breather is the greatest horror comedy villian of all time. Then again, I'm sure that movie has aged horribly. But I did love it on HBO. Come on, the body count went up 1/2 when a fly was killed.
Nov. 2, 2008, 11:18 p.m. CST
What's a 'lazer'?
by BiggusDickus
...is it anything like a 'laser'?
Yours pedantically...
Nov. 3, 2008, 9:07 a.m. CST
Horsehead bookends.
by fireclown
That is all. I love student bodies. Good call.
Nov. 3, 2008, 4:50 p.m. CST
Best Scene Was....
by Craig2574
When the lead character said she would not kill a fly. Than she did and the body count went up by 1/2.
Nov. 10, 2008, 8:36 a.m. CST
I saw a tiny bit of Student Bodies on the movie channels once...
by The Amazing G
I didn't like it, but maybe I'll give it another chance
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Categories > TV > Criminal Minds > Assumptions
Assumptions0 Reviews
Reid thinks that Morgan is going to break up with him.
Chapter 1
The power had gone out, the only thing that Morgan kept picturing was his pretty boy huddled under the covers, shivering and probably trying to rationalize his fear. Morgan knew that Reid knew that nothing in the room had changed, he just disliked the dark, hated it, loathed it completely.
Morgan picked up his cell phone. He was at odds at what to do. On one hand, if Spencer was awake, his call could be the difference between Reid completely freaking out and being comforted and calm. On the other hand, if Reid was peacefully sleeping and blissfully unaware of what was going on. He knew that with the power being out he probably shouldn't be driving. As he got into his jeep, the only thing that he could think of was that he had to get to Spencer. Driving there was the only way that he could think of checking on him without waking him up if he was sleeping.
As he entered the small apartment he was amazed, as always, that it was as neat as it was. He knew that Reid was a bit of a neat freak that was a give in, once you took a look at his desk. It was always neat and orderly; everything had a place.
He quietly closed the door behind him. He crossed the living room and peeked into the bedroom. He had expected to see Spencer in bed; to say that he was surprised to find the bed empty was an understatement.
He frantically doubled back into the living room; practically tripping over his own feet as he walked into the kitchen. All he kept thinking was that if Spencer had been on his way to somewhere; it was going to be disastrous. He cursed himself for not thinking to check and see if Reid's car was there. If he had been on the subway when the power went off, that would be worse. He'd be trapped, underground, in the dark, crowded by strangers. There was no way that this was going to end well. He almost missed the figure standing in a corner of the kitchen. Before Morgan was able to fully comprehend what was happening he was face-to-face with his boyfriend's gun.
Spencer was terrified, but he wasn't shaking. It was adrenaline from waking up to someone going through his apartment and his FBI training keeping him steady. He had a voice in his head; that sounded strangely like Morgan. At times like this, it was that voice that kept him calm and forced him to focus, when he wanted to give up and panic.
Morgan didn't blame Spencer for pointing his gun at him. It made him wish that he'd brought his flashlight. At least then he could have used the flashlight to get Spencer to realize that it was just him and that there was no reason to panic. Morgan put both of his hands up, so maybe; Reid would realize that he wasn't in any danger and that he could put his gun away.
"Spencer, baby? Tell me you aren't going to shoot me."
Spencer put the gun on the table; almost as if it had burned him. He practically threw himself at Morgan. Morgan felt him shiver as his body and mind realized that he wasn't in any danger and let the tears that he'd been holding back loose.
"God, Morgan. You scared me."
Derek gently rubbed circles on Spencer's back. "I'm sorry baby. Let's get you back to bed."
Reid nodded. As they made their way to Spencer's bedroom Spencer stopped. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Morgan smiled as he snaked his arm around Spencer's shoulders and continued to steer him into the bedroom. "I was at home when the power went out. I wanted to make sure that you were alright." Even in the dark he could see Reid raise an eyebrow.
"Not to make fun of me?"
Morgan pulled the covers back on the bed and waited until he heard Spencer get in; then much to Spencer's surprise he got in after him. Derek made sure that they were both covered up before he pulled Spencer close to him.
"Are you going to stay with me?"
Derek smiled, "Of course." It wasn't long before Spencer was asleep. Morgan chuckled. He knew that Spencer was tired, but he also knew that his young lover would never allow himself to relax enough to fall asleep knowing that he was completely in the dark. But knowing that Derek was there and he would protect him; he was able to fall asleep.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Sherwood is outstanding history teacher for Washington
MIHS teacher Karen Sherwood has been awarded Outstanding Teacher of United States History for the state of Washington. Sherwood earlier won the regional award from the Cascade Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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« Florida Panthers Angry After 3-1 Loss to Toronto | Main | Colin Campbell to Florida Panthers: We Made a Mistake, Would Like that one Back »
ALCOA Presents 'You Make the Call: Colton Orr Edition'
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Is that the same officiating crew from 1. The Dolphins/Steelers Game or 2. My son's rec game?
haha, LOVE vid number two!!
UGLY. and the official who blew the call. Stephen Walkom..former DIRECTOR OF OFFICIATING!
@Catfan: Yeah. Shut up. The officials are doing a great job. That's always the response.
So it's now legal to hit the goalie from behind if there is a shot incoming? Interesting new rule. I don't see that in the rulebook but I'm sure Bettman would explain this away just as he did that Stanley Cup "winning" Hull goal vs BUF so many years ago.
G, where the heck did you dig that 2nd vid up from? hehehe
The league response will probably be fining DeBoer $1000 for excessive sarcasm in a postgame Q&A session.
Seriously, I doubt the league will say anything right away. They'll maybe release a blurb tonight and hope no one reads it right before the night's games commence. They want this under the rug and forgotten asap. Heck, you can't even find highlights of it on nhl.com (yes, I went looking).
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Enter Circle of Lights coloring, essay contests
Show your creative side by participating in a coloring contest for a chance to flip the switch to turn on the lights at Monument Circle for the Circle of Lights® presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW 481.
Here's how you can enter the 50th Anniversary Coloring Contest:
Visit http://www.qc-indy.com to print coloring sheets or to find the contractor drop-off location nearest you.
Entries are accepted from Nov. 1 to Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. One child will be randomly chosen from all entries.
