Scouting the Nuggets

The Matchup:

Tonight, Boston (8-12) matches up against Denver (11-7).

Last season, Denver overachieved with a record of 57-25 and a spot in the playoffs under George Karl despite lacking a certifiable superstar player. This year, they are 6th in a very competitive Western Conference.

Nuggets' Ranks:

-5th in scoring with 104 PPG
-11th in field goal percentage with 45.5%
-10th in 3-point field goal percentage with 37.8%
-5th in rebounds with 46 RPG
-13th in assists with 22.5 APG
-22nd in points allowed with 101.5 PPG

Denver averages 85 shot attempts per game, so it's safe to say that this will be a high-paced game (finally!). Denver is an efficient offensive team, but they are rather subpar on the defensive end. Boston should be able to exploit their weak defense for a lot of points. But due to the nature of their team, it's likely Boston will give up many points, which is oky as long as they get the win.

Players to Watch:

I believe it all starts with Ty Lawson. He averages 19.3 ppg and 8.2 apg, very respectable for a starting PG.

Kenneth Faried (PF) averages a solid 10.8 ppg and 8.8 rpg.

JaVale McGee (C) averages 7 ppg and a dismal 3.4 rpg despite being a 7-footer. Even Olynyk rebounds better than that and he's usually outmuscled by everyone he plays.

Wilson Chandler (SF) averages 10.5 ppg and 3.9 rpg. Nothing inherently impressive to see here.

Prediction:

Boston should be able to match up well with them. There is no particularly dominant player on their team. I'm very much interested in seeing if Sullinger matches up against either Faried or McGee (or even both at times). Green should be able to outplay Chandler, and Bradley should give Lawson fits on defense.

Boston will have to play with A LOT of energy, though. No coming out flat or this can be inked in as another loss.




KJ

In recent years, Denver has built success based on home court advantage -- not fans, but playing at altitude, going 10-deep in their rotation, and running so that the other team gasps for breath and can't keep up. They were 57-25 last year but only 19-22 on the road.

This year's team is different, but the formula still looks the same -- 6-2 at home, 5-5 on the road. Still, Ty Lawson can be a handful, and the Celtics need to keep Faried, Hickson, and (surprisingly) Mozgov from controlling the game inside. Could be an interesting matchup.

I believe Faried has the type of game to be a key force on a championship team. I'd love to see him with the Celtics.

Sam

Faried is a great dunker and decent rebounder, but has no ability to score except put backs. Hes no where near a defensive stopper either. I'd take Sully all day over Faried.

I believe there's a place on the Celtics for a rebounding dynamo (a la Faried or Varejao) who thrives on energy as well as a rebounding dynamo (a la Sully) who thrives on positioning—especially if Sully's going to be putting in time at the center position on an ongoing basis.

Sam

All of Faried's numbers are down from last season, right now Bass is playing better than I've ever seen him play both ends, right now I think I'd take Bass over Faried too. Verejao is active and has more length than Bass or Faried, a better defender than both, but is always injury prone and on wrong side of 30 with very ugly offense.....Bass has really been playing hard and well, his jumper is going good right now.

Faried's per game figures are slightly off from last year's because he's playing three fewer minutes per game than last season. On a per 36 minutes basis which puts both years in the same frame of reference, his rebounding and PPG figures are equal to or higher than last year's.

But more to the point.... I'm not talking player comparisons here. I simply complimented Faried by suggesting I believe he would make a good Celtic because of his approach to the game. I felt the same way about Jerry West without trying to imply some kind of comparison between West and Havlicek. I felt the same way about Willis Reed without trying to imply some kind of comparison with Dave Cowens. I felt the same way about Hakeem Olajuwon without trying to imply some kind of comparison with Robert Parish. I felt the same way about Luol Deng without trying to imply some kind of comparison with Paul Pierce.

In fact, there's a Celtics great who had tremendous energy in common with Faried. A guy by the name of Cowens, whose energy could be argued as having been his most unique asset. And I'm not trying to compare the two—simply reinforcing the importance of energy on the court and stating that Faried has it in spades and uses it beautifully....
the kind of effort level that I have respected among Celtics difference-makers through the years.

