Nuggets News

July 14, 2011
by Kalen

As the lockout continues to leave bloggers across the country scavenging every corner of the Internet for content, Roundball ponies up, whips out the pickaxe and goes digging for Nuggets’ gold in the form of (mostly) weird web stories.

First up, Roundball’s favorite dreadlock-donning defensive-minded mayhem-mastermind known as Kenneth Faried, dunks all over the place at a scrimmage in L.A.’s Drew League. For those unfamiliar, the Drew League is basically small conglomerate of different teams that consist mostly of local streetball legends, but during the summertime (especially in the midst of  a lockout) NBA and collegiate players alike join in on the fun to demonstrate in front of a lively crowd, just how down and dirty they can get. In the video above Faried is absolutely killin’ it, even going so far as to jam a monster one-handed, self-assisted ally-oop off the glass. But this summer hasn’t been all glamor for the recent Nuggets draft pick. According to Ryan Feldman of The Hoops Report, Faried underwhelmed in his appearance at the Delco Pro-Am (another semi-professional summer league) in Philadelphia where he posted a measly stat line of four points and six rebounds in nearly 35 minutes of court action. Here’s a few tweets from Feldman, who attended the game in person:

Kenneth Faried played in the Delco Pro-Am League tonight. Very unimpressive. Played most of the game, had 4 pts, 6 reb. That’s it.

If Faried couldn’t dominate in a summer league against a team full of former and current Penn players, how’s he gonna do well in the NBA?

Although Feldman is an excellent blogger, his mock draft and player analysis this year were questionable. Concerns about one semi-professional scrimmage during a lockout year seems a bit hasty to me. Nevertheless, Portland fans took great pleasure in hearing this news, and thus with much disdain, overwhelming concluded that passing on Faried was the right move.

While on the Drew League front, it should be noted that J.R. Smith recently participated for The Game’s (rapper) team, “Go Ham.” For those interested more about the Drew League or all the NBA participants this summer, the above link is an informative read.

It’s good to see J.R.’s keeping himself in shape during the lockout, but whether it’s the Nuggets or another NBA franchise he’s doing it for, is still up in the air. Eric Pincus of Hoops World thinks this team might very well be the Minnesota Timberwolves. Why? Because it makes the lease amount of sense — which actually makes a lot of sense. The Wolves do still need a shooting guard, and J.R is one of the better ones on the market. It should be noted that Pincus also predicts Nene will re-sign with the Nuggets, yet this conclusion is met much more logically, which is a good sign for Nuggets’ fans.

J.R.’s replacement, should he leave (Jordan Hamilton), recently gave DIME Magazine an exclusive peek into his extensive shoe collection, while also taking a few minutes (towards the end of the video) to reflect on how he might be able to help the Nuggets win basketball games whenever the next NBA season gets underway. When asked if he could be the Nuggets’ go-to scorer, Hamilton replied, “I think I can be that guy.” Here are some other resonating quotes from Hamilton:

Every night I’m going to bring it. Every night I’m going to have energy… play my heart out… I want to be one of the top scoring leaders in the rookie class.

As for Hamilton’s counterpart on the depth chart, apparently he’s a hot commodity. So hot in fact, that Zach Lowe recently ranked Arron Afflalo the top wing free agent of the entire 2011 class ahead of guys like Jason Richardson, Tayshaun Prince, Caron Butler, Jamal Crawford, Marcus Thorton, Nick Young and fellow Nuggets, J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler. This says a lot about how Afflalo is perceived around the league, as well as how much we’re likely going to have to pay to secure his services in Denver.

The Nuggets would obviously be ecstatic to lock-down Afflalo for the foreseeable future, especially alongside Ty Lawson, who recently proclaimed his willingness to play overseas should the lockout continue to perpetuate. Of course, Ty Lawson now has a new point guard in Andre Miller to console in the case of on-the-court confusion, and according to the Denver Post, he had a hand in bringing him to Denver! This, if any, is a must read.

Now for the more, lets say… interesting stories, here’s sweet-talkin’ Mike Tyson, the king of regretful tattoos, with his insightful take on Kenyon Martin’s extensive body art.

Apparently Al Harrington is hosting a promotional party in South Beach, Calif. And apparently Al Harrington is a superstar???

Maybe Big Al is practicing for his post-NBA career, in which he might very well become the owner of one of many delightful and exquisite Outback Steakhouse restaurants.

Posted on July 14, 2011 at 7:24 pm | filed in News | 14 Comments
  • Lil Rik

    Kalen,

    As the lockout provides a lack in material to report, hoe about something along the lines of a “where are they now?”

    Suggestions include -

    Todd Lichti (C’mon, you all know this guy is a Nuggets GOD)
    Mahmoud – A.K.A. Chris Jackson
    Robert Pack
    Reggie Williams
    T.R. Dunn
    The Phonz
    Marcus Liberty
    Mark Macon
    Rodney Rogers

    And of course…

    Michael Adams!