One entry per child; children ages 12 and under only. Entries will not be returned.
The winner will be contacted by Nov. 16, with the lighting event set for Nov. 23.
Entries can be mailed to:
Circle of Lights® Coloring Contest
1828 N. Meridian St., Ste. 115
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Entries can be dropped off at a Quality Connection Contractor or any Indiana Members Credit Union location.
Quality Connection
1828 N. Meridian St., Ste. 115
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Electrical Training Institute
1751 S. Lawndale Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46241
1625 W. Thompson Rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46217
Long Electric
1310 S. Franklin Rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46239
4125 N. Keystone Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46205
Here's how you can enter the 50th Anniversary $1,000 Essay Contest:
Enter to win $1,000 "Value of Community Tradition" Essay Contest at http://www.qc-indy.com.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Circle of Lights®, College Choice 529, Indiana Members Credit Union and IVY Tech Community College join Quality Connection and IBEW #481 to announce a scholarship essay contest.
Central Indiana students age 13-18 are invited to submit a short essay highlighting the value of community tradition. A $1,000 college savings account deposit will be awarded to three finalists.
Students are asked to write an original and creative essay of less than 500 words that demonstrates an understanding of community tradition such as the Circle of Lights®.
Students can use a variety of sources including newspaper articles, books and/or personal interviews to prepare their submission, due by Nov. 13.
Finalists will be notified no later than Nov. 19 and will be acknowledged at Circle of Lights® presented by the Contractors of Quality Connection and Electrical Workers of IBEW 481 event Nov. 23, 2012.
Entry Rules:
- Entry must be received by Nov. 13, 2012.
- Submissions must be 500 words or less in length.
- One entry per student; ages 13-18 only.
- Submissions must be the student's original work.
- You will be contacted by Nov. 19 if chosen.
- Students must be central Indiana residents.
- All entries must include students name and age, parents' name, email address and phone number.
Mail your entry to:
Circle of Lights® Essay Contest
1828 N. Meridian St., Ste. 115
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Email your entry to: email@example.com
Or drop off your entry at: a Quality Connection Contractor or any Indiana Members Credit Union location.
Quality Connection
1828 N. Meridian St., Ste. 115
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Electrical Training Institute
1751 S. Lawndale Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46241
1625 W. Thompson Rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46217
Long Electric
1310 S. Franklin Rd.
Indianapolis, IN 46239
4125 N. Keystone Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46205
Visit http://www.qc-indy.com to submit your essay online or to find the contractor drop off location nearest you. Employees and relatives of employees of any Circle of Lights® partner are not eligible.
More than 2,300 IBEW 481 electrical workers are employed by 80 union contractors of Quality Connection including:
AAA Electric
Alpha Electric, Inc.
Apple Electric, Inc.
Area Wide Electric
Banta Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Barth Electric Co., Inc.
C & D Enterprise
Cache Valley Electric Co.
Carlin Electric
Cassady Electric
Charles Coonce Electrical Services
Christian Electric, LLC
Christy Electric
Complete Electrical
& Communications
Crew Technical Services
Dave O'Mara Contractor, Inc.
Divane Brothers Electric Co.
Eagle Electric Company
Electric Plus
Electrical Maintenance & Testing
Electrical Solutions Service, LLC
Elite Electrical Services, LLC
Ellison Electric, Inc.
Energy Systems Maintenance, LLC
ERMCO, Inc.
Fairchild Communication Systems, Inc.
Finch Constructors, Inc.
Goldman Electrical Contracting, Inc.
Green Electric, Inc.
High Voltage Maintenance Corp.
Hofmann Electrical, LLC
Hoosier Company, Inc.
Hoosier Industrial Electric
Huston Electric, Inc.
IMS Electric
Indianapolis Electric Co., Inc.
Industrial Electric, Inc.
J & J Electric
JE Brown Electric, Inc.
James H. Drew Corp.
Johns & Lohman Electric, Inc.
K. K. Hall, Inc.
Keith Electric Co.
LaFever Electric Co.
LARJAC Electric Co.
Leader Corp. of Indiana
Live Wire Consulting, Inc.
Lone Star Electric, LLC
Long Electric Co., Inc.
Majestic Electric, Inc.
Maverick Communications
& Electric, Inc.
Maxim Electric
Mendez Electric, LLC
Miller-Eads Co., Inc.
Monster Electric
Nading Mechanical, Inc.
Nugent Electric, Inc.
Payne Electric Co., Inc.
Pemberton-Davis Electric
Quality Controls & Electrical
Services, Inc.
R & M Electric, Inc.
Ramsey & North Mechanical
Services, Inc.
Red Hawk
Rosebrock, Inc.
RyBen Electric, LLC
Securall Technologies, Inc.
Shambaugh & Son, Inc.
Simple Electric, LLC
Sun Electric, Inc.
Superior Electric, LLC
Swan Electrical Systems, LLC
TC Electric, Inc.
Tech Electronics of Indiana
Technology Electric, Inc.
Vaught Electric Co.
Web Connectivity, LLC
West Electric, Inc.
Wilkie Electric Co., Inc.
Wyatt Electric, Inc.


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Map It
Map City Services
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LouisvilleKY.gov Links
Friday June 4, 2004
Media ReleaseFor Immediate ReleaseFor Information Contact:Jennifer F. Brislin502.574.4137
Patrick H. Neely502.574.1351
The public will have two opportunities to address the Louisville Metro Council as it considers the fiscal year 2005 budget for Metro Government.
Hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday. Speakers will have up to three minutes to address the council.
Sign-ups will be held outside the council chambers for one hour prior to each hearing; no sign-ups will be allowed before this time.
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Bristol riots depicted in anonymous artist's mural
A huge mural depicting Bristol's riots of 1831 is being created in the city by an anonymous artist.
The colourful artwork, on what was a blank wall on Bath Road, is about 20ft (6m) by 80ft (24m) and is now nearing completion.
The 1831 Queen Square riot took place after the House of Lords rejected the second Reform Bill, aimed at getting rid of run-down and filthy city areas.
Some 500 to 600 young men took part in the three-day long uprising.