Sam

Sam you said you would love to see him on the Celtics, well with our logjam at PF, I just didn't see him as a significant upgrade over our guys. We've actually been jelling and winning with 2 PF's at the starting big positions and I don't think Faried has enough other skills all around even though he plays with energy to help us more than our guys already there. Dave Cowens played with energy and had alot of basketball skills with the athleticism that made him a HoFer....did I ever mention I really liked watching him play? Since you named a player, a player I would love to see in green would be Robin Lopez, a legit 7 footer to protect the rim and rebound would allow Sully to prosper as a traditional 4 and look how much he has helped Blazers with stuff that doesn't always show up on the stat sheet. I love role players like that, Sully also plays with alot of energy, its just more subtle as hes not a leaper or a speed merchant, he certainly knows how to get to his spots and find the ball.

Willis Reed actually could have been drafted by the Celtics, but Red passed him up....putting a young Reed next to Russell would have been some awesome 4-5 combo right Sam? Then after Russell retired, pairing Reed and Cowens and Silas would have really been something.

Cow,

My main intent was to compliment Faried by saying he's a type of player I'd like to see with the Celtics, which is true because I think he'd fit beautifully into the Celtics culture. It was a general statement—not a suggestion that the Celtics try to move to get him at the present time. My current hope for a Celtics acquisition involves Asik for Humphries—not to trade for another PF on a team loaded with them. But you elected to try to move the conversation into the area of current personnel strategy. Fine, let's do that, but it will be the only post I'll waste on a subject that doesn't interest me (beyond the possible Asik acquisition).

I see the Celtics frontcourt right now as consisting of Vitor, Sully, Bass and Humphries. (I'm hoping they'll send Olynyk to the DL when he returns.) Sully's been playing the bulk of his minutes at center, including being the starter.

I'd like them to trade Humphries for Asik (if they can), making the frontcourt rotation Asik, Vitor, Sully and Bass. I'm not sold on those four comprising a good enough frontcourt rotation for a team hoping to become a contender sooner rather than later, and I see Vitor (despite some good moments) as the weak link.

With Asik on board (and who knows if that'll actually happen?), I think they would eventually need a fourth impact player rather than Vitor in the forecourt. The 1985-86 Celtics did not win with a frontcourt of Parish, McHale, Bird and what amounted to a career sub. They also had Walton. In 1983-84, they had Maxwell instead of Walton. In other words, they had four impact frontcourt players in each of those two championship seasons.

Frankly, my strong suspicion is that they wouldn't have a realistic chance of acquiring Faried in anything approaching the near future. But, whether it's Faried or someone else, they will ultimately be needing a fourth impact frontcourt player. On the slim possibility that he could be acquired without giving up Asik, Bass or Sully, I believe Faried would offer a frontcourt dimension the Celtics would lack with Asik, Bassy and Sully. The Celtics transition to more of a transition game would be benefited. The presence of Faried would also free Sully to split his time between center and power forward and to have an impact player on the floor at all times in both the center and power forward positions. That would be a very strong asset, and the unique talents of Faried would complement the differing skills of the other three, similar to the way in which both Max's and Walton's unique talents complemented the skills of Larry, McHale and Parish.

A variation on this scheme (which would still be dependent on their acquiring a solid center) would be to keep Olynyk and Vitor on the active roster and hope that one or both of them would blossom well enough this season that they could help in acquiring that fourth impact frontcourt player (whether or not it's Faried) by next season.

To close on the proper note, although I have responded to your insistence that the conversation take a personnel strategy turn, further discussion on that subject holds no interest to me, and my main intent in initially posting on this thread was to label Faried as a Celtic-type player. Simple as that.

See you on another thread.

Sam

Sam, this talk about getting star complementary players brings to mind a story - perhaps apocryphal - about the early 1950's Red Sox. The scouts reported to Tom Yawkey that they had two outfielders they wanted to sign to pair up with Ted Williams in the outfield. Unfortunately Yawkey nixed the deals because he wanted to keep the Red Sox racially pure. The players? Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. Just imagine what kind of team that would have been and what kind of batting average Ted would have had with those superstars batting around him.

Meanwhile, in contrast, in the same decade the Celtics were signing Bill Russell, Sam Jones, KC Jones, and others.

Sam I agree with everything you said.

Worcester,

Wouldn't Mays and Aaron have loved to have been shooting for The Wall for 77 games a year? (Although both had power to all fields.)

Sam

That would have been special...instead we waited for Pumpsie Green. Go figure.

Worcester,

I believe it's true that Sam Jethroe became the Boston Braves' first black player before Pumpsie joined the Sox, but the Sox had first dibs on Jethroe. While a very fast center fielder, he was certainly not an impact player of note, but just another swing and a miss in the Red Sox racial scene.

Sam