    • Kalen

      That’s a great idea Lil Rick. The only problem — and I’m kind I’d embarrassed admitting this — is that I’m a fairly new Nuggets fan. I really only started watching this team when Melo got drafted and even then, it wasn’t until a few years later that I began watching religiously. Is have no problems digging around to see what the players are up to now, but I really couldn’t shed much light on what they were like as Nuggets, which is crucial is a story like that. If you, or anybody else, would like to do a piece like this I would love post it; just e-mail it to me. I’m sure people would enjoy it greatly! As for other story ideas, I have thought some up recently, it’s just a matter of finding the time to publish them around my summer job. I’ll have some up soon though.

  • Andrew

    I like Lil Rik’s suggestion! Also, though, I really enjoyed this rollicking post, Kalen, and viewed at least half of the links. The Mike Tyson clip made me laugh…he’s such an odd character.

    One question, why is Jordan Hamilton discussed as a replacement for JR? I thought he was a small forward…no? In my mind, if he can shoot and play D, Hamilton will get plenty of time this year with the second team. Faried will be playing with the second unit. Gallo’s going to turn into a scoring machine.

    • Kalen

      Hamilton is indeed a small forward, but he can shoot as good as any shooting guard out there (especially from long range). I guess with Chandler, Harrington and Gallo still on the team I just figured Hamilton would make the most sense as a backup two-guard. Of course, he could obviously play small forward — and will when asked — but with that position already so crowded it’s my guess that if he wants to see court time he’s better off lobbying himself as a backup to Afflalo.

      • Andrew

        Man, if you are right and Hamilton can play 2 guard…and Moz improves enough to start, the Nuggets would suddenly have some height in both of their lines:

        Starters: Moz 7′ /Nene 6’11″ / Gallo 6″10″ /Afflalo 6″6″ and Ty Law.
        Second: Bird 6’11″ / K Mart 6’9″ / Chandler 6’8″ /Hamilton 6’8″ and Miller.

        Lawson and Miller are both good enough to get that height easy feeds under the basket to take advantage.

        • Travis

          If that line up was actually probable, we would have size. HOWEVER, Nene and Kmart are basically gone. So that means Faried (6’9ish) will play 4 and galo at 3. That is not great size down low. As for back up, Bird is tall but he is not a true center at all and does not play big. So we have no size unless we get Marc Gasol in FA.

          • Andrew

            Good point. Wishful thinking on my part that they will kepp both Nene and KMart, though I have heard it is more likely than not that they will keep Nene and part ways with KMart. So, my new wishful lineup involves both Moz and Koufos developing and:

            Moz/Nene/Gallo/Afflalo/Lawson

            Koufos/Faried/Bird or Chandler/JR or Hamilton/Miller

  • Aurress

    LaPhonso Ellis lives near or around Atlanta & does basketball announcing/commentating for ACC Basketball games. Listened to him announce a Virginia Cavaliers vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets game last year. He’s okay. Not great. Probably won’t advance very far in that career.

    Being a UVA fan, Bryant Stith was always my favorite Nugget (former captain; #13 pick in Shaq’s draft class; with Nuggets from like 92 to 99, I think) and he’s currently coaching in or around his hometown in VA. The high school team he coaches has won the State Title like 2-3 yrs in a row. His son plays on the team.

    I also met David “Skywalker” Thompson (happy birthday!) at a Nuggets vs Hornets game this year; so he must live around Denver. No idea what he’s doing now though.

    Hope this helps! Enjoy! Go Nuggets!

    Hope that helps a little.

  • Taylor

    Hey Kalen, great stuff in a slow summer. Can you try and keep us abreast of what the players are doing in the various leagues they are playing in? I love to watch the summer leagues on nba tv, and was especially excited that we’d have 3 drafted players on the team instead of just a bunch of randoms where maybe one would be the 14 or 15th guy off the bench. But then the lockout happened. So keep giving links to recaps of the games our guys are playing in, the Faried video was drool-worthy!

    • Kalen

      Roger that. I’m definitely gonna try and keep you guys as updated as possible throughout the summer, but some of this stuff is kind of hard to find.

      • Taylor

        Hey Kalen, I see that Faried is playing in the Drew league and haven’t been successful tracking down any box scores or impressions on how he is doing. Can you find anything? Thanks!

        • Taylor

          PS. I’m looking for recent stuff, like the Austin Daye stuff mentioned by espn, when Faried was put into the game to shut down Dervisevic. I’s love to see minutes played and averages-type stuff!

  • jy

    NBA and NBA Draft Analysis For Summer 2011 – Eff Jimmer Edition — Love Jordan Hamilton, but he is going to drown on this team. He should play in the D – League this year.

  • http://Roundballcompany Finlay

    Mozgov has gone back to play in russia. Does he have a cluse in his contract to come back to the NBA as soon as the lock out is finished???


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