Historical Bristol riots
- The Bristol Bridge riot, 30 September 1793
- Queen Square riots, 1831
- St Pauls riot, 1980
- Hartcliffe riot, 1992
The artist, who wants to remain anonymous, told the BBC in an e-mail statement: "Out of a population in Bristol of some 104,000 at that time, only about 6,000 were eligible to vote.
"Most of these were part of the establishment of property and business owners.
"Political corruption was endemic throughout Britain, with many MPs representing 'rotten boroughs' that had little or no electorate to speak of."
He said the Bristol riot was a "sad reflection" that "no matter where it may be in the world, we seldom seem able to overcome oppression without innocent blood being spilled on a massive scale".


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|« Venting Frustration
|Warts and All »
"I'm not sure if that means he's the problem," Chris F. wrote, "or we need to get him to fix the problem."
"Perhaps the download would have succeeded," wrote Chris Scholfield, "if the telegram was sung instead of read."
"This is an error message from the China Airlines Dynasty Flyer registration page," Matt M. writes.
"The page count is kind of depressing," writes Kyle, "considering how much effort went into writing the document."
"While using pgAdmin III, a GUI for PostgreSQL Databases, I received the following," Jeremy Sweetman wrote,"Something tells me that's a little high."
"I sure hope that the font shortage doesn't hurt business at FedEx Kinko's," notes David.
"Now, being a native Texan, this is how 'I' feel," Brian writes, "Apparently, some web developers agree."
"I found this job through an internet posting like I'm sure many thousands of other job seekers," writes Rich S., "but it's nice to see that a job site is willing to reach out to the individual."
I recognized the background texture. It's from wizard101.com when you try to redeem a gift card. After selecting "United States" as the country (from the list "Other"/"United States"), the "state" box appears. The drop-down list does, indeed, consist solely of "Other" and "Texas".
Note that selecting "Texas" adds a "City" entry, and its drop-down consists of Other/Austin/Plano.
Obviously you've never ridden a horse named Batman.
|« Venting Frustration
|Warts and All »


text:
|Nene, C
It was a little funny seeing him stare down his teammates and almost scream out for help whenever Bynum or Pau made a move on him. Nene was solid but not much of a factor in the win to be honest. The Lakers bigs easily pushed him around down low while he continues to put up poor rebounding performances. As I said before, the move to power forward is not paying off for Nene and I am confused why he had to throw such a fit about playing center – where he is better.
|Danilo Gallinari, F
The Rooster still can't find his touch from distance, but he did shoot 6-9 on non 3-point attempts. Gallo also recorded five steals and was a key factor in the fourth quarter run that sealed the victory. It wasn't a perfect game from Gallinari, but he played his best when it mattered.
|Timofey Mozgov, C
Mozgov racked up five fouls in 13 minutes and clearly let the officiating get into his head. He spent most of the night trying to get a call and once again struggled denying Bynum position. Timo showed a few flashes defensively but he needs to learn to fight for position and contribute on the glass like a starting center should.
|Arron Afflalo, SG
He's contributing defensively like you'd expect, but it's been a rough road getting Afflalo involved on the offensive end. He looks tentative, dribbles too much and jumps away from contact rather than finishing through it. The Nuggets need to get him some shots and work him into the offense more.
|Ty Lawson, PG
Everything was there for Lawson tonight. The Nuggets came alive with him on the floor and were consistently able to speed up the game and run on the tired Lakers. He scored, he got 10 assists despite poor shooting from teammates and his defense was the key to the fourth quarter run that sealed the win. His presence makes Andre Miller extraneous late in games and the Nuggets need the ball in their best player's hands every big possession.
|Al Harrington, PF
Once again, Harrington was all the Nuggets had going the first half of this game. As I tweeted earlier things could be looking grim if Al were to cool off before the offense got itself sorted. Luckily, Ty Lawson stepped up in the second half and Al Buckets wasn't asked to carry the Nuggets again. Harrington continues to contribute in all areas of the game and grabbed a team-high 11 boards. I would have liked to see more Afflalo in the fourth quarter but you can't deny Harrington is playing well right now.
|Chris Andersen, C
After playing a combined 12 minutes in the past two contests, Birdman bounced back with his best game of the season. His conditioning and leaping ability still aren't there, but he continues to give a better effort on the floor and finally saw some results. His defense remains wildly inconsistent, but Bird was solid tonight. He scored with efficiency, rebounded well and recorded his first blocked shot of the season.
|Ty Lawson 3-8 FG | 2-4 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 9 PTS | -13
After a torrid start to the season, Lawson cooled off and struggled to find his rhythm offensively. He made a concerted effort to get others involved finishing with a season high 8 assists. Unfortunately Lawson had four turnovers, missed 2 big free-throws and failed to get anything going in the half-court. It behooves him to be a little more selfish and stay aggressive as that often creates better openings for his teammates than simply passing to them.
|Arron Afflalo 26 MIN | 4-10 FG | 2-5 3PT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 13 PTS | -9
Afflalo has not been a key factor in any of Denver's games and continues to struggle finding a role. Despite that, this is the best he has played all season and we finally saw his familiar defensive presence show up in a meaningful way. The Nuggets defended much better than they have in their first 3 games and Afflalo's solid effort on Kobe helped set the tone. Offensively, Arron still looks hesitant and isn't shooting the ball with confidence.
|Danilo Gallinari 3-12 FG | 1-2 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 7 PTS | -5
Is this guy having a bad week or what? Considered by many to be Denver's best offensive talent primed for a breakout season, Gallinari has flopped. He continues to shoot horrible jumpers and refuses to get to the free throw line. The Nuggets need Gallinari to play better to have any hope of contending, and there is no choice but to let him keep shooting. The shooting slump is not what bothers me though – it's his timid attitude and awful decision making down the stretch. Gallo only avoids a grade of 'F' for some solid pick and roll defense on Kobe Bryant. There simply was no excuse to miss that layup.
|Nene Hilario 5-10 FG | 3-5 FT | 8 REB | 0 BLK | 13 PTS | -11
Is playing at Power Forward finally unleashing the full power of Nene's game? In a word – no. From what I've seen in four games, the Nuggets are worse with Nene at Power Forward. Mainly because he hasn't had success scoring outside of a small lineup where he plays Center. Nene finished with his career averages, about 13 and 8. He also missed a dunk that would have extended the Nuggets lead late and wasn't a factor down the stretch.
|Timofey Mozgov 26 MIN | 4-7 FG | 10 REB | 4 BLK | 8 PTS | +3
Mozgov is agile for a big man, moves his feet well has decent enough hands to handle precision passes under the rim. Him and Al Harrington were the most reliable Nuggets bigs in terms of hedging on pick and rolls and keeping L.A. out of the middle. Mozgov also grabbed a team high 10 boards and was the only starter to finish with a positive plus/minus. Although he couldn't keep Bynum from getting good position down low, Timo is developing just fine in the starting lineup.
|Al Harrington 8-17 FG | 3-8 3PT | 3 REB | 21 PTS | +5
Can we just admit it now – Al Harrington is the second best player on the Nuggets roster through 4 games. He made big shots when Denver needed it and is consistently giving all-out effort on defense. Harrington has a lot of shortcomings as a defender and rebounder, and grabbing only 3 boards while playing at Power Forward all game is a little disappointing. That's not really what Harrington does though, and there's no denying his offense carried the Nuggets in a game they were in a fantastic position to win
How do you build a championship roster?
That is a question that General Managers and Presidents of Player Personnel must ask themselves every day. What complicates things is while every team starts every season at 0-0 not every team is created equal. What works in one market is not feasible in another. Add in the fact that no two teams are at the same point in their process of building a team and the possibilities for every team are endless. Every decision creates a ripple in the pool of NBA chaos.
After Oklahoma City's impressive victory over the Lakers on Sunday night, the crowded playoff picture in the West just got even more interesting. The Nuggets have a two game lead for the fifth seed and assuming they hold on against Portland's tiebreaker it is now conceivable they could face the Lakers in addition to Dallas and Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.
After Kenyon Martin put back a missed free-throw by Nene to clinch the Nuggets 95-90 victory of the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, emotion spilled out of the gritty power forward in the form of expletives aimed at the silicone-infused celebrities strung along the court-side seats at Staples Center. For Nuggets fans, this was a moment when we vicariously said what we've wanted to for a really long time, and thanks to Kenyon Martin, we got that opportunity without having to deal with the repercussions.
With the current Denver Nuggets squad far surpassing any expectations fans had following the historic Carmelo Anthony trade, it's now time to start seriously looking at whether or not another 50-win season is approaching. With nine games left to play and our current record sitting at 44-29, you'd think 50 wins would be easily attainable considering how hot the Nuggets have been as of late, but like all teams not named the Miami Heat, the final stretch of games in the NBA season is almost guaranteed to be tough. (more…)
For two consecutive games the Denver Nuggets have outscored its opponent by at least 19 points. It's too bad neither of those teams happened to be the Lakers or Heat, but taking care of business is taking care of business last I checked, no matter who the opponent is. (more…)
Quick recap tonight, because this was a game in which the Nuggets just didn't measure up – literally and figuratively. There are a lot of reasons this years Nuggets are a full tier below the Lakers and other top teams in the West, and pretty much all of them were exposed tonight. The defending champs dismantle the Nuggets with aggressive defense, a sound gameplan that plays to their strengths and simply enough patience to wait Denver out and let them implode on their own. It worked to perfection.
I don't buy that the Los Angeles Lakers are struggling. They may be vulnerable yes, but that certainly isn't anything new. No disrespect to San Antonio, but these are still the defending two time champions with the most proven all-star duo in the league. And for my money still the most difficult team to face in a seven game series.
If the Lakers have slipped at all, it's probably due to miniscule cracks in their foundation of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Kobe's averaging his fewest points and shot attempts in seven years, but continues with his trademark intensity and leadership as the game's best winner. Pau Gasol is again contributing all around production at a high level, but occasionally gets passive and flustered in clutch situations. Andrew Bynum's return has been strong, but stuttered by injury and yet another adjustment for the Laker bench after losing Matt Barnes.
The Laker defense is what makes them dangerous. They try to defend without fouling and run teams off the threes. When the pace gets out of control, they can be prone to giving up too many steals and offensive rebounds. In a frenzied offensive showdown they can be knocked off their normally steady half-court composure.
If Denver can muster enough pride to defend, they have the weapons. Ty Lawson should get whatever he wants against Derek Fisher and Steve Blake. Against San Antonio Melo let Richard Jefferson force him into awful shot selection all night. If that doesn't change against Artest this won't be close. Because Denver looks like and acts like a good team at home, they have a great chance against a team they've had a vendetta against the past few years.
Update: In preparation for tonight's game check out this Q & A between Jeremy and Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles.
Fresh off the butt-whooping of the decade at Indiana (sorry guys, I'm still not over that one) and, in true Nuggets fashion, Denver returns home just in time for a huge bounce back victory over the formerly undefeated Lakers 118-112 at "The Can".
This was Carmelo Anthony's night, his 32 point, (on 14-of-25 shooting) 13 rebound performance lifting Denver down the stretch run and playing much more efficiently than his superstar counterpoint. Kobe scored a season-high (and team-high) 34 for LA, but he essentially shot his Lakers out of the game late in the fourth by not getting the ball in Pau's hands. Gasol had a very solid 17 and 20 for the Lakers but he (6-for-17) like Kobe (11-for-32) struggled from the field.
Nene had a decent game (18 points on 7-of-13 from the field) in his matchup with the Spaniard, but it was still a frustrating game to watch for the Brazilian. As I said in my season preview, the Nuggets needed big things from Nene this season; they need him to make that jump into the next echelon of centers. But his foul-prone defense got him trouble again and forced him out of the game at points when he was getting on a role offensively. Granted, the Nuggets were playing 5-on-8 for most of the game as Kobe and Pau (especially Gasol) got sent to the line anytime they were touched. Nene's fourth foul late in the third came on a play when he "pulled the chair" on Pau when he backing Nene down, and yet the Nuggets center was still called for the foul.
But despite getting bailed out by the refs multiple times, Pau looked lost and at times soft, especially in the second half. While he's been lauded in the national media for "toughening up" after getting dominated by KG in the 2008 Finals, Pau still shows moments of weakness that opposing centers should be able to take advantage of. But despite this minor criticism, the Lakers (aka you Kobe) should have tried to exploit the Nuggets small-ball lineup, which at times had Big Al or even Melo at the five.
