Here is Chris Marlowe's New Blog Entry on altitude.tv on Denver Nuggets First Round Playoff Matchup against the Thunder:
Bring on the Thunder
Round one between the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder is a great match up of NBA philosophies.
It’s the old school NBA star system, meeting up with George Karl’s new vision of the NBA future…waves of really good players coming at ya!
OKC has two legitimate stars in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and a bunch of good role players.
Denver has 10 starters and a secret weapon in Kosta Koufos!
The Thunder has Scotty Brooks, the reigning NBA Coach of the Year.
The Nuggets have future Hall of Famer George Karl, who taught Scotty everything he knows. Well, almost everything.
OKC has home court advantage; the Nuggets have karma and Rocky.
It will be a tough, physical series. I like the Nuggets in 6.
Actually, I would have much preferred to match up with the Lakers in the first round! And I am serious.
Let me tell you why:
First, the Nuggets have two point guards, Ty Lawson and Ray Felton that the Lakers simply can’t guard. They can go where they want, they can do what they do, and Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, Shannon Brown and Kobe Bryant can’t do anything about it.
Second, Denver has a bunch of guys who can guard Kobe Bryant. Most teams don’t. Aaron Afflalo covers Kobe one on one, as well as anybody in the league. Wilson Chandler has length and hops, and showed that he can keep up with the Laker star. And Kenyon Martin can match up in key situations.
Finally, with the additions of 6’10” Danilo Gallinari, 7’1” Timofey Mozgov, and 7’ 0” Kosta Koufos the Nuggets now have the size to deal with Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum.
All that being said, the Nuggets don’t play the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. But save this analysis for a little bit later (WCF).
As I said on Wednesday’s telecast on Altitude, I voted for George Karl for NBA Coach of the Year. Tom Thibodeau guided the Bulls to the best record in the East and Greg Popovich’s Spurs surprised everyone with the best record in the West.
But the job George did this season, with all the early injuries, the Melo-drama, a trade that sent his two stars to NY, and the infusion of 5 new players was superb. Simply the best.
For the record, I also voted for Derrick Rose for MVP, Lamar Odom for 6th Man, and Dwight Howard for Defensive Player of the Year.
Finally, a reminder that all Nuggets first round playoff games are televised on Altitude in high definition. Tune to see if Scott Hastings and I look and sound as good as we think we do!
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