Ty Lawson had a great game and got some crunch time minutes late in the fourth (which he deserved, thanks you George!), dropping 17 points and 5 dimes off the bench. Any time he's paired up against an older, slower point guard (Fisher and Blake both qualify) he's gonna have his way with them on offense and be able to penetrate and kick/or finish. J.R. had a decent outing himself, but still hasn't gotten over the 13 point hump this year. His best moment of the night was his long three over Kobe (who was playing off J.R. and begging him to shoot that three before closing out…you give him that room he's gonna launch!) that gave the Nuggets the lead with 4:11 to go and Denver added six more to go up nine with 2:13 remaining.
I also wanted to say I like George going small, spacing the floor and increasing that threat of the Nuggets running in transition even more than they already do. Gary Forbes continues to perform admirably in his spare minutes on the floor, knocking down his open looks and playing with hustle and aggression. And with Melo continuing to pick up his rebounding along with Big Al's play on the defensive end (he's played solid D against the likes of Pau, Dirk and D-West) why would George stray away from a small-ball lineup? They're fun to watch, play scrappy D, force turnovers and rebound just as well (which says a lot about our bigs' play up to this point) as the natural fours and fives.
Shannon Brown had another huge game off the bench for the Lakers, still making me sad he took less money to stay and back up Kobe in LA instead of starting for a fun, young team somewhere else. I think Denver may have trouble with young, athletic players who can shoot the three (especially off the bench when J.R. is guarding them) if Aaron's not guarding them, which means all these young teams in the West (Sacramento, OKC, Portland) are definitely gonna give Denver some fits.
The good news is Denver was able to bounce back from a debilitating loss to beat a superior opponent (and one as hated as the Lakers) and get back on a winning track. The bad news is Denver appears to be playing to the level of their competition, and that kind of inconsistency isn't going to get it done late in the season, or come playoff time. If the Nuggets have any chance of holding onto Melo after this season, they can't afford to give up 140+ points or lose by 20+ points on the road to mediocre teams. But if the bench continues to play strong and the Nuggets can coax more out of Nene and/or Afflalo (who's cooled down after a hot start) Denver can definitely make the climb up the Western Conference standings…at least in the regular season.
P.S.- Denver won their 44th straight game at home when they scored 110 or more points…not too shabby fellas!
ESPN.com recently ran a feature where Chad Ford and John Hollinger ranked the potential for future success of all 30 NBA teams (Insider required). Every team was ranked based on five important characteristics, players (weighted 40%), management (weighted 20%), money (weighted 20%), market (weighted 10%), and draft (weighted 10%).
As a Nuggets fan and observer I believe they forgot one very crucial category, luck.
Whether you call it luck or intangibles, mojo or fortune it comes down to the fact some teams seem to have things go their way a little more often than others. Look at the teams that have dominated the NBA over the previous two decades. Chicago, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Boston had at least one tremendously lucky break that has paved the way for their success.
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For the second night in a row the Denver Nuggets delivered a feel bad win. For the second night in a row the Nuggets lost a sizeable third quarter lead. For the second night in a row the Nuggets were behind in the fourth quarter and looked like a cooked goose. For the second night in a row the Nuggets made the plays down the stretch and pulled out a victory.
This time it was against the Los Angeles Lakers who were playing without Kobe Bryant and the victory dropped the Nuggets' magic number for the Northwest Division title down to two. Denver can clinch the division title and seal home court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs with any combination of Nuggets' wins or Jazz losses that add up to two.
There was some gamesmanship prior to tipoff as word leaked that Phil Jackson just might sit some of the Lakers key players and low and behold Kobe Bryant did not play a second. Early speculation as to why Kobe was held out surrounded the fact that it would provide a built in excuse for L.A. if they lost the game, and thus the season series, Denver would know it was because Kobe did not play. My initial reaction was that the Lakers wanted to do what they could to avoid playing the Nuggets in the first round. You can draw your own conclusion, but while the Lakers should be able to clinch the top seed in the west, they are now tied with the Orlando Magic and may have sacrificed home court in the finals should those two match up again in the NBA Finals.
There was nothing new to Nuggets fans in this game. Denver plays a so-so first half, builds a lead, gives it up after the offense becomes stagnant and perimeter oriented leading to easy baskets at the other end of the floor, and then somehow Denver manages to barely hang on for the win. While I am not thrilled with how the game went, at this point in the season a loss would have been devastating so I will gladly take the W, tainted though it was.
Once again the Nuggets tightened their defense and honed their focus over the final few minutes. Still they found themselves down five, 92-87, with just over three minutes remaining. Melo was a little slow meeting Lamar Odom as he cut into the lane, but recovered well enough to deflect the pass and it went out off of Odom. On the other end of the floor Melo showed some real savvy. He received the ball just left of center above the three point line. He had Anthony Carter on the wing and J.R. smith in the corner. Melo directed Carter to go to the other side of the floor and thus he and J.R. were now alone. Melo then drove left on Odom. Had Melo not repositioned Carter Jordan Farmar would have been in position to help and could have done so without worrying about Carter making him pay by hitting a three. However, with J.R. in the corner Sasha Vujicic was not about to leave Smith to help Odom. With no help available Melo blew past Odom for a layup. Odom was miffed with Vujacic, but he was not about to leave Smith, who had made five threes, alone. Plus any help from the weak side would be shielded off by Odom. Gasol did make an effort to help and block the shot, but he was too late. It was a very intelligent decision by Melo and he then executed it perfectly.
On the next Laker possession Nene, Billups and Carter all collapsed on Derrick Fisher resulting in a deflection and then a rushed shot. Denver rebounded the miss and pushed it up the floor. Carter passed to Melo who drilled a game tying three.
On the next defensive possession Nene hedged beautifully and forced Vujacic into the corner and when Carter recovered he was able to force a jump ball. Los Angeles controlled the tip and Billups was called for a foul when he tried getting a little too close to Fisher on a jumper. Fisher made both free throws, but J.R. drove baseline on Vujacic and hit a little floater to tie things up at 94.
The Lakers once again had the ball, but could not get a shot off thanks to Nene playing strong denial defense as Pau flashed out to the free throw line. Nene tipped the pass into the backcourt and by the time Vujacic recovered it, he ran out of time to shoot.
Denver then ran pick and roll with Chauncey and Nene that was so effective down the stretch in Oklahoma City. Nene only made one, but made up for it by stealing the ball from Gasol. Melo drew a foul on Odom and made both freebies to put Denver up 97-94.
Fisher was able to draw a foul on J.R. and made both free throws to get the Lakers within one. Denver then ran pick and roll, but Chauncey lost picked up his dribble and had to pass to J.R. who had his shot deflected. Denver caught a big break when Shannon Brown flipped a pass up the sideline allowing Chauncey to get in and deflect the pass. After a lengthy video review it was decided the ball was off of Fisher.
At this point I thought Adrian Dantley made a mistake. He had Melo, his second best free throw shooter inbound the ball and when Fisher did his best impression of a coffin on Chauncey, gripping him like grim death, Melo had to pass in to J.R. who has not been the most effective late game free throw shooter. Perhaps Dantley wanted to avoid a replay of what happened in the conference finals from last season when Denver turned the ball over twice on late game side inbounds plays. Still, Melo should have been a one of the potential receivers instead of the passer.
True to form J.R. missed the first free throw and failed to push the lead back up to three.
Down two with 12.7 seconds left Phil Jackson chose not to call a timeout. Melo and Chauncey switched a screen between Odom and Fisher. Fisher chose to try to get a jumper off over Melo. Fisher never threw any kind of a move at Melo to freeze him and as a result when he tried to launch a jumper Melo was able to lunge and block it.
While I would have preferred a 30 point victory, I was impressed with how Denver made the little plays to pull out a win. In the final three minutes alone, they scored at the rim twice, Melo hit a big three, the deflected two passes, stole the ball twice, defended the pick and roll successfully three times and blocked a desperation shot.
Denver now must continue to win on Saturday hen San Antonio comes to town. A victory over the Spurs and Memphis the following outing will clinch the division.
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We are close enough to the end of the season to start projecting what might happen with some level of certainty. Honestly, I have no idea what order Dallas, Utah and Phoenix will finish in or how the bottom three spots will be sorted among Oklahoma City, Portland and San Antonio. I do believe two spots are locked in place. Obviously the Lakers will be the top seed and I think the Nuggets are all but guaranteed to finish as the fifth seed.
While that is a very frustrating sentence to type, Denver can be a dangerous fifth seed or they can be a pushover as the fifth seed. It all depends on how the finish the regular season and the Nuggets' closing schedule is an interesting one. Almost every contest features a team playing at the end of a difficult stretch of games.
Portland comes to town Thursday playing their fifth game in eight days. Wednesday they bombed the Knicks, but still have to travel for the fifth straight game. Denver has been sitting at home since Monday night dwelling on how badly they have sucked for the past week. If we do not get a big effort from the Nuggets against Portland, it will be very bad news. I think the result is a win for Denver.
Next the Clippers, without Baron Davis who is out with back spasms, arrive in Denver on Saturday in the only battle between two rested teams remaining on the docket. The Nuggets will be on one day of rest while the Clippers will have had two days off after getting blown out in Toronto on Wednesday. That game should absolutely be another win for the Nuggets.
Denver then has three days off before their final five games in seven nights stretch to close out the regular season. The first outing is in Oklahoma City. The way Denver has been playing this would seem like a sure loss. However, this game will be the fourth game in five nights for the Thunder, who play in Utah the night before, and will have traveled before each of the four games. That smells like a win and a three game winning streak.
The next night the Nuggets return home to play the Lakers who are having some serious struggles on the road right now and really have nothing to play for. Even so LA/Denver has become a heated mini-rivalry and with the Lakers enjoying three days off I expect them to play well. Denver will be motivated to do well also with the division crown still within their grasp, but without Kenyon Martin and Coach Karl I suspect they drop this one.
After a day of rest Denver gets a visit from the San Antonio Spurs who will be playing their fourth game in five days. It will be interesting to see if the Spurs will knock themselves out in an attempt to avoid the eight seed and a first round matchup with LA. I suspect the Spurs will sit Tim Duncan and/or Manu Ginobili against Denver and I think this is another Nugget victory.
Two days later in the penultimate matchup of the regular season the Grizzlies come calling. It will be Memphis' fifth game in seven days as they provide another victim for the now rolling Nuggets.
That brings us to game 82, a visit to Phoenix. The Nuggets will arrive in Phoenix with a solid stretch of five wins in six games and sporting a 53-28 record a half a game behind the Jazz who will be 53-27 and playing a game at Golden State on the same night. Denver will be playing their fifth game in seven nights, although unlike their recent horrific five in seven trip out east, they only have two travel days of which this is the second. The Suns enter the battle after a day off. Phoenix is a very difficult matchup for Denver when the Nuggets are full strength and the chances of earning a W in Phoenix are slim. Chalk that one up as a loss with Denver finishing the season 53-29, fifth overall in the conference.
These final seven games will be a test of Denver's mental attitude and determination as there are "official" reports backing up my intuitive suggestions that they very well could be without Kenyon and Karl even after the playoffs begin.
Thursday night is the Nuggets' fight or flight moment. Do they fold the tent and enter the playoffs a slumping has been or embrace the fact they can still capture the Northwest Division and remain relevant? Momentum changes come at unexpected times and as bad as they have looked recently all it will take for the Nuggets to recapture some of their lost mojo is a well played victory against the Blazers.
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There is no guarantee the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers are going to face off again in the playoffs this spring, but today we got a taste of what a late May matchup between these two teams will be like. If that is indeed the case, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant may not have very much fun during that series.
The two superstars combined to make a mere 10 of their 36 shots. Ron Artest was all over Carmelo on one end while Arron Afflalo was harassing Kobe on the other. The difference in the game was Kobe adjusted his plan to fit what was going on around him while Carmelo did not. The proof is in their passing stats. Carmelo tallied only one assist, an over the head heave to J.R. Smith who was all alone after a steal, while Kobe ended the game with 12 assists. Compounding the problem even further Melo turned the ball over eight times good for a stunningly bad .13 assist to turnover ratio.
The Lakers have had a lot of success defending Carmelo in the past by crowding him with players like Vladimir Radmanovic or Luke Walton to take away his jumper while pre-rotating a defender over, either the power forward or center, to help if Melo chooses to drive. The only somewhat open shot available is a pull up jumper from eight to ten feet which is not a shot most players practice. Today, LA showed how effective that defense can be when the role of Radmanovic or Walton is filled by a motivated Ron Artest.
Artest was able to muscle Melo all over the court, pushing him out to the three point line on several occasions when Anthony was trying to post up. In fact on one play you can see Melo smiling as if to say "You do not bother me" as Artest pushed him towards the sideline only to see Ron jump in front of the entry pass and continue down the floor unmolested for a dunk. It happened again in the second half as Artest pushed Carmelo beyond the three point line and jumped the pass leading to another LA fast break.
When Carmelo drove, Artest guided him left repeatedly and funneled him expertly to his waiting help. Even when Melo drove past Artest, Ron was able to tip the ball away from behind on several occasions. Artest played a great defensive game and executed the Lakers' scheme perfectly. It was the best defensive game I have seen from him in a long time. Plus his three point shooting helped keep the Lakers in striking distance in the first half.
While Artest deserves credit, Carmelo is not completely blameless. In fact, in some ways he allowed Artest to handle him. Carmelo tried to be a little too cool for school. He did not hold his position well at all and seemed to have a nonchalant attitude about where he received the ball. It almost appeared that he was willing to let Artest have his way in an attempt to prove that he could score no matter where he received the ball, which as we saw was not the case. Early in the game he made an attempt to find the holes in the Lakers defense with his passing, but after a couple were tipped away, he gave up and tried to do too much on his own.
All of the blame for Carmelo's performance does not fall on the player. The coaching staff failed to put him in the best position. As we have seen in the past, when the Lakers play Melo with the crowd and help style they employed today, the best thing to do is to give him the ball in the middle of the court. That way, help must be ready on both sides of the lane and it gives Carmelo more of an opportunity to pass off. Carmelo repeatedly receive the ball on the left wing. With Artest forcing him left, he was driving with his offhand towards the baseline. On the right side of the court if Artest wanted to funnel Melo to the baseline, he would at least be driving with his strong hand, plus if the Lakers still tried to force him left, he has proven his effectiveness driving into the lane with his left hand from the right wing.
Even with the poor performance from Carmelo I think had Ty Lawson not been knocked out of the game with a bruised shoulder, Denver would have had a great chance to win that game. Anthony Carter played seven nondescript minutes in the second half and Denver clearly lacked the threat for penetration that Lawson provides.
There are some encouraging things to take out of this game. For the second time in three games Denver has done a solid job defending Kobe. Playing Denver is not longer a guaranteed 30 point night for Mr. Bryant. However, the Nuggets still need to find a way to deal with him in the post as he was able to back down and pass off for easy baskets in the fourth quarter.
Nene did a very solid job on Andrew Bynum and the team as a whole did a good job of keeping Pau Gasol from dominating the lane with his excellent post game. In fact Denver's first half defense was some of their best of the season and they did not drop off much in the second half.
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By the way, make sure you check out the two podcasts on Land O'Lakers. First off, the interview former NBA assistant Dave Miller on how to stop the Nuggets high powered offense and secondly they talk to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post about the game and how George Karl is holding up.
The Denver Nuggets split a back to back in Los Angeles and Utah over the weekend and despite the loss in Utah, I continue to be impressed with this team and the way they are playing.
Denver started the weekend off in style defeating the Lakers 126-113 (Box Score, Forum Blue & Gold) . Obviously the Nuggets played great on offense lead by Chauncey Billups' career high 39, 37 of which came in the first three quarters thanks to nine fancy threes. Chauncey was slowed in the fourth quarter after rolling his ankle, but J.R. Smith picked up where BIllups left off dropping in 16 fourth quarter points to close out the Lakers.
It is one thing to be hot on offense. Any team can catch fire for a night and bury their opponent. To me the real story was the way Denver defended the Lakers in the second half. The two Lakers who have had their way with Denver in the past are Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Those two combined to score 33 of the Lakers' 64 first half points. However, in the second half Denver held L.A. to 49 points and Kobe and Pau only netted 17 between the two of them.
Kobe was red hot in the first quarter producing an impressive 20 points. Kobe is an incredibly competitive individual, which is news to no one. After the credit Arron Afflalo received for his performance against Kobe in the first meeting this season, you knew the Black Mamba would be out to prove Afflalo could not handle him. Despite the big scoring quarter, I thought Afflalo did about as good a job as he did previously. Kobe was just hitting difficult shots. Even with Afflalo playing solid D, the Nuggets chose to double Kobe for much of the second half to prevent him from having one of those nights.
With the double teaming of Kobe, it would stand to reason that Pau would get loose inside and dominate with his touch and passing ability. Not so. The Nuggets also had a new wrinkle for Pau. When Pau caught the ball with his back to the rim, the Nuggets waited for him to put the ball on the floor and then sent a double team at him as well. Gasol tends to take his time in the post and once he starts dribbling, you can expect him to dribble more than once or twice. Knowing that, Denver was able to wait for him to dribble before they doubled him. This prevented him for working to get exactly the shot he wanted and either rush the shot or pass out of the double.
It was a significant change for Denver who generally dislikes doubling anyone, but it was an effective strategy and a big reason why they were able to win the game. With Kobe and Gasol held in check, none of the Lakers supporting cast failed to rise to the occasion. Ron Artest was 3-9 and scored 12 points. Andrew Bynum shot 5-7, but only scored two second half points. Derek Fisher had four points on seven shots. Sasha Vujacic missed all five of his threes and only totaled four points on six shots.
The Los Angeles bench did manage to score 37 points, which is a good total. The kicker is it took them 36 shots to get there. Conversely the Denver bench (J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson and Chris Andersen) racked up 47 points, but did so on a mere 27 shots. Birdman actually outrebounded the entire Laker bench by himself 15-13.
If there is bad news, it has to be that despite Birdman's aforementioned 15 boards and stout 12 rebound effort from Kenyon Martin L.A. pulled down 18 offensive boards and outrebounded Denver by 7.
The other aspect of the game that I found interesting was Nene was aggressive offensively against Bynum, which has not always been the case. In the past Nene has shied away from attacking bigger defenders such as Bynum, but he went right at him on a few occasions and had success. Now he just needs to pull down a few more rebounds to help reduce the Lakers' offensive rebounding advantage.
The very next night Denver found themselves in Utah once again playing without Carmelo Anthony, but this time sans Chauncey Billups as well. Denver had already defeated Utah three times this season, the Jazz had been red hot and were sure to be highly motivated to dump the shorthanded Nuggets.
I do not have time to go into detail on that game, (Box Score, Highlights, Salt City Hoops, SLC Dunk) but I will say that I was thrilled with the effort and heart the Nuggets displayed. Playing without Melo and Chauncey and on the second night of a back to back (one of the late game in the Pacific time zone flying east that Greg Popovich thinks are unfair) and with Utah sitting at home for two days waiting for Denver to roll into town, the odds were not in the Nuggets' favor.
Instead of folding after getting down 18 in the third quarter the Nuggets fought back and were within six points of the streaking Jazz with less than three minutes left.
Denver certainly lacked effort in some games earlier in the season, but they seem to have focused in on how important every game truly is. That bodes very well for the future even as Denver heads into possibly the toughest stretch of their regular season schedule.
In closing, I will say that most people, especially most guys young or old, fancy themselves as being tough. One thing I learned as a father is to never assume you could handle the pain someone else is experiencing. That point was struck home to me when my son was about 12 years old and foolishly decided sun tan lotion was unnecessary for someone who was in the sun as much as he was and returned from a trip to the lake with friends with skin that could easily be classified as well done. When it was time for bed, he was crying because his skin hurt so badly. My first reaction was to tell him to quit being such a baby until I stopped to put myself in his place. Maybe it was his own fault and maybe I would not be crying as he was had I scalded my exposed skin as badly as he did, but would I be able to lay down and fall asleep without uttering a single complaint? I had to figure as tough as I believed myself to be, a sunburn like that was certainly painful and while it was my job to make sure my son was not a sissy, it was not my job to dismiss his pain and label him a pansy.
I am sure you are wondering why I am telling you such a boring story. My point is I am really shocked that Carmelo Anthony has not played since spraining his ankle two weeks before the Utah game. Carmelo himself said the ankle was not as badly sprained as those he has suffered in the past. After seeing video of him working out before the game against the Lakers and knowing he has been practicing I started questioning both his toughness and how badly he wants to play. I do not take making accusations like that lightly, which is why I shared the sunburn story. Perhaps Carmleo's ankle is much worse than any of us know, or have been led to believe. Perhaps working out is causing more pain than you or I could endure. We simply do not know. While an absence of this length is suspicious, it is not enough to lead me to proclaim Melo is a sissy or is more interested in making sure he can drop 30 points a night when he returns.
I have not seen evidence of Melo skipping out on playing when he was banged up in the past. In fact, if you recall he finished the game against the Indiana Pacers in which he broke his hand last season.
Do I want Carmelo to play? Absolutely. Is the fact he is missing games causing more harm than good? I think that question is up for debate. Maybe the Nuggets go 6-2 or 7-1 instead of 5-3 over the eight games he has missed. However, players like Kenyon Martin and Arron Afflalo have been forced to raise their game and now the team knows that those two are capable of answering the bell should the need arise. That is a good thing and had Melo only missed a game or two Kenyon might not have been such a force against San Antonio and Afflalo probably does not get the opportunity to hit the game winning shot against Sacramento.
The wins in Houston, San Antonio and Los Angeles without Carmelo were big wins for this team and I believe have helped build tremendous momentum for this team and helped them truly believe in what they can accomplish together.


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Anzia Yezierska (1881 - 1970) was born in Pinsk, Poland, and emigrated to New York City when she was a teenager. She wrote about the struggles of Jewish and later Puerto Rican immigrants in New York's Lower East Side. Her most ...Add to my favourites Get these quotes on a PDF
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US military surveillance drones based in the Seychelles are patrolling off Somalia's coast in the hope of stemming a rising piracy trade. Pirates have unleashed a wave of attacks in recent days after monsoons had kept them at bay over the last few months. The bandits have seized three ships in the last 10 days, and officials predict attacks will increase. US military officials say unmanned drones called Reapers are patrolling the Indian Ocean. Small drones were previously used but the larger and more advanced Reapers are the first to be operated in the area by the US military's Africa Command.
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Mechanical Bull Rental in Greenville, SC
Mechanical Bulls are becoming one of the most popular activities to have at any special event in Greenville, SC.
Laugh 'N Leap Amusements operates the safest and most realistic mechanical bulls available in South Carolina for rodeos, college parties, corporate events, schools, private parties, rodeos, cowboy western events, rock and country music concerts, fairs, company promotions, or any special event.
Mechanical bull rentals are loads of fun! Completely safe for both children and adults, this all-electric (no hydraulics), direct drive, computer controlled attraction is as safe as it gets. Mechanical bulls are perfect for the youngest rider to an experienced cowboy. We can slow the machine down so that youngsters can get on for a ride and with a turn of the control knob, bring the speed up to challenge even the most seasoned rider.
Call now to reserve your mechanical bull rental in Greenville, SC! 803-647-9601


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WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) — The democratic process in Yemen shouldn't be held in limbo while the country's president weighs his options from Saudi Arabia, a U.S. official said.
There are conflicting reports about whether Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is to return to Yemen after his release from a hospital in Saudi Arabia. He was wounded in a June 3 attack on his presidential compound and only recently released.
Saleh has faced mounting pressure to resign after enduring months of political opposition at home. He had said he supports a resignation plan brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council but has refused to sign the measure.
Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said democratic processes in Yemen shouldn't be "held hostage" while the president weighs his options.
"Our view is that Yemen needs to move in a democratic direction along the lines of the GCC report," she said. "How that happens is up to the Yemeni people but it's got to happen."
Officials in Saleh's ruling General People's Congress maintain he is the legitimate leader until the country has presidential